Kosaken-Kavallerie-Division) was a short-lived cavalry division of Nazi Germany's Waffen-SS during World War II.
The Wehrmacht had aimed to integrate Cossack collaborators into its own armed forces as early as late 1941, and hoped to utilize their abilities on horseback for the war effort on the Eastern Front.
[2]: 189 Cossack cavalry was historically renowned for its value in anti-partisan warfare, and although Adolf Hitler initially officially prohibited the recruitment of locals, the necessity of warfare soon led to the autonomous creation by German commanders of ad-hoc volunteer units to assist in local German forces' rear areas.
Kosaken-Kavallerie-Brigade) of the German army, the 2nd Cossack Cavalry Division was formed in November 1944.
[1]: 149 After a lengthy assembly process supervised by SS Führungshauptamt in the Independent State of Croatia between November 1944 and March 1945,[1]: 149 in whose reserve the division remained during formation,[8]: 494 the division was attached to the XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps and assigned to Army Group E,[1]: 149 serving in German-occupied Yugoslavia.