Although the name “Jan Krejčířský” is distinctly Czech, its German transcription, used by the young boy serving with the German Navy in Norway, proved nearly unpronounceable for his new comrades-in-arms. Clearly a non-German, he continued to serve the Germans until the end of the war. Whether this was by choice or simply due to a lack of opportunity to desert remains uncertain.

Willibald Grimm was a Czechoslovak citizen of German nationality. Conscripted into the Wehrmacht, he attempted to avoid the war by deserting. Seeking help from a local woman, he claimed to be Czech in hopes of gaining her sympathy. However, his desertion attempt failed, and both Grimm and his helpers were put on trial.

Former corporal in the Czechoslovak Army, Otto Litterák, attempted to escape from the occupied homeland in 1940 but was captured and coerced into registering as German and joining the Wehrmacht. After serving in Oslo, Stavanger, and Lillehammer, he deserted to Sweden, where he volunteered for the Czechoslovak exile army. However, when called to fly to Britain, he refused to board the plane, choosing to remain in Sweden. He wanted nothing more to do with the war.

Several more Czechoslovak deserters from the Wehrmacht found asylum in Sweden. However, they again faced distrust, this time from the Czechoslovak authorities. Perhaps the incident described above contributed to the fact that, of the one hundred volunteers flown to Britain during the war via the sporadic air link, not a single one was among them.

DIFFERENT WAYS, DIFFERENT FATES

A relatively large number of soldiers of mixed or “non-German” origin served in the Nazi occupation forces in Norway. Their numbers fluctuated considerably throughout the war – from a minimal presence to a significant proportion.

Although mass conscriptions from the annexed territories of the Third Reich began in 1941 and 1942, many men entered service much earlier. This was particularly true for Czechoslovakia, which had been occupied even before the outbreak of the Second World War. A few Czechs in German uniforms even set foot in Norway as early as during the invasion in April 1940, including in the famous mountain troops of General Dietl, who fought at Narvik. These were both Austrian citizens of Czech origin and residents of Czech territories that, following the Munich Agreement, were incorporated into the Reich’s Upper and Lower Danube Gaue.

Some former Polish citizens were also deployed during the invasion in April 1940, having been conscripted into the Wehrmacht shortly after the conquest of Poland in September 1939. For example, some men from Pomerania joined the 196th Infantry Division, which was formed in Gdańsk and deployed in April 1940 for the main German offensive from Oslo to Åndalsnes and Trondheim.

However, the largest number of “non-German” soldiers arrived in Norway only after the midpoint of the war, as part of the mentioned transformation of the occupation forces. At this stage, the German ground forces shifted their focus to a static defense maintained by second-rate units, in which a significant portion of soldiers consisted of conscripts from annexed territories.

For example, they were already present in the 702nd Static Infantry Division, sent to Norway in the summer of 1941. The division was formed by the military district in Stettin, which included some annexed areas of Polish Pomerania. However, since the Nazis did not adhere to the usual territorial principle with “non-German” soldiers and instead deliberately dispersed them to various military districts and units, their presence, in smaller or larger numbers, can be noted in most divisions in Norway.

These conscripts mostly served in the infantry, artillery, or engineering units, but many also served in the air force and navy—although usually as ground personnel, in guard and support units, or with the coastal artillery. Nevertheless, some even served directly aboard combat ships or as aircraft crew. These particular soldiers, however, had to be considered “reliable” by the Nazi command—whether rightly so or not.

Due to significant ongoing changes, the overall numbers of “non-German” soldiers in Norway can only be estimated. The largest group consisted of soldiers from Polish territories, with estimates ranging from 15,000 to 20,000 men. A roughly equal number also came from former Czechoslovakia; however, most of these were ethnic Germans from the large German minority (so called Sudeten Germans) — there may have been approximately two thousand “non-German” conscripts from the Czech lands. This is, once again, only a rough estimate. More detailed data is available only regarding the situation at the end of the war, which will be mentioned further.

As already explained earlier, many soldiers submitted to the Nazis — some sympathized with them, others felt loyalty to Germany as such, and still others simply obediently complied with authority. However, this does not mean that they concealed their origins when interacting with the Norwegian populace. Quite the opposite was often true; sharing stories about their distant homeland and families where a Slavic language is spoken did not imply that they wished to defy their superiors.

The conscripts who entered service solely out of coercion and had no intention of submitting to the Germans could not hope to find simple solutions in Norway. They faced the harshest penalties for potential desertion. Moreover, the Nazis often punished the families of such offenders as well.

However, the nearby border with neutral Sweden was a tempting prospect for escape, even though it was well-guarded. If the deserters wanted to succeed, they had to rely on the assistance of locals—and this is where it was advantageous for them to explain their origins and the fact that they were serving the Nazis only unwillingly. After doing so, they could hope that the Norwegians would be more sympathetic toward them.

The vast majority of non-German soldiers in German uniforms, however, served in Norway — whether voluntarily or involuntarily — until the end of the war. Only after that could they look forward to returning to their families or deciding what to do next. The situation was not easy for them even in the post-war peace.