Active 1941 – July 1943 Branch Waffen SS Notable
commanders Hans Collani | Country Nazi Germany Type Infantry | |
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Size Battalion 1408 volunteers (in all) | ||
The Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS was a Finnish volunteer combat battalion of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II that fought on the Eastern Front.
Formed in 1941 as SS Freiwilligen-Battalion Nordost, the battalion was made up of 1,200 Finnish volunteers who had signed to fight against the Soviet Union for two years. While many Finns were already serving with the SS Division Wiking, the battalion differed in that it was staffed with Finnish officers and NCOs (Wiking being commanded by Germans).
The mathematician Rolf Nevanlinna was chairman of the Committee for the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS. The unit lost 255 men killed in action, 686 wounded and 14 missing during its service.
The battalion was praised by many Waffen-SS commanders, even Heinrich Himmler, for its combat performance. Himmler said "Where a Finnish SS-man stood, the enemy was always defeated." Neither the unit nor any of its members were ever accused of any war crimes.