| 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian)' | |
|---|---|
| Active | August 1944 |
| Country | Germany |
| Allegiance | Adolf Hitler |
| Branch | Waffen-SS |
| Type | Infantry |
| Colors | White, Blue, and Red |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Bronislav Kaminski Christoph Diehm |
29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian) (German: 29. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS RONA (russische Nr.1)) was a Waffen SS Grenadier division intended to be formed from the personnel of the S.S. Sturmbrigade R.O.N.A. (also known as the Kaminski Brigade) following Heinrich Himmler's order of August 1, 1944. 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian) never existed as such.[1][2][3][4] At that time the brigade's manpower was estimated to be 3,000-4,000 men.[5] The reorganization was postponed during the Warsaw Uprising which started that same day. On August 4, 1944 the brigade was ordered to assist in the efforts in crushing the rebellion in Warsaw. A mixed regiment of 1600-1700 unmarried soldiers from the brigade was used against insurgents until the end of August 1944 when German commanders decided that the unit was too undisciplined and unreliable. Waffen-Brigadeführer der SS Bronislav Kaminski and chief-of-staff Waffen-Obersturmbannführer Ilya Shavykin were said to have been secretly shot by the Germans due to the atrocities and widespread plunder by their troops in Warsaw. The death of Kaminski and unreliability of his troops as a combat unit ended plans to expand the Kaminski Brigade to a division. In 1945 its number was reassigned to 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Italian).
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Plans to form a division from the personnel of the S.S. Sturmbrigade R.O.N.A. (also known as the Kaminski Brigade) which appeared in 1942 as an anti-partisan formation made of the people from the so-called Lokot Autonomy territory in the Nazi Germany-occupied areas of Russia during World War II. Its leader Bronislav Kaminski named it as Russian Liberation People's Army (Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya, RONA). In spring 1943, Kaminski Brigade increased to 10-12 thousand soldiers armed with equipment provided by captured soviet tanks and artillery. From the beginning of its existence the formation was involved in action against partisans and also took part in reprisal operations against the civilian population, committing numerous atrocities against it.
After Operation Citadel, personnel of the R.O.N.A. retreated to Belarus and were stationed in the Lepel area of Vitebsk, and were involved in anti-partisan activities and committed numerous atrocities against the civilian population. In March 1944, the unit was renamed Volksheer-Brigade Kaminski (Peoples Brigade Kaminski) for a brief period, before it was absorbed as a part of the Waffen-SS in June 1944. With its transfer to the Waffen-SS, the brigade was renamed Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA, and Kaminski was given the rank of Waffen-Brigadeführer der SS. After Operation Bagration, personnel retreated again further west and by the end of July 1944 remains of the Kaminski unit (3-4 thousands [some sources give 6-7 thousands] were collected at the SS training camp Neuhammer.
None of above regiment actually entered into Waffen-SS rank.
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