Volkssturm

The Volkssturm, literally translated as people storm, was a German national militia of the last months of the Nazi regime. It was founded on Adolf Hitler's orders on October 18, 1944. Effectively, it meant the conscription of all males between the ages of 16 to 60 years of age who did not already serve in some military unit or part of Wachdienst (a home guard). Hitler ordered Martin Bormann to recruit 6 million men for this militia. The basic unit was a battalion of 642 men and the units were mostly composed of members of Hitler Jugend, veterans that had been invalidated, or men who had been otherwise considered unfit for military service.

Volkssturm "uniform" was only a black armband with words Deutscher Volkssturm because Wehrmacht had no uniforms to spare; some who wore some kind of uniform in their civilian job (like train conductors) tried to make it look more presentable for military use. Members were briefly trained on use of new weapons. After they had made the customary oath to Hitler, they were sent to face the enemy. They were supposed to be used only in their own districts, but many were sent directly to either front.

Volkssturm units fought the best they could. Especially those men who faced Red Army troops fought desperately because they did not want to fall into Russian hands. Their equipment was sometimes very mixed from 19th century revolvers to a single panzerfaust per unit. The last volkssturm units fought in the Battle of Berlin.

Most war historians agree that Volkssturm had negligible strategic effect on the outcome of the war.

Books

• David K. Yelton: Hitler's Volkssturm (2002)

External links

• U.S. Wartime Intelligence Report on German Volkssturm