Go to the Wikipedia entry titled “Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts” and you will learn that the Waffen SS, the infamous Nazi-affiliated German military organisation during the 1930s and ‘40s, incorporated a 400 strong “Irish Brigade”. Except what you are reading is completely and utterly untrue. There is no evidence whatsoever that such a group existed nor has any reputable historian made any such claim in the seven decades since the end of World War II. It is an utter fabrication. A straightforward lie. Yet there it stands, in the world’s premier online encyclopaedia, penned by some anonymous user for reasons unfathomable to us mere mortals.
Wikipedia. A neutral source of knowledge and information for the global internet community or the partisan playground of fantasists and nationalists of one stripe or another?
AN SIONNACH FIONN 
excellent posting, sionnach: friend had “an coileánach” name change reverted by ‘snappy’ (without latinised buailte) – reminds me of that piece you had about wiki few weeks ago (which makes me hanker for traditional sub-editors!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Collins_%28Irish_leader%29&diff=569475429&oldid=569466074
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Snappy
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I presume the other editor had good reasons for the revert (current Irish language conventions or such like) but it would be nice to see the opposing arguments. A lot of Irish Wiki entries follow very funny rules especially in relation to An Ghaeilge.
In general Wikipedia entries for Ireland or Irish-related matters are a play-thing for British editors. I live in the nation-state of Ireland (as it is called in English). Yet Wikipedia insists I live in some place called the “Republic of Ireland” or “ROI”.
Maddening.
Of course there are some very active British Wikipedians who closely “police” the Irish entries to make sure nothing gets through these anonymous censors politically disagree with (and they make their politics obvious). Most Irish Wikpedians seem to accept this from what I have seen, read and been told. There is a sort of defeatist “what’s the point” attitude (or some simply agree).
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Just look at what happened in the case of Chelsea Manning:
http://www.philipsandifer.com/2013/09/something-rotten-at-sausage-factory-how.html
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Interesting link, will definitely have a read.
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According to the Wikipedia footnote regarding the purported SS Irish Brigade, the source cited is a 2010 book by Robert A. Best called “The British Free Corps: The Story of the British Volunteers of the Waffen SS.” The footnote states that Best quotes a source which indicates that by “January 1945, some 1,100 Britons had applied to join the formation. Additionally, there was also an SS Irish Brigade, which was about 400 men strong.”
I am unfamiliar with this book so I can’t vouch for its accuracy. However, anyone can write a book and certainly anyone writing a book can insert a quote from any source they want. But just because it appears in print doesn’t mean it’s correct. However, if Best wrote an entire book on the “British volunteers of the Waffen SS” and could find but one quote supporting the idea of an “Irish Brigade,” I tend to doubt its existence.
I have no doubt that the Germans tried to recruit Irishmen, likely from prisoner of war camps. I don’t think they had much success, however.
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The only scholarly references I can find to the actual recruitment of Irish citizens to the Waffen SS involved two Irish-born British soldiers both of whom were POWs originally recruited to the Abwehr. Another 50 Irish-born British Army POWs were selected and taken to a separate POW camp but never recruited after it became apparent that they had no real interest in the task (a number were actually from a Unionist or Anglo-Irish background and viewed themselves as more British than Irish). Most were returned to the general POW population though several were sent to the concentration camps where they perished.
Two men, one of whom was actually an intelligence officer, is certainly not a 400-strong brigade.
The book “The British Free Corps: The Story of the British Volunteers of the Waffen SS” is actually a 22 page pamphlet of very dubious political origin. I suspect more than meets the (Far Right) eye 😉
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A 22-page pamphlet? Ah, the downside of the self-sourcing aspect of Wikipedia.
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Yes indeed. I’m not against Wikipedia per se, though I often carry posts pointing out its foibles. Quite the contrary. I am a genuine fan. I just believe that general readers or users need to understand that it must be treated with caution. It is not a values-free, politics-free, bias-free source of information (no more than the old Encyclopaedia Britannica was or any other man-authored publication).
That in fact is why I pay it such attention. It is a fascinating microcosm of the broader net, which in turn simply reflects the real world. The difference with Wikipedia though is its power and influence. Many young people see it as gospel. If it’s in Wikipedia it must be true. We older and more life-cynical heads may be amused by such sentiments but many casual internet users are less prepared to read between the lines.
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If I may. You are partly correct as is Wiki. There WAS an Irish SS detachment but it never got above platoon strength (40 at maximum). Shamrock on lapel alongside SS divisional flash. English had Union Jack. One Maori was turned down as “racially inferior”.
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A maximum of 50 Irish-born British military POW “recruits” none of whom never actually served in the SS bar two who came into the SS via the Abwehr. The uniform was a proposal that never got off the ground. Unfortunately several were sent to the death camps when it became apparent they were opposed to the whole thing and were only there to receive better food and conditions (understandably). The thing is 90% fantasy based on claims in a 22 page pamphlet from a “radical” publisher and unknown author.
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About 40 yrs ago I read a paperback (Jackals of the Reich?) that dwelled mostly on English SS (most of who were bored shitless in POW camps and spent the war in Berlin getting drunk and doing not much else) As with Casement the idea was to get anyone who was disaffected.
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Indeed, I think I may have read about that book or something similar. Personally, given the appalling conditions in many POW camps on both sides, I wouldn’t blame any prisoner taking the opportunity, any opportunity, to relive their suffering. I think people are far too judgmental in hindsight. We weren’t there, we don’t know the pressures of the time and there but for the grace of god…
The subject of the “foreign” Waffen SS is a fascinating one, especially the diverse ways they came to be (civilian volunteers, ex-POWs and forced conscripts). Several nations contributed large units numbering in the many thousands that had long military records. I believe one historian estimated that up to 100,000 non-Germans/Austrians served with the German military and paramilitary forces during WWII. The black and white stereotype of WWII is a nonsense.
Equally interesting (if actually quite depressing) were the “deportations” of Germans (whether real or perceived) from nations across Europe during 1944-47. Millions were “ethnically cleansed”. Even places like Holland exercised mass deportations of German-speakers, thousands given hours to flee their homes which were seized and given to Dutch families. Many had all their possession taken too by Dutch authorities.
The Allies in victory were little different from the Axis powers.
As for what the Soviets did. Words fail one…
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Initially SS units had to be racially pure and only Flemings, Dutch and Scandinavians could join. It then dawned on Fritz that due to casualty rates (inflicted by untermensch like the Russians) SS units could hire anyone. This they did. Latvian units were so bad (barbarous) that they had complaints lodged against them. The largest were Handschar and Skanderbeg both Albanian/Bosnian.
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Apparently the Estonian-recruited/conscripted SS escaped with general opprobrium for their role in WWII, even from the Allied powers. Funny old war.
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Touchy issue in Baltics. There is a Latvian SS Day which does not go down well with ethnic Russians.
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