WWII- SS recruit VOLKSDEUTSCHE from outside Europe ?

[Melvin Loh]

Just read a book on the different national contingents of the WAFFEN SS during WWII, including with the ethnic Germans (VOLKSDEUTSCHE) from occupied eastern European countries, and just now started wondering: could the SS have also started recruiting ethnic Germans from other places further afield, such as in Namibia, Brazil and other South American countries with high Teutonic-descnded populations, former German colonies elsewhere, or even from among pro-Nazi Afrikaners who'd amanged to escape South Africa0 to fight for Hitler ? Of course, the presnece of such ethnic Germans from further afield is seen in BAND OF BROTHERS, where during D-Day Malarkey encounters 1 guy from Eugene, Oregon, who signed up in 1941 to do his duty as a good VOLKSDEUTSCH and 'true Aryan' for the Fatherland.

Alos, WI more British and Cth POWs had decioded to sign up for the BRISTICHES FREIKORPS/Legion of St George, besides the 58 or so (including 3 each of Canucks, Aussies and Saffas + 1 Kiwi) who did sign up ?

 

[Max Sinister]

After the start of the war, the connections from Germany to overseas were cut off by the Royal Navy. This makes your idea difficult to implement.

 

[Mark AH]

Through Spain it would be possible, or through other countries. Don’t forget that many have left occupied Europe so the other way around could be done. But were there enough sources to justify the effort for the Germans?

 

[arctic warrior]

They would if they'd been able to. Read in one book about the Hindenburg disaster that some relative of one of the passengers later left Mexico and did service in the Wehrmacht. Also in the movie Das Boot, the 2nd in C is mentioned to have lived in Mexico.

About the Commonwealth volunteers - quite interesting that so many did go for it. If the war had gone badly for Britain perhaps you'd see more.

 

[Don_Giorgio]

During the WWII SS did recruit and formed batallions consisted by Nazi supporters in occupied lands like Romanians Hungarians etc.
An infamous Batallion was the "Tagmata Asfaleias" (Security Batallions) formed in Greece by anticommunists former Greek army members and Greek Nazi supporters and collaborationsts...
Most of them were defeated by Greek resistanse but some of them survived the war and were used to the disastrous Civil war 1947-1949 against the communists... A horrible era...

 

[birdy]

there is/was definetly a large pool of Germans around the world- apart from the United States, there were German populations in the British Dominions, with a fairly large one in Southern Africa. not to mention loads and loads in South America esp Brazil, Chile and Argentina.