The Indische Legion — Subhas Chandra Bose in Berlin

In January 1941, Subhas Chandra Bose, former president of the Indian National Congress placed under house arrest in Calcutta by the British, escaped in disguise and made his way secretly to Afghanistan. From Kabul, carrying a forged Italian passport in the name of "Orlando Mazzotta," he travelled through Moscow and reached Berlin in early April 1941. On 3 April, he met senior officials of the Auswärtiges Amt and submitted a memorandum to them: he proposed an alliance with the Axis to drive the British out of India and called for a declaration in favour of Indian independence.

Bose belonged to the radical wing of Indian nationalism, at odds with Gandhi's non-violent strategy. Convinced that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," he wanted to exploit the war to hasten the end of the Raj. The Axis powers held Indian prisoners of war captured in North Africa, notably in Cyrenaica, and a propaganda apparatus that could carry his voice to the subcontinent.

Yet the course was fraught with risk: associating with the fascist regimes could discredit the Indian cause in the eyes of the world, and distant Germany had no direct military means of acting against the Raj. A refugee in Berlin, Bose had to choose the path by which to serve the cause of independence from exile.