Germany was provided with weapons, equipment, ammunition and products all over Europe. Europe fought against us not only on the labor front. The Nazis created a real anti-Soviet international in the Wehrmacht and SS troops.
"World community" against the Soviet Union
World War II claimed the lives of 50 million people, more than half of this number were killed Soviet citizens. Our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers endured hardships incommensurate with the problems of other belligerent countries. At the same time, the "world community" has already redesigned the history of World War II so that the overwhelming majority, for example, of the inhabitants of America, are sure that the United States played the main role in the war. And some believe that the Americans also fought with the USSR.
In fact, such huge losses of the USSR-Russia were caused by the fact that we fought alone for most of the war, and the United States and England were waiting for whose take. They delayed their active participation in the war as best they could, pretending that they were fighting on secondary and tertiary directions and fronts. They promoted their participation in the war in every possible way. It is also worth remembering that the Nazis carried out in the occupied Soviet regions (unlike us, when we began to liberate Europe), the policy of "scorched earth", destroyed "Russian subhumans." Not only prisoners of war, communists, commissars, but also the civilian population. Millions of people who lived in the most difficult conditions were hijacked for slave work. The goal was the total destruction of most of the Russian population, resettlement of part of the people beyond the Urals (which would lead to the death of most of the settlers, in the absence of funds to establish life, supplies, food and clothing supplies, etc.), and the remnants were planned to be turned into slaves for the Germanic colonists.
In post-Soviet Russia, a myth was created that Moscow "overwhelmed the corpses" of the Germans, and therefore won. During the hostilities on the Eastern Front, the USSR lost up to 11.5 million people (including prisoners of war). And the Third Reich is supposedly only about 3 million soldiers and officers. Before the war, the population of the USSR was at least 193 million people, and the population of Germany and Austria annexed to it was about 80 million. Therefore, the conclusion was automatically drawn about how "cannibalistic" the Soviet regime, Stalin's regime was and how badly the Red Army fought …
In reality, the loss of Germany with satellites (including prisoners of war) - 8, 6 million people. Not counting the losses of the police, collaborators, the militia of the Third Reich and other auxiliary formations. The fact is that at that time the USSR was at war not only with Germany (together with Austria), but also with almost all of Europe. The population of Europe, except for England formally allied to us and courageous Serbia, which continued to resist even after the occupation, was about 400 million people.
During the Great Patriotic War, 34,476.7 thousand people were drafted into the Armed Forces, that is, 17.8% of the country's population. And the Third Reich mobilized up to 21% of its population. That is, it creates the appearance that the German Empire was more strained in the war than the Union. But in the Soviet troops there was a large percentage of women who served both voluntarily and by conscription. Signalers, nurses, military doctors, snipers, anti-aircraft gunners, pilots, etc. There were a lot of female units and subdivisions. In the most difficult time, the State Defense Committee (GKO) even decided to create female rifle units, in which men would only be those who load heavy artillery pieces (although this decision remained only on paper). And in Germany, even during the period of retreat and defeat, women did not serve in the army. Moreover, there were few of them even in production.
What's the matter? There were few men in the USSR? The fact is that not only soldiers are needed to wage war, but also weapons, equipment, ammunition, various military materials, provisions, fuel and a lot of other things. That is, in production, especially in heavy production, men are needed. They cannot be completely replaced by adolescents and women. Therefore, the Soviet authorities were forced to send women to the front. But Hitler did not have such a problem. The then "European Union" was near Berlin. Germany was provided with weapons, equipment, ammunition and products all over Europe. France gave Germany a whole tank army, the French produced a large amount of equipment for the Germans, including vehicles. Czechoslovakia also handed over to the Germans all the arsenals and armored troops intact, but also built a fleet of armored personnel carriers, and throughout the war regularly supplied tanks, aircraft, guns, small arms and ammunition. The Poles built airplanes, supplied food, and produced synthetic gasoline and rubber. Switzerland provided loans, services for the transit of goods and military cargo, for the trade in plundered goods throughout Europe, for the storage of Nazi assets. Sweden supplied iron ore, components for technology, Norway - seafood, etc. In the end, everyone worked for the Reich.
"Crusade" of Europe
And Europe fought against us not only on the labor front. The Nazis created a real anti-Soviet international in the Wehrmacht and SS troops. Up to 2 million European volunteers fought for Hitler against the USSR. Only the elite troops of Nazi Germany, the SS troops, accepted 400 thousand volunteers from other countries into their ranks. The Germans formed 59 volunteer divisions, 23 brigades and several national regiments and legions. These are such divisions as Valonia, Galicia, Bohemia and Moravia, Viking, Denemark, Gembez, Langemark, Nordland, Netherlands, Charlemagne and others. Europeans served as volunteers not only in national, but also in German divisions.
Both in the USSR and in the Russian Federation, they teach that the French were our allies in World War II. Partisans and underground fighters, de Gaulle's fighters and the legendary Normandie-Niemen air regiment. Of course, you shouldn't belittle the brave men of Normandie-Niemen and Fighting France. However, many more French fought on Hitler's side. There were many volunteers among them. Some were drafted into the Wehrmacht, others served in the Legion of French Volunteers (formed in the summer of 1941). The legion arrived in November 1941 at the Russian front as infantry regiment No. 638 and fought at Borodino, then was used against the partisans. In 1944, the Legion became part of the 33rd SS Charlemagne Division. The exact number of the French who fought in the ranks of the Wehrmacht is not known. More than 23 thousand French citizens were captured by the Soviet Union. Some of the French who fought for Hitler were captured by the Anglo-Americans, while others simply returned home.
Ten days after the start of the war with the USSR, the head (leader) of the Independent State of Croatia, Ante Pavelic, called on the Croats to join the troops that were to fight against the Soviet Union. The legion consisted of three infantry battalions. One of the battalions consisted entirely of Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Later, the legion, which the Germans called the 369th Croatian Reinforced Infantry Regiment, was reinforced with an artillery battalion. Croats fought in the Ukraine, near Stalingrad.
A significant number of Poles fought on Hitler's side. On Polish lands, which became part of the Third Reich, they were drafted into the ranks of the Wehrmacht. From the territory of the Polish part of Upper Silesia alone, over 100 thousand people were mobilized into the German army. In some infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht, Poles made up from 12% to 30% and even 45% of the personnel. As a result, by the end of the war, over 60 thousand Poles were in Soviet captivity, who fought on the side of Hitler. And this is not complete data. So, about 600 thousand prisoners from the army of the Reich and its satellites, after an appropriate check, were released directly at the fronts. These were mainly persons of non-German nationality: Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Romanians, Moldovans, etc.
Also, the Germans were actively forming collaborationist units. There was also Vlasov's "Russian Liberation Army" (ROA), there were two battalions "Nachtigall" and "Roland", consisting of Ukrainian nationalists and created by the Abwehr for sabotage operations, police units. Baltic volunteers, who served in the German ground forces, the Luftwaffe, and the SS, and are notorious for their punitive operations. Entire divisions were formed in the Baltic States: the 15th Waffen SS Grenadier Division (1st Latvian), 19th Waffen SS Grenadier Division (2nd Latvian), 20th Waffen SS Grenadier Division (1st Estonian) … By 1944, 22 police battalions of the Schutzmannschaft (noise, “security teams”) were formed in Lithuania. In total, in 1941-1944. 20 thousand people served in various Lithuanian police units. In February 1944, the Lithuanians formed the Local Detachment of Lithuania (12 thousand people), which received the status of an ally of the Wehrmacht. On March 1, 1944, a general mobilization in the Wehrmacht was announced in Lithuania. Construction units (3 thousand people) were formed from the Lithuanians. Also, 13 more police battalions were formed. At the beginning of 1945, about 37 thousand people participated in the battles against the Red Army on the side of the Wehrmacht as part of various Lithuanian battalions and services. Lithuanian punishers took part in the extermination of 229 thousand Soviet prisoners of war, 220 thousand Jews, as well as many thousands of civilians, partisans and soldiers on the territory of other regions of the USSR, Poland and Yugoslavia on the territory of Lithuania.
Among the volunteers who became full soldiers of the Wehrmacht were representatives of the Asian and Caucasian peoples of the USSR. During the first half of 1942, first 4 and then 6 Asian-Caucasian legions were fully integrated into the Wehrmacht. They received the same status as the European legions. Turkestan, Muslim-Caucasian (then Azerbaijan), Georgian, Armenian, North Caucasian (which included representatives of 30 different peoples of the North Caucasus), Volga-Tatar (Idel-Ural) legions. At the end of 1943, the command of the eastern legions in Poland was disbanded. This command formed 14 Turkestan, 8 Azerbaijani, 8 Georgian, 9 Armenian, 7 North Caucasian and 7 Volga Tatar battalions. A total of 53 battalions with a total strength of over 50 thousand people were formed, which were sent first to the Eastern Front, and then to Western Europe.
There were also Hitler's official allies, whose armies side by side with the Germans plundered and burned the Soviet Union. Italians, Romanians, Hungarians, Finns, Croats, Slovaks. Bulgarians burned rebellious Serbia. And officially neutral Spain sent the Blue Division. All this European bastard climbed to our lands in the hope of an easy walk and big prey.
