Description

Here’s our 1:6 scale Kalmykian Flag. It’s printed on 100% cotton on both sides and measures approx 5.00 inches by 10.25 inches with real metal grommets and rings in the spine for mounting on a pole (not included).

The history of Kalmykia’s involvement with Germany during WWII is described in Wikipedia as:

“On June 22, 1941 the German army successfully invaded the Soviet Union. By August 12, 1942 the German Army Group South captured Elista, the capital of the Kalmyk ASSR. After capturing the Kalmyk territory, German army officials established a propaganda campaign with the assistance of anti-communist Kalmyk nationalists, including white emigre, Kalmyk exiles. The campaign was focused primarily on recruiting and organizing Kalmyk men into anti-Soviet, militia units. The sole purpose of this effort was to use the Kalmyk fighters to protect the Army Group South’s flank from Soviet partisan fighters, thereby enabling the German army to use its soldiers exclusively on the frontlines against the Soviet Red Army.

Given the degree to which the Kalmyk people suffered under Stalin’s oppressive rule, the German army did not have trouble finding recruits among the Kalmyks as well as other ethnicities (viz., Ukrainians, Cossacks and Muslims) in the southern part of the Soviet Union. In fact, the local population throughout the southern part of the Soviet Union initially treated the German army as liberators from Communism, and the German army officials immediately followed through on their propaganda pledges. In the Kalmyk ASSR, for instance, the German army officials began to dismantle the collectives and to return the land the Kalmyk people. They also allowed the Kalmyks to openly practice their Buddhist faith without fear from persecution from the local governing authority, consisting mostly of Kalmyks handpicked by the Germans.”