off Army Group North in the Courland area, creating the Courland Pocket. During the unit's presence in Courland, Wagner ordered the reprisal executions of an unknown number of civilians. On 26 January 1945, the brigade received orders to evacuate the pocket by sea and report to the Swinemünde-Stettin area to participate in the defence of the Oder line. The brigade arrived in German territory on 4 February. End of war and aftermath On 10 February, the brigade was redesignated 23rd SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nederland, with a strength of 1,000 men. The new division was attached to Steiner's Eleventh SS Panzer Army, defending the Northern Oder region. The Nederland took part in the abortive Operation Sonnenwende, and the battles near Altdamm in February 1945. In April 1945, the division was split into two battle groups. The Soviet offensive of 16 April had broken the German lines by 25 April, cutting the lines of communication between the two units. One of the battle groups broke out to the west, surrendering to the US Army. The other battle group was pushed south by the Soviet offensive, into the area around Halbe. The remnants of the unit were absorbed into Kampfgruppe Vieweger of the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian). The unit was destroyed in the Halbe pocket. After the war, the unit personnel were tried in the Netherlands, with several death sentences handed down. Wagner was extradited to Yugoslavia in 1947 to stand trial for war crimes. Found guilty before the Yugoslav military tribunal, he was sentenced to death and executed on 27 June 1947. Commanders SS-Sturmbannführer Herbert Garthe (? November 1941 – ? February 1942) SS-Oberführer Otto Reich (? February 1942 – 1 April 1942) SS-Obersturmbannführer Arved Theuermann (1 April 1942 – ?) SS-Standartenführer Josef Fitzthum (? – ?) SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Wagner (20 April 1944 – 1 May 1945) See also List of Waffen-SS units Ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts References Footnotes Bibliography 23 Dutch collaborators with Nazi Germany Foreign volunteer units of the Waffen-SS Military units and formations established in 1941 Panzergrenadier divisions of the Waffen-SS Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Collaboration with the Axis Powers