German Forces

Kuban cossack

This photo shows a soldier of a Kuban-cossack unit of the Wehrmacht. Many of these anti-bolshevistic men volunteered for the fight against the Red Army. The Kuban-cossacks surrendered on May 13th 1945 to the british army in Austria. In June 1945 they were handed over to Red Army. Most of the cossacks had been executed or sentenced to life long forced labor. Their commander, the german General Lieutenant General von Pannwitz was hung on January 16th 1945 by the Soviets. The soldier on the picture is wearing the traditional cossack coat, the Tscherkesska.