| XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps | |
|---|---|
| XV. SS-Kosaken-Kavallerie-Korps 15-й казачий кавалерийский корпус СС | |
 | |
| Active | 1944–1945 |
| Country |  Germany |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | |
| Type | Cavalry |
| Size | 50,000[2] |
| Part of | Army Group F |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | |
| Part ofa series on |
| Cossacks |
|---|
 |
| Cossack hosts |
| Other Cossack groups |
| History |
| Notable Cossacks |
| Cossack terms |
| Cossack folklore |
| Notable people of Cossack descent |
TheXV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps[a] was aWorld War IIcavalrycorps of theWaffen-SS, the armed wing of the GermanNazi Party, primarily recruited fromCossacks. It was originally known as theXIV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps from September 1944, afterHelmuth von Pannwitz's1st Cossack Cavalry Division of theWehrmacht was transferred to the SS, before being renumbered as XV in February 1945. The two brigades of the division were expanded when the corps was formed, so they became the new 1st and2nd Cossack Cavalry Divisions. A third division was also planned on but never officially activated, with only one separate brigade being established. Although the corps was officially part of the Waffen-SS, its members never wore any SS insignia and its officers remained the same as before.
In late April 1945, shortly before the end of the war, the corps was transferred from the SS to theArmed Forces of theCommittee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia, becoming theXV Cossack Cavalry Corps of the VS KONR.[b]Ivan Kononov was appointed the corps commander with the titleAtaman of All Cossack Forces, but this change was not implemented before theend of World War II in Europe. The Cossack Corps, led by Pannwitz, retreated from occupied Yugoslavia with the rest of the Wehrmacht'sArmy Group F and surrendered to theWestern Allies in Austria in May 1945.
During theRussian Civil War (1917–1923), Cossack leaders and their governments generally sided with theWhite movement. After the Soviets emerged victorious in the civil war, a policy ofde-Cossackisation was instituted between 1919 and 1933, aimed at the elimination of the Cossacks as a separate cultural and political group.[3] Cossacks in exile joined otherRussian émigré groups inCentral andWestern Europe, while those in Russia endured continual repression.
In October 1942, the Germans established a semi-autonomous Cossack District in theKuban. This put them in a position to recruit Cossacks from these areas and mobilise them against theRed Army. This was in contrast to soldiers of theROA, who had been recruited from POW camps and Red Army defectors, most soldiers of the German Cossack units had never been citizens of theSoviet Union.[4]
In the summer of 1944,Heinrich Himmler and theSS became interested in gaining control of the1st Cossack Division underHelmuth von Pannwitz. In July 1944 Himmler discussed the organisation of a Cossack fighting unit in theBiałystok region and requested fromAdolf Hitler, that the Cossack Division would be placed in the organisational structure of the SS. On 26 August 1944 he met with Pannwitz and his chief of staff. Himmler planned to gather all Cossack units to form a second Cossack division and proposed the transfer of the 1st Cossack Division to the SS. All units were to be placed under Pannwitz's command. Though initially reluctant, Pannwitz eventually agreed to place his division under SS administration.[5] Both German cadre and Cossack troops would retain their traditional uniforms and theirWehrmacht or Cossack rank. Pannwitz hoped to raise his unit's low morale and to receive more supplies and better equipment.[6] The Cossacks did not wear the SS runes or receive any ideological indoctrination.[7]
In September 1944, the XIV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps was established on the basis of the 1st Cossack Division. The Cossacks fought an engagement against the Red Army on 25 December 1944 nearPitomača to prevent them from crossing theDrava River. The commander of the 5th Don Cossack Cavalry Regiment,Ivan Kononov, was awarded theIron Cross, first class, after the battle.[8]
In November 1944 the 1st Cossack Division was taken over by theWaffen-SS. TheSS Führungshauptamt reorganised the division and used further Cossack combat units from the army and theOrdnungspolizei to form a2nd Cossack Cavalry Division. Both divisions were placed under the command of the XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps on 1 February 1945. With the transfer of the 5th Volunteer Cossack Depot Regiment from theVolunteer Depot Division on the same day the takeover of the Cossack units by theWaffen-SS was complete.[9][10] According to Samuel J. Newland, the corps, composed of the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Brigades and the 1st and 2nd Division, was actually formed on 25 February 1945, when it was officially created by the High Command.[11] The corps was initially subordinated toArmy Group F inCroatia, and since March 1945 toArmy Group E in Croatia.[12] During their time there, they were known by the locals asČerkezi ("Circassians"), despite the corps' Cossack ethnic makeup.[13]
The corps supported the German offensiveOperation Spring Awakening inHungary by launching an offensive against a Soviet bridgehead atValpovo on the Drava. During April the corps was engaged in minor actions and then began to withdraw fromYugoslavia on 3 May 1945. Senior officers had concluded that the corps should fight their way back toAustria in order to be captured by the British. According to one source, Pannwitz felt that the West would have great use for the corps as an anti-Bolshevik formation. The 2nd Division covered the withdrawal of the 1st Division against partisan forces. Unaffected by theGerman surrender on 8 May and partisan demands to surrender, the Cossack units continued fighting on their way to theBritish zone. On 10 May Pannwitz surrendered to the British, while the last divisional elements reached the British zone on 13 May 1945.[14]
1st Don Cossack Cavalry Regiment
2nd Siberian Cossack Regiment
4th Kuban Cossack Regiment 3rd Kuban Cossack Regiment 5th Don Cossack Regiment
6th Terek Cossack Horse RegimentThe regiments of the corps each had a patch with two main colors, a black border, and Cyrillic letters that represented each Cossack host.[17] The latter included ВД (Don Host), ПСВ (Regiment of the Siberian Host), КВ (Kuban Host), or ТВ (Terek Host).[18]
Though the division had fought westwards to surrender to the western Allies, the British later surrendered all Cossack units to the Red Army. Several thousand were killed in a mass execution nearLienz, Austria, while the commanding officers, including Pannwitz, were put on trial and executed in 1947. Gravestones near Lienz mark the location of the mass graves.[19]
