Frikorps Danmark (Free Corps Denmark) was a Danish volunteer army corps created by the Danish Nazi Party in cooperation with Germany, to fight the Soviet Union during the Second World War. On June 29, 1941, days after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Danish Nazi Party (DNSAP) newspaper Fædrelandet proclaimed the creation of the corps. Its formation was subsequently sanctioned by the so-called Danish proctorate government which authorized officers of the Royal Danish Army to join the unit. ^[1]. The corps was disbanded in 1943. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 583 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (769 × 791 pixels, file size: 107 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Flag of the Frikorps Danmark File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I Infantry or footmen are very highly disciplined and trained soldiers who fight primarily with small arms(rifles), but are trained to use everything from their bare hands to missle systems in order to neutralize... Christian Peder Kryssing (July 7, 1891 - July 7, 1976), commonly known as C.P. Kryssing, was a Danish artillery officer and an ardent anti-communist but not a member of the danish Nazi party, DNSAP. Kryssing became the first commander of the Frikorps Danmark June 29, 1941 but was discharged... Christian Frederik von Schalburg (April 15, 1906 - June 2, 1942) was a Danish officer and the second commander of Frikorps Danmark. ... Knud Børge Martinsen (November 30, 1905 - June 25, 1949) was a Danish officer and the third commander of Frikorps Danmark. ... A corps (plural same as singular; a word that migrated from the French language, pronounced IPA: (cor), but originating in the Latin corpus, corporis meaning body) is either a large military unit or formation, an administrative grouping of troops within an army with a common function (such as artillery or... Combatants Soviet Union,[1] Poland, Tannu Tuva (until 1944 incorporation with USSR), Mongolia Germany,[2] Italy (to 1943), Romania (to 1944), Finland (to 1944), Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain (to 1943, unofficial) Commanders Joseph Stalin, Aleksei Antonov, Ivan Konev, Rodion Malinovsky, Ivan Bagramyan, Kirill Meretskov, Ivan Petrov, Alexander Rodimtsev, Konstantin Rokossovsky... Combatants Germany Romania Finland Italy Hungary Slovakia  Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Fedor von Bock Gerd von Rundstedt Heinz Guderian Günther von Kluge Franz Halder Ion Antonescu C.G.E. Mannerheim Giovanni Messe, CSIR Italo Garibaldi, ARMIR Iosef Stalin Kliment Voroshilov Semyon Timoshenko Fyodor Kuznetsov... DNSAPs logo. ...

During the course of the war, between 6,000 and 10,000 Danes joined the corps, including 77 officers of the Royal Danish Army.

Establishment

Denmark had signed a treaty of nonagression with Nazi Germany in 1939.[1] Germany invoked this treaty on April 9, 1940, when it ordered the military occupation of Denmark under the guise of protecting the Danes from British invasion. Faced with potential German aerial bombing, King Christian X and the Danish government accepted "protection of the Reich" and permitted the "peaceful occupation" of the country in return for nominal political independence. The Danes began a policy of collaboration that included diplomatic and economic support of Germany. Cecil von Renthe-Fink, a German diplomat, was accredited to the Danish King and Cabinet as Reichsbevollmächtigter ("Imperial Pleniptentiary") and charged with the duty of supervising Danish government. His Majesty Christian X of Denmark (Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm) (September 26, 1870 – April 20, 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and of Iceland between 1918 and 1944. ... Cecil von Renthe-Fink (1885-1964) was a German diplomat. ... The term plenipotentiary (from the Latin, plenus + potens, full + power) refers to, as a noun, a person who has, or as an adjective that confers, full powers. ...

At the outset of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Germany asked Denmark to form a military corps to fight with the Germans against the Soviets. On June 29, 1941, seven days after the invasion had begun, the Danish Nazi Party (DNSAP) newspaper Fædrelandet ("Fatherland") proclaimed the creation of the Frikorps Danmark ("Free Corps Denmark"). Danish Foreign Minister Erik Scavenius entered into an agreement with the Reichsbevollmächtigter that officers and soldiers of the Danish Royal Army wishing to join this corps would be given leave and allowed to retain their rank. The Danish Cabinet issued an announcement stating that "Lieut. Colonel Christian Peder Kryssing, Chief of the 5th Artillery Regiment, Holbæk, has with the consent of the Royal Danish Government assumed command over 'Frikorps Danmark'". DNSAPs logo. ... Erik Scavenius with German plenipotentiary of Denmark, Dr. Werner Best. ... Christian Peder Kryssing (July 7, 1891 - July 7, 1976), commonly known as C.P. Kryssing, was a Danish artillery officer and an ardent anti-communist but not a member of the danish Nazi party, DNSAP. Kryssing became the first commander of the Frikorps Danmark June 29, 1941 but was discharged...

The role of the Danish government in forming the Frikorps Danmark is today disputed. Some authorities maintain that the Corps was unique among the legions of foreign volunteers fighting for Hitler in that it carried the official sanction of its home government. Others maintain that while the Danish government may have sanctioned formation of the Corps that it did not itself form the Corps.^[2].

Recruitment

It is estimated that between 6,000 and 10,000 Danes served in the Frikorps Danmark during the course of the war. Unlike other formations of foreign volunteers that fought with the Germans such as Spain's Blue Division, the Frikorps Danmark was unique in that it had the sanction of its home government. The Blue Division (Spanish División Azul, German: ), or 250. ...

A 1998 study showed that the average recruit to Frikorps Danmark was a Nazi and/or a member of the German minority in Denmark and that recruitment was very broad socially. ^[3]. Bo Lidegaard notes: "The relationship between the population and the corps was freezing cold, and legionnaires on leave time and again came into fights with civilians meeting the corps' volunteers with massive contempt." Lidegaard gives the following figures for 1941: 6,000 Danish citizens had signed up for German army duty and 1,500 of these belonged to the German minority in Denmark. ^[4]

Heinrich Himmler complained that the Danish government was not enthusiastic enough in raising volunteers for the corps. Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( ; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and the Nazi hierarchy. ...

It should be noted, though, that a majority of the over 10.000 Danes that initially volunteered for active service were regarded as being not suitable for active service.

Service record

With about 1,000 recruits, the corps was sent to Langenhorn barracks near Hamburg for basic training in late July 1941. It was unit was considered ready for action by September 15 and sent to Owinska in Poland. Langenhorn is a municipality in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. ... Owińska is a village in Gmina Czerwonak, Poznań County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in western Poland, close to the Warta river. ...

C.P. Kryssing was dismissed in February 1942 for insufficient ideological adherence to Nazism. He was transferred to the artillery where he actually ended his career as a general. Christian Peder Kryssing (July 7, 1891 - July 7, 1976), commonly known as C.P. Kryssing, was a Danish artillery officer and an ardent anti-communist but not a member of the danish Nazi party, DNSAP. Kryssing became the first commander of the Frikorps Danmark June 29, 1941 but was discharged...

Christian Frederik von Schalburg - an aristocrat who was very anticommunist (and a hard core nazi) because he had been raised in Russia and had seen the aftermath of the Russian revolution in 1917 - replaced Kryssing as the leader of Frikorps Danmark. Christian Frederik von Schalburg (April 15, 1906 - June 2, 1942) was a Danish officer and the second commander of Frikorps Danmark. ...

On the August 5, 1942, the corps was ordered to the front line. The corps fought near Demyansk south of Lake Ilmen and Novgorod. During the night of June 2, Schalburg was killed. Hans Albert von Lettow-Vorbeck, his German replacement, was killed only a few days later. On July 11, 1942, Knud Børge Martinsen took command of the corps. Demyansk (Russian: Демянск) is a town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia. ... Ilmen (Russian: ) is a historically important lake in the Novgorod Oblast of Russia, formerly a vital part of the Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Russian: ) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia. ... Knud Børge Martinsen (November 30, 1905 - June 25, 1949) was a Danish officer and the third commander of Frikorps Danmark. ...

From August to October, the corps returned to Denmark, and met much hostility from the civilian population. On November 13, 1942, the corps was deployed to Jelgava in Latvia. Originally it was intended for anti-partisan activities, but was then moved up to the frontline. In December the corps engaged at Velikiye Luki in intense fighting. Jelgava (German: Mitau; Russian: Елгава / Митава; Polish: Mitawa) is a town in central Latvia about 41 km southwest of Riga with approximately 66,000 inhabitants. ... Velikiye Luki (also transliterated as Velikie Luki, Russian Великие Луки) - city in Russia, in Pskov Oblast. ...

In March, the corps was transferred to Grafenwöhr near Nuremberg in Germany. Then on June 6, 1942, the corps was disbanded. Many soldiers were transferred to "Regiment Dänemark" in "Division Nordland". Others joined groups such as the HIPO Corps or Schalburg Corps. Grafenwöhr is a small town in the district Neustadt (Waldnaab), in eastern Bavaria, Germany. ... Nürnberg redirects here. ... Kampfverband Waräger Germanische-Freiwilligen-Division SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 11 (Germanische) 11. ... The HIPO Corps (danish: HIPO korps) was a Danish auxiliary police corps, established in 1944 by the German Gestapo when the Danish police was disbanded and most of the regular policemen on September 19, 1944 were arrested and sent to concentration camps in Germany. ... The Schalburg Corps (danish: Schalburgkorps) was a Danish volunteer army corps and a branch of the Germanic-SS. Named after Christian Frederik von Schalburg, commander of the Frikorps Danmark who was killed in combat operations in the Demyansk Pocket in 1942. ...

Commander

• SS-Obersturmbannführer Christian Peter Kryssing 19.7.1941 – 23.2.1942
• SS-Obersturmbannführer Christian Frederik von Schalburg 1.3.1942 – 2.6.1942
• SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans von Lettow-Vorbeck 9.6.1942 – 11.6.1942
• SS-Obersturmbannführer Knud Børge Martinsen 11.6.1942 – 21.3.1943
• SS-Sturmbannführer P. Neergard-Jacobsen 21.3.1943 – 20.5.1943

References