Финский батальон СС на территории Северной Осетии осенью 1942 г.

Abstract

The article considers the participation of the SS battalion, formed from Finnish volunteers, in the actions of the Nazi army on the territory of North Ossetia. One of the results of Finland’s close cooperation with the German Nazis was the Finnish volunteer movement and the participation of Finnish units in the hostilities of the Nazi army on the Eastern Front - that is, in the war against the USSR. The history of the Finnish volunteer battalion and other foreign units of the SS division “Viking” has already attracted the attention of domestic and foreign researchers, but a detailed description of the participation of foreign SS volunteers in the actions of German troops in the Caucasus and, in particular, on the territory of Ossetia, is just beginning. Documents from the archives of European countries that were part of the Nazi coalition are of paramount importance for restoring a complete picture of the events of 1942. The National Archives of Finland declassified and made public materials on the execution of civilians by Finnish SS men before retreating in 1942. Documents published in Vladikavkaz and a scientific investigation conducted in the Iraf district of North Ossetia confirmed the fact of this tragedy. The path of the division “Viking” on the Soviet land was accompanied by a bloody trail of massacres of the civilian population. The Finnish soldiers of Hitler were remembered by the Soviet people, who survived the occupation, for their cruelty. The execution of the inhabitants of the Ossetian village of Toldzgun adds important details to the overall picture of the events of the Great Patriotic War and once again confirms the criminal nature of the war unleashed by Nazi Germany against the Soviet people.