The 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) (German: 20. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr. 1)), Estonian: 20. eesti diviis[1]) was a foreign infantry division of the Waffen-SS, an armed branch of the German Nazi Party that served alongside but was never formally part of the Wehrmacht during World War II. According to some sources, the division was under Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's overall command but was not an integral part of the Schutzstaffel (SS).[2][3] It was officially activated on 24 January 1944, and many of its soldiers had been members of the Estonian Legion and/or the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, which had been fighting as part of German forces since August 1942 and October 1943 respectively.