Finnisches Freiwilligen-Bataillon der Waffen-SS; disbanded

SS-Gruppenführer Felix Steiner with Finnish Wiking Volunteers

Finnish SS Volunteers in Farewell parade in Ruhpolding

The first contingent of Finns was organized as the SS-Freiwilligen Bataillon Nordost in 1941 but was later renamed Finnisches Freiwilligen-Bataillon der Waffen-SS. The Finnish volunteers left SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Wiking in March 1943, and were replaced with the Estonian SS-Frewilligen-Bataillon Narwa. Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler decided that the ethnic Swedish community had positively influenced all of Finland, and therefore the entire Finnish Waffen-SS contingent was given "honorary-Germanic" status. The Finnish volunteers had fought well, and were accepted as full comrades within SS-Wiking. Up to that time, the Finnish battalion was involved in all of Wiking's battles, fighting in the Kalmuck Steppe, in the retreat through Rostov, and finally, along the Donets during the campaign which saw the recapture of Kharkov. Individual Finns remained with the Waffen-SS until the end of World War II. Credit: Marc Rikmenspoel, Waffen-SS Encyclopedia. Top image: the East Prussian former Wiking Commander Felix Steiner meets members of the Finnish Waffen-SS battalion in 1943. He is wearing both his Knight's Cross and the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty, which was given to him back in 1942. Finnish Wartime Photo Archive. Public domain. Bottom image: the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS march past their former Commander SS-Gruppenführer Felix Steiner and Battalion Commander SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans Collani in Ruhpolding in southeastern Bavaria on May 23 1943 before leaving for Finland. Commons: Bundesarchiv.