Editing Schutzstaffel (section)

==Foreign legions and volunteers==
{{See also|Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1980-036-05, Amin al Husseini bei bosnischen SS-Freiwilligen.jpg|thumb|[[Grand Mufti of Jerusalem]] [[Amin al-Husseini]] greeting Bosnian ''Waffen-SS'' volunteers before their departure to the Eastern Front, 1943]]
Beginning in 1940, Himmler opened up ''Waffen-SS'' recruiting to ethnic Germans that were not German citizens.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=160}} In March 1941, the SS Main Office established the ''Germanische Leitstelle'' (Germanic Guidance Office) to establish ''Waffen-SS'' recruiting offices in Nazi-occupied Europe.{{sfn|Koehl|2004|pp=212–213}} The majority of the resulting foreign ''Waffen-SS'' units wore a distinctive national collar patch and preceded their SS rank titles with the prefix ''Waffen'' instead of SS. Volunteers from Scandinavian countries filled the ranks of two divisions, the ''SS-Wiking'' and ''[[11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland|SS-Nordland]]''.{{sfn|Koehl|2004|pp=214–219}} Swiss German speakers joined in substantial numbers.{{sfn|Gutmann|2017|loc=Chapter 3}} Belgian Flemings joined Dutchmen to form the ''[[Volunteer Legion Netherlands|SS-Nederland]]'' legion,{{sfn|McNab|2013|pp=272–273}} and their Walloon compatriots joined the ''[[Walloon Legion|SS-Wallonien]]''.{{sfn|McNab|2013|pp=321–323}} By the end of 1943 about a quarter of the SS were ethnic Germans from across Europe,{{sfn|Höhne|2001|p=458}} and by June 1944, half the ''Waffen-SS'' were foreign nationals.{{sfn|Weale|2012|p=306}}

Additional ''Waffen-SS'' units were added from the [[Ukrainian collaboration with Nazi Germany|Ukrainians]], [[21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg|Albanians]] from [[Kosovo]], Serbians, Croatians, Turkic, Caucasians, Cossack, and Tatars. The Ukrainians and Tatars, who had suffered persecution under [[Joseph Stalin]], were likely motivated primarily by opposition to the Soviet government rather than ideological agreement with the SS.{{sfn|Reitlinger|1989|pp=200–204}} The exiled Grand Mufti of Jerusalem [[Amin al-Husseini]] was made an SS-''Gruppenführer'' by Himmler in May 1943.{{sfn|Reitlinger|1989|p=199}} He subsequently used antisemitism and anti-Serb racism to recruit a ''Waffen-SS'' division of [[Bosniaks|Bosnian Muslims]], the ''[[13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)|SS-Handschar]]''.{{sfn|Hale|2011|pp=264–266}} The year-long Soviet [[occupation of the Baltic states]] at the beginning of World War II resulted in volunteers for [[Latvia]]n and [[Estonia]]n ''Waffen-SS'' units. The [[Estonian Legion]] had 1,280 volunteers under training by the end of 1942.{{sfn|Bishop|2005|p=93}} Approximately 25,000 men served in the Estonian SS division, with thousands more conscripted into Police Front battalions and border guard units.{{sfn|Bishop|2005|pp=93–94}} Most of the Estonians were fighting primarily to regain their independence and as many as 15,000 of them died fighting alongside the Germans.{{sfn|Müller|2012|p=169}} In early 1944, Himmler even contacted Pohl to suggest releasing Muslim prisoners from concentration camps to supplement his SS troops.{{sfn|Motadel|2014|p=242}}

The [[Indian Legion]] was a ''Wehrmacht'' unit formed in August 1942 chiefly from disaffected Indian soldiers of the [[British Indian Army]] captured in the [[North African campaign|North African Campaign]]. In August 1944 it was transferred to the auspices of the ''Waffen-SS'' as the ''Indische Freiwilligen-Legion der Waffen-SS''.{{sfn|Stein|2002|p=189}} There was also a French volunteer division, ''[[33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne|SS-Charlemagne]]'', which was formed in 1944 mainly from the remnants of the [[Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism]] and French ''Sturmbrigade''.{{sfn|McNab|2013|pp=326–330}}