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Sunday, August 4, 2024

The Visit of Finnish General to SS Wiking HQ


From left to right: SS-Standartenführer Herbert Otto Gille (Kommandeur SS-Artillerie-Regiment 5 / SS-Division "Wiking"), Lieutenant-General Harald Öhquist (representative of the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Armed Forces at the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht), SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Felix Steiner (Kommandeur SS-Division "Wiking"), Major Esko Riekki (former head of the Finnish Secret Police who became the main organizer for the recruitment of the Finnish SS volunteer legion), and SS-Hauptsturmführer Friedrich Meyer (Adjutant Kommandeur SS-Artillerie-Regiment 5 / SS-Division "Wiking"). While the majority of the "Finnische Legion" was still undergoing training in Gross Born (Germany), around 200 volunteers with combat experience were first distributed to different units of the Wiking Division. This caused unrest among these veteran volunteers, as they wanted to be gathered in the same unit, and they also thought that some German officers and non-commissioned officers had underestimated their abilities. To quell this unrest, Öhquist was brought to Wiking's operational area in Russia. During his four-day visit, the Finnish general took in the grievances of his compatriots and got a close look at their welfare conditions. The photo was taken between 27-30 August 1941, possibly near near Dnjepropetrovsk.



SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Felix Steiner (Kommandeur SS-Division "Wiking") chats with his colleagues while wearing a brightly colored long jacket. In the foreground is the high-ranking Finnish officer Lieutenant-General Harald Öhquist (representative of the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Armed Forces at the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht), who paid a visit to the Wiking operational area in the Eastern Front to meet the Finnish volunteers of the SS-Infanterie-Regiment "Nordland" / SS-Division "Wiking" (motorisiert). Second from left is SS-Standartenführer Herbert Otto Gille (Kommandeur SS-Artillerie-Regiment 5 / SS-Division "Wiking"). The photo was taken between 27-30 August 1941, possibly near near Dnjepropetrovsk


Source :
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2019/04/foto-felix-steiner-komandan-divisi-ss.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=255188&hilit=herbert+gille

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