European non - Germans in the German armed forces during World War II Europäische Freiwillige is a German term meaning " European Volunteers " , derived from the German " Freiwillige " ( volunteer ) , and is used to describe volunteers from an occupied country who join the army of the occupier . Background . The term was mainly used to describe non - German Europeans ( neither Reichsdeutsche or Volksdeutsche ) who volunteered to fight for the Third Reich during World War II . Though largely recruited from occupied countries , they also came from co - belligerent , neutral , and even active enemy nations . They fought in the Waffen - SS as well as in the Wehrmacht . One Azerbaijani POW who volunteered to fight against the Soviets told his German captors that he was anti - Nazi , anti - Bolshevik , and only wanted an opportunity to free his homeland . On the Eastern Front the volunteers and conscripts in the Ostlegionen came to comprise a fighting force equivalent to 30 German divisions by the end of 1943 . Large numbers of " Freiwillige " also came from areas outside Europe , mainly motivated by a desire to fight for the freedom of their nations against Soviet or British domination . The non - German troops thus comprised a wide range of ethnicities , for example from the mainly Turkic peoples in the Ostlegionen to the Muslim Slavs in 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar and the Indians of the Indische Legion ( the Indian National Army fought against the British on the Japanese side ) . Branches of the Wehrmacht . Volunteers from Western and Northern Europe served in the various different branches of the Wehrmacht , i . e . , the Kriegsmarine ( navy ) , the Luftwaffe ( air force ) , and the Heer ( land forces ) . Several Heer units composed primarily of " non - Germanic " volunteers ( e . g . , French , Walloons , Spaniards ) were eventually subordinated to the Waffen - SS in the later phases of the war . At various times , the Wehrmacht also recruited or conscripted foreigners as : SS during World War II . There were a number of divisions of the SS which were made up of non Germans including : Renaming . Some of these merely consisted of many different nationalities over the course of the war , such as 5 . SS - Panzer - Division Wiking , whereas others dropped the " Freiwilligen " and were adopted by the SS , such as 14 . Galizische whose name changed three times during World War II : 14 . Galizische SS - Freiwilligen - Division < br > 14 . Galizische SS - Frewilligen - Infanterie - Division < br > 14 . Waffen - Grenadier - Division der SS ( galizische Nr . 1 ) < br > 14 . Waffen - Grenadier - Division der SS ( ukrainishe Nr . 1 ) Disreputable conduct . Many of the units were accused of war crimes , as well as a number of units who also participated in the Holocaust and in atrocities committed against Soviet civilians during so - called anti - partisan operations . For information on these formations see : Postwar activities of veterans . Following the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 , the former Waffen - SS veterans were prosecuted in their home countries . Treated as pariahs by the fellow countrymen , they often sought support from the former German comrades through membership in organisations such as HIAG . The German and non - German Waffen - SS veterans began publishing periodicals in the 1950s to promote their own narrative of events . HIAG ' s magazine " Wiking - Ruf " first appeared in 1951 . This later became the monthly magazine " Der Freiwillige " ( ) published by Munin Verlag , a company with ties to HIAG . Recently , Patrick Agte has taken over the name " Munin Verlag " and publication of " Der Freiwillige " . A separate newsletter " Unser Wiking - Ruf " , devoted solely to SS - Division Wiking , began appearing in the 1990s . Another apologist periodical devoted to the German and non - German units of the Waffen - SS is the American - published quarterly , " Siegrunen " ( ) .