Christian Von Schalburg
Christian Frederik Von Schalburg (April 15, 1906- June 2, 1942) was a Danish Waffen-SS Officer and the second commander of the Danish SS Legion, the Free Corps Denmark.
Christian Von Schalburg was born in the Russian Empire on April 15, 1906, he was born to a Danish father and a Ukrainian mother. In 1929, he joined the Danish Royal Life Guards and in 1934, his son Alexander Schalburg, was born. In 1939, he joined the Danish Nazi Party and the same year, he joined up with the Danish Volunteer Troops to fight the Soviet Union in the Winter War.
After the German Occupation of Denmark began in 1940, Von Schalburg joined the Waffen-SS and served with the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking. In 1941, just before Operation Barbarossa, Von Schalburg suggested to Frits Clausen, the leader of the Danish Nazi Party, to have a Danish SS Corps be under his command. During his service in the Wiking Division, he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class. On February 27, 1942, Von Schalburg arrived to command the Free Corps Denmark on the Eastern Front. On June 2, 1942, Christian Von Schalburg initiated the first offensive of the Free Corps Denmark at the Demyansk Pocket. During the battle for the Demyansk Pocket, he stepped on a land mine and was later killed by an artillery shell. The Germanic SS Danish Schalburg Corps that was formed to squash the Danish Resistance Movement was named after Christian Frederik Von Schalburg.
