in the meantime, on 28 august 1942, the germans had announced the formation of the estonian ss legion, as part 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. its commander was "ss-obersturmbannführer" franz augsberger. while the estonian leadership would have preferred to reform the estonian army, sufficient volunteers came forward for the legion to be officially established on 1 october at heidelager near dębica in occupied poland. when created, the legion comprised the 1st ss volunteer grenadier regiment (), which was under the command of an estonian, "ss-standartenführer" johannes soodla. in january 1943, three of the best schuma battalions were disbanded and their members joined the legion or other schuma battalions. in early 1943, in response to the introduction of conscription and unhappy with german policies, some estonians fled to finland and enlisted in the finnish army. soon after, estonians formed two companies of the 3rd battalion of the finnish 47th infantry regiment, and soon the 3rd battalion was entirely made up of estonians. it fought the red army on the mannerheim line, before helping form the finnish 200th infantry regiment, which was made up of 310 finns and 2,340 estonians. the 200th infantry regiment continued fighting on the mannerheim line until august 1944 when it was disbanded.