Drastamat Kanayan - World War II

World War II

The short-lived Armenian Republic established in 1918 in the Southern Caucasus by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (The Dashnaks) was conquered by the Bolsheviks in 1920, and ceased to exist. The Soviet Republic of Armenia was formed. During Stalin's Red Terror campaign, many Armenians were murdered or imprisoned and this created a lot of fear and terror among ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union . During the Red Terror over 100,000 people were murdered by Stalin's NKVD. During World War II, the Dashnaks saw a good opportunity in free themselves from the horrible bloodshed under Stalin's rule. The expected prize was an Armenian state in a new world created by Nazi Germany. Aid was given in propaganda and intelligence in which the Armenian organizations were active. On December 30, 1941 they formed a battalion from those Armenians, who were prisoners in the Nazi POW camps and had opted to fight for German forces rather than face the genocidal conditions of those camps. The battalion was 18,000-strong and was known as the "812th Armenian Battalion of Wehrmacht" under the command of Drastamat Kanayan known by his nickname “Dro”. The legion was trained by Wermacht officers and participated in the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula and the Caucasus.

According to Joris Versteeg, the total number of Armenians serving in the German armed forces during the war was 18,000: 11,000 were placed in field battalions, while 7,000 were placed in logistic and non-combat units. Ailsby puts the number at 11,600.

After World War II, Kanayan emigrated to the United States and continued his political activities with the purpose of advancing the “Armenian Cause”. In 1947, at the Universal Congress of the Dashnak Party, he was forgiven for his collaboration with Nazis, as he could justify it with powerful arguments, and was again elected a member of the Party.