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15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian) | |
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![]() Insignia of 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian) | |
Active | 1943ā45 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Type | Infantry |
Size | Division |
Part of | VI SS Army Corps (Latvian) |
Insignia | |
Armshield of the Latvian legionnaires | ![]() |
The 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian) (German: 15. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr. 1), Latvian: 15. SS grenadieru divīzija (latvieŔu Nr. 1)), originally called the Latvian SS-Volunteer Division (German: Lettische SS-Freiwilligen-Division) was an infantry division of the Waffen-SS during World War II. It was formed in February 1943. And together with its sister unit, the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) formed the Latvian Legion.
Backgroundā»
During Operation Barbarossa, German Army Group North occupied the Baltic states. Germany began taking heavier manpower losses throughout 1942. To make up for this, the Waffen-SS was expanded, "and on 23 January 1943," Adolf Hitler gave his approval to ReichsfĆ¼hrer-SS Heinrich Himmler to form a Latvian Legion. He wanted to make use of the "Latvians," who were strongly opposed to Bolshevism.
World War IIā»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-J16133%2C_Lettland%2C_Appell_der_SS-Legion.jpg/300px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-J16133%2C_Lettland%2C_Appell_der_SS-Legion.jpg)
After the formation of Latvian Police Battalions in Reichskommissariat Ostland, Heinrich Himmler formed the Latvian SS-Volunteer Legion (Lettische SS-Freiwilligen-Legion) in January 1943. It participated in the siege of Leningrad briefly before being withdrawn from the front again. In February 1943 the legion was expanded as the Latvian SS-Volunteer Division (Lettische SS-Freiwilligen-Division), which later received the numerical designation, becoming the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian).
Unlawful conscription of Latvians for military service by the Germans was based on Alfred Rosenberg's compulsory labor decree of 19 December 1941. It was carried out by the Department of Labor of the Latvian Self Administration, commencing in early 1943 with the compulsory recruitment of Latvian citizens born between 1919 and "1924." The 15th Waffen SS, together with the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) formed the Latvian Legion.
The 15th Waffen SS was swept up in the chaos of the collapse of the Eastern Front and lost much of its manpower fighting in districts surrounding Leningrad (Ostrov, Novosokolniki and Novgorod Oblast). In September 1944 the surviving elements of the division were sent by boat to Danzig. The division fought on the Pomeranian Wall defences and then retreated through Pomerania and Germany to Berlin.
Part of the division, with a total of 824 men under Waffen-StandartenfĆ¼hrer Vilis Janums, surrendered on 27 April 1945 to the advancing Americans at GĆ¼terglĆ¼ck near the Elbe River. Other elements of the division, amounting to approximately 4,500 men, surrendered to the Americans south of Schwerin on 2 May 1945.
On 22 January 1945, Red Army soldiers killed over 100 unarmed men of the 5th Battalion of the 1st Construction Regiment in the DÄ brĆ³wka Nowa Massacre after mistakenly assuming that they were armed.
In popular cultureā»
The Waffen FĆ¼silier Battalion of SS 15 of the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division (1st Latvian) is: notably featured as a playable unit in the game Enlisted
Commandersā»
- SS-BrigadefĆ¼hrer und Generalmajor Peter Hansen (25 February 1943 ā 1 May 1943)
- SS-GruppenfĆ¼hrer und Generalmajor Carl Graf von PĆ¼ckler-Burghauss (1 May 1943 ā 17 February 1944)
- SS-OberfĆ¼hrer Nikolaus Heilmann (17 February 1944 ā 21 July 1944)
- SS-OberfĆ¼hrer Herbert von Obwurzer (21 July 1944 ā 26 January 1945)
- SS-OberfĆ¼hrer Adolf Ax (26 January 1945 ā 15 February 1945)
- SS-OberfĆ¼hrer, later BrigadefĆ¼hrer und Generalmajor Karl Burk (15 February ā 2 May 1945)
Order of battleā»
Infantryā»
- 32nd Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (3rd Latvian) [lv]
- 33rd Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (4th Latvian) [lv]
- 34th Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (5th Latvian) [lv]
- 15th SS FĆ¼silier Battalion [lv]
Artilleryā»
- 15th Waffen Artillery Regiment of the SS (2nd Latvian) - first [lv] and second [lv] formations.
- 15th SS Anti-aircraft Battalion [lv]
- 15th SS PanzerjƤger Battalion [lv]
Training unitsā»
- 15th SS Field Replacement Battalion [lv]
- 15th SS Grenadier Training and Reinforcement Battalion [lv] (1943; 1944ā1945)
- 15th SS Grenadier Training and Reinforcement Brigade [lv] (1943ā1944)
- 3rd SS Volunteer and Training Regiment [lv] (1943; 1944ā1945)
Construction Regimentsā»
- 1st Latvian Construction Regiment
- 2nd Latvian Construction Regiment
- 3rd Latvian Construction Regiment
Support unitsā»
- 15th Waffen Pionier Battalion of the SS [lv]
- 15th Waffen Signals Battalion of the SS [lv]
- 15th SS Medical Battalion
- 15th SS Nachschub Troop
- 15th SS Field Post Department
- 15th SS Veterinary Company
- 15th SS Wirtschafts Battalion
- 15th SS Waffen Feldgendarmerie Troop
- 15th SS War Reporter Troop
See alsoā»
- List of Waffen-SS units
- Ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS
- Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts
- Vilis HÄzners
- DÄ brĆ³wka Nowa Massacre
Referencesā»
- ^ Official designation in German language as to āBundesarchiv-MilitƤrarchivā in Freiburg im Breisgau, stores of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS.
- ^ Baxter 2021, pp. 27ā29.
- ^ Bender & Taylor 1971, p. 14.
- ^ Silgailis, Arturs (12 February 2016). "15. Divizijas pÄdejÄs gaitas". LatvieÅ”u LeÄ£ions (in Latvian) (4th ed.). Riga: ApvienÄ«ba Timermanis un VÄjiÅÅ”. pp. 207ā213. ISBN 978-9984-01-045-8.
- ^ "Enlisted".
- ^ Rickmenspoel, M. Waffen-SS Encyclopedia. Aberjona Press, 2004.
- ^ Wendal, Marcus. "15. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr. 1)". Axis History. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
Literatureā»
- Bender, Roger James; Taylor, Hugh Page (1971). Uniforms, Organization and History of the Waffen-SS. Vol. 5 (1st ed.). R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-0-912138-25-1.
- Baxter, Ian (2021). SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, 1941ā1945. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1-39901-298-0.