1st Waffen SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler"

The last force is the traditional forces hors de ligne and those are the multitude of completely foreign 'forces that fought alongside the Germans. The largest single group of foreigners in the German army were former citizens of the Soviet Union. They started out as small numbers of volunteers that simply joined up with the Wehrmacht as it pushed through Russia. They were deserters from the Soviet army and they were enthusiastic citizens who came forward and wanted to fight against their communist oppressors. It is believed that fully 25 percent of the German army at the end of the war were former citizens of the Soviet Union.