Azerbaijani Legion

Azerbaijani Legion
(Aserbaidschanische Legion)
Late 1943 pattern of the patch worn by the Azerbaijani Legion
Active2 August 1942 – 8 May 1945
Allegiance Nazi Germany
BranchWehrmacht
Sizeup to 40,000 troops[1]
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Abdurrahman Fatalibeyli

The Azerbaijani Legion (German: Aserbaidschanische Legion, Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan legionu) was one of the foreign units of the Wehrmacht. It was formed in December 1941 on the Eastern Front as the Kaukasische-Mohammedanische Legion (Muslim Caucasus Legion) and was re-designated 1942 into two separate legions, the North Caucasian legion and the Azerbaijani legion.[2] It was made up mainly of former Azerbaijani POW volunteers but also volunteers from other peoples in the area. It was part of the Ostlegionen. It was used to form the 162nd (Turkistan) Infanterie-Division of the Wehrmacht in 1943.[3] similar to other Ostlegionen, it was organised to replenish the dwindling German manpower on the Eastern front and to "save the German blood at the front."[4]

The Azerbaijani Legion participated in the systematic killing of between 40,000 and 50,000 Polish civilians in Warsaw during the Wola massacre.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ "Сергей Дробязко, Андрей Каращук "Восточные легионы и казачьи части в вермахте"". Archived from the original on 2009-10-23. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  2. ^ Ailsby, Christopher (2004). Hitler's renegades : foreign nationals in the service of the Third Reich. Staplehurst: Spellmount. p. 123. ISBN 1-86227-247-6. OCLC 56341238.
  3. ^ On Azerbaijani Legion
  4. ^ Dallin, Alexander (1957). German rule in Russia, 1941-1945; a study of occupation policies. London: Macmillan. pp. 534–538. ISBN 0-86531-102-1. OCLC 394293.
  5. ^ Hale, Christopher (2011). Hitler's Foreign Executioners: Europe's Dirty Secret. Stroud, England: The History Press. pp. 328, 334. ISBN 978-0-7524-6393-3.
  6. ^ Williamson, David G. (2012). The Polish Underground, 1939–1947. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-84884-281-6.
  7. ^ Kay, Alex J. (2021). Empire of Destruction: A History of Nazi Mass Killing. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-300-23405-3.