Volkssturm

The Volkssturm, German for people's storm, was a national militia raised in Nazi Germany in the last months of World War II as a levee en masse. The Nazi Party set it up on Hitler's orders and it was established on 25 September 1944, then announced to the public on 16 October and launched on 18 October, a date chosen to echo the 1813 rising against Napoleon. It conscripted men aged 16 to 60 who were not already serving in a military unit, including the elderly, the invalid and Hitler Youth boys. Its units were organised along Nazi Party territorial lines, with a battalion for each Kreis, and answered to local party leaders, though they came under army command when in action. Poorly armed and often without uniforms, the Volkssturm fought unsuccessful battles against Allied forces at the end of the war, and some members took part in atrocities. The planned strength of six million men was never reached.