The Legion was created on January 13, 1942[1] by order of General Infantria Olbricht. The unit was composed of Muslim Northern Caucasians and Azerbaijanians. In accordance with the decree of February 19, 1942, volunteers from the peoples of the North Caucasus were August 2, 1942 allocated on a national-territorial basis separately to the North Caucasian Legion / Mountain-Caucasian Legion.