6.ϟϟ-Gebirgs-Division „Nord“ in Eastern Karelia: Casualties and losses

 SS officers of the Nord, together with Finnish officers in Karelia

Finnish execution of Soviet saboteurs in Karelia

Body of frozen Soviet Red Army soldier in Karelia

While the other Waffen-SS divisions were becoming famous for their successes on the main sector of the Eastern Front, 6.SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord fought a lonely war admidst the forests, lakes and swamps of Karelia. Karelia was liberated for three years during the Continuation War of 1941 to 1944 when East Karelia was occupied by the Finns. One of Nord's elite components was the SS-Schijäger-Bataillon Norwegen, a volunteer unit of Norwegian expert skiers used for ambushes and patrols. The division's manpower strength was 19,355 officers and men a month before the stand-still. The stand-still agreement between Finland and the Soviet Union went into effect in July 1944, while elements of Nord were still in the sub-arctic reaches of Soviet Karelia east of the Finnish frontier. It's estimated that 63,200 Finns and 23,200 Germans died or went missing during the Continuation War. Estimates of dead or missing Soviets range from 250,000 to 305,000. Source: the Nord veteran Johann Voss, a pseudonym; Black Edelweiss: A Memoir of Combat and Conscience by a Soldier of the Waffen-SS. Top image: the Knight's Cross holder SS-Gruppenführer and commander Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (first from the right in the foreground) with fellow officers of the Nord and Finnish officers in Karelia. He is wearing the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class with Swords below his Knight's Cross. Kleinheisterkamp was taken prisoner by the Soviets on April 28 1945 near the village of Halbe. He committed suicide a day later while in captivity. Other accounts state he died on May 2 1945 in the Battle of Halbe. Source: Hermann Historica. Fair use. Middle image: Finnish execution of Soviet saboteurs in Poventsa north of Lake Onega in East Karelia during the Continuation War. Poventsa is located just south of Sandarmokh, the site of mass execution and burial of victims of the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's political repressions. Over 9,000 people of more than 58 nationalities were shot and buried there before the war began. Credit: Jussi Luostarinen. The Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive. Bottom image: a fallen Soviet soldier frozen in place by the extreme cold in Karelia. Credit: Julius Jääskeläinen. The Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive.