SS Volunteer Legion Netherlands
| 23rd SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nederland |
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|---|---|
Insignia of the 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland
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| Active | February 1941 – May 1945 |
| Country |
 Nazi Germany
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| Branch |
 Waffen-SS
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| Type | Panzergrenadier |
| Size |
Brigade Division |
| Engagements |
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The 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland was a German Waffen-SS division comprising volunteers from the Netherlands. It saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II from November 1941.
In February 1945, the 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland was merged into the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, but after protests from the Dutch National Socialist movement, the Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging (NSB), it was formed into its own SS Panzergrenadier Division, although its strength never reached more than a brigade.
After the invasion of Poland in 1939, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler sought to expand the Waffen SS with foreign military volunteers for the "crusade against Bolshevism". The enrolment began in April 1940 with the creation of two regiments: the Waffen SS Regiment Nordland (for Danish, Norwegian and Swedish volunteers), and the Waffen SS Regiment Westland (for Dutch and Flemish volunteers).
The recruitment drive in The Netherlands was given an air of respectability by the support of Dutch General Staff Officer Lieutenant-General Hendrik Seyffardt. The drive was successful, and by April 1941, volunteers began arriving in Hamburg. They were processed and signed up for service in the Nordwest.
By July 1941, Nordwest was dissolved to form separate units. The Dutch were organized into SS Volunteer Unit Niederlande. By July 1941 the formation was the size of a reinforced infantry battalion, with five fully motorized companies. The unit was again redesignated, this time as SS Volunteer Legion Niederlande.
General Seyffardt was recruited to command the Legion, and recruits were permitted to wear the Prinsenvlag (an unofficial Dutch national flag) on the sleeve of the uniform. In November 1941, the legion was ordered to the front near Leningrad, under the overall command of Army Group North.
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