33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of The SS Charlemagne (1st French)

33rd Waffen Grenadier Division Of The SS Charlemagne (1st French)

The 33. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS Charlemagne (französische Nr. 1) and Charlemagne Regiment are collective names used for units of French volunteers in the Wehrmacht and later Waffen-SS during World War II. From 7,340 at its peak in 1944, the strength of the division fell to just sixty men in May 1945.

They were arguably the last German unit to see action in a pitched battle during World War II, where they held central Berlin and the Führerbunker against the onslaught of Soviet infantry. Knowing they would not survive should Germany be defeated, they were among the last ones to surrender in the brutal house-to-house and street-to-street fighting, during the final days of the Battle in Berlin.