The 2 SS Infantry Brigade (mot) was formed on the 15 May 1941, under the command of Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld with the 4th and 5th SS Infantry (formerly Totenkopf) Regiments and began its operational service in September in the rear area of Army Group North, under which command it would spend its entire existence. It gradually began to incorporate foreign legions of the SS under its operational control, such that it became regarded as a multinational unit, especially on the siege lines of the Leningrad front. After the western legions departed for refit, it began operating with Latvian volunteer formations and eventually was re designated the 2nd Latvian SS Infantry Brigade and on the 18 May 1943, and used as the cadre in the formation of the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd