WWII Schalburg Corps Danmarks Nationalsocialistiske Arbejderparti Sonnenrad rune Armband.
The Schalburg Corps , named after Christian Frederik von Schalburg , head of Frikorps Denmark , was a corps of Danes in German service during the occupation .
In May 1942, Germanische Leitstelle had purchased Høveltegård north of Copenhagen as a base for a Danish SS school. The school was inaugurated on October 15, 1942 with SS-Hauptsturmführer Dirck Bonnek as principal.
It collaborated with Frits Clausen ‘s National Socialist Workers Party (DNSAP), which was responsible for the recruitment to the school. Clausen pushed for tuition in Danish , and he got support from Bonnek to run it as a pure DNSAP school. Two six-week courses were held before Berger and Germanische Leitstelle lost patience and turned the key in January 1943. Subsequently, the collaboration with Clausen was largely put on ice by Obergruppenführer Gottlob Berger . He was now pushing for the creation of an SS-dominated school to gather the first large group of Eastern Front volunteers when they returned. The Corps was established on April 1, 1943 as a Germanic Corpsat the request of SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler . September 1943 it was renamed the Schalburg Corps.
The establishment of the Schalburg Corps served several purposes. In the short term, it should help to maintain peace and order in Denmark, as the Germans were dissatisfied with the Danish police’s efforts against sabotage and German hostile unrest. The long-term goal was to promote Germanization and Nazification of Denmark. The Danish Nazi party, led by Frits Clausen, had failed and had no political influence. Of course, it did not help its popularity that it emerged as a decoction of the German Nazi Party. Berger’s intention with the Schalburg Corps was to create an organization that could replace the existing Nazi party as a rallying point for the right wing.
Werner Best was not in favor of the corps having political ambitions. His view was that groups trying to elbow their political influence with German support would inevitably become unpopular in the Danish population. That was exactly what had happened to the Danish Nazi Party.
However, he was hard pressed to ensure the establishment of a political branch of the Corps. It was called the National Guard and was led by Captain Poul Sommer , the former head of the Summer Corps , which Best believed to be able to control. Understandably, the political activities of the Schalburg Corps led to a bitter dispute with DNSAP. There is no doubt that the corps wanted to drain the old Nazi party for members, and Frits Clausen could not prevent it when the Germans turned his hand.
To attract a wider circle, the Schalburg Corps made a virtue of appearing as a Danish corps. From May to December 1943, the corps wore black uniforms similar to those of the parent organization, Allgemeine-SS , but from New Year 1944 they were replaced with Danish khaki-colored M1923 uniforms confiscated in connection with the state of emergency of 29 August 1943 and flagged with Dannebrog .