On the 31st January 1941, in Oslo, Norway, Reichsführer-SS Himmler accepted the oath of the first group of Norwegian enlistees in the Waffen-SS.

On the 31st January 1941, in Oslo, Norway, Reichsführer-SS Himmler accepted the oath of the first group of Norwegian enlistees in the Waffen-SS.

During World War 2 numerous Norwegian volunteers served within the ranks of the German Wehrmacht. Prior to 1940, there were few such volunteers, but after the invasion, their numbers increased dramatically totaling around 50,000 by wars end. 

Nowhere did Norwegians serve in greater numbers than in the ranks of the Waffen-SS, but equal mention should also be made of those who served in the Kriegsmarine, Luftwaffe, Heer and in the various auxiliary forces such as Organization Todt and even the Reichsarbeitdients.

Norway was invaded by Germany on April 9, 1940. The attack was a surprise, and the 50,000 man Royal Norwegian Army fought back as best it could, aided eventually by British, French, and Polish troops. By June of that year, the German hold on the country was secure.

After the Germans occupied Oslo, Vidkun Quisling announced himself as the head of a new, pro-German Norwegian government. Hitler ordered him to step down soon after. Quisling was a career soldier in the Norwegian Army. During 1931 and 1932 he had served briefly as the Minister of Defense in the cabinet of the ruling Agrarian Party. He was considered a failure at this post, and then cut his ties with the Agrarians. During 1933 Quisling started his own right-wing party after witnessing the ascension to power of Hitler and the Nazis in Germany. Quisling called his party Nasjonal Samling, Norwegian for National Unity.

On April 20, 1940, the Regiment Nordland was ordered to begin forming. This unit was to incorporate Norwegians, Danes, and ethnic-German Nordschleswigers into a regiment of the Waffen-SS. This was despite the fact that Norway was not fully occupied, and that Denmark had only been occupied for 11 days. Only a few hundred men from each country volunteered, so German citizens formed the bulk of the unit. Few, if any, Norwegians are known to have joined during 1940, but on January 12 of the next year, Quisling broadcast a speech over Norwegian radio asking for volunteers for the unit. Men started reporting for service in Regiment Nordland the next day.

On June 15, 1940, a sister regiment named Westland was ordered to begin forming. This was to incorporate Dutch and Flemish volunteers. During December 1940, Nordland, Westland, and the SS-VT Regiment Germania were assigned to together form a new division, one that became known eventually as Viking.

Norwegians who volunteered for Nordland were gradually called up in groups. At least five groups were sent out of the country for training. While most of the men did end up in Nordland, some in the latter groups were instead diverted to Germania, Westland, or the other units raised for Wiking. Norwegians served in Viking’s Artillerie Regiment, Flak Abteilung, and Aufklaerungs Abteilung, and probably elsewhere in the division.

Viking advanced across Ukraine during the 1941 German invasion of the USSR. Nordland crossed the border into Ukraine on June 29 and took its first casualties two days later when I. Bataillon was shelled by the Soviets.

The regiment was commanded by officers who would have a history of working with Norwegian volunteers. The regiment commander was the Austrian nobleman Fritz von Scholz. He was worshiped by his men much as Frederick the Great had been by his soldiers, so von Scholz was affectionately known by Frederick’s nickname of “Alten Fritz” (Old Fritz).

After one of the Viking officers had been shot dead in the city of Lviv, Jews in the area were rounded up by members of the division's logistics units led by Obersturmführer Braunnagel and Untersturmführer Kochalty. A gauntlet was then formed by two rows of soldiers. Most of these soldiers were from the Wiking's logistics units, but some were members of the German 1st Mountain Division.

The Jews were then forced to run down this path while being struck by rifle butts and bayonets. At the end of this path stood a number of SS and army officers who shot the Jews as soon as they entered a bomb crater being used as a mass grave. About 50 or 60 Jews were killed in this manner