SS-Regiment was transferred from Ukraine to Slovakia and renamed "Osttürkische Waffen-Verbände der SS" and reorganized into 3 battalions organized along ethnic lines. 1 Waffengruppe Turkestan 1 Waffengruppe Aserbeidschan (2851 soldiers: Gerhard von Mende archives) 1 Waffengruppe Idel-Ural Each battalion would consist of staff, one staff company and five infantry companies. The Ostmuselmanisches regiment was integrated into the Osttürkische Waffen-Verbände der SS and was considered to be dissolved. In December 1944 The Waffen-Gruppe Aserbeidschan (commander W-Ostuf Kerrar Alesgerli) was transferred to the Kaukasiche Waffen-Verbände der SS. The disbanded Tatar Waffen Gebirgs Brigade der SS would replace the Azerbaijani soldiers; Commander: SS-Standartenführer Harun el-Raschid Hintersatz. (born Wilhelm Hintersatz (A German officer, born in Senftenberg, Lausitz, who had converted to Islam in 1919.) The reorganisations began in January 1945 as follows: SS-Waffengruppe Turkestan SS-Waffengruppe Krim SS-Waffengruppe Idel Urals Apparently, new “volunteers” were integrated because the Osttürkische Waffen-Verbände had increased from 5,000 men in January 1945 to 8,500 men in the period of February–May 1945. As Hitler's Reich crumbled, the Waffen-SS gave up all adherence to standards for recruit selection. If they could walk and shoot a rifle, they were good enough for the SS. At this time, all German military forces were scraping the bottom of the manpower barrel - for example, in January 1945, Heer and Waffen-SS recruiting centres were combined. Waffen-SS troops were increasingly transfers from other military branches of the Wehrmacht from paramilitary and labour formations. The whole unit arrived in March 1945 in Merate, 20 km north of Milan, northern Italy. Assigned to the area's defence, the Osttürkische Waffen-Verbände apparently participated in no larger operation against partisans. On 26 April 1945, Hintersatz signed a pact with the local partisan command, according to which the soldiers would remain in the barracks in Merate until the US troops arrived. This happened on 30 April 1945, the whole unit went into the 1st Armored Division's hands. Kaukasischer Waffen-Verband der SS In December 1944, while training in Slovakia, a rumour that the unit was to be transferred to Russian Liberation Army demoralized the soldiers. On December 24, 450 men deserted on Christmas Eve, although 300 eventually returned. The Azerberjani regiment was removed from the Osttürkische Waffen-Verbände on 30 December 1944, and transferred to Kaukasischer Waffen-Verband der SS. Kaukasischer Waffen-Verband der SS, also known as Freiwilligen Brigade Nordkaukasien, began forming with volunteers from the Caucasus region, with the Frewilligen-Stamm-Division as a nucleus. It was