SS-Charlemagne Division Uniform
Uniform of Waffen-Rottenführer Robert Soulat of the Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS “Charlemagne” (33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne), and the only authentic example of the unit’s original uniform known to exist today. The unit was composed of French collaborators who served as part of the Waffen-SS, under German command.
Many men enlisted fearing communist encroachment upon Europe, seeing Germany’s fight against the Soviet Union as their own. A ‘Crusade Against Communism’ was called by the Germans, drawing parallels to the medieval crusades that once defined the fate of Christendom, Thousands of Frenchmen flocked to this call of arms, seeing it as a patriotic duty that would guarantee the continued existence of both France and Europe. Fittingly, the 9th century Frankish emperor Charlemagne (known as the Father of Europe) was invoked as the patron of their legion, as its men once again rallied under his banner.
The unit began its career as the Légion des volontaires français contre le bolchevisme (Legion of French Volunteers or LVF) in 1941, which was eventually disbanded and reformed as the SS-Charlemagne Division in 1944. The division distinguished itself in the Battle of Berlin, where it remained as one of the last units fending off the insurmountable Soviet onslaught atop Adolf Hitler’s Füherbunker complex. In a dramatic demonstration of gallantry worthy of their namesake, the Charlemagne Division would destroy 108 Soviet tanks in the process. Indeed, the last defenders of the Reich were to be none other than these band of patriotic Frenchmen.
The original owner of this unfirom, Robert Soulat, was born on January 20th, 1920 in Paris as the son of an architect. He expressed an early interest in politics, joining the Francisme in the November of 1934 while just 14. The Francisme (or Mouvement franciste) was a fascist movement from interwar France, which due to their ties with the German National Socialist Workers Party, allowed Soulat to attend Hitler Youth summer camps in Germany in 1936 and 1938. He would take these opportunities to learn German, which would prove especially useful in his future military career. He remained a Franciste (a member of the Mouvement franciste) until 1945.
In November 1938 at the age of 18, he achieved the first part of his baccalauréat (General Certificate of Education) and promptly decided to enlist in the French Army. He joined the 24th régiment de tirailleurs tunisiens known as the ‘Army of Africa’, garrisoned at La Roche-sur-Yon in the Vendée Deparment. He was appointed caporal in October 1939 while his country was at war with Germany, becoming qualified as a machine-gunner and anti-tank gunner during his service.
He took part in the 1940 campaign against German forces but, quickly isolated from his regiment, was taken prisoner on the 20th of May at Avesnes-le-Sec in northern France. Interned in the Stalag VIII C in Sagan, Silesia, he was pardoned on February 6th, 1943, by virtue of the ‘Relève’ (Relief) in which prisoners-of-war were pardoned for work.
Upon returning to France, he began employment with the Organisation Todt (a German industrial concern) from March 15th, 1943, as a telephone assembler, working at their facilities in France.
The following year in 1944, he chose to join the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) and enlisted at Caen. He was sent to Sennheim Training Camp in Elsaß-Lothringen, which was then under German civil administration, and where the 28th Schiffsstammabteilung trained all foreign volunteers joining the Kriegsmarine. After remaining there from May to June he was sent to Duisburg (Rhineland) from June to September with hundreds of other French volunteers where they were expected to complete naval training before embarking. Instead, the men were moved to Pomerania, reaching Greifenberg on the 17th of September, where reinforcements (i.e., the Franz. SS-Grenadier-Ausbildungs und Ersatz-Bataillon) for the newly formed Französische Brigade der SS, later renamed Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS “Charlemagne”, were barracked. Ten days later, Soulat and the other French Kriegsmarine volunteers moved to SS-Truppenübungsplatz ‘Westpreußen’ (West Prussia), where the new brigade was trained. These men had been enlisted into the Waffen-SS without their consent.
These circumstances suited Soulat greatly however, who had originally been declared unfit for the prestigious Waffen-SS to his dismay. Enlisted with the equivalent of his rank in the former French Army, he became a Waffen-Sturmmann and was posted to the Wach-und Ausbildunkskompanie (guard and training company) of the German Inspektion, the omnipotent liaison staff of French SS formations.
Before long, at the end of October, all French SS units left West Prussia and reached the Wildflecken training grounds in North Bavaria. Here, he was re-posted to the staff company of the Charlemagne Brigade (as he didn’t meet the requirements to serve within the aforementioned Inspektion) as an interpreter by merit of speaking and reading German fluently. On February 1st, 1945, having served for a total of nearly over five years across his career in the French Army, Kriegsmarine and Waffen-SS, he was promoted Waffen-Rottenführer, the equivalent of a caporal-chef in the French Army.
With its members having undergone further training and totaling 7,340 men, the Charlemagne brigade was reclassified as the 33. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS “Charlemagne” and deployed to the Eastern Front in February 1945. Soulat’s train left Wildflecken for the front on February 21st.
Soulat partook in a short but bloody campaign, almost being encircled twice near Berlin. Many of his fellow comrades made their last stand in the city, right above the Führerbunker, where Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun took their lives on April 30th. Waffen-Rottenführer Robert Soulat surrendered alongside the last of his officers and men to British troops on May 2nd in Bublitz, Mecklenburg.
He was interned in Allied POW camps in Gadebusch and Fallingsbostel (Hannover) from May to September, after which he was arrested by the French military police on the 19th of September and sent back to France. He was transported to Lille, followed by detention at Fresnes Prison, south of Paris. This Waffen-SS service uniform he was wearing was temporarily confiscated as personal property. But Soulat had the foresight of unstitching all of his decorations and identifying patches (which would have otherwise been discarded by the correctional staff) from the tunic, storing them in the lining of his uniform for re-attachment later.
On February 20th, 1946, Soulat was charged with ‘national degradation’ and collaboration, and sentenced to hard labor in perpetuity by the Palace of Justice in Paris, with his visibly unremorseful attitude undoubtedly contributing to this verdict. However, the sentence was ultimately commuted to five years of imprisonment, during which Soulat was housed at the Mauzac penitentiary in the Dordogne until being freed in 1950. He recovered his service uniform, sewing the badges and patches back onto the tunic, where they remain today.
After his release, Soulat would author an autobiography about his career with the Charlemagne Division. He passed away on July 14th, 2015, at the age of 95.
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Uniform of Waffen-Rottenführer Robert Soulat of the Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS “Charlemagne” (33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne), and the only authentic example of the unit’s original uniform known to exist today. The unit was composed of French collaborators who served as part of the Waffen-SS, under German command.
Many men enlisted fearing communist encroachment upon Europe, seeing Germany’s fight against the Soviet Union as their own. A ‘Crusade Against Communism’ was called by the Germans, drawing parallels to the medieval crusades that once defined the fate of Christendom, Thousands of Frenchmen flocked to this call of arms, seeing it as a patriotic duty that would guarantee the continued existence of both France and Europe. Fittingly, the 9th century Frankish emperor Charlemagne (known as the Father of Europe) was invoked as the patron of their legion, as its men once again rallied under his banner.
The unit began its career as the Légion des volontaires français contre le bolchevisme (Legion of French Volunteers or LVF) in 1941, which was eventually disbanded and reformed as the SS-Charlemagne Division in 1944. The division distinguished itself in the Battle of Berlin, where it remained as one of the last units fending off the insurmountable Soviet onslaught atop Adolf Hitler’s Füherbunker complex. In a dramatic demonstration of gallantry worthy of their namesake, the Charlemagne Division would destroy 108 Soviet tanks in the process. Indeed, the last defenders of the Reich were to be none other than these band of patriotic Frenchmen.
The original owner of this unfirom, Robert Soulat, was born on January 20th, 1920 in Paris as the son of an architect. He expressed an early interest in politics, joining the Francisme in the November of 1934 while just 14. The Francisme (or Mouvement franciste) was a fascist movement from interwar France, which due to their ties with the German National Socialist Workers Party, allowed Soulat to attend Hitler Youth summer camps in Germany in 1936 and 1938. He would take these opportunities to learn German, which would prove especially useful in his future military career. He remained a Franciste (a member of the Mouvement franciste) until 1945.
In November 1938 at the age of 18, he achieved the first part of his baccalauréat (General Certificate of Education) and promptly decided to enlist in the French Army. He joined the 24th régiment de tirailleurs tunisiens known as the ‘Army of Africa’, garrisoned at La Roche-sur-Yon in the Vendée Deparment. He was appointed caporal in October 1939 while his country was at war with Germany, becoming qualified as a machine-gunner and anti-tank gunner during his service.
He took part in the 1940 campaign against German forces but, quickly isolated from his regiment, was taken prisoner on the 20th of May at Avesnes-le-Sec in northern France. Interned in the Stalag VIII C in Sagan, Silesia, he was pardoned on February 6th, 1943, by virtue of the ‘Relève’ (Relief) in which prisoners-of-war were pardoned for work.
Upon returning to France, he began employment with the Organisation Todt (a German industrial concern) from March 15th, 1943, as a telephone assembler, working at their facilities in France.
The following year in 1944, he chose to join the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) and enlisted at Caen. He was sent to Sennheim Training Camp in Elsaß-Lothringen, which was then under German civil administration, and where the 28th Schiffsstammabteilung trained all foreign volunteers joining the Kriegsmarine. After remaining there from May to June he was sent to Duisburg (Rhineland) from June to September with hundreds of other French volunteers where they were expected to complete naval training before embarking. Instead, the men were moved to Pomerania, reaching Greifenberg on the 17th of September, where reinforcements (i.e., the Franz. SS-Grenadier-Ausbildungs und Ersatz-Bataillon) for the newly formed Französische Brigade der SS, later renamed Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS “Charlemagne”, were barracked. Ten days later, Soulat and the other French Kriegsmarine volunteers moved to SS-Truppenübungsplatz ‘Westpreußen’ (West Prussia), where the new brigade was trained. These men had been enlisted into the Waffen-SS without their consent.
These circumstances suited Soulat greatly however, who had originally been declared unfit for the prestigious Waffen-SS to his dismay. Enlisted with the equivalent of his rank in the former French Army, he became a Waffen-Sturmmann and was posted to the Wach-und Ausbildunkskompanie (guard and training company) of the German Inspektion, the omnipotent liaison staff of French SS formations.
Before long, at the end of October, all French SS units left West Prussia and reached the Wildflecken training grounds in North Bavaria. Here, he was re-posted to the staff company of the Charlemagne Brigade (as he didn’t meet the requirements to serve within the aforementioned Inspektion) as an interpreter by merit of speaking and reading German fluently. On February 1st, 1945, having served for a total of nearly over five years across his career in the French Army, Kriegsmarine and Waffen-SS, he was promoted Waffen-Rottenführer, the equivalent of a caporal-chef in the French Army.
With its members having undergone further training and totaling 7,340 men, the Charlemagne brigade was reclassified as the 33. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS “Charlemagne” and deployed to the Eastern Front in February 1945. Soulat’s train left Wildflecken for the front on February 21st.
Soulat partook in a short but bloody campaign, almost being encircled twice near Berlin. Many of his fellow comrades made their last stand in the city, right above the Führerbunker, where Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun took their lives on April 30th. Waffen-Rottenführer Robert Soulat surrendered alongside the last of his officers and men to British troops on May 2nd in Bublitz, Mecklenburg.
He was interned in Allied POW camps in Gadebusch and Fallingsbostel (Hannover) from May to September, after which he was arrested by the French military police on the 19th of September and sent back to France. He was transported to Lille, followed by detention at Fresnes Prison, south of Paris. This Waffen-SS service uniform he was wearing was temporarily confiscated as personal property. But Soulat had the foresight of unstitching all of his decorations and identifying patches (which would have otherwise been discarded by the correctional staff) from the tunic, storing them in the lining of his uniform for re-attachment later.
On February 20th, 1946, Soulat was charged with ‘national degradation’ and collaboration, and sentenced to hard labor in perpetuity by the Palace of Justice in Paris, with his visibly unremorseful attitude undoubtedly contributing to this verdict. However, the sentence was ultimately commuted to five years of imprisonment, during which Soulat was housed at the Mauzac penitentiary in the Dordogne until being freed in 1950. He recovered his service uniform, sewing the badges and patches back onto the tunic, where they remain today.
After his release, Soulat would author an autobiography about his career with the Charlemagne Division. He passed away on July 14th, 2015, at the age of 95.
