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3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade
Insignia of Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade
Active	December 1943 – March 1944
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Waffen-SS
Type	Infantry
Size	Brigade
Engagements	World War II
Commanders
Notable commanders	Franz Augsberger

The 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade (German: 3. Estnische SS-Freiwilligen-Brigade) was a formation of the German Waffen-SS during World War II. It was formed in May 1943, when the Estonian SS Legion (Estnische SS-Legion) was upgraded. The first name chosen for the brigade was the Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, until October 1943, when all SS brigades were numbered so it finally became the 3rd Estonian Volunteer Brigade. The brigade was expanded to a division and renamed on January 23, 1944.

Service history

The Estonian SS Legion had by April 1943, increased its numbers enough to form a brigade-sized formation and was even able to dispatch a battalion, the Narva Battalion, to the SS Division Wiking to replace the departing Finnish Battalion whose members had come to the end of their contracts. The new 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade had by November 1943, 5,099 men and was ready for active service.

In October the brigade was first allocated anti-partisan duties in northern Belarus. At the end of October, the Red Army broke through the German lines after intense fighting in the nearby Nevel section of the front. Since the German command had no reserves in the area, the Estonian Brigade was transferred to the front line where it pushed the Soviet forces back 5-15 kilometers by 13 November.

The Brigade was put under command of the VIII Corps of Army Group North. The brigade suffered severe losses fighting against numerous Red Army assaults and was eventually forced back to Opochka and transferred to the I Army Corps. It was then decided to create an Estonian Division and use the Brigade to form the cadre of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division der SS (Estonian Number 1).

The brigade was expanded to a division and renamed the 20th Estonian SS Volunteer Division on January 23, 1944. It was returned to Estonia after the general conscription call where it was reformed into the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) established on May 26, 1944, when it absorbed all the other Estonian formations in the German military and some Estonian police units. The Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 was also assimilated.

Commander

• Obersturmbannführer Franz Augsberger (22 October 1943 – 21 January 1944)

References

1. Jüri Remmelgas (1955) (in Estonian). Kolm kuuske (The Three Spruces). Stockholm: Kirjastus EMP. pp. 153-172.
2. ^ Jurado, Carlos; Nigel Thomas; Darko Pavlović (2002). Germany's Eastern Front allies (2): Baltic forces. Osprey Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-84176-193-0.

v t e Schutzstaffel (SS)
Branches	Allgemeine SS SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) Waffen-SS
Leadership	Reichsführer-SS SS and police leader SS commands Allgemeine-SS regional commands
Leaders	Julius Schreck Joseph Berchtold Erhard Heiden Heinrich Himmler Karl Hanke
Main departments	Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS Command Staff Reichsführer-SS SS Main Office SS Medical Corps Head Operational Office Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) Economics and Administration Office Office of Race and Settlement (RuSHA) Main Office for Ethnic Germans (VOMI) Office of the Reich Commissioner for Germanic Resettlement (RKFDV) Courts Office Personnel Office Education Office
Ideological institutions	Ahnenerbe Das Schwarze Korps SS-Junker Schools Lebensborn
Police and security services	Uniformed police (Orpo) Schutzpolizei (Schupo) Criminal police (Kripo) Secret State Police (Gestapo) State Security Police (SiPo) SS Security Service (SD) Customs Border Guards (ZGS)
Führer protection	SS-Begleitkommando des Führers Reichssicherheitsdienst
Waffen-SS units	Paramilitary Einsatzgruppen Schutzmannschaft Byelorussian Latvian Lithuanian Ukrainian Estonian Rollkommando Hamann Arajs Kommando Selbstschutz Volksdeutscher Trawnikis Order Police battalions Hiwi Security Battalions (Greece) Waffen-SS divisions SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) Leibstandarte (LSSAH) SS Division Das Reich SS Division Totenkopf SS Polizei Division SS Division Wiking Foreign SS units Austrian SS Germanic-SS Germaansche SS in Nederland Germaansche SS in Vlaanderen Germanske SS Norge Schalburg Corps British Free Corps Kaminski Brigade Finnish Volunteer Battalion
SS-controlled enterprises	Deutsche Wirtschaftsbetriebe German Earth and Stone Works (DEST) Ostindustrie German Equipment Works Klinker-Zement Allach porcelain Apollinaris Mattoni Sudetenquell Anton Loibl

• Generalbezirk Estland
• Military history of Estonia during World War II
• Security units of Nazi Germany established in 1943
• Security units of Nazi Germany disestablished in 1944
• Waffen-SS brigades
• Foreign conscript units of the Waffen-SS