Naval History Forums

I have recently seen the crew member list for the blockade runner Ramses. Several members of the crew came from Finland, retaining Finnish names not German and I was wondering how such sailors would come to be in the Kriegsmarine.

Does anyone know if there was a policy, official or otherwise, of recruiting or training sailors from other Axis countries in the KM?

Finland was an ally, so probably common. When I was in USN boot camp we had a Canadian guy in our company. Foreign nationals can't get the highest security clearances, but the US armed forces accept recruits from a number of nations.