page_title: German occupation of Estonia during World War II
section_title: Estonians in Nazi German military units
hierarchical_section_title: German occupation of Estonia during World War II / Estonians in Nazi German military units
caption_attribution_description: English: Symbol of the en:20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) and en:Estonian Legion Deutsch: Symbol der de:20. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr. 1)
context_page_description: After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Army Group North reached Estonia in July. Initially the Germans were perceived by most Estonians as liberators from the USSR and its repressions, having arrived only a week after the first mass deportations from the Baltic States. Although hopes were raised for the restoration of the country's independence, it was soon realized that they were but another occupying power. The Germans pillaged the country for their war effort and unleashed The Holocaust in Estonia during which they and their collaborators murdered tens of thousands of people. For the duration of the occupation, Estonia was incorporated into the German province of Ostland.
context_section_description: The annexation of Estonia by the USSR in 1940 was complete, but never recognized internationally except by Eastern Bloc countries. After the annexation, Estonians were subject to conscription into the Red Army, which by international law is illegal if Estonia is not considered to have been a part of the USSR. When the Soviets retreated from Estonia and Germany fully occupied it, in the summer of 1941, the Germans continued the practice of dragooning Estonian men, although the majority joined the German Army voluntarily, often out of the desire to fight the USSR, which had made strong enemies with many groups of society in Estonia after introducing their Marxist economic system.  Up to March 1942 drafted Estonians mostly served in the rear of the Army Group North security. On August 28, 1942 the German powers announced the legal compilation of the so-called "Estonian Legion" within the Waffen SS. Oberführer Franz Augsberger was nominated the commander of the legion. Up to the end of 1942 about 1,280 men volunteered into the training camp. Bataillon Narwa was formed from the first 800 men of the Legion to have finished their training at Heidelager, being sent in April 1943 to join the Division Wiking in Ukraine. They replaced the Finnish Volunteer Battalion, recalled to Finland for political reasons. In March 1943, a partial mobilization was carried out in Estonia during which 12,000 men were conscripted into the SS. On May 5, 1943 the 3rd Waffen-SS Brigade (Estonian), another fully Estonian unit, was formed and sent to the front near Nevel.
  By January 1944, the front was pushed back by the Red Army almost all the way to the former Estonian border. Jüri Uluots, the last constitutional Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia, the leader of Estonian underground government delivered a radio address on February 7 that implored all able-bodied men born from 1904 through 1923 to report for military service in the SS (before this, Uluots had opposed any German mobilization of Estonians.) Following Uluots' address, 38.000 conscripts jammed registration centers. Several thousand Estonians who had volunteered to join the Finnish army were transferred back across the Gulf of Finland to join the newly formed Territorial Defense Force, assigned to defend Estonia against the Soviet advance. The maximum amount of Estonians enrolled in Nazi-German military units was 70,000. The initial formation of the volunteer Estonian Legion created in 1942 was eventually expanded to become a full-sized conscript division of the Waffen SS in 1944, the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian). Units consisting largely of Estonians — often under German officers – saw action on the Narva line throughout 1944. Many Estonians hoped that they would attract support from the Allies, and ultimately a restoration of their interwar independence, by resisting the Soviet reoccupation of their country. In the end, there was no Allied support, largely because they were fighting under Nazi flags.
  On February 2, 1944 the advance guard units of the 2nd Shock Army reached the border of Estonia as a part of the Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive which began on February 1. Field Marshal Walter Model was nominated the leader of the German Army Group North. The Soviet Narva Offensive (15–28 February 1944) led by Soviet General Leonid A. Govorov, the commander of the Leningrad Front, commenced. On February 24, Estonian Independence Day, the counterattack of the so-called Estonian Division to break the Soviet bridgeheads began. A battalion of Estonians led by Rudolf Bruus destroyed a Soviet bridgehead. Another battalion of Estonians led by Ain-Ervin Mere was successful against another bridgehead, at Vaasa-Siivertsi-Vepsaküla. On March 6, this work was complete.  The Leningrad Front concentrated 9 corps at Narva against 7 divisions and one brigade. On March 1, the Soviet Narva Offensive (1–4 March 1944) began in the direction of Auvere. The 658th Eastern Battalion led by Alfons Rebane and the 659th Eastern Battalion commanded by Georg Sooden were involved in defeating th
caption: Divisional insignia of 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian)
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