The Bergmann battalion was formed of the émigrés and Soviet POWs from the Caucasian republics at Neuhammer in October 1941.
German name of Świętoszów, a village in the administrative district of Gmina Osiecznica
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German name of Nowa Kuźnia, Opole Voivodeship, a village in the administrative district of Gmina Prószków
As the result of Operation Bagration, the anti-partisan activities of the brigade were halted and its personnel (6 -7 thousand persons - some sources give 3-4 thousand) was collected at SS training camp Neuhammer .
Initially appointed as an SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) commanding the 28th Waffen Gebirgsjäger Regiment, he oversaw the completion of his regiment's training at the Neuhammer training grounds in the Silesian region of Germany (present-day Poland) then led his regiment to fight the Yugoslav Partisans in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in February 1944.