Cossacks in the service of the Third Reich

The origins of Cossacs probably date back to the 15th and 16th centuries. Cossacks appeared both in the south-eastern areas under the authority of the Commonwealth and in the south-west of Moscow. They played a significant role in the history of our country, fighting together with the Crown and Lithuanian armies in the wars against the Tatars, Turks, Moscow and Sweden. However, they also caused uprisings which seriously weakened the Commonwealth.In the 16th century, Cossack troops in the service of the rulers of Moscow were formed, used for conquests made by this country. Cossacks also suppressed uprisings and rebellions against tsarist authorities. During the civil war in Russia, a significant part of them sympathized with the Whites. After the Bolshevik occupation of the Cossack territories, there was repression compared by Lenin to the Vendée genocide during the French Revolution. Persecution also took place there during the collectivization and the Great Terror.Many Cossacks emigrated. Some of them in Germany, where they later began cooperation with the Nazis, especially after the Third Reich’s aggression against the USSR. After occupying the Cossack territories, the German authorities created local Cossack self-government structures. The first Cossack formations fighting on the Wehrmacht side also began to appear. During the war, tens of thousands of Cossacks who fought in German uniforms in the USSR, occupied Poland, Yugoslavia and northern Italy. They were used primarily to conduct anti-partisan activities. At the end of the war, the Cossacks tried to avoid Soviet captivity and surrender to the Western Allies’ troops. However, as a result of the British-Soviet agreement, they were handed over to the Soviet authorities, which condemned them to a tragic fate.