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During World War II Nazi Germany occupied all or parts of the following countries: Poland, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Yugoslavia, Greece, the Soviet Union, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Egypt and Italy. The term of "Collaboration" was coined by Marshall Philippe Pétain, who proclaimed the Vichy regime in July 1940 and actively supported Collaborationism with Germany.
Collaboration ranged from urging the civilian population to remain calm and accept foreign occupation, organizing trade, production, financial and economic support to joining various branches of the armed forces of Axis powers or special "national" military units fighting under their command. Apart from active forms of collaboration, there was also "passive collaboration", where people on the occupied territories just went on with life, but were necessarily influenced by the occupation authorities.
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Reasons for collaboration
There were various reasons for collaboration with the Nazi authorities: fear for one's life (many Soviet prisoners of war volunteered to serve under the German command in order to escape Nazi prison camps, notorious for starving the Soviet prisoners to death); believing that the Nazis would win the war and thus it would be better to be on the winning side; attempting to avoid conflict with the powerful Nazi occupational forces (such as in Denmark); seeking short-term goals, such as a better-paid job with higher privileges; ability to legally take revenge against former personal enemies; and pure Nazism and antisemitism; also, some people hoped for a stronger united Europe.
Hatred of Stalinism, and disgust of the Soviet system contributed greatly to the collaboration in the USSR. The Nazis failed to capitalize on this sentiment, and slowly much of this anti-Soviet sentiment reversed itself and cooperation with the Nazis in the east began to diminish. The "anti-Bolshevik" forces changed sides again, and thought it would be better to be on the other winning side, or in short, their earlier "opportunism", reversed itself.
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Requirements for collaboration
The Nazis did not consider everyone equally fit for cooperation. Even people from closely related nations were often valued differently in accordance with Nazi racial theories. For example, the Scandinavians and Northern Europeans were considered to be better than Lithuanians due to the supposed Lithuanian intermixing with Slavs in the past.citation needed Slavs were considered to be even worse.
The Jews were considered to be worst of all and thus unfit for cooperation, although some were used in concentration camps as Kapos to report on other prisoners and enforce order. Others governed ghettos and helped organize deportations to extermination camps (Jewish Ghetto Police).
Partial list of collaborationist organizations
Albania
In April 1943 Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler created 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian) manned by Albanian volunteers and Kosovar Albanians. From August 1944, the division participated in operations against Yugoslav partisans and local Serbs. The discipline in the division was poor and in the beginning of 1945 it was disbanded. The emblem of the division was a black Albanian eagle. [1]
Belarus
Belorussian collaborators participated in various massacres of Belarusian villagers. Many of these collaborators retreated with German forces in the wake of the Red Army advance, and in January 1945, formed the 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Belorussian).citation needed
Belgium
373rd infantry battalion of Wehrmacht, manned by Belgians, took part in anti-guerrilla actions in the occupied territory of the USSR from August 1941 to February 1942. In May 1943 the battalion was transformed into the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien and sent to the Eastern Front. In the autumn the brigade has been transformed into 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien. Its remains surrendered to British troops in the final days of war.
Bosnia
The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS (also known as the 1st Croatian or Handschar division), manned by Bosniaks and Croats, but commanded by German officers, was created in February 1943. The division participated in anti-guerrilla operations in Yugoslavia. [1] By 1944, most of the division defected to the Yugoslav partisans.
Central Asia
The Turkestan legion was the general name for the units of Central Asian exiles and POWs who fought on the side of Germany during the war. Estimates of the total number of Central Asians who fought under the Nazis number in the hundreds of thousands.
China
First Japanese puppet in China was Manchukuo led by former Chinese emperor Pu-Yi established after Japanese took over Manchuria in early 1930s. With the Japanese advance in China more puppet regimes were established: Mengjiang in 1936, Provisional Government of the Republic of China in 1937 and Reformed Government of the Republic of China in 1938. The two latter were merged into Nanjing Nationalist government in 1940 and recently defected Chinese politician Wang Jingwei was put as the leader of the puppet regime. The government recruited troops from local population who were supplied by the Japanese. The army had as much as 2 million soldiers at peak, which was greater than the Japanese army in China, unique in WW2. Great number of collaborationist troops were men originally serving in National Revolutionary Army who had defected when facing both Communists and Japanese as enemies. Although it's manpower was very large, the soldiers were very ineffective compared to NRA soldiers due to low morale for being considered as "Hanjian". The Wang Jingwei government was disbanded after Japanese surrender to Allies in 1945, and Manchukuo and Mengjiang were destroyed by Soviet troops in Operation August Storm.
Croatia
Ante Pavelić's Croatian puppet state was an ally of Nazi Germany. The Croatian extreme nationalists, Ustashe, killed at least hundreds of thousands of Serbs and other victims in the Jasenovac concentration camp.
The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian), created in February 1943, and the 23rd Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Kama, created in January 1944, were manned by Croats and Bosniaks as well as local Germans.
Denmark
At 4:15 in the morning of 9 April 1940 (Danish standard time), German forces crossed the border into neutral Denmark, in direct violation of a German-Danish treaty of non-aggression signed the previous year. After two hours the Danish government surrendered, believing that resistance was useless and hoping to work out an advantageous agreement with Germany.
As a result of the cooperative attitude of the Danish authorities, German officials claimed that they would "respect Danish sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as neutrality."[2] The German authorities were inclined towards lenient terms with Denmark for several reasons: These factors allowed Denmark a very favourable relationship with Nazi Germany. The government remained intact and the parliament continued to function more or less as it had before. They were able to maintain much of their former control over domestic policy.[3] Danish public opinion generally backed the new government, particularly after the fall of France in June 1940. [4] There was a general feeling that the unpleasant reality of German occupation must be confronted in the most realistic way possible, given the international situation. Newspaper articles and news reports "which might jeopardize German-Danish relations" were outlawed. [5] After the assault on the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, Denmark joined the Anti-Comintern Pact, together with the fellow Nordic state of Finland; the Communist Party was banned in Denmark. Industrial production and trade was, partly due to geo-political reality and economic necessity, redirected toward Germany. Many government officials saw expanded trade with Germany as vital to maintaining social order in Denmark.[6] Increased unemployment and poverty was feared to lead to more of open revolt within the country, since Danes tended to blame all negative developments on the Germans. It was feared that any revolt would result in a crackdown by the German authorities.[7]
In return for these concessions, the Danish cabinet rejected German demands for legislation discriminating against Denmark's Jewish minority. Demands to introduce the death penalty were likewise rebuffed and so were German demands to allow German military courts jurisdiction over Danish citizens. Denmark also rejected demands for the transfer of Danish army units to German military use. Throughout the years of its hold on power, the government consistently refused to accept German demands regarding the Jews.[8] The authorities would not enact special laws concerning Jews, and their civil rights remained equal with those of the rest of the population. German authorities became increasingly exasperated with this position but concluded that any attempt to remove or mistreat Jews would be "politically unacceptable."[9] Even the Gestapo officer Dr. Werner Best, plenipotentiary in Denmark from November 1942, believed that any attempt to remove the Jews would be enormously disruptive to the relationship between the two governments and recommended against any action concerning the Jews of Denmark.
On the 29th of June, 1941, days after the invasion of the USSR, Frikorps Danmark (Free Corps Denmark) was founded as a corps of Danish volunteers to fight against the Soviet Union. Frikorps Danmark was set up at the initiative of the SS and DNSAP who approached Lieutenant-Colonel C.P. Kryssing of the Danish army shortly after the invasion of the USSR had begun. The Nazi paper Fædrelandet proclaimed the creation of the corps on 29 June 1941.[10] According to Danish law, it was not illegal to join a foreign army, but active recruiting on Danish soil was illegal. The SS disregarded this law and began recruiting efforts — predominantly recruiting Danish Nazis and members of the German-speaking minority.[11]
Estonia
In 1941, Eesti Omakaitse (Estonian Self-Defence) took part in the round-up and killing of 7,000 people charged for collaboration with Soviet organs, or having committed crimes against humanity. Only a relatively small proportion of Eesti Omakaitse (approximately between 1000 and 1200 men) were directly involved in criminal acts, taking part in the round-up (and possibly killing) of hundreds of Roma people and Jews.[12] 15,000 Soviet POW died in Estonia, and it is impossible to say, how many of them died because of hard living conditions and how many were executed.[12]
The all-volunteer Estnische SS-Legion, Battaillon Narwa was formed from the 800 men to have finished their training at Dębica (Heidelager in 1943). In April 1943 the Battaillon was sent to join the Division Wiking in Ukraine. After the general conscription call the unit was sent back to Estonia in March 1944, was reformed as the 20th Waffen Fusilier Battalion der SS. In June 1944 the Battalion joined the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian),[13] a division formed in 1944 by illegal conscription, finished its way in May 1945 in Czechoslovakia. The Nuremberg Trials ruled that conscripts to the Waffen SS were exempted from the judgement that applied to the Waffen SS.[14] The division's soldiers carried stripes with the Estonian national colors and images of three lions from the coat of arms of the Republic of Estonia[1].
Units of Estonian auxiliary police participated in the extermination of the Jews in Estonia and Pskov region of Russia and provided guards for concentration camps for Jews and Soviet POWs (Jägala, Vaivara, Klooga, Lagedi), in all of which prisoners were killed. Despite the criminal activities in which numbers of policemen were engaged, it is not reasonable to assign responsibility solely by virtue of their positions to every individual who worked in the various police structures.[12] However, it is reasonable to assign responsibility for these crimes to everyone who served in Police Department B-IV, by virtue of their office.
The 36th Estonian Police Battalion were accused in took part in mass shooting of Jews in a Byelorussian town of Novogrudki on 7 August, 1942, but no documents exist, that clarify the role of Estonian units in the massacre.[15] The 37th, 38th, 40th, 286th, 288th Estonian battalions operated against the partisans in the Pskov, Luga, Gdov regions of Russia and Belarus. According to Russian sources, the 658th battalion participated in punitive operations against civilians near the town of Kingisepp and the village of Kerstovo, Leningrad Region, and burnt down the settlements of Babino, Habalovo, and Cigirinka.[16][17]
- See also: Estonian war crimes trials
France
The Vichy government, headed by Marshall Philippe Pétain and Pierre Laval, actively collaborated in the extermination of the European Jews. It also participated in Porrajmos, the extermination of Rom people, and in the extermination of other "undesirables." Vichy opened up a series of concentration camps in France where it interned Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, political opponents, etc. Directed by René Bousquet, the French police helped in the deportation of 76,000 Jews to the extermination camps. In 1995 President Jacques Chirac officially recognized the responsibility of the French state for the deportation of Jews during the war, in particular during the July 1942 Vel'd'hiv raid, during which Laval decided, by his own, to deport children along with their parents. Only 2,500 of the deported Jews survived the war. The 1943 Battle of Marseille was another event during which the French police assisted the Gestapo in a massive raid, which included an urban reshaping plan involving the destruction of a whole neighborhood in the popular Old Port. Some few collaborators were judged in the 1980s for crimes against humanity (Paul Touvier, etc.), while Maurice Papon, who had become after the war prefect of police of Paris (a function in which he illustrated himself during the 1961 Paris massacre) was convicted in 1998 for crimes against humanity. He had been Budget Minister under President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. Other collaborators, such as Emile Dewoitine, managed to have important functions after the war (Dewoitine was eventually named head of Aérospatiale, the firm which created the Concorde plane). Debates concerning state collaboration remain, in 2008, very strong in France.
The French volunteers to the SS formed the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French), which in 1945 was among the final defenders of Berlin.
Brittany
Breton nationists such as Olier Mordrel and François Debeauvais had longstanding links with Nazi Germany because of the their fascist and Nordicist ideologies, linked to the belief that the Bretons were a "pure" Celtic branch of the Aryan-Nordic race. At the outbreak of the war they left France and declared support for Germany. After 1940 they returned and their supporters such as Célestin Lainé and Yann Goulet organized militias that worked in collaboration with the Germans. Lainé and Goulet later took refuge in Ireland.
Greece
After the German invasion of Greece, a Nazi-held puppet government was established in Athens. The three quisling prime ministers (Georgios Tsolakoglou, Konstantinos Logothetopoulos and Ioannis Rallis) cooperated with the Axis authorities. Besides, Greek National-Socialist parties (such as the Greek National Socialist Party) or anti-semitic organisations (such as the National Union of Greece) helped German authorities fight the Resistance and identify and deport Greek Jews. Moreover, special armed collaborationist forces (such as the Security Battalions) were created to aid the collaborationist regime.
About 1,000 Greeks from Greece and thousands of Greeks from the Soviet Union, avenging their prosecution from Soviet authorities, joined the Waffen-SS, especially in Ukrainian divisions. A special case is that of the infamous Sevastianos Foulidis, a Greek who was an official of the Wehrmacht as well as an effective spy at the Abwehr.
Hungary
Hungary was a war ally and then puppet state of Nazi Germany. The Hungarians played an active role in the murder of about 23,600 Jews (14,000–18,000 of whom were from Hungary) in Kamenets-Podolsk in the late August 1941.[18] Radical Hungarian governments — mainly the puppet government of Döme Sztójay, appointed after the German occupation — actively participated in the Holocaust.
The Arrow Cross Party was a Hungarian Nazi party led by Ferenc Szálasi which ruled Hungary from October 15, 1944 to January 1945 following the German SS coup in Budapest. During its short rule, 80,000 Jews were deported from Hungary to their deaths. Out of 825,000 Hungarian Jews before the war, only 260,000 survived.
India
The Legion Freies Indien, or Indische Freiwilligen Infanterie Regiment 950 (also known as the Indische Freiwilligen-Legion der Waffen-SS) was created in August 1942, chiefly from disaffected Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army, captured by the Axis in North Africa. Many, if not most, of the Indian volunteers who switched sides to fight with the German Army and against the British were strongly nationalistic supporters of the exiled, anti-British, former president of the Indian National Congress, Netaji (the Leader) Subhash Chandra Bose. (See also the Tiger Legion and Indian National Army)
Indonesia
Among Indonesians to receive Japanese imperial honours from Hirohito in November 1943 were the Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta. Sukarno actively recruited and organised Indonesian Romusha forced labour.[19] They succeeded respectively to become the founding President of the Republic of Indonesia and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia in August 1945.
Italy
The Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana or RSI) was a client state of Nazi Germany led by the "Leader of the Nation" (Duce) and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini. The RSI exercised official sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) to maintain control. The state was informally known as the "Salò Republic" (Repubblica di Salò) because the RSI's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mussolini) was headquartered in Salò, a small town on Lake Garda. The Italian Social Republic was the second and last incarnation of a Fascist Italian state.
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2007) |
Latvia
Having occupied Latvia in summer 1941, German command has created the local voluntary troops (Schutzmannschaft or Schuma), to struggle against the Soviet partisans and serve as guards in concentration camps for Jews and Soviet prisoners of war[7]. The group of the Latvian auxiliary police known as Arājs Commando murdered about 26,000 Jews, mainl