Israfil Israfilov

Israfil Israfilov (; ), Israfil Muhammed bey , or in short Israfil-Bey (1892, or 1893 — 1946) was Russian, Azerbaijani and Polish military officer, Standartenführer of the Waffen-SS.

Early life Israfil Israfilov was born on 5 July 1892, or 25 January 1893 in a village of Seyfəli in Elitsabethpol Uyezd. Graduated from Elisabethpol (Ganja) Men's Gymnasium (1912) He first served in the 36th Infantry Regiment in Warsaw, left His military colleagues were Arczil Bek Jedygarov, Israfil Bek Jedigar, Veli Bek Jedigar, Dzangir Kazim-bek, Mehmed Zade Hamid bek, Safar Ogly Kazim bek and others.

World War II During the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Israfil Israfilov was captured by the Germans, from which he was released. In the subsequent years of World War II, he actively cooperated with the pro-German part of the Azerbaijani emigration, the authorities of Nazi Germany, and the command of the Wehrmacht. Hatred of the Bolshevik regime led a number of the former Russian army and national army officers to cooperate with Hitler's Germany. During the war, German military-intelligence service established the Special Group Bergmann in Mittenwald under the command of Theodor Oberländer. This unit consisted of three battalions: 1st (Georgian), 2nd (Azerbaijani) and 3rd (North Caucasian). The Azerbaijani combat group under the command of Israfil Bey was part of the Kaukasischer Waffen-Verband der SS.

From the summer of 1943 to 1944 Isarafil Bey worked as the head of the Azerbaijani committee in Berlin. The Committee operated under the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories. From September 1943, he commanded the 314th Regiment of the Wehrmacht's 162nd Turkestan Division, consisting of prisoners of war of Turkic origin. From 12 December 1944, he headed the "Azerbaijan" Waffen-Gruppe in the Kaukasischer Waffen-Verband der SS in the rank of Standartenführer. On 17 March 1945, he was appointed military adviser to the National Committee of Azerbaijan in Berlin.

After World War II, he was captured and handed over to the USSR by the United States Armed Forces, and on 11 July 1945, he was sentenced to death by the Baku Military District Tribunal. Israfilov was shot in 1946.