Hilfswillige

  • Volunteer helpers
Identifier
396
Type of Entity
Corporate Body

History

Hilfswillige were auxiliary units of Soviet POWs, Cossack, Belorussian, Tartar, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian residents in German-occupied areas. They volunteered, or were drafted, into the Wehrmacht. The Hilfswillige were issued German uniforms and received a pay scale comparable to native Germans. They also aided the Einsatzgruppen in the murder of the Jews.

Places

  • Founded in Germany.

Sources

  • Dictionary of the Holocaust : Biography, geography, and terminology / E.J. Epstein, P. Rosen. – Westport, 1997. – p. 126