The 162nd Turkistan Division was formed in May 1943 and comprised five Azeri and six Turkestan artillery and infantry units.[1] The unit retained many enlisted German personnel, and also contained Georgian and Armenians Ost-legion, although they were collectively referred to as “Turks”.[2] The soldiers were trained at Neuhammer.
The division was sent, in October 1943, to northern Italy.[3] The 162nd became the largest division of all the Ostlegionen.[4] Infantry battalion No. 450 was also drawn from ethnic Turks and Azeris.[5]
In early 1944 the division was assigned to guard the Ligurian coast and in June 1944 to combat in Italy but was withdrawn due to poor performance. For the remainder of the war, the division fought the Italian resistance movement near Spezia and the Val di Taro in Italy.[6] After initial setbacks, the division proved to be quite effective.[7]
The main body of the division surrendered near Padua in May 1945 to the Western Allies and was dispatched to Taranto. In accordance with the agreements signed by the British and Americans at the Yalta Conference, the soldiers were repatriated to the Soviet Union. According to Nikolai Tolstoy, they received a twenty-year sentence of corrective labor.[7]
The division has been implicated in a number of war crimes in Italy between December 1943 and May 1945, two of those, in January 1945 in the Emilia-Romagna resulted in the execution of at least 20 civilians each.[8]
162nd, turkestan, division, 162nd, turkistan, division, military, division, that, formed, german, army, during, second, world, drew, from, prisoners, came, from, caucasus, from, turkic, lands, further, east, 162nd, turkistan, divisionturkistan, divisionactivem. The 162nd Turkistan Division was a military division that was formed by the German Army during the Second World War It drew its men from prisoners of war who came from the Caucasus and from Turkic lands further east 162nd Turkistan DivisionTurkistan DivisionActiveMay 1943 May 1945Country Soviet UnionAllegiance Nazi GermanyBranchWehrmachtEngagementsWorld War II Contents 1 History 2 Commanders 3 Organisation 4 War crimes 5 See also 6 ReferencesHistory EditThe 162nd Turkistan Division was formed in May 1943 and comprised five Azeri and six Turkestan artillery and infantry units 1 The unit retained many enlisted German personnel and also contained Georgian and Armenians Ost legion although they were collectively referred to as Turks 2 The soldiers were trained at Neuhammer The division was sent in October 1943 to northern Italy 3 The 162nd became the largest division of all the Ostlegionen 4 Infantry battalion No 450 was also drawn from ethnic Turks and Azeris 5 In early 1944 the division was assigned to guard the Ligurian coast and in June 1944 to combat in Italy but was withdrawn due to poor performance For the remainder of the war the division fought the Italian resistance movement near Spezia and the Val di Taro in Italy 6 After initial setbacks the division proved to be quite effective 7 The main body of the division surrendered near Padua in May 1945 to the Western Allies and was dispatched to Taranto In accordance with the agreements signed by the British and Americans at the Yalta Conference the soldiers were repatriated to the Soviet Union According to Nikolai Tolstoy they received a twenty year sentence of corrective labor 7 Commanders EditGeneralmajor Oskar von Niedermayer 13 May 1943 21 May 1944 Generalleutnant Ralph von Heygendorff 21 May 1944 8 May 1945 Organisation Edit303rd Infantry Regiment Infanterie Regiment 303 314th Infantry Regiment Infanterie Regiment 314 329th Infantry Regiment Infanterie Regiment 329 only in August 1944 162nd Divisional Battalion Divisions Bataillon 162 236rd Artillery Regiment Artillerie Regiment 236 936th Pioneer Battalion Pionier Bataillon 936 236rd Panzerjager Battalion Panzerjager Abteilung 236 236rd Aufklarungs Battalion Aufklarungs Abteilung 236 236rd Signals Battalion Infanterie Divisions Nachrichten Abteilung 236 936th Supply Services Nachschubtruppen 936 War crimes EditThe division has been implicated in a number of war crimes in Italy between December 1943 and May 1945 two of those in January 1945 in the Emilia Romagna resulted in the execution of at least 20 civilians each 8 See also EditOstlegionenReferences Edit Thomas Nigel and Stephen Andrew The German Army 1939 45 5 Western Front 1943 45 Osprey Publishing 2000 12 Altstadt Audrey L The Azerbaijani Turks power and identity under Russian rule Hoover Press 1992 157 Thomas 12 Alstadt 157 Beckett Ian Frederick William Modern insurgencies and counter insurgencies Routledge 2001 62 Mitcham Samuel W German order of battle Panzer Panzer Grenadier and Waffen SS Vol 3 Stackpole Books 1997 215 a b Tolstoy Nikolai 1977 The Secret Betrayal Charles Scribner s Sons p 304ff ISBN 0 684 15635 0 162 Turkistan Infanterie Division in Italian Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy Retrieved 20 September 2018 Portals Military of Germany World War II Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 162nd Turkestan Division amp oldid 1119970684, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
