see also Occupation of France

33rd SS Grenadier Division "Charlemagne"

The predecessor of the Charlemagne Division was the French Volunteer Legion, created in 1941 under the control of German army... Initially called the 638th Army Infantry Regiment, it first entered the battle on the Eastern Front during the 1941/42 winter offensive against Moscow as part of the 1st Infantry Division. The French unit suffered heavy losses and from the spring of 1942 to the autumn of 1943 was withdrawn from the front, after which it was used mainly for anti-partisan operations. At this stage, it was divided to conduct operations in the rear against the partisans and was used in the form of units equal in number to the battalion.

In January 1944, the battalion was reorganized again, but it was still used for battles with partisans.

In June 1944, the battalion returned to the central sector of the Eastern Front to take part in offensive operations against the Red Army. His actions were so impressive that the Soviet command considered that it was dealing with not one, but two French battalions, although in fact the number of legionnaires corresponded to about half of the battalion. In September 1944, French volunteers joined the Waffen-SS.

In France, recruitment to the SS began in earnest only in 1943, in Paris. In August 1944, the first 300 volunteers were sent to Alsace to train with the French SS volunteer assault brigade. In September 1943, about 30 French officers were sent to the SS military school in the Bavarian city of Bad Tölze, and about a hundred non-commissioned officers were sent to various junior officer schools to upgrade their training to the standard requirements of the Waffen-SS.

At this time, a group of French volunteers was on the Eastern Front as part of the 18th Volunteer Panzer- grenadier division SS "Horst Wessel". After fierce battles with units of the Red Army, they were withdrawn to the rear for rest and reorganization. At this time, a decision was made - taking into account the combat record of the French, to combine them with the remnants of the legion and detachments of the French militia to create a new division of the Waffen-SS.

This most unusual of all the divisions also included a number of soldiers from the French colonies, including French Indochina and even one Japanese. Eyewitnesses claim that several French Jews managed to escape Nazi persecution by hiding in the ranks of the Charlemagne Division.

The division was formed in the winter of 1944/45 and at the very beginning of 1945 was sent to the front in Pomerania. The constant fierce battles against the numerically superior units of the Red Army severely battered the French division and split it into three parts. One of the groups, numbering a battalion, retreated to the Baltic states and was evacuated to Denmark, after which it ended up in Neustrelitz, near Berlin. The second group was completely destroyed by the fierce volleys of Soviet artillery pieces. The third managed to retreat to the west, where she was destroyed - her soldiers either died or were captured by the Russians.

Those of them who remained in Neustrelitz were brought together by the divisional commander, SS Brigade Fuehrer Gustav Krukenberg, who released those who no longer wanted to serve in the SS from the oath. Nevertheless, about 500 people voluntarily followed their commander to defend Berlin. Approximately 700 people remained in Neustrelitz. The 500 volunteers who took part in the defense of Berlin fought exceptionally conscientiously, despite the fact that they knew that the battle was lost.

Their bravery was awarded with three Knight's Crosses. One of them was presented to SS Obersturm Führer Wilhelm Weber, a German divisional officer, and two to French soldiers Unterscharführer Eugène Vallot and Oberscharführer François Apollo. All awards were distinctions for personal courage shown in the destruction of several Soviet tanks alone. Three days later Vallo and Apollo were killed. Weber was fortunate enough to survive the war.

Those of the Charlemagne Division members who chose not to go to the front made their way to the west, where they voluntarily surrendered. They undoubtedly believed that the Western allies would treat them better than the Russians. Those of them who surrendered to their compatriots from the Free French army had to be greatly disappointed in their illusion. It is known that when they encountered Free French soldiers, when asked by the latter about why they wished to wear German uniforms, the French SS soldiers inquired about the uniforms of the American troops worn by the De Gaulleans. Enraged by such a question, the commander of De Gaulle's troops on the spot, without any trial or investigation, shot his fellow SS men.

As for the "Free French", it is itself guilty of the most terrible war crimes. It makes no sense to say that the killers of the French SS went unpunished. Ironically, the French SS men who took part in the brutal destruction of Oradura in 1944 were treated much more leniently. They were considered people who were forced to mobilize and thus "victims." The French court acquitted them. The reason for this surprising verdict seems to be purely political.

The French SS men who appeared before the court were from Alsace, which, over the years of its history, has repeatedly passed either to France or to Germany. It was believed that the conviction against the perpetrators of the tragedy played out in Oradour could have caused unrest in Alsace. Thus, a situation arose when the French SS men, who took part in the execution of a large number of French citizens, remained unpunished, while the members of the Charlemagne division, who fought with the communist partisan detachments in the East and against units of the Red Army, lost their lives after were captured.

Based on the book by G. Williamson "SS - an instrument of terror"

Never before in world history has such a powerful citadel been taken in such a short time: in just a week. The German command carefully thought out and perfectly prepared the city for defense. Six-storey stone bunkers, pillboxes, pillboxes, tanks dug into the ground, fortified houses, in which the "faustics" settled, posing a mortal danger to our tanks. The center of Berlin with the Spree River, cut by canals, was especially strongly fortified.

The Nazis tried to prevent the Red Army from taking possession of the capital, knowing that the Anglo-American troops were preparing an offensive in the Berlin direction. However, the degree of preference for surrender to the Anglo-Americans, rather than the Soviet troops, was greatly exaggerated in Soviet time... On April 4, 1945 J. Goebbels wrote in his diary:

The main task of the press and radio is to explain to the German people that the western enemy is hatching the same heinous plans of destroying the nation as the eastern one ... plans, it is only necessary for the Germans to show weakness and submit to the enemy ...».

Soldiers of the Eastern Front, if in the coming days and hours each of you fulfills his duty to the Fatherland, we will stop and defeat the Asian hordes at the gates of Berlin. We foresaw this blow and opposed it with a front of unprecedented power ... Berlin will remain German, Vienna will be German ...».

Another thing is that the Nazis' anti-Soviet propaganda was much more sophisticated than against the Anglo-Americans, and the local population eastern regions Germany experienced panic at the approach of the Red Army, and the soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht were in a hurry to break through to the West to surrender there. Therefore, I.V. Stalin hurried the marshal Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov to begin the assault on Berlin as soon as possible. It began on the night of April 16 with a powerful artillery barrage and blinding the enemy with a multitude of anti-aircraft searchlights. After long and stubborn battles, Zhukov's troops captured the Seelow Heights, the main defense point of the Germans on the way to Berlin. Meanwhile, the tank army of Colonel-General P.S. Rybalko, crossing the Spree, attacked Berlin from a southern direction. In the north, on April 21, tankers of Lieutenant General S.M. Krivoshein were the first to break into the outskirts of the German capital.

The Berlin garrison fought with the desperation of the doomed. It was obvious that he could not resist the deadly fire of Soviet heavy 203 mm howitzers, nicknamed by the Germans "Stalin's sledgehammer", the volleys of "Katyusha" and the constant bombing of aircraft. Soviet troops operated on the streets of the city in the highest degree professionally: assault groups with the help of tanks knocked out the enemy from the fortified points. This allowed the Red Army to suffer relatively small losses. Step by step, Soviet troops approached the government center of the Third Reich. Krivoshein's tank corps successfully crossed the Spree and linked up with units of the 1st Ukrainian Front advancing from the south, enclosing Berlin in a ring.

The captive defenders of Berlin are members of the Volkshurm (militia detachment). Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Who defended Berlin from Soviet troops in May 1945? The Berlin Defense Headquarters called on the population to prepare for street fighting on the ground and underground, using metro lines, sewers and underground communications. 400 thousand Berliners were mobilized for the construction of fortifications. Goebbels began to form two hundred battalions of the Volkssturm and women's brigades. 900 square kilometers of city blocks turned into an "impregnable fortress Berlin".

The most efficient divisions of the Waffen-SS fought in the south and west. Near Berlin, the newly formed XI Panzer Army operated under the command of SS-Oberstgruppenfuehrer F. Steiner, which included all the surviving SS units of the city garrison, reservists, teachers and cadets of the SS Junker Schools, personnel of Berlin headquarters and numerous SS directorates.

However, during the fierce battles with Soviet troops Steiner's division of the 1st Belorussian Front suffered such heavy losses that he, in his own words, "remained a general without an army." Thus, the main part of the Berlin garrison was made up of all kinds of improvised battle groups, and not the regular formations of the Wehrmacht. The largest SS unit with which the Soviet troops had to fight was the SS Nordland division, its full name is the XI SS Nordland Volunteer Tank-Grenadier Division. She was recruited mainly from volunteers from Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway. In 1945, the division included the Danmark and Norge grenadier regiments, and Dutch volunteers were sent to the emerging SS Nederland division.

Also, Berlin was defended by the French SS division "Charlemagne" ("Charlemagne"), the Belgian SS divisions "Langemark" and "Wallonia". On April 29, 1945, for the destruction of several Soviet tanks, a young Parisian from the SS Charlemagne division, Unterscharführer Eugene Valo, was awarded the order Knight's Cross, becoming one of its last holders. On May 2, a month before his 22nd birthday, Vazho died on the streets of Berlin. The commander of the LVII battalion from the Charlemagne division, Haupsturmführer Henri Fene, wrote in his memoirs:

Berlin has French Street and French Church. They are named after the Huguenots who fled religious oppression and settled in Prussia at the beginningXVIIcentury, helping to build the capital. In the middle of the twentieth century, other French came to defend the capital, which their ancestors helped to build.».

On May 1, the French continued to fight at Leipzigerstrasse, around the Air Ministry and at Potsdamerplatz. The French SS "Charlemagne" became the last defenders of the Reichstag and the Reich Chancellery. During the day of fighting on April 28, out of a total of 108 Soviet tanks destroyed, the French “Charlemagne” destroyed 62. On the morning of May 2, following the announcement of the capital's surrender III Reich, the last 30 fighters of "Charlemagne" out of 300 who arrived in Berlin left the bunker of the Reich Chancellery, where, apart from them, no one was left alive. Along with the French, the Estonian SS defended the Reichstag. In addition, Lithuanians, Latvians, Spaniards and Hungarians took part in the defense of Berlin.

Members French division SS "Charlemagne" before being sent to the front. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Latvians in the 54th fighter squadron defended the Berlin sky from Soviet aviation. Latvian legionnaires continued to fight for the Third Reich and the already dead Hitler, even when the German Nazis stopped fighting. On May 1, a battalion of the XV SS division under the command of Obersturmführer Neilands continued to defend the Reich Chancellery. The famous Russian historian V.M. Falin noted:

Berlin fell on May 2, and the "local battles" ended there ten days later ... In Berlin, SS units from 15 states put up resistance to the Soviet troops. There, along with the Germans, Norwegian, Danish, Belgian, Dutch, Luxembourgish Nazis acted there.».

According to the French SS man A. Fenier: “ All of Europe gathered here for the last meeting”, And, as always, against Russia.

Ukrainian nationalists also played a role in the defense of Berlin. On September 25, 1944, S. Bandera, J. Stetsko, A. Melnyk and another 300 Ukrainian nationalists were liberated by the Nazis from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin, where they were once placed by the Nazis for too zealous agitation for the creation of an "Independent Ukrainian State." In 1945 Bandera and Melnik received instructions from the Nazi leadership to gather all Ukrainian nationalists in the Berlin area and defend the city from the advancing Red Army units. Bandera created Ukrainian units as part of the Volkssturm, and he himself fled to Weimar. In addition, several Ukrainian air defense groups (2.5 thousand people) operated in the Berlin area. Half of the III company of the 87th SS Grenadier Regiment "Kurmark" were Ukrainians, reservists of the XIV SS Grenadier Division "Galicia".

However, not only Europeans took part in the Berlin battle on the side of Hitler. Researcher M. Demidenkov writes:

When in May 1945 our troops were fighting on the approaches to the Reich Chancellery, they were surprised that they came across the corpses of Asians - Tibetans. This was written about in the 50s, albeit in passing, and was mentioned as a curiosity. The Tibetans fought to the last bullet, shot their wounded, did not surrender. Not a single living Tibetan in SS uniform left».

In the memoirs of veterans of the Great Patriotic War there is information that after the fall of Berlin, corpses were found in the Reich Chancellery in a rather strange shape: the cut was everyday for the SS troops (not field), but the color was dark brown, and there were no runes in the buttonholes. Those killed were clearly Asian and pronounced Mongoloids with rather dark skin. They died, apparently, in battle.

It should be noted that the Nazis conducted several expeditions to Tibet along the Anenerbe line and established strong, friendly relations and a military alliance with the leadership of one of the largest religious movements in Tibet. A permanent radio link and an air bridge were established between Tibet and Berlin; a small German mission and a guard company from the SS troops remained in Tibet.

In May 1945, our people crushed not just a military enemy, not just Nazi Germany. Nazi Europe, the next European Union, previously created by Karl of Sweden and Napoleon, was defeated. How not to recall the eternal lines of A.S. Pushkin?

The tribes were walking,

Threatening Russia with trouble;

Was not all of Europe here?

And whose star was leading her! ..

But we have become the fifth firm

And we took the pressure with our breasts

Tribes obedient to the will of the proud,

And the unequal dispute was equal.

But the following stanza from the same poem is becoming no less relevant today:

Your disastrous escape

Boasting, they have forgotten now;

Forgot the Russian bayonet and snow,

Buried their glory in the wilderness.

The familiar feast beckons them again

- The blood of the Slavs is drunk for them;

But the hangover will be hard for them;

But the sleep of the guests will be long

On a close, cold housewarming,

Under the grain of the northern fields!

Wolfgang Akunov

Oleg Cherkassky - as a sign of deep respect

"My beloved wife,

Sergey Krotov ".

(From the last letter of Sergei Krotov to his wife).

After the attack of the German Wehrmacht on the USSR in June 1941, calls were heard in France to take part in the mortal struggle that broke out in the east of Europe, which, in the opinion of the French anti-communists, concerned not only Germany. On August 5, 1941, with the consent of the French government, the "Legion of French Volunteers against Bolshevism" was formed, also known as the "French Volunteer Legion against Bolshevism" or "French Anti-Bolshevik Volunteer Legion" (Legion des Volontaires Francais contre le Bolchevisme), abbr .: LVF. Enlisted in the ranks of the German Wehrmacht, this volunteer corps, which consisted exclusively of French (or rather, French citizens, including numerous Russian White emigrants, including veterans of the Civil War of 1917-1922 in Russia), received the name of the 638th Volunteer Corps as part of the Wehrmacht. a shelf ground forces"(German: Infanterieregiment 638 des Heeres).

Among the LVF volunteers, young people predominated (as an exception, even 15-year-olds were taken to the Legion - see the photo in the title of this military-historical miniature), but there were also older people who had the experience of the First World War (and some also the experience of the Civil War 1918-1922 in Russia, French colonial wars in Syria and Morocco, and even a short "strange war" between France and Germany in 1939-1940).

The French LVF volunteers wore a gray-green German Army Feldgrau uniform. Their only difference from other servicemen of the German Wehrmacht was the sleeve shield with three vertical stripes of the colors of the French national (state) flag - "Tricolor" (blue, white and red). The only soldier of the French Volunteer Legion who did not want to wear this patch of colors of the French Republic and the Bonapartist Empire was the legion's confessor - Cardinal Monsignor Count Jean Maillol de Lupe, who adhered to the staunch royalist convictions and hated the French republican blue-white-red flag no less than " -the hammered "red flag of world communism. The royalist prelate managed to obtain from the High Command of the Wehrmacht (and later, after transferring to service in the Waffen SS, from the Main Directorate of the SS) the right to wear on the sleeve a special patch with the golden lilies of the French royal dynasties of Capetian, Valois and Bourbon on a blue field. However, this was a special case.

Having joined the ranks of the German Wehrmacht, the "Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism" received the name "638th Infantry Regiment (French)". In November 1941, the regiment, also called the "Tricolor Regiment" (French: Regiment Tricolore), as part of the 7th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht, took part in the battle of Moscow. The author of these lines, while still a student, back in 1972, being sent to the autumn agricultural work ("labor semester", and in common parlance - "potatoes") in the village of Vaulino, for the first time heard from a local old collective farmer about how in 1941 they had a French part of the German army, in which ... Russians also served. One of the Russian officers of the French part of the German army, according to the old man's recollections, lodged in the hut of his parents and often told them about his life in tsarist Russia, "under the old regime." However, this is so, by the way ...

Already on March 3, 1943, the recruitment of French volunteers into the ranks of the Waffen SS began. It should be emphasized that (as earlier - service in the German Wehrmacht) service in the Waffen SS was completely officially allowed to the French by a special decree of the French government of July 22, 1943. On September 18, 1943, the formation of the French SS volunteer regiment / 1 / began, later growing to the size "French Volunteer SS Assault Brigade". The field of participation of the 1st battalion of the French SS brigade in battles with Soviet troops on the Sanok sector of the Carpathian Front in August 1944, the French brigade was replenished with new volunteer contingents, including the personnel of the German Wehrmacht, which was disbanded by that time (included in the brigade August 10, 1944), as well as the French ranks of the Waffen SS (who had previously served in the SS on an individual basis), the French volunteers of the German Navy ("Kriegsmarine"), the Todt Organization (OT), the French militia. After the replenishment, the French SS brigade was reorganized into the 33rd Waffen SS Grenadier Division "Charlemagne" / 3 / (as it was officially called since February 10, 1945).

The French Waffen SS volunteers wore the usual SS field uniform. Their only difference was a flap in the colors of the French state (national) flag - "Tricolor" (three vertical stripes - blue-white-red) sewn on the left sleeve. Unlike the armband of the LVF volunteers, in the black "chapter" (that is, on the black vertical stripe at the top of the coat of arms) the heraldic shield of the French SS men (who usually wore it "in SS style", on the left sleeve - in contrast to the Wehrmacht volunteers, who wore their national shields on the right sleeve) in most cases (although not always) there was an inscription made in white printed letters "France" (France). On the black SS collar tabs, the "Charlemagne" wore either the general SS double rune "Sig" ("Sovulo", "Sovelu", "Salt"), or the image of the "solar (Celtic) cross" (a cross inscribed in a circle), also white... The officers of the SS Charlemagne division, who had previously served in the French militia, wore a special sign on their collar tabs - "the sword of St. John (Jeanne d" Arc) "framed by two oak leaves.

The king of the Germanic tribe of Franks, who seized at the end of the 5th century. p. R.Kh. Roman province of Gaul, Charlemagne, in 800 was crowned by the Pope with the crown of the Roman emperor and founded the so-called "Holy Roman Empire" (Sacrum Imperium Romanum), covering the territory of later France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, part of Italy and some other states of medieval Europe. Since Charlemagne - in French Charlemagne (Charlemagne from Latin Carolus Magnus) was considered a great sovereign (comparable to our Vladimir the Red Sun) in both German and French historical traditions, the emblem of the SS Charlemagne division (French No. 1) was a heraldic shield, in the right half of which was depicted a German eagle, and in the left - three French lilies (this coat of arms was depicted on the portrait of Charlemagne by the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer hanging in the city hall of Frankfurt am Main).

In February 1945, the Charlemagne division entered into battle with units of the Red Army on the territory of the German region of Pomerania. Its units fought with Soviet troops until the end of the war. The SS Charlemagne assault battalion defended Berlin to the last drop of blood. During the battles for Berlin, the French SS soldier was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the commander of the assault battalion of the 33rd SS Grenadier Division "Charlemagne" (French No. 1), Hauptsturmführer Henri Fene (who managed to knock out eight tanks also destroyed eight tanks) and Oberscharführer François Appollo (who had six enemy tanks in his account). The total number of Soviet tanks destroyed in the battles for Berlin by the soldiers of the Charlemagne assault battalion was, according to some sources, 62, and according to others - "more than 60").

On May 8, 1945, after the signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Hitlerite Germany, in the area of ​​the German resort town of Bad Reichengall, they were without trial, by order of the French General Leclerc, the commander of the 2nd Armored Division "Fighting (De Gaulle - V. A.) France ", thirteen young French volunteers from the Gershe regiment / 4 / (former SS Charlemagne division) were shot. French volunteers of the Waffen SS (including one of our compatriots - Russian Waffen SS Standartenunker Sergei Krotov, commander of a battery of anti-tank guns; he was not the only Russian in the ranks of the French volunteers - history has kept us the names of SS Waffen Scharführer Nikolai Shumilin, LVF veteran and commander 4th Platoon of the 1st Battalion of the 58th SS Waffen Grenadier Regiment "Charlemagne", an LVF veteran and the commander of the 4th Company of the SS Charlemagne Assault Battalion, SS Waffen Standartenfuehrer Sergei Protopopov, Aleksey Pronin, Waffen Obersturmführer SS - SS Intersturmfuehrer Nikolai Samosudov and others) / 5 /, who fought mainly on the Eastern Front and did not shed a drop of blood from their French fellow citizens, laid down their arms on the day of surrender, surrendered to the Americans, but were handed over by the soldiers of "Uncle Sam" of the pulling up division of Leclerc (equipped, like all the troops of General de Gaulle, in the American military uniform).

General Leclerc, leaning on a stick, walked in front of the formation of the French SS men, after which he asked one of them: "Why are you wearing German uniforms?" The response of the prisoner of war was in no way inferior to the question: "My general, why is this an American uniform on you?"

As you can see, Leclerc (unlike other French people) had absolutely no sense of humor. Not appreciating the comic situation, the brave De Gaulle general immediately ordered to shoot not only the daring prisoner, but also twelve of his comrades in arms. The bodies of the executed were not buried at the place of execution for three days. The French military priest, who was present during the conversation and execution, did not take care not only of the spiritual consolation of the young men before the execution, but also of their not only Christian, but generally more or less human burial. Finally, after three days, the dead were "buried in the globe" by order of the American military authorities.

The author of the book had a chance to visit Bad Reichengall. In the vicinity of the town, many years after the war, a modest memorial was erected in honor of the killed. To date, only 5 of these victims of the bloodthirsty French military justice have been identified. These names are:

Paul Briffaut, Robert Doffa, Sergei (Serge) Krotov, Jean Robert, Raymond Pyrat, and eight unknown soldiers.

According to the recollections of Ferrano, Lieutenant of the Armed Forces of the Free French, who commanded the execution, the convicts behaved courageously.

True, just before the execution, Sergei Krotov lost his nerves and he said: "You have no right to shoot me! I am married! After all, I am not even French!" However, then he pulled himself together and held on courageously to the end, having time to shout before his death: "Long live France!" (Vive la France!)

IN last letter to his wife Simone (mother of his five children), Krotov wrote:

"My beloved wife,

I have done my duty by fighting the Bolsheviks and the atheists. This morning I surrendered to the Americans, French soldiers are leading me to be shot. My dear wife, forgive me, make sure that our children remember that their father was always just and loved them very much. My dear wife, my dear Simone, I kiss you from the bottom of my heart, kiss my poor mother and children. Always believe in God and forgive the evil that is unjustly inflicted on us. Goodbye,

Sergey Krotov ".

Soon after the execution, the burial place of the "Charlemagne" was consecrated by Monsignor Jean Count Mayol de Lupe.

The surviving French volunteers of the Waffen SS were sentenced in France to long prison terms, and many were sentenced to death for "treason". Those who were even less fortunate fell victim to extrajudicial reprisals. Some veterans of "Charlemagne" managed to redeem their guilt before their homeland, fighting in the ranks of the French Foreign Legion against the national liberation movements of the former French colonies, in vain attempts to suppress the legitimate aspirations of the oppressed peoples of Indochina, supported by the countries of victorious socialism, the international communist movement and all progressive humanity. Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria free themselves from French colonial rule.

Their names are not forgotten - including by Russian poets. The fate of French volunteers inspired, for example, our contemporary, Evgeny Bobolovich's skald, to the Charlemagne rondel, which we present below:

RONDELL CHARLEMAGN

Storms sweep away "Charlemagne"
But their glory flies above the mountains.
The Celtic oak grove also sings
It's not a pity to fall in battle,

Over the horizon and the vertical.
Lava hardens in the Aryan sagas ...
Storms sweep away "Charlemagne"
But their glory flies above the mountains.

Christ is your companion - stand up!
And the death of the path is only the beginning
But sorrow is as light as a veil ...
And embraced sadness like ice,
Storms sweep away "Charlemagne"

Evgeny Bobolovich.

Standard-Oberünker SS Sergey Protopopov (1923-1945)

Grandson of the last Minister of the Interior Russian Empire Alexander Protopopov, who was shot by the Bolsheviks in October 1918, Sergei Protopopov was born in France. In 1943, at the age of twenty, like many other Russians, he joined the French Anti-Bolshevik Legion and was trained at his military school in Montargis near Orleans. In September 1944, the French Anti-Bolshevik Legion was included in the SS, first as a brigade, and from February 1945 - as a division, which was named "Charlemagne" ("Charlemagne"). In December 1944 Sergei Protopopov graduated from the SS officer school in Kinshlag.

In February-March 1945, the Charlemagne division lost most of its personnel in heavy battles with the advancing Red Army in Pomerania. At the beginning of April, only 700 people remained in its ranks, of which about 300 volunteered to go to the defense of Berlin. The assault battalion formed from them under the command of Hauptsturmführer Henri-Joseph Fene arrived in the besieged German capital on April 24, 1945. It also included Sergei Protopopov.

The Charlemagne battalion, attached to the SS Nordland division, was entrusted with the defense of Sector C. The French volunteers entered the first battle with the advancing Reds on April 26 near the Tempelhof airfield. On April 27, the fighting became especially fierce. During them, Sergei Protopopov personally knocked out five Soviet tanks with faust cartridges and shot down a Soviet reconnaissance aircraft from an MG 42 machine gun. On April 29, the detachment, which included the standard-oberünker Protopopov, was covered with fire from Soviet mortars on the Gendarmenmarkt square. The Russian volunteer died of multiple shrapnel wounds and was posthumously awarded the Iron Cross First Class for courage. His comrades-in-arms in the Charlemagne battalion turned out to be the last defenders of the bunker of the Reich Chancellery, whose defense they held until May 2.

Obersturmführer Sergei Krotov(far left) among the servicemen of the SS Charlemagne Division and the French Legion before being shot on May 8, 1945.

Far left Sergey Krotov

After being wounded in the Battle of Berlin and being treated in a German hospital in Bavaria, 12 French volunteers were captured by the Americans on May 6 and were placed with other prisoners in the Alpine riflemen's barracks in Bad Reichenhall. Upon learning that the Americans were going to hand over the city to the French, they tried to escape, but were detained by an American patrol and handed over to General Leclerc's 2nd armored division of the Free French. The general drove up to the place of transfer of prisoners of war.

Learning that the soldiers in German uniform- the French, he became indignant and began to vilify them in every possible way, to call them "Boches" and "traitors." When he spoke the words:

How could you Frenchmen wear a German uniform?

One of the prisoners could not stand it and replied boldly:

Just like you, General, you can wear an American one.

After these words, Leclerc exploded and ordered to shoot the prisoners. According to one of the versions, the general gave such a cruel and contrary to the laws of the Geneva Convention, being under the painful impression of inspecting the death camp in Dachau, where Leclerc seems to have been on the eve. Be that as it may, the next day, May 8, 12 French SS-ovtsy were taken out to be shot.
At their request, a Catholic priest spoke to them. Further, the condemned flatly refused to blindfold or “humane” shooting them in the back. Immediately before the execution, they began to sing the Marseillaise and shout "Long live France!", Looking into the faces of the firing squad. Fierce by the "unrepentant" obstinate "Charlemagne", the general ordered not to bury the bodies, but to leave them in the clearing. Only three days later, according to the local population, they were buried by the Americans.

In 1947, the Germans transferred the ashes to the monument. We managed to find out the names of several soldiers. They were knocked out on a granite board, where one of the symbols of France "royal lily" is depicted, and the words "12 brave sons of France" are written.

Here are the names of those who found the documents:
SS Obersturmfuehrer Serge Krotoff, (Serg Krotoff)
SS Untersturmführer Paul Briffaut
SS Untersturmführer Robert Doffat.
Grenadiers Jean Robert
and Raymond Pairas
Jacques Ponnau

Igor Knyazev. Appeal of Russian volunteers of the French SS division "Charlemagne", published in the Berlin newspaper "Novoye Slovo" on October 31, 1943.

Russians in Foreign Legion.

According to E. Nedzelsky, in 1924 there were registered 3,200 Russians who passed the base of the Foreign Legion in Sidi Bel Abbes in Algeria, and 70% of them were former officers, cadets and soldiers. In the third regiment, according to E. Nedzelsky, based in 1924 in Morocco, out of 500 Russians, 2% were illiterate, 73% with incomplete secondary education and 25% with secondary and higher education. Roughly the same ratio was maintained in the 2nd regiment. The oldest legionnaires were officers and soldiers of the expeditionary corps in France. They joined the legion in 1918 and made up about 10% of the total number of Russian legionnaires. 25% fell on those who were evacuated from Russia in 1919, 60% - on the ranks of the Russian army who left Russia in 1921, and 5% fell into the legion for various reasons, mainly from German captivity and tempted by "preferential" service19. After signing the contract, the volunteers were sent to the assembly camp for about a month, and then were distributed in parts. So, out of 400 people who enrolled in the legion at the same time as E. Giatsintov, 350 were sent to Syria, and the rest to Algeria. From the Syrian group, 90 people were later sent to Beirut to the 18th repair squadron of the 5th African Horse Jaeger Regiment (commander - Captain E. de Avaris), and 210 to the Mountain Company, formed in Damascus exclusively from Russian volunteers (commander - Captain Duval).

LIST OF RUSSIAN VOLUNTEERS,

KILLED IN THE RANGE OF THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION
From 1921 to 1945

Akimov - corporal of the 3rd company of the 2nd regiment. Died 11/13/1923 in Post Bader.

Aleksandrov-Dolnik Vladimir Aleksandrovich - lieutenant of the 2nd regiment. Killed 09/07/1932 in battle at Tazigzaut, Morocco.
-Andreev - legionnaire of the 12th company of the 3rd regiment. Died 04/20/1921 in Kenara-Henui.
-Andrienko - Corporal 5 S. Mont. 2nd regiment. Died on September 4, 1924 in Ishieru-af.
-Antonov - legionnaire of the 24th company of the 1st regiment. Died 06/21/1925 in Bab Taza.
-nfilov - sergeant of the 26th company of the 1st regiment. Died 09/10/1925 in Jebel Negir.
-Arkadiev is a legionnaire. Killed in Morocco.
-Afanasyev - legionnaire of the 1st company of the 2nd regiment. Died 20.05.1923 in Recife Bu Arfa.
-Baranov - legionnaire of the 19th company of the 4th regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Berezin - legionnaire of the 24th company of the 1st regiment. Died 4.06.1925 in Astar.
-Bobovsky - sergeant of the 7th company of the 1st regiment. Died 06/14/1925 in Brikka.
-Bogdanchuk - sergeant of the 27th company of the 1st regiment. Died 08/17/1925 in Dzhebel Asdem .. Bondarev - legionary SM1 of the 1st regiment. Died 07/14/1926 in Tizi N "Ouidei.
-Boritsky - legionnaire of the 9th company of the 2nd regiment. Died May 6, 1922 in Tadu-Skorra.
-Bubanov - legionnaire of the 1st battalion of the 4th regiment. Died 10/19/1923 in Bu-Ishsamer.
-Bukovsky - corporal of the SMZ of the 2nd regiment. Died 11/12/1926 in Jebel Ayad.
-Bulubash Vladimir - Lieutenant of the 1st Cavalry Regiment - "an officer of exceptional courage." Died 11/28/1944
-Count Vorontsov-Dashkov Alexander - grandson of the last Caucasian governor. Killed in Vietnam (?).
-Voroponov - legionnaire of the 9th company of the 2nd regiment. Died on June 24, 1923 in El Mera.
-Gayer is a legionnaire. Died 05/20/1940 at the Perron.
-Garbulenko - legionnaire of the 2nd company of the 3rd regiment. Died 10/27/1923 in El Mera.
-Heckner is a sergeant. Died on 05/11/1943 in Tunisia. Gendrikhson Vladimir - died on 07/06/1941 in Damascus, Syria.
-Glebov - legionnaire SM7 1st regiment. Died 09/10/1925 in Jebel Ye Negir.
-Gnutov - legionnaire of the 1st company of the 1st regiment. Died 05/25/1925 in Biban.
-Goncharov - Sergeant of the SM 4th Regiment. Died 08/10/1933 in Ukzer
-Gorbachev - legionnaire of the 4th squadron of the 1st cavalry regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Gorodnichenko Mikhail - sergeant of the 5th regiment. He died of wounds on September 15, 1945 in Indochina.
-Grayev - legionnaire of the 28th company of the 1st regiment. Died 09/30/1925 in Kerkur.
-Gusarov Alexander - died in Tunisia.
-Grunenkov Mikhail Fedorovich - participant of the Civil War in the 1st Kornilov regiment, 1st Kuban campaign. He was badly wounded. The centurion. Evacuated to Bizerte. In March 1922 he was in the command of the Kornilovsky regiment. He served in the French Foreign Legion. Killed.
-Damagalsky - legionnaire of the 7th company of the 2nd regiment. Died 07.24.1925 in Tamzimet.
-Danilov - legionnaire of the 3rd company of the 2nd regiment. Died 05/25/1925 in Biban.
-Doroshenko - sergeant of the 3rd company of the 1st regiment. Died on July 18, 1925 in Sof-El-Kazbar.
-Yevreinov - legionnaire of the 7th company of the 2nd regiment. Died 01/10/1924 in Meknx.
-Edelov - legionnaire of the 7th company of the 2nd regiment. Died 04.24.1925 in Tamzimet.
-Enin — legionary of the 4th squadron of the 1st cavalry regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Enoshin - legionnaire of the 1st Cavalry Regiment.
-Efremov is a lieutenant. Zaloka Nicholas - born on December 25, 1916. Died on January 13, 1943 in Pont du Fage, Tunisia.
-Zanfirov - legionnaire of the 19th company of the 4th regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Zameshaev Ivan - buried in a military cemetery in Carthage in Tunisia.
Zemtsov Ivan - Second Lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Army. Sergeant-Chief of the French Foreign Legion. Died 1.06.1942 in Bir Gaheim (Libya). Was awarded the Military Cross.
-Ivankovich - legionnaire of the 22nd company of the 1st regiment. Died 08/13/1923 in Tafgirt Air.
-Ivanov - sergeant of the 22nd company of the 1st regiment. Died on May 22, 1925 in AedAmeam.
-Ivanov - sergeant of the 24th company of the 1st regiment. Died 06/10/1925 in Mediuna.
-Ivanov - legionnaire of the 8th company of the 1st regiment. Died 07/18/1925 in Terual.
-Ivanov - legionnaire of the 3rd battalion of the 4th regiment. Died 07/12/1922 in Bou Drois de l "Ulges.
-Ivanov - legionnaire of the 1st Cavalry Regiment.
-Ivanov (pseudonym) - a former cadet of the Russian corps in Versailles. Legionnaire of the Foreign Legion. Died 03/15/1945 in Ga Giang in Indochina.
-Ignatiev - legionnaire of the 3rd company of the 1st regiment. Died 07/14/1926 in Tizi N "Ouidei.
-Izvarin - legionnaire of the 1st Cavalry Regiment. Kazarinov is a sergeant of the 4th company of the 1st regiment. Died on June 24, 1923 in El Mers.
-Kalashnikov — legionary of the 7th battalion of the 1st regiment. Died on 08/17/1926 in Jebel Galaza.
-Kalinischev - trumpeter of the 9th company of the 3rd regiment. He died on May 6, 1922 in Tadu-Skorra.
-Carneri (pseudonym) - a native of Moldova, graduated from a Russian gymnasium. Trumpet player of the French Foreign Legion. 03/10/1945 was wounded and finished off with a bayonet during the Japanese attack on the garrison in Tang in Indochina.
-Karnovsky (Karpovsky) Alexander - sous-lieutenant. Died on 08/25/1944 in Tyuniz.
-Karpov - legionnaire of the 5th company of the 2nd regiment. Died on 08/11/1923 in Jebel Idlan.
-Kovalsky - corporal of the 19th company of the 4th regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Kodovsky Ivan - sergeant-chief. Died on 11.06.1942 in Bir-Gakom.
-Kozlov - a participant in the First World War and the Civil War. Colonel. Sergeant of the Foreign Legion. He died in 1923 (1926) in Morocco.
-Kolesnikov - legionnaire of the 4th squadron of the 1st cavalry regiment. Died on 17.09. 1925 at Massifrae in Syria.
-Kolotilin - legionnaire of the 4th squadron of the 1st cavalry regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Komarov Vladimir - a former cadet of the Marine Corps. He emigrated to France, where in 1926 he graduated from the military school in Saint-Cyr. Captain, commander of the 6th company of the 2nd battalion of the 5th regiment of the Foreign Legion. Died 04/01/1945 in Tuar-Guiao in Indochina.
-Konenko is a legionnaire. He died in 1926 in Morocco.
-Kosoy - corporal-chief S. Ot. 1st regiment. Died 08/10/1933 in Kerduas.
-Kostrevsky Ivan - a former sailor. Died on June 17, 1941 in Damascus, Syria.
-Kostryukov - legionnaire of the 4th squadron of the 1st cavalry regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Kostsevich Vladimir - legionnaire. Died on 11.12.1944 in Vieux Tgann.
-Kosyanenko - legionnaire SM5 of the 4th regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Kravchenkov Joseph Silych - died of his wounds in 1943
-Kreschenkov Joseph - buried in a military cemetery in Carthage in Tunisia.
-Kudryavtsev — legionary of the 21st company of the 1st regiment. Died 06/10/1925 in Mediuna.
-Kuznetsov - legionary of the 21st company of the 1st regiment. Died 06/10/1925 in Mediuna.
-Kuznetsov Gennady Dmitrievich - adjudan (ensign). E Morocco died.
-Kuydenko - corporal of the 3rd battalion of the 4th regiment. Died 09/20/1922 in Bean El Widank.
-Kulish Daniel - legionnaire. Died on 9.12.1944 in Tgann.
-Ladzin is a legionnaire of the Mountain Company. Shot for attempting to escape from the Foreign Legion.
-Lakovlev (Yakovlev?) - legionnaire of the 6th company of the 3rd regiment. Died on June 19, 1929 in Ait-Yakub.
-Laryn - legionnaire of the 21st company of the 1st regiment. Died 06/10/1925 in Mediuna.
-Laryn is a legionnaire of the 6th company of the 2nd regiment. Died 07.24.1925 in Mediuna.
-Laryn is a legionnaire of the 6th company of the 2nd regiment. Died 07.24.1925 in Tamzimet.
-Levov - brigadier of the 1st cavalry regiment. Lishaksky Alexander - lieutenant. Died of his wounds in 1943.
-Lyubovitsky - brigadier of the 3rd squadron of the 1st foreign cavalry regiment. Died 07/03/1925 near Gersif.
-Lyashko — corporal of the 10th company of the 2nd regiment. Died 07/23/1923 in Plateau d "Immussert.
-Malev - legionnaire of the 23rd company of the 1st regiment. Killed on 16.10. 1923 in Akurirt.
-Malevsky - legionnaire of the 1st company of the 1st regiment. Died 07/14/1926 in Tizi N Ouidei.
-Maleiko - legionnaire of the 1st company of the 2nd regiment. Died 09/10/1925 in Jebel Ayad.
-Margulies Albert - killed on 06/05/1940 on the Somme.
-Markov - legionnaire of the 21st company of the 1st regiment. Died 07/07/1925 in Sof-El-Kazbar.
-Markovich - SMM corporal of the 1st regiment. Died 02/28/1933 in Jebel Sadgo.
-Masaev Vladimir - died on June 8, 1942 in Bir-Gasheim.
-Mausin - legionnaire of the 4th company of the 3rd regiment. Died 10/10/1923 in Tizi N Juar.
-Mitriev is a legionnaire of the 8th company of the 4th regiment. Died 04/25/1926 in Sueida.
-Melnichuk Sergei - died on 10.12.1944 in Tgann.
-Mishalsky - legionary of the 19th company of the 4th regiment. Died 7/10/1925 in Jebel Druz.
-Mukhin - Sergeant S.M. 1st regiment. Died 10/14/1929. in Zguilma Jigani.
-Nankov - buried in a military cemetery in Carthage in Tunisia.
-Nikolaev - Sergeant SM6 of the 1st regiment. Died 10/16/1923 in Akurirt.
-Nikolov - legionnaire of the 12th company of the 3rd regiment. Died on 10/27/1922 in Ishieru-af.
-Novarzin - legionnaire of the 24th company of the 1st regiment. Died 4.06.1925 in Astar.
-Novikov — legionary of the 1st Cavalry Regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Ogarovic - Buried in a military cemetery in Carthage in Tunisia.
-Ogorodnoe - sergeant of the 23rd company of the 1st regiment. Died on May 22, 1925 in Aed Amzam.
-Orlov - legionnaire of the 23rd company of the 1st regiment. Died 07/25/1925 in Jebel Asdem.
-Pavlovsky - legionary of the 4th squadron of the 1st cavalry regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Pavlovsky Ivan - buried in a military cemetery in Carthage in Tunisia.
-Petrov - legionnaire of the 6th company of the 2nd regiment. Died on 11/17/1923 in Jebel Idlan.
-Pleshakov - legionnaire of the 27th company of the 1st regiment. Died 07.24.1925 in Jebel Asdem.
-Pokrovsky - sergeant of the 9th company of the 3rd regiment. Died 05/20/1927 in Oued Dessaya.
-Povolotsky - marshal of the 4th squadron of the 1st cavalry regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Popov - legionnaire of the 9th company of the 3rd regiment. Died on September 5, 1922 in Aderzh.
-Popov - marshal of the 4th squadron of the 4th cavalry regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Popov - legionnaire of the 1st Cavalry Regiment. Popov - born on 25.08.1905. in Moscow. Died of his wounds on 01/12/1943
-Punchin Georgy - was born on 11.02.1905 in Kerch. Died of his wounds on December 23, 1944.
-Raskin is a legionnaire of the 23rd company of the 1st regiment. Died on 23.07. 1923 in Ain Tagzut.
-Regema is a lieutenant. Killed in 1925
-Reshetnikov - SM legionnaire. 3rd regiment. Died 07/14/1926 in Jebel Taster.
-Romanov - SM legionnaire. 2nd regiment. Died on June 9, 1923 in Izuko.
-Sapronov - corporal of the 2nd company of the 2nd regiment. Died 10/10/1923 in Ponzegu.
-Safonov Nikolay (?) - died in Tunisia in 1943
-Sidelnikov - Sergeant SM. 3rd regiment. Died 07/14/1926 in Jebel Taster.
-Siz is a native of the Terek region. During the Civil War - Lieutenant of the 10th Ingermanland Regiment. He disappeared without a trace on 03/26/1945 in Son-La in Indochina.
-Siyanin - legionnaire of the 22nd company of the 1st regiment. Died May 4, 1925 in Taunat.
-Soloviev - corporal of the 8th company of the 4th regiment. Died 09/13/1925 in Sker.
- Forty - Corporal SM. 1st shelf. Died 10/14/1929 in Zguilma Jigani
-Staroselsky (Starozelsky?) - legionnaire of the 5th company of the 3rd regiment. Died on January 17, 1923 in Naegllin.
-Sukov — corporal of the 21st company of the 1st regiment. Died 4.06.1925 in Astar.
-Tabunshchikov - legionnaire of the 26th company of the 1st regiment. Died 09/10/1925 in Jebel Yei Negir.
-Tanas Igor - was born on 03.24.1921 in Constantinople. In March 1941 he enrolled in the Foreign Legion. He fought in Senegal. Died 04/25/1943 was awarded the Military Cross.
-Taranuka - legionnaire of the 25th company of the 1st regiment. Died 09/10/1925 in Jebel Ye Negir.
-Tishevsky - legionnaire of the 23rd company of the 1st regiment. Died on May 22, 1925 in Aed Amzam.
-Tkachenko is a Kuban Cossack. He died in June 1925 in a battle near the Turkish village of Mussey-Frey, taking command of the 4th squadron of the 1st cavalry regiment of the Foreign Legion.
-Trofimov Vyacheslav - buried in a military cemetery in Carthage in Tunisia.
-Tumanov - legionnaire of the 5th company of the 3rd regiment. Died on May 9, 1923 in Beni Buzert.
-Turutin - legionnaire of the 4th company of the 2nd regiment. Died 07/01/1923 in El Mers.
-Prince Urusov Sergey - was born on January 13, 1916 in Moscow. Student of the boarding school of St. George. Killed in Africa in the ranks of the Foreign Legion.
-Utkin - corporal of the 25th company of the 1st regiment. Died 07/25/1925 in Jebel Asdem.
-Utcharenko - corporal of the 5th company of the 3rd regiment. Died on May 9, 1923 in Beni Buzert.
-Fyodorov is a legionnaire. He died in 1926 in Morocco.
-Fedortsev Nikolay - died on January 28, 1944 in a hospital in Tunisia.
-Fomin - legionnaire of the 4th squadron of the 1st cavalry regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Kharitonov - legionnaire of the 24th company of the 1st regiment. Died 4.06.1925 in Astar.
-Hotcharenko - legionnaire of the 7th company of the 2nd regiment. Died 07/25/1925 in Tamzimet.
-Chernenko - legionary of the 4th squadron of the 1st cavalry regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Shamalov - legionnaire of the 10th company of the 3rd regiment. Died on January 17, 1923 in Naegllin.
-Sharev is a legionary of the 19th company of the 4th regiment. Died 09/17/1925 in Massifrae in Syria.
-Shillo - legionnaire of the 5th company of the 3rd regiment. Died 10/27/1924 in P. Anuai.
-Shumeiko Dmitry - buried in a military cemetery in Karty, Tunisia.
-Yakov —Corporal S.M. 1st regiment. Died on 10/14/1929 in Zguilma Jigani.
-Yakushov - legionnaire of the 26th company of the 1st regiment. Died 09/10/1925 in Jebel Ye Negir.
-Yasinsky Victor - died 01/25/1945 in Syria.

In the famous French military museum in the Palace of the Invalids in Paris, there is a specially Russian section, "which keeps the memory of the valiant sons of Russia, who managed to gain glory for their homeland abroad".

And one more interesting historical event with which the Russian military in the Foreign Legion were associated. It refers to civil war in Spain 1936-1938

"On August 1, 1936, the Harbin newspaper" Our Way "published an interview with the Spanish professor E. Afenicio under the headline" The Spanish uprising was raised by Russian emigrants, the ranks of the Foreign Legion in Morocco. "As you know, the north of Morocco was under a special occupation regime due to the restless nature of the local tribes The situation in these places was controlled by the Foreign Legion, "where the Russians make up the largest percentage of both soldiers and officers.

... The first events began in Melilla and Ceuta, the garrisons ... where there were units consisting exclusively of Russian emigrants ... Therefore, I am convinced that the uprising in Morocco, which has now spread to the continent, was the work of your compatriots, who were the first to put their the real strength of the regiments ... of the Foreign Legion, "wrote the Spanish professor.

Russian émigrés, in contrast to the international brigades, fought on the side of Franco in Spain. There is no denying a possible connection between the actions of the emigrants from the Russian General Military Union and the Russians from the French Foreign Legion. A version of the coordinated actions of two streams of Russian emigration, who decided to provide assistance to the Spanish rebels who opposed the communist regime, is quite likely.

As you know, France entered the war with Germany on September 3, 1939. The military operations then affected the territory of North Africa. The foreign legion took part in the battles against the Nazis on the territory of Morocco. By the way, the fighting here continued for two more months after the surrender of France on June 22, 1940.

Some commanders of the Legion, including Zinovy ​​Peshkov, refused to recognize the truce, shameful for France. After the 1940 defeat, he escaped by night on a steamer and was one of the first to arrive in London. He responded to the call of Charles de Gaulle and became one of his closest associates, and in this capacity returned to North Africa.

The foreign legion again took part in hostilities against the German army, this time as component formations of General de Gaulle. Many Russian legionnaires were awarded military awards for their services in battles against the Nazis. Lieutenant Colonel D. Amilakhvari, who died in Egypt in 1942, was awarded the “Cross of Liberation”; N. Rumyantsev, commander of the 1st Moroccan cavalry regiment; captain A. Ter-Sarkisov.

V. Kolupaev's research reports the names of a number of Russian officers and soldiers who died in battles: Vaschenko, Gomberg, Zolotarev, Popov, Regema, Rothstein, Prince Urusov; Zemtsov, awarded two Military crosses, the second cross - posthumously.

In the USSR and Russian Federation it was considered that the French people, France were occupied and participated in the war on the side of the Anti-Hitler coalition, were our allies. But this is not the whole truth - indeed, some French went underground, the French Resistance (Poppies), some took part in the battles on the Eastern Front on the side of the USSR in the French fighter aviation regiment "Normandie-Niemen" or in de Gaulle's Free France.

But even more Frenchmen calmly accepted the Nazis and even supported his plans, including with weapons in their hands - the French crossed weapons in North Africa with the Anglo-American forces, participated in the battles on the Eastern Front in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Third Reich. In London and Washington, they were even going to classify France as the territories subject to occupation after the Second World War, located in the same camp with Germany. Suffice it to recall the sad fate of the French fleet attacked by the Grand Fleet in the harbors.

Only Stalin's firm position saved France from the occupation regime and, at his insistence, was included in the Anti-Hitler camp.

Stalin also insisted on the allocation of a special French zone of occupation in Germany to France. To Charles de Gaulle's credit, he remembered this after the death of the Soviet leader, retaining respect for him after the "de-Stalinization" arranged by Khrushchev.

After the occupation of Northern France in 1940 and the creation of the Vichy regime in the south of the country, until May 1945, many French volunteers under the banners of dozens of units and formations of the armed forces and auxiliary organizations of the Third Reich. There were tens of thousands of such French volunteers (at least 80 thousand French passed through the SS alone), and as a result, French citizens made up the largest Western European people in terms of numbers, who fought on the side of Nazi Germany in World War II.

The French destroyer "Mogador" burns in the harbor of Mers el-Kebir, French Algeria, July 3, 1940. When France signed the act of surrender, the British government ordered the destruction of the French warships so that they would not fall into Hitler's hands. Several ships were severely damaged and one sank. During the attack, 1,297 French sailors were killed. (Jacques Mulard / CC-BY-SA)
On June 22, 1941, the leader of one of the French Nazi groups PPF - Parti Populaire Francais ("National People's Party") Jacques Doriot put forward the idea of ​​creating a Legion of French Volunteers in order to take part in the war against the Soviet Union. The Reich Ambassador to France, Otto Abetz, reported this to Berlin and on July 5 received a telegram in which Ribbentrop approved this idea. Already on July 6, at the German Embassy in Paris, the 1st meeting of the French and German plenipotentiaries took place, on July 7 - the 2nd meeting - at the Wehrmacht headquarters in France.

From the French militia.

Representatives of all French Nazi and collaborationist groups were present - Marcel Boucard Marseille (French Movement), Jacques Doriot (National People's Party), Eugene Delonxle (Social Revolutionary Movement), Pierre Clementi (French National Unity Party) and Pierre Constantini (" French league”), At the same time the Central Committee of the Legion of French Volunteers (LVF) and a recruiting center were created. An interesting fact is that it was placed in the building where the office of the Soviet Intourist was previously located. The slogan "Anti-Bolshevik Crusade" was widely used.

From July 1941 to June 1944, 13 thousand people asked to join the Legion of French Volunteers, but no more than half were accepted into the Legion: the rest were screened out by German doctors. The LVF also included those former French prisoners of war who preferred the war on the Eastern Front to the camps and forced labor... The first batch of French arrived in Poland in September 1941 - from 2.5 thousand people they formed a two-battalion French infantry regiment 638 under the command of Colonel Roger Labon. The French wore a Wehrmacht uniform with a blue-white-red patch on the right sleeve. The regiment's banner was also tricolor, orders were given to French.

On November 5, 1941, Marshal Petain sent a message to the French volunteers: "Before you go into battle, I am glad to know that you do not forget - you own a part of our military honor." The battalions left Debu on October 28 and 30, 1941, the first battalion was commanded by Captain Leclerc, then by Commander de Planard, the second battalion by Commander Girardot. The battalions arrived in Smolensk, from where they went on foot to the capital of the USSR on November 6.

The French suffered the first losses even before the battles - their uniforms did not correspond to the weather conditions, as a result, 400 people were sick and missing before the front line. Another interesting fact: the French entered the battle on the Borodino field, which was remembered by their ancestors - they were ordered to attack the 32nd rifle division Red Army. After a week of fighting, the 1st battalion suffered heavy losses in battle, the 2nd suffered heavy losses from frostbite. On December 6-9, the French 638th regiment was completely withdrawn. The regiment lost 65 people killed, 120 wounded and more than 300 sick and frostbitten.

The Germans drew conclusions that were disappointing for the Legion: “The people showed, in general, a good fighting spirit, but the level of their combat training was low. The non-commissioned officers, in general, are not bad, but they do not show activity, since the senior staff does not show efficiency. The officers are not capable of much and were clearly recruited on a purely political basis. " And they summed up a disappointing result: “The Legion is not combat-ready. Improvement can only be achieved through the renewal of the officer corps and forced training. "

The Legion was withdrawn from the Eastern Front, most of it, including officers, were sent to France. By 1942, it was possible to create a more monolithic and combat-ready unit, it already had three battalions of 900 people each. The legion began to be used in the fight against partisans in Ukraine and Belarus. In 1943, it was led by Colonel Edgar Puo, a former Foreign Legion officer who was promoted to brigadier general, and was awarded two Iron Crosses for his success in counterinsurgency.

In 1944, the Legion again entered the battle at the front, in Belarus, after which its remnants were poured into the French 8th SS assault brigade. This brigade was mainly formed from volunteers of the French collaborationist Militia of students, in total about 3 thousand people were recruited.

The most famous unit of the French volunteers was the 33rd SS Grenadier Brigade (then Division) "Charlemagne" - named after "Charlemagne" (fr. Charle Magne).

Its formation began in 1944 - two regiments were created (57th and 58th), the core of the 57th regiment was made up of veterans of the French assault brigade, and the 58th - veterans of the Legion. At the beginning of 1945, Himmler promised the French commanders that they would not be sent to the Western Front, where they could face their compatriots, they were promised to leave the French military priests, the national banner and preserve the independence of France after the war. In February 1945, the unit was reorganized into a division, although the number could not be brought to the regular one - there were only 7.3 thousand people in it.

At the end of February 1945, the Wehrmacht command abandoned the division to plug a gap in the area of ​​the city of Charne in Poland; it entered the battle on February 25 with units of the 1st Belorussian Front. On March 4, the remnants of the division were transferred to Berlin, where they ended their combat path in May 1945. The French took part in the most important operation of the war - the defense of Berlin. At the same time, according to the memoirs of the Germans, they fought to the last, defending the Reich Chancellery together with volunteers from the Scandinavian countries from the SS "Nordland" division (in the same division, several dozen British from the SS defended Berlin). After the battles in Berlin, only a few dozen French survived, almost all were put on trial, having received death penalty or a prison term as a "reward" for the service of France - as they understood it.

The French were also in other divisions of the Armed Forces of Germany, making a feasible contribution to the "common cause". So, in French Brittany, the so-called. Perrault's group, 80 people were recruited into it, since March 1944 she participated in the fight against the French partisans. After the liberation of France, a part went with the Germans to Germany. In the 21st Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht, where there were French trucks and armored vehicles, in the 2nd maintenance company, there were 230 French volunteers in the supply. In the Brandenburg division in 1943, the 8th company of the 3rd regiment was formed from the French, it was located at the foot of the Pyrenees in Southwestern France.

She took part in the anti-partisan struggle. Operating in southern France, 8th Company mimicked French Resistance units using captured radios, and was able to intercept many transports of weapons and other military material. With her help, they were able to identify and arrest many underground workers. The company also took part in battles against the forces of the Resistance, in the so-called. Battle of Vercors. In this battle in June-July 1944, significant forces of Germans and French collaborators (more than 10 thousand people) were able to suppress on the isolated mountain plateau Vercors a major uprising of the French Resistance, which began after de Gaulle's call to support the Allied landing in Normandy. Several hundred partisans were killed.

A significant number of French also served in the Reich Navy (Kriegsmarine) - and recruiting offices were opened only in 1943, when there was no longer any talk of a quick victory over the USSR. The French were enrolled in German units and wore German military uniforms without any special additional patches. In February 1944, in the French ports of Brest, Cherbourg, Lorient, Toulon, there were in German service: about a hundred officers, 3 thousand non-commissioned officers, 160 engineers, almost 700 technicians and 25 thousand civilians... About fifteen hundred of them joined the Charlemagne division in 1944.

The organization Todt, which in France built fortifications and bases for the submarine fleet, consisted of 52 thousand French and 170 thousand North Africans. Of these, 2,500 served in the armed guard of those facilities that this organization cost. Some were transferred to the construction of facilities in Norway, several hundred then joined the Charlemagne division. Up to 500 Frenchmen served in the Speer legion, which performed construction functions in France, then was involved in the supply of the Reich Air Force as part of the NSKK (Nationalsocialistische Kraftfahrkorps) Motorgruppe Luftwaffe (this is a logistics unit of the German Luftwaffe). In addition, another 2,500 French served in the NSKK.

Only data on French prisoners - there were 23,136 French citizens in Soviet captivity.

Therefore, remembering de Gaulle and the French pilots of the Normandie-Niemen regiment, we must also know about the French in the Wehrmacht, about the French Legion, which repeated the fate of “ The great army Napoleon, about the thousands of French people who fought in various units of the armed forces of the Reich against the Anti-Hitler coalition.

Sources of:
Mukhin Yu. Crusade to the East. M., 2006.
Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century. Ed. G. Krivosheeva. M., 2001.