Germany's Eastern Legions during World War II (Turkestan, Volga-Tatar, Crimean and Kalmyk Units)

The Eastern Legions consisted of Soviet POW's that lived in Central and Eastern Russia during the Second World War. These were “Hitler's Asians” who fought in the Turkestan Legion, Volga-Tatar Legion as well as the Crimean and Kalmyk Units. These men helped Germany with their conquest of the Soviet Union. How did these units perform? What uniforms did they wear? The 'Ostlegionen' will be discussed in this episode!
History Hustle presents: Germany's Eastern Legions during World War II (Turkestan, Volga-Tatar, Crimean and Kalmyk Units).
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SOURCES
Hitler's Eastern Legions 1942-45 [Elite 233] (Nigel Thomas).
IMAGES
Images from commons.wikimedia.org; hubert-herald.nl (Sleeve patch of the Kalmücken Verband Dr. Doll); survincity.com/2010/09/the-deportation-of-the-crimean-tatars-it-was
MUSIC
"Clenched Teeth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Constancy Part One" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Indore" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Crossing the Chasm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Prelude and Action" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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SOUNDS
Freesound.org.
Wanna join forces and do a collaboration? Send me an email at: [e-mail]

[@HistoryHustle]

NORWEGIAN SS-VOLUNTEERS: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGSlgYprjLKgetE DUTCH SS-VOLUNTEERS: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mILPd2OflpJ0eKM FRENCH VOLUNTEERS: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKacaKWraNOEn9U RUSSIAN VOLUNTEERS: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXzTm2pua7iiqMU

[@2ndTimPlayground]

awesome info i never heard before.

[@islamgaziev1717]

Thanks, great video. I myself am of Crimean Tatar origin but was born in Uzbekistan. My both grand-grandparents were members of Red Army, when they came back from war they found out their families were deported. It took them quite a while to find each other back after the war was over. My grandmother was born 4 months after deportation already in Uzbekistan. Unfortunately she never managed to return back home to Crimea due to the Soviet laws. Some of my relatives however managed to return back already after the fall of Soviet Union. It is no good there though, all the properties they had vas confiscated and current government does not intend to return even land. Also, all the toponims in Crimea were renamed into Russian ones, so there would be no even any reminder that Crimean Tatars used to live there.

[@HistoryHustle]

Very interesting to read. I really appreciate your reply. There is not much known in the west about these groups of people. With videos like these I hope to shed some more light on the topic!

[@islamgaziev1717]

@@HistoryHustle Indeed. Also, regarding the Turkestan legion, it is not discussed at all in Uzbek community/history. They don't teach this in schools. What is important to say thought, is that a lot of educated people, the founders of national democratic states in Central Asia in 1918-1920, were the joining that legion in hope to bring independence to their lands. After the Soviets rejoined Central Asia many of them immigrated to Afghanistan/Turkey/Iran and later to Germany. In Uzbek schools they always tell us how these people were fighting for our independence in 20s but don't ever tell the other side of the story. I think this is a great example of how history is often politicised.

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed. A big thanks for sharing!

[@zosimus2.18i2]

So, why the tatars were deported from Crimea? I heard that they collaborated with Nazies.

[@ildart8738]

Здравтвуйте! Салям! Я сам казанский татарин. Как хорошо крымские татары понимают казанских татар? Я слышал разноречивые точки зрения по этому поводу.

[@generalleedle6883]

Hello, I am from Kazakhstan, this is not a very spoken much topic. Thank you for the video.

[@generalleedle6883]

Also at 4:10. Please be note, Turkestan is include geographic Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kygyzstan and Turkmenistan. It dosent include Tajikstam because they are not turkic

[@katitobyt]

@@generalleedle6883 Yes true

[@katitobyt]

@@generalleedle6883 Also,not Central-Asia it is Turkestan.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your message general Leedle.

[@Artur_M.]

I remember seeing a cartoon from the Polish underground press depicting a German soldier with clear Asian features on a guard duty shouting at a group of kids in a mixture of Polish and Russian "What are you looking at? Haven't you seen a German before!?". All jokes aside I can not help but feel sympathy for those people and even more so for those Tatars or Kalmyks who haven't collaborated with Germans or even distinguished themselves fighting for the USSR, yet they or their families fell victim to the Stalin's collective mass punishment of their entire ethnicities. Examples of the latter could be Soviet Air Force officers Abdraim Reshidov and Amet-khan Sultan, both awarded the title "Hero of the Soviet Union". Umer Adamanov " Miszka Tatar" also comes to my mind. He was a Soviet POW who escaped and become an officer in the communist Polish underground Gwardia Ludowa (People's Guard, a name was BTW stolen from a socialist underground group that united with the Home Army). His unit of the GL cooperated pretty well with the local Home Army units (during what is often called the Zamość Uprising). He died in combat in June 1943.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing your insights on this, Artur!

[@dennisfischer4838]

Sounds like they are making fun of Heinrich Himler

[@Artur_M.]

@Grey Donovun Unfortunately, I can't find that exact one. I saw it long ago in some relatively old (pre-1989, I think) Polish publication about satire and humour under the occupation. Searching for the picture online I found many I also recall from that book, most of them were apparently done by Henryk Chmielewski "Yes" (they also seem to have a similar style to how I remember that one drawing). Searching for information about Chmielewski, or his art, is a bit tricky because there was another, younger and more famous Henryk Chmielewski, who also served in the Home Army and became a caricaturist and a comic book artist after the war. He is better known as Papcio Chmiel.

[@Artur_M.]

@Grey Donovun I was about to write that I sadly don't, but I did some more searching and I think it was Satyra czasu wojny i okupacji, red. Eryk Lipiński, 1984.

[@katitobyt]

I reallly love how you are explaining everything

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you for your message!

[@DutchDixon94]

Great to see documentaries about the foreign SS volunteers in WW2. These stories need to be told and you do it very well!

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@marselzik86119]

I am tatar from Western Siberia and i am respect my crimean tatar brothers! We are they heroes!

[@HistoryHustle]

ok

[@felixc.3444]

My friend told me about this channel and I am in love with it, love to learn this stuff and listen during work

[@HistoryHustle]

Great! Welcome to the channel.

[@valeriyperveev2494]

If somebody got interested in Kalmyk Cavalry Corps I might recommend a pretty short book called “Deutsche und Kalmyken” by Joachim Hoffmann. I don’t know if it is available in English but it was translated to Russian. Though you might want to take his work with the grain of salt especially when he talks about 110th Kalmyk Cavalry Div. that fought for the Soviet Union. His estimates on the amount of soldiers and losses for this division don’t match with the factual numbers by the huge margin. Which is understandable given that he published it in 1977 and didn’t have the access to Soviet’s archives. Also it is stated in Wikipedia that he is a holocaust denier, I didn’t look farther on this so I can’t tell if it is true or not. Anyhow I think his study of Kalmyk Cavalry Corpse structure, history and reasons to fight are worth reading.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@Njordall]

Amazing research. Thanks for the great video.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your message!

[@t.jjohnson6317]

Great vid ..Thank-you👌👍

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you!

[@mikhailv67tv]

Great to see your subscription is growing Stephan. Really interesting topic, I was aware of Tatars, Cossack, Volga Germans, Chechens and of course Russians fighting for the Wehrmacht but not the extense of the Turkic people. Great to learn new material.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you. More about the Chechens next week.

[@mikhailv67tv]

@@HistoryHustle I also love that you take the time to reply to people. I've loved history since highschool and I'm super impressed that there is such interesting content on KZbin based on history

[@BajanEnglishman51]

this is one of the few youtube channels whose videos i like

[@HistoryHustle]

Great to hear!

[@Khusan.Dilshodovich]

Good day, sir I found your channel by searching for a specific topic like that. I just want to express my gratitude to you for making excellent research and storytelling about it. God bless you!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply!

[@quilmesdave]

Excellent presentation. This is a topic I love and you do a really good job. Keep it up!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks!

[@andrijamartic2403]

fantastic work, stefan. unbeliaveble how much of original footage and photos u manage to find in such short of period of time between your videos.

[@HistoryHustle]

It was a challenge, but it worked out. Thanks, Andrija!

[@mikehydropneumatic2583]

Almost 20 minutes, wow a serious video. Thanks Stefan.

[@HistoryHustle]

🙂

[@joeMama-ls5km]

Great video I can't say there is a video of your i dont enjoy! Keep up the great work man love it

[@HistoryHustle]

Great! Many thanks!

[@evanmcinturf6848]

Hey man these videos are very well in depth! Keep pushin man, you’re doing a grest job!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks, Evan!

[@luxembourgishempire2826]

Sorry I was late... I had some university work to do. Great video!!! I love these topics because I never knew about this before! Keep it up History Hustle!

[@HistoryHustle]

No problem. The video doesn't go anywhere.

[@luxembourgishempire2826]

@@HistoryHustle 👍

[@DNMK]

It's a great work of education you're doing. Big up from Dresden/Saxony in Germany!

[@HistoryHustle]

Many thanks.

[@nolan7295]

Commenting to help the algorithm. Awesome content!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you!

[@xvsj5833]

Amazing History!!! Thank you for sharing your research and knowledge. “The more know the less I understand”

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply.

[@noe5749]

Stefan you rule! Love your channel bro keep up the good work bro.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks

[@maincoon6602]

I really enjoy your videos. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@HistoryHustle]

Nice to read, thank you.

[@zosimus2.18i2]

Well, Turkestan is a historic name of the Central Asia region : however, turkmens were just one of the numerous turkic peoples in it. Among turkic peoples were : uzbeks (I am one of them), kazakhs, kyrgyz people, uyghurs, and many others. So, it would be right to say "turkic peoples of Turkestan" or "peoples/nations of Turkestan" is also aceptable. Just a idea. I love your videos! Thanks for your work!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply.

[@beachboy0505]

Excellent video

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks!

[@kylecorey88]

im kyle from saskatchewan , canada... i heard you mention you like stuff lke short lived states ...i like these kind of videos about these really unknown groups and small unusual forces...there is one political party i cant find much about i find interesting ,thats the hungarian arrow cross . a video on odd axis party alliances id be the first to watch!thanks!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your comment. Next week there is the follow-up of this video.

[@oceanhome2023]

I love this guys perspective !

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks!

[@user-oq3yv9jw2u]

Good job! Just a few notes. You pointed only former Turkestan SSR as region which people joined the Turkestan legion, but whole modern Kazakhstan territory is also part of the historical Turkestan and gave soldiers to that units. So, Turkmen people were not only one nation there, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Uighurs also represented in TL. And the badges with wolfs head were used on the tabs of the uniform of Osttürkischer Waffenverband der SS.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this information.

[@fritzruttimann1517]

Indeed, very interesting topics.

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@linussvedlund7078]

Many thanks for a very good video from a person how is interested in the foreign volunteers

[@HistoryHustle]

Great! If you're not sure to have check them all, here's the playlist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGSlgYprjLKgetE

[@petersabo707]

Obvious you have six sens for grat topics. Interesting channel and valuable content.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you!

[@zbena7044]

I would like to suggest to focus about British soviet occupation of Iran captured Reza Shah and sent him in South Africa exile in 1941 until 1946

[@HistoryHustle]

I did cover Iranian history in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pICrfIWfj6yHf9U

[@davidsradioroom9678]

I never knew so many people of different nationalities fought with the Germans.

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed. This Saturday more about Croatians

[@Yamamanama]

@@HistoryHustle The worst of the lot.

[@theMOCmaster]

dont forget the karachays when you talk about caucasus great video!

[@HistoryHustle]

I mention them.

[@theMOCmaster]

@@HistoryHustle I believe they were the first victims of Stalin's deportations

[@HistoryHustle]

Could be. Not sure.

[@davidscott3820]

Excellent. I was always interested in central asia

[@ymir-aju]

There were many many Asian standard German soldiers besides East legions. They were seen in many original German war photos. Many were Chinese due to the Sino- German co-operation in the early 1920. Other Asians were Japanese, Indonesian, Thais Koreans and also Hindu.

[@mammuchan8923]

Cool video. I guess war makes strange bedfellows and the enemy of ones enemy can be an ally. The different languages must have cause a few difficulties I imagine.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks :)

[@johnthomson6507]

Thanks

[@HistoryHustle]

No problem. Hope you'll like the follow-up episode next week as well.

[@zbena7044]

Excellent job highly appreciated your efforts.in addition, I would like to focus about Basmachi Mivements in Turkestan or Central Asia the hard resistance against Bulshafek Rule 1916 1937 and also in other subject Imam Shamel revolution in north qavqaz in 19th century against Russian tzars rules

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for the comment. Perhaps something in the future.

[@thilgu]

Goede aflevering.

[@HistoryHustle]

Dank! Vervolg komt volgende week.

[@marcelgroen6256]

Boy, this is an interesting topic, which is not discussed much in the mainstream. Also seen other answers below, a topic that is still alive for many.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks, glad you liked it. Check also the follow-up video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3akgax_rMp6psk

[@marcelgroen6256]

@@HistoryHustle Done. Very interesting again !

[@yakub-coder]

Turkestan Legion warriors are truly faithful people of Hur Turkistan Who fought against russian occupants We truly remember you and we feel honor to be the part of great nation, who were fighting till the end of Soviet Union against 🐖🐖🐖 from Moscow.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@roomonleft]

Many of these people fought to free themselves of soviet yoke Many of their brothers fought in soviet side, to survive... many heroes had both their parents repressed by soviet system... im rather surprised why more didn't join the germans Very interesting video, thank you Proffessior!

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@aristedecomgmailcom]

They fought to submit themselves to the Nazi yoke. They were stupid and they lost.

[@user-ky6tu5cj9c]

I am a Chechen and this just makes me ashamed; my family fought in the Soviet military and destroyed Berlin. Crushed the western born disease that was Natzism and to see this just makes me disgusted to like in America. Every day I long for home and to get out of America forever.

[@roomonleft]

@@user-ky6tu5cj9c yea but communism is technically also also western born, and also a disease

[@missmiss8359]

​@@user-ky6tu5cj9cA pro-russian Chechen lol despite what the ruskies did to you ! you must have Stockholm syndrome . your kind are in the minority and will always be, the overwhelming majority of Chechens hate Russia with a burning passion .

[@gunner678]

I live in an area of France that had a number of Georgian and Indian battalions manning the Atlantic wall/fortress Europa. Excellent video

[@HistoryHustle]

Yes, these men were also stationed there.

[@gunner678]

@@HistoryHustle I have a story for you about the 'volga cossacks' as many of these units were known to the British Army of occupation. I once met a Colonel who had served with the 51st Welsh Division, from Normandy, through Netherlands (battle of Sertoganbosch, I'm sorry for mangling the spelling of that town), and on in to Germany, where he was party to the surrender on Lunaberg Heath. He went on to serve as district military governor in the British occupied zone of Northern Germany. He was responsible for several thousand volga cossacks (actually a mixture of eastern legion troops) whom he used as labour forces for a year after the end of hostilities. They were apparently very happy and excellent workers who hoped to stay in Germany or the UK. However under the Potsdam accord, these men were handed over to the Soviet troops following Stalin's demands. 'Rusty' (the nickname of the Colonel) travelled with his staff to ensure that these POWs were well treated upon handover to his Soviet counterpart. The troops were ferried across the river and as Rusty was talking and sharing vodka with his opposite number, he heard the machine gun fire. Every one of the volga cossacks was killed. Rusty shared that story with me after an Armistice parade (I was a serving officer then in his old division). He never forgave himself. I later found out that he had travelled to parliament to lobby the government to try to stop the inevitable, but there was no way, Stalin wanted them and thousands like them returned for the same treatment. He finished in the army after that, he just couldn't serve any longer. He was a smashing old gentleman, but he carried the guilt of these thousands of men with him to the grave. Very sad but these things happen in war.

[@HistoryHustle]

@@gunner678 Yes indeed, thanks for sharing. More about the Cossacks in a future video.

[@gunner678]

@@HistoryHustle I look forward to it. Just to clarify 'volga cossacks' to the BAOR was a pejorative term which included many ethnic groups of eastern legion troops, not just Cossacks. It was easier than identifying the different types when processing the tens of thousands of POWs.

[@FreekZoontjes]

@@HistoryHustle There were some Indian Wehrmacht units, belonging to the Legion Freies Indien, which was subordinated to the Waffen-SS, in the Netherlands between April and September 1943. These Indian units were stationed in i.a. Zeeland, Zandvoort, Oldebroek and Texel for a while.

[@katitobyt]

Can you make a video about History of Gagauzia?

[@HistoryHustle]

Perhaps one day if I travel there. I did cover Pridnestrovie: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnisfJaljtmqfK8

[@Lqx.14]

What always fascinated me were the Hilwis that died in Stalingrad. Not much info is on them, but they did serve loyally and died bravely, for the most part. They didn't surrender.

[@HistoryHustle]

I do talk more about them in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXzTm2pua7iiqMU

[@KCJAM1]

While I enjoy your channel I am curious as an native English (American) language speaker (I also speak German, some Spanish, and peck around at several others.) whether you chose the word “Hustle” because of the word’s meaning of hard working? It also can mean “too fool someone in order to win a slight of hand game”, for instance. As history is written by the victors, I just wondered if this this double entendre made the choice of this peculiar word an obvious choice?!?! Thanks for all you hard work and I hope you have an excellent holiday season. Cheers‼️

[@HistoryHustle]

Sharp observation. I mean the first meaning 👍

[@davidsmerkler]

Hi Stefan. Thanks so much for your work! You said in minute 15.21 that the Tartar Unit was restationed to Hungary, but was disbanded due to "declining morale". What does that mean? If morale falls, you could stop fighting or simply put, the Germans didn't trust them anymore. The ultimate irony is, of course, the fact that the German Wehtmacht and Waffen SS were probably the most ethnically diverse fighting "formations" ever seen in history in spite of the racial purity laws of the Nazis. Maybe, not the most diverse, but amongst the most diverse. Divide and rule. The same thing happened in the Roman and British empires, but they didn't advocate racial purity, ethnic cleansing or classification by race. The British classified by the colour of your skin.

[@HistoryHustle]

I'm sorry but I don't know the exact details unfortunately.

[@estonian-1996]

Do estonia after ww2 or after cold war the progress that was made thy. Good videos, keep up the good work.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks, in this video I also talk about Estonia after WW2: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnjcYnaCi5eMp6M No other Estonia content anytime soon I'm afraid.

[@sirchromiumdowns2015]

I read a memoir from an Italian soldier who served in an Italian unit on the Eastern Front. I wish I could remember the title, it was very interesting. He was a member of their elite Alpine Corps.

[@HistoryHustle]

Lemme know if you remember the title.

[@awesomeboy4353]

Can you do a video on the Japanese treatment of the Jewish people during ww2

[@HistoryHustle]

Not anytime soon.

[@antonszandorlavey1797]

Hi mate. I just moved to Franeker from London 2 months ago. Do you have any videos about Franeker during the war? Or where can I find information about it?

[@HistoryHustle]

Only about Friesland itself kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYi0oKlra8qCaMk

[@antonszandorlavey1797]

@@HistoryHustle cheers dude

[@erikprank4611]

This is not particularly important in the context of this video, but still, the Udmurts are also Uralic speakers, not Turkic speakers, and mostly rather Christians than Muslims.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for the additional information.

[@nledaig]

Another interesting video about a hideously complex issue.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for watching.

[@mrcocoloco7200]

That's crazy!

[@HistoryHustle]

indeed

[@goldentiger03]

I can't wait for Part 3 when you discuss the Cossaks, Belorussians, and Ukrainians!!!

[@HistoryHustle]

Actually these will be seperate episodes and good news: THIS SATURDAY I will talk about Belarussian collaboration in WW2.

[@valdasendriulaitis50]

I think that you failed to mention that the Dr. Doll ‘s Kalmykian cavalry corps of 5,000 was made up of 100% non- Pow volunteers during the brief period that Buddhist Kalmykia was liberated from the horrors of Stalin’s soviet tyranny . During WWII The Kalmyk’s had an outstanding record as fierce anti-Communist fighters , and their 5,000 man cavalry corps was led by Kalmyk officers and NCO’s with only 2 German officers assigned to the kalmücken Kavallerie -Korps to do administrative functions .

[@HistoryHustle]

Most of it is mentioned.

[@NoName-re9dk]

Can you make a video about the iraq war in 1941 and the free arabian legion ?

[@HistoryHustle]

First one not anytime soon I am afraid. Second topic might be covered in the future.

[@Wernerrrrr]

Is that the Runfunk map behind you?

[@HistoryHustle]

Nee, die was net ietsje anders. Wel dezelfde uitgever geloof ik. ONVOLDOENDE!

[@kacperekkk.0of911]

Can you tell me where you buy those maps that you put on your wall

[@HistoryHustle]

marktplaats.nl

[@Jigurdinec]

My grandfather's brother, a Volga Tatar, served in Roa. then he ended up in the SS Dirlewanger. His body was never found.

[@daveanderson3805]

Diversity is our strength Some random german officer in charge of recruitment

[@HistoryHustle]

I guess...

[@VisualdelightPro]

That was Wilhelm Canaris. He had a diverse Brandenburger unit.

[@mattkaustickomments]

Thanks for sharing this info. To Americans, this part of the world is in generally unknown.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks Matt 👍

[@bobapbob5812]

My father was on Omaha beach in Normandie. He told me that some of the first prisoners they captured were Asians. The Americans thought they were Japanese. They were Central Asians from the Soviet prisoners who volunteered. Probably construction troops. A friend and colleague of mine (since passed) was an Estonian. He said they would cull the prisoners looking for Finnic speaking soldiers and then recruit them on the spot. Sometimes they would recruit others. He told me he still remembered a Ukrainian sergeant manning a machine gun still in his Soviet uniform. I think at the time he was in the SS Viking.

[@HistoryHustle]

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

[@user-nq3mx8ot1g]

My father's family was survivors of Crimean Tatar genocide, after they fled to Turkey, my grandfather joined East Turkestan legion

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@katitobyt]

04:38 Which country's flag is this?

[@giuse2289]

turkestan's flag en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkestan_Autonomy

[@HistoryHustle]

yes

[@katitobyt]

@@HistoryHustle Oooh ok

[@mrhawk2051]

Can you talk more about why these collaborators were allowed to fight with the Germans despite the Nazis' racial ideology? As far as I know, the "Mongols" (Which doesn't even mean Mongolic people at this point, but used as a derogatory term for nomadic/"barbaric" people in the East like ones you mentioned in this video. The only real Mongols were the Kalmyks.) were even lower than Slavs in racial terms and were also responsible for the so-called Judeo-Bolshevik revolution that engulfed Russia, according to Hitler and the Nazis at the top. So, were Hitler and his generals reluctant of these formations or what? (I heard he was reluctant to let Hiwis in) It's also ironic that the Kalmyks were being treated well, to the point were Otto was even called-"Ava" (father) by the Kalmyks whille the rest of the German occupied territories were burning in hell.

[@theodoros9428]

Volunteers in SS was and from Switzerland

[@HistoryHustle]

Didn't know about Swiss SS volunteers.

[@theodoros9428]

I read it in a historical magazine I checked it in internet was about 700 -2000 men

[@HistoryHustle]

Interesting!

[@Rockinbiker1946]

Will you do a story about the Volga Germans who fought with the German Army after the German Army came into the Volga German colonies?

[@HistoryHustle]

As far as I know the Volga Germans were already deported before the Germans reached that area.

[@Rockinbiker1946]

@@HistoryHustle My father's family came from that region. For several years I was a member of the German's From Russia Heritage Society. They have an extensive library in Lincoln, NE. I went there and read about The Volga Germans who were still in that region when the German troops arrived. Men were taken into the German Army at that time and when the Army retreated back into Germany toward the end of the war, these men went back with them and then lied about where they were from in order to not be sent back to Russia.

[@Rockinbiker1946]

Further information from the Institute for Research of Expelled Germans: "However, the Soviets were unable to fully complete the removal of more than a million Germans of the Soviet Union and nearly 500,000 Volga Germans by the time the Blitzkrieg arrived. The invading German army claimed to incorporate over 300,000 Germans of the USSR (Volga Germans and other Soviet Germans) under their control who fled with the retreating Nazis back to Germany during the gradual Soviet triumph. The majority of these ethnic Germans conscripted into the Nazi military were not from the Volga German community, since the Soviet expulsions had preceded the invasion by the Third Reich."

[@igorbrille8222]

I met a lot Wolgagermans in Paraguay in the jungle who told me they fled across the Amur to China,from where they were helped by the Mennonite Centre in Canada to come to Paraguay.

[@zosimus2.18i2]

@@Rockinbiker1946 Now I understand why Soviets deported Wolga Germans to Siberia and Central Asia.

[@caslinden1373]

De die duitse tuniek in de achtergrond een originele?

[@HistoryHustle]

Nee, repro.

[@caslinden1373]

@@HistoryHustle ok

[@snubbedpeer]

Since you speak English in this video why is the subtitles listed as being in Vietnamese ?

[@HistoryHustle]

No idea?

[@snubbedpeer]

@@HistoryHustle I looked at the help pages for Automatic captions in youtube. What they say is first select to have captions and then select a language. Somehow you seem to have selected Vietnamese. Note that I have not tried this myself.

[@HistoryHustle]

I look into it.

[@ilterishkutluq3408]

Glory to Turkestan

[@HistoryHustle]

Ok.

[@ayli9]

Interesting video. Soviet Slavic military men had little respect for Central asian troops because if their lack of Russian language and poor motivation. How did Germans deal with issues of language and motivation? Did these troops take part in Holocaust?

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply. I believe translators were used, or German commanders that spoke Russian. As for motivation, check the other video about the Georgians: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3akgax_rMp6psk As for the Shoa, I don't think they did. Yet, the Azeri's helped surpressing the Warsaw Uprising with brute force.

[@ayli9]

@@HistoryHustle thanks for answering! keep covering less known topics. I also found out many new things from your Netherlands-related videos!

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@igorbrille8222]

I like your historical films very much and gave you a like. But to look at the motives you claim these peoples had to join german forces is running short. First of all the sovjet regime caused 30 million death,many had lost family members.They were drafted into the red army without own will but had more reasons to fight this system. Being prisoners gave them a chance to join against communisme. They were also nationalist for an independent homecountry. The White Army was fighting against the Reds for many years and people were willingly joining the Axes.You had a lot volunteers who lived as refugees outside the Sovjet Union. The British send all these people after surrender into the hands of NKWD becoming the betrayed of Jalta.

[@HistoryHustle]

All you mention I do mention in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXzTm2pua7iiqMU Do notice the the White Russian movement outside Russia did not consist out of people from the areas talked about in this video.

[@igorbrille8222]

@@HistoryHustle I was to quick to write,sorry. Good job you make.

[@alexandrosstroutzas5390]

I would like to say that the Crimean Tartars aren’t the indigenous people of the peninsula. As Greek settlements go back more then 2,500 years ago. Even the Crimean Goths arrived in the region before the tartars did.

[@maicothof1793]

wie vond u slechter , de duitsers of de russen ?

[@HistoryHustle]

Je bedoelt het Nazi-bewind of het Sovjet-bewind? Beide vond ik verschrikkelijk. Weliswaar waren de Nazi's net iets erger, maar hebben hun moorddadige ideeën niet de volle 100% kunnen uitvoeren, omdat het bewind werd verslagen in de Tweede Wereldoorlog.

[@maicothof1793]

@@HistoryHustle maar de sovjets hebben toch meer mensen omgebracht ? ze gooiden mensen in de strijd zonder wapens bv

[@user-wq7oo1uy9d]

​@@HistoryHustlebut in Central Asia respect German because: German respect Muslims and not kill for religion

[@zosimus2.18i2]

"Biz Alla Bilen" literally means: "We are with Alla." And what make you think that it is a mosque from Samarkand? I tend to think that it could be the mosque in the city of Turkestan, Kazakhstan. I have been there many times and visited it.

[@HistoryHustle]

I found this in my source. See below the video.

[@petercroves8562]

i did not know German got support from within the USSR, like this!

[@HistoryHustle]

Yes they did indeed. Glad you learned something new :)

[@sterlingsanderlin324]

And the only one that thinks that's a good map

[@HistoryHustle]

Many people like it I've noticed.

[@VisualdelightPro]

I would like to add one thing, unknown to most Historians in Netherlands and Britain, according to Swedish ww2 records on Fins. even though Finland did join the axis side they didn't officially participate in major battles in the Eastern front, they however sent battalions of well trained troops, like the kompanie kuomanje Skull units, alongside inland commando units led under Törni, in 1941-1943 terrorised Leningrad outskirts, and the ptolesk regions.

[@HistoryHustle]

Hope to cover more on that later.

[@dzhobiden9064]

🇰🇿📣 QAZAQTAR ZHASASYN 📌

[@HistoryHustle]

What?

[@virgiljjacas1229]

Correct if I am wrong, but after Temujin becoming Khan, the only group he did never reconcile were the Tatars. It is true ?

[@HistoryHustle]

Can't tell...

[@valdasendriulaitis50]

Wasn’t it true that the Soviet union unlike Nazi Germany refused to sign the Geneva convention in regards to POWs, and there for it was Tit for tat with the Germans treating Soviet prisoners in the same way did the Soviets we’re treating German POWs?

[@HistoryHustle]

Well they Nazis first captured millions of Red Army soldiers and let them starve. Only later the Soviets captured many Germans and more or less gave them the same treatment.

[@gweltas1372]

Hitler claimed in his famous book that of the three Abrahamic religions, *Islam should have triumphed.* Many leading figures of Nazism converted to Islam, notably Johann Von Leers, who was a great admirer and personal friend of Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, and supported the National Liberation Front of Algeria against France throughout the Algerian War. There were many Muslims in the German Army, including Saïd Mohammedi, an Algerian who joined the Wehrmacht in 1941 in Stahnsdorf, and took the oath with the rank of Feldwebel in Kradschützen-Bataillon 4 (Panzerdivision) then joined the Free Arab Legion in Zwettl in Austria before joining the Sonderkommando Wimmer, a shock commando of the Wehrmacht. Knowing that he was in the National Liberation Army during the Algerian War. The Third Reich also supported Bosnian and Albanian Islamists in Yugoslavia, created the 162nd Turkoman Infantry Division, in which there were Turkmen, Azeris and Tatars (among others); the 164th Afrika Light Division which contained Tunisians, or the North Caucasus Legion (Nordkaukasische Légion) which was made up of 36 ethnic groups or tribes occupying the Ciscaucasia, all of Muslim faith : Abkhazians, Didoës, Koubatchines, Tabassaranes, Adiges, Darguines, Lazes, Tyndales, Avars, Goboderines, Lakes, Tchamalales, Achvars, Ingush, Lezghians, Chechens, Andilles, Kabardines, Nogaïs, Circassians, Agoules, Karatches, Udihés, Balkhaches, Koumyks, Ossetes, Bagoulales, Khvarshines, Routules, Botlikhes, Karatines, Tates, Cachoures, Kaytages and Talisches. While they despised the Russians, *the Slavic peoples in general and Orthodox Christianity* (which they call "Turkish-Mongols", therefore "false whites", lol). Nazism and its support for pan-Islamism was the starting point for the Islamization of Europe, subsequently taken up by Anglo-Saxon leaders since the Yugoslav War in 1990s, the effects of which we still see today. Thank you for your work, and good luck !

[@HistoryHustle]

Not sure if Nazism was the start of islamization. Muslims migrated to Europe well after WW2. The Nazis saw muslims as an ally.

[@gweltas1372]

@@HistoryHustle : Mein Kampf is widely read in Muslim countries. And the Islamic groups in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo and the Maghreb have their origins with the Nazis. Said like that, it's an exaggeration, but for my part it's obvious. Hitler was the culmination of Pan-Germanism begun under the German Empire, and the prophet of modern jihadism.

[@HistoryHustle]

"Mein Kampf is widely read in Muslim countries. " Source? "And the Islamic groups in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo and the Maghreb have their origins with the Nazis." Source?

[@warmonger8799]

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@willienolegs8928]

Being handed over to the Soviets was a death sentence?

[@HistoryHustle]

More or less. Many went to the Gulag and some of them did survive.

[@zosimus2.18i2]

@@HistoryHustle You are right. Talking of those traitors I feel no sorry for them. There were a lot of desertions as well. I knew a man from my town who deserted during the WWII and hid in the mountains. After the war NKVD found him and sent him to Siberia. I do not know how long he had being there. I remember that everybody called him "mountain goat".

[@khagan5951]

@@zosimus2.18i2 You can't betray foreign occupation and colonisation. They fought to liberate their country and let me tell you the USSR is not the turkic homeland.

[@MR_ponki]

its kinda ironic that a regime so racist, had such a diverse army

[@HistoryHustle]

It is yes.

[@mscorrell]

Complicated.

[@HistoryHustle]

For sure!

[@temuujinable]

Interesting fact is that Buryats fought for Russia but Kalmyks fought for Germans. Kalmyks and Buryats are both Mongols.

[@HistoryHustle]

Interesting.

[@vanpaul147]

Crusade. Exactly! Roman Catholic Church driven

[@HistoryHustle]

Exactly not.

[@khagan5951]

Do you know if Turks also fought in Africa?

[@HistoryHustle]

As far as I know this didn't happen. There was the Free Arab Legion that did fight there.

[@khagan5951]

@@HistoryHustle Ah alright, thanks for the answer!

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@johnryder1713]

Something you never even would think would happen, since they were so not racially pure to the Nazis, but had to accept even races they hated after all

[@SangiinKherem]

Or maybe they didn't hate all races after all

[@HistoryHustle]

They did but some more than others. Pragmatism trumped ideology.

[@SangiinKherem]

I wouldn't say they really hated their allies and even outside of their alliance there were other nations like Turkey that Germany was friendly with and there was also the Nazis affection for Arabs and Muslims in general even Hitler himself said that he respects Islam and the prophet Muhammed and would rather have had Islam as the dominant religion In Germany instead of Christianity

[@fatihorkunss]

İf enver pasha was succesful to resistance against red army they wont be suffer stuck between germans and russians. They are still under russian control.

[@HistoryHustle]

If only the Reds wouldn't lost the civil war against the Whites they world would've looked different I think. We can only speculate.

[@fatihorkunss]

@@HistoryHustle I forget to thank you for illuminate us about turkic legions by the way. İf this İf that does not change the situation. Ww2 fate caused many consequences.

[@southernmostrebel]

How many Kurds served in the Nazi army? There is very little about the Kurds of the ottoman empire not just the area of turkey but also IRAQ . This group has largely been given a free pass, and has been under reported.

[@HistoryHustle]

Not sure..

[@nino71]

they didn't "serve Germany", they served their own Nations figthing on the side that they reputed was on the right side. Juts like all non-German SS (Belgians, Italians etc.)

[@HistoryHustle]

I think this applies more to one nationality than the other. For the Italians I agree, since they were drafted. As for the Ostlegionen I agree to a certain extent, since the lived under harsh Soviet rule before. As for the Belgians and Dutch I don't agree they fought for their nation, since the governments-in-exile were against fighting in the USSR. Which of course doesn't mean they were pro-communist.

[@nino71]

​@@HistoryHustle Italians fighting in the waffen SS were surely not drafted.

[@tnd1488]

Great video! Literally the Idel-Ural legionaries double-crossed the Germans by making them believe they're their allies while still being loyal to the Soviets at their heart. The Volga tribes scammed the Germans from the beginning.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply.

[@tnd1488]

@@HistoryHustle you're always welcome. Some of the legion's mutiny leaders, such as Musa Jalil, who was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union after being rehabilitated in the 50s.

[@clared1996]

V odd inclusion of the Mufti of Palestine!

[@HistoryHustle]

Please explain.

[@billdurborow9111]

Why does he talk like that? Is it a speech impetament? Or maybe his accent? IDK...The EASTern legions!

[@HistoryHustle]

Ok