Christian Frederik von Schalburg
Encyclopedia
Christian Frederik von Schalburg (15 April 1906 – 2 June 1942) was a Danish army officer and the second commander of Free Corps Denmark.
, Tomskaja Gubernija Russian Empire
(now Altai Krai
, Russia
). His father, August Theodor Schalburg, was Danish and his mother, Elena Vasiljevna, came from a Russian noble family and was born Starizki von Siemianowska. Still a boy von Schalburg received a military education in the Tsar
's cadet corps and lived in Russia until the October Revolution
of 1917 when he fled with his family to Denmark. These dramatic events caused him to long for Russia and to feel a burning hate of communists and jews
.
Von Schalburg served as a captain in Royal Danish Life Guards, where he was eventually described as 'unstable and for the army possibly a dangerous man'. In a letter to the king
he defended himself as a victim of Jewish slander.
From 1939 von Schalburg headed the youth branch (NSU) of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark (DNSAP), where he became very popular. That same year he and a group of NSU members called 'bloddrengene' (the blood boys) were among the Danish volunteers for the Finnish
Winter War
against the USSR in 1939–1940. He was thus not at home when Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany
on 9 April 1940. Despite his national socialist beliefs he was deeply distressed that Denmark had surrendered almost without fighting.
In September 1940 with the consent of the Danish army and the king, von Schalburg joined the Waffen-SS
and served with 5th SS Division Wiking
as a SS-Hauptsturmführer
.
In February 1941 von Schalburg suggested to his friend, head of DNSAP Frits Clausen
, the formation of a Danish SS unit, 'Regiment Dannebrog
', to be commanded by himself.
During Operation Barbarossa
von Schalburg served on the divisional staff of Division Wiking. He was awarded the Iron Cross
of 1st and 2nd class while serving in Division Wiking.
On 27 February 1942 von Schalburg arrived at Frikorps Danmark in Treskau and on March 1 he was given command of the corps now ranked Sturmbannführer
(Major).
The SS gave von Schalburg this command mostly because of his political reliability and willingness to provide his corps with the required ideological training and also because he enjoyed good relations with his subordinates, all qualities that his predecessor C.P. Kryssing
lacked.
As part of his responsibility for the unit's training, he introduced lessons in German and Russian, a 1/2 hour of PE every morning and extended duty hours from 5 (05:00) to 20 (20:00).
On 8 May 1942 von Schalburg was flown by Junkers Ju 52
with parts of the corps into the Demyansk Pocket
.
On 2 June 1942 von Schalburg initiated the first offensive operation of Frikorps Danmark. In an attempt to monitor the progress of the battle, von Schalburg advanced towards the front line, but stepped on a mine
and was moments later killed
by shrapnel from a Russian artillery
shell
. The subsequent rescue of his corpse, which caused a casualty
, revealed extensive injuries including a leg torn off at the hip and a missing foot.
SS-Brigadeführer Hellmuth Becker
spoke at the funeral.
On the same day Reichsführer-SS
Heinrich Himmler
posthumously promoted von Schalburg to SS-Obersturmbannführer, but was first effective on June 1.
In Denmark the newspaper of the DNSAP 'Fædrelandet' (the Fatherland) filled the front page with the news of the fallen commander, while a memorial service for von Schalburg was disturbed by insults shouted by a student.
A Danish medal, the Schalburg Cross
and the Danish Germanic-SS
Schalburg Corps
(In July 1944, the Schalburg Corps was incorporated into the SS as the SS Training Battalion Schalburg. Six months later it was renamed the SS Guard Battalion Zealand. It was officially disbanded on February 28, 1945), was named after von Schalburg. His widow founded Schalburgs mindefond (memorial fund), which sent packages to Danish volunteers on the Eastern Front
.
The fact that von Schalburg advanced (against the advice of a company commander) towards the front line and jeopardized not only his own life but that of his corps made him a reckless commander in some eyes. However his record indicate that he was a competent commander and it must also be noted that in the SS this behaviour was not uncommon and that the losses of commanders in the SS were exceptionally high, including von Schalburg's successor who fell just two days after arriving at the corps.
Biography
Christian Frederik von Schalburg was born in ZmeinogorskZmeinogorsk
Zmeinogorsk is a town and the administrative center of Zmeinogorsky District of Altai Krai, Russia, located on the Korbolikha Aley's tributary) and Zmeyevka Rivers. Population: It was founded in 1736 and granted town status in 1952....
, Tomskaja Gubernija Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now Altai Krai
Altai Krai
Altai Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It borders with, clockwise from the south, Kazakhstan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, and the Altai Republic. The krai's administrative center is the city of Barnaul...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
). His father, August Theodor Schalburg, was Danish and his mother, Elena Vasiljevna, came from a Russian noble family and was born Starizki von Siemianowska. Still a boy von Schalburg received a military education in the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
's cadet corps and lived in Russia until the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
of 1917 when he fled with his family to Denmark. These dramatic events caused him to long for Russia and to feel a burning hate of communists and jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
.
Von Schalburg served as a captain in Royal Danish Life Guards, where he was eventually described as 'unstable and for the army possibly a dangerous man'. In a letter to the king
Christian X of Denmark
Christian X was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and the only King of Iceland between 1918 and 1944....
he defended himself as a victim of Jewish slander.
From 1939 von Schalburg headed the youth branch (NSU) of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark (DNSAP), where he became very popular. That same year he and a group of NSU members called 'bloddrengene' (the blood boys) were among the Danish volunteers for the Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
against the USSR in 1939–1940. He was thus not at home when Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
on 9 April 1940. Despite his national socialist beliefs he was deeply distressed that Denmark had surrendered almost without fighting.
In September 1940 with the consent of the Danish army and the king, von Schalburg joined the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
and served with 5th SS Division Wiking
5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking was one of the elite Panzer divisions of the thirty eight Waffen SS divisions. It was recruited from foreign volunteers, from Scandinavia, Finland, Estonia, The Netherlands, and Belgium under the command of German officers...
as a SS-Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
.
In February 1941 von Schalburg suggested to his friend, head of DNSAP Frits Clausen
Frits Clausen
Frits Clausen was leader of the Danish Nazi party prior to and during World War II.Born in Aabenraa, since 1864 a part of Prussia, Clausen served in the German Army during World War I...
, the formation of a Danish SS unit, 'Regiment Dannebrog
Dannebrog
Dannebrog may refer to;* The national Flag of Denmark* Order of the Dannebrog : A Royal Danish decoration....
', to be commanded by himself.
During Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
von Schalburg served on the divisional staff of Division Wiking. He was awarded the Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
of 1st and 2nd class while serving in Division Wiking.
On 27 February 1942 von Schalburg arrived at Frikorps Danmark in Treskau and on March 1 he was given command of the corps now ranked Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
(Major).
The SS gave von Schalburg this command mostly because of his political reliability and willingness to provide his corps with the required ideological training and also because he enjoyed good relations with his subordinates, all qualities that his predecessor C.P. Kryssing
Christian Peder Kryssing
Christian Peder Kryssing , commonly known as C.P. Kryssing, was a Danish artillery officer and an ardent anti-communist but not a member of the Danish Nazi party, DNSAP....
lacked.
As part of his responsibility for the unit's training, he introduced lessons in German and Russian, a 1/2 hour of PE every morning and extended duty hours from 5 (05:00) to 20 (20:00).
On 8 May 1942 von Schalburg was flown by Junkers Ju 52
Junkers Ju 52
The Junkers Ju 52 was a German transport aircraft manufactured from 1932 to 1945. It saw both civilian and military service during the 1930s and 1940s. In a civilian role, it flew with over 12 air carriers including Swissair and Deutsche Luft Hansa as an airliner and freight hauler...
with parts of the corps into the Demyansk Pocket
Demyansk Pocket
The Demyansk Pocket was the name given for the encirclement of German troops by the Red Army around Demyansk , south of Leningrad, during World War II on the Eastern Front. The pocket existed mainly from 8 February-21 April 1942. A much smaller pocket was simultaneously surrounded in Kholm, about ...
.
On 2 June 1942 von Schalburg initiated the first offensive operation of Frikorps Danmark. In an attempt to monitor the progress of the battle, von Schalburg advanced towards the front line, but stepped on a mine
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
and was moments later killed
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
by shrapnel from a Russian artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
shell
Shell (projectile)
A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
. The subsequent rescue of his corpse, which caused a casualty
Casualty (person)
A casualty is a person who is the victim of an accident, injury, or trauma. The word casualties is most often used by the news media to describe deaths and injuries resulting from wars or disasters...
, revealed extensive injuries including a leg torn off at the hip and a missing foot.
After his death
On 3 June 1942, von Schalburg's body was transported in a coffin draped in Dannebrog (Danish Flag) to the cemetery of the corps located in the small village Biakovo in the Demjansk area. The commanding officer of the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf3rd SS Division Totenkopf
The SS Division Totenkopf , also known as 3. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf and 3. SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf, was one of the 38 divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS during World War II. Prior to achieving division status, the formation was known as Kampfgruppe Eicke...
SS-Brigadeführer Hellmuth Becker
Hellmuth Becker
Hellmuth Becker was a SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS who was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves. He was also the commander of the 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf.-Early life:...
spoke at the funeral.
On the same day Reichsführer-SS
Reichsführer-SS
was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:...
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
posthumously promoted von Schalburg to SS-Obersturmbannführer, but was first effective on June 1.
In Denmark the newspaper of the DNSAP 'Fædrelandet' (the Fatherland) filled the front page with the news of the fallen commander, while a memorial service for von Schalburg was disturbed by insults shouted by a student.
A Danish medal, the Schalburg Cross
Schalburg Cross
The Schalburg Cross was a decoration awarded to officers, NCOs and enlisted men in the Danish Schalburg Corps during World War II.-History:...
and the Danish Germanic-SS
Germanic-SS
The Germanic SS was the collective name given to SS groups which arose in Occupied Europe between 1939 and 1945.The units were modeled on the Allgemeine-SS in Nazi Germany...
Schalburg Corps
Schalburg Corps
The Schalburg Corps was a Danish volunteer army corps and a branch of the Germanic-SS. Named after Christian Frederik von Schalburg, commander of the Free Corps Denmark who was killed in combat operations in the Demyansk Pocket in 1942...
(In July 1944, the Schalburg Corps was incorporated into the SS as the SS Training Battalion Schalburg. Six months later it was renamed the SS Guard Battalion Zealand. It was officially disbanded on February 28, 1945), was named after von Schalburg. His widow founded Schalburgs mindefond (memorial fund), which sent packages to Danish volunteers on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
.
The fact that von Schalburg advanced (against the advice of a company commander) towards the front line and jeopardized not only his own life but that of his corps made him a reckless commander in some eyes. However his record indicate that he was a competent commander and it must also be noted that in the SS this behaviour was not uncommon and that the losses of commanders in the SS were exceptionally high, including von Schalburg's successor who fell just two days after arriving at the corps.