The 13th Panzer Division ( en, 13th Armoured Division) was a unit of the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

during World War II, established in 1940. The division was organized under the code name Infantry Command IV (''Infanterieführer IV'') in October 1934. On October 15, 1935, following Germany's open rejection of terms of the Treaty of Versailles restricting Germany's military, the division was designated the 13th Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division''). The division was motorized during the winter of 1936-1937, and was accordingly renamed the 13th Motorized Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert)'') on October 12, 1937. The 13th Motorized Infantry Division participated in the campaigns against Poland (1939) and western Europe (1940). Following the

Fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

in June 1940, on October 11, 1940, the division was reorganized as the 13th Panzer Division (''13. Panzer-Division''). It participated in Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of the USSR) in 1941 and the advance on the Caucasus in 1942. The division suffered heavy losses in the retreats of 1943 and 1944. It was partially refitted in Hungary, where it was encircled and destroyed by Red Army in the winter of 1944-1945. The formation was reformed as

Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2 Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2 was a late World War II German Wehrmacht panzer division. Commanded by Franz Bäke, it was formed in March 1945 of the remnants of other divisions and stationed with a home base at Wehrkreis XX. It was moved to S ...

in the spring of 1945 and surrendered in May 1945. During the invasion of Poland, the troops of the division committed war crimes, including reprisal killings, using civilians as human shields, and destroying a medical column.

Operational history

The 13th Motorized Infantry Division participated in the invasion of Poland, as part of the southern thrust, and the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

, advancing through Belgium towards

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

and on to Lyon.Mitcham (2000), p. 112. The 13th Panzer Division was formed in Vienna in October 1940 from the 13th Motorized Infantry Division and was immediately sent to Romania but was not part of the Balkan campaign. It served in Operation Barbarossa as part of ''Panzer'' Group 1 ( Army Group South), and it contributed to the successful encirclements of the Soviet forces at

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

. At the end of 1941, it was positioned at Rostov; however, it was forced to retreat due to fierce Soviet counter-attacks.Mitcham (2000), p. 113. In 1942 and 1943, the division formed part of the First Panzer Army ( Army Group A); it was involved in the battles for the Caucasus oil fields and at the

Kuban Kuban (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Pontic–Caspian steppe, ...

Peninsula after the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

. In the fall of 1943, it was withdrawn to Western Ukraine, where it fought defensive battles near the river Dniepr. The offensive of the Soviet Army pushed the Germans to their starting positions of June 1941. The 13th Panzer Division was attached to Army Group South Ukraine, which had orders to stop the Soviets from capturing the Romanian oil fields. The division was reformed in July and it received modern equipment, including the Panther G tank and the Jagdpanzer IV. The Red Army offensive of August 1944 resulted in the deaths or imprisonment of most of the division. In the Battle of Debrecen, the division helped to annihilate three Soviet corps; however, it was encircled in Budapest at the end of 1944 and destroyed in January 1945.Mitcham (2000), p. 114. In the spring of 1945, the division was reformed under the name ''Feldherrnhalle 2''. The last engagements with the Soviets were fought on the Austro-Hungarian border. The division surrendered in Austria in May 1945.

War crimes

During the invasion of Poland, the division used civilians as

human shield A human shield is a non-combatant (or a group of non-combatants) who either volunteers or is forced to shield a legitimate military target in order to deter the enemy from attacking it. The use of human shields as a resistance measure was popula ...

s in the battle with the retreating Polish Prusy Army and on September 8, 1939 attacked a medical column marked with the Red Cross signs near Odrzywół. A day later, soldiers from the division took part in the revenge killing of 11 civilians and two Polish priests including Dean Stanisław Klimecki in the nearby town of Drzewica in retaliation for their own military losses. Killings have also been reported in nearby settlements of Gielniów, Kamienna Wola,

Klwów Klwów is a village in Przysucha County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Klwów. It lies in historic Lesser Poland, approximately north of Przysucha and south of Wa ...

, Ossa, Przysucha, Potok,

Rozwady Rozwady is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Gielniów, within Przysucha County __NOTOC__ Przysucha County ( pl, powiat przysuski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Masovian Voivodeship, e ...

and

Zarzęcin Zarzęcin is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Mniszków, within Opoczno County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Mniszków, west of Opoczno, and south-east of the regional capital � ...

. lso in: /ref>

Commanders

The commanders of the division:Mitcham (2000), pp. 114–117. Infantry Command IV (''Infanterieführer IV''), 13th Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division''), and 13th Motorized Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert)'') *''Generalleutnant'' (1 October 1934 – 20 August 1939) 13th Motorized Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert)'') *''Generalleutnant'' Moritz von Faber du Faur (21 August 1939 – 6 September 1939) *''Generalleutnant'' Paul Otto (7 September – 31 October 1939) 13th Motorized Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert)''), and 13th Panzer Division (''13. Panzer-Division'') *''Generalleutnant'' Friedrich-Wilhelm von Rothkirch und Panthen (1 November 1939 – 13 June 1941) 13th Panzer Division (''13. Panzer-Division'') *''Generalleutnant'' Walter Düvert (14 June 1941 – 28 November 1941) *''General der Panzertruppe'' Traugott Herr (29 November 1941 – 1 November 1942) *(acting) ''Oberst'' Walter Kuehn (1 October 1942 – 31 October 1942) *''Generalleutnant'' Hellmut von der Chevallerie (1 November 1942 – 30 November 1942) *''Generalmajor'' Wilhelm Crisolli (1 December 1942 – 14 May 1943) *''Generalleutnant'' Hellmut von der Chevallerie (15 May 1943 – 31 August 1943) *''Generalleutnant'' Eduard Hauser (1 September 1943 – 22 December 1943) *''Generalleutnant''

Hans Mikosch Hans Mikosch (7 January 1898 – 18 January 1993) was a German general (''Generalleutnant'') in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the 10th Panzergrenadier Division and then the 13th Panzer Division. He was a recipient of the Knight' ...

(23 December 1943 – 17 May 1944) *''Oberst'' Friedrich-Erdmann von Hake (18 May 1944 – 24 May 1944) *''Generalleutnant'' Hans Tröger (25 May 1944 – 8 September 1944) *''Generalmajor''

Gerhard Schmidhuber __NOTOC__ Gerhard Schmidhuber (9 April 1894 – 11 February 1945) was a German general during World War II. He was born in Saxony and in 1914 was a reserve officer in the Imperial German Army. He left the army in 1920 and rejoined in 1934. He had ...

(9 September 1944 – 11 February 1945) *''Oberstleutnant d.R.''

Wilhelm Schöning __NOTOC__ Wilhelm Schöning (8 June 1908 – 2 November 1987) served as commander of the 66th Panzergrenadier Regiment of the 13th Panzer Division during the Siege of Budapest. Most of the division was encircled and destroyed in Budapest be ...

(12 February 1945 – )

Organisation

The organisation of the division in October 1944: *''Panzer-Regiment 4'' *''Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 66'' *''Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 93'' *''Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 13'' *''Feldersatz-Battalion 13'' *''Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 13'' *''Heeres-Flak-Artillerie-Abteilung 271'' *''Panzerjäger-Abteilung 13'' *''Panzer-Pionier-Battalion 4'' *''Panzer-Nachrichten-Abteilung 13'' *''Panzer-Versorgungstruppen 13''

References

Bibliography