The 18th SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division "Horst Wessel" (german: 18. SS-Freiwilligen Panzergrenadier-Division "Horst Wessel")
[Official designation in German language as to „Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv“ in ]Freiburg im Breisgau
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...
, stores of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS. was formed in 1944 around a
cadre
Cadre may refer to:
*Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff
*Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...
from the
1st SS Infantry Brigade
The 1st SS Infantry Brigade was a unit of the German Waffen SS formed from former concentration camp guards for service in the Soviet Union behind the main front line during the Second World War. They conducted Nazi security warfare in the rear ...
and included mainly ethnic Germans (''
Volksdeutsche'') from Hungary. The 1st battalion of about 1000 men was attached to SS Division Horst Wessel and sent to Galicia.
It was used for "rear-security" duties until it was sent to the
Eastern front, with the exception of one regiment that fought the
Slovak National Uprising in August 1944. It later fought as a single unit in
Hungary and in
Czechoslovakia where it was destroyed.
The Division was named after
SA member
Horst Wessel, known for being the author of the lyrics to the
Nazi Party anthem, the ''
Horst-Wessel-Lied'', and glorified by the Nazi regime as a martyr of the party's early years.
Commanders
*''Brigadeführer''
Wilhelm Trabandt
August Wilhelm Trabandt (21 July 1891 – 19 May 1968) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He commanded the 1st SS Infantry Brigade and the SS Division Horst Wessel during World War II.
SS career
Trabandt was born in Berlin, Ge ...
(25 January 1944 – 3 January 1945)
*''Gruppenführer''
Josef Fitzthum (3 January 1945 – 10 January 1945)
*''Standartenführer''
Georg Bochmann
Georg Bochmann (18 September 1913 – 8 June 1973) was a high-ranking commander and Oberführer in the Waffen-SS who commanded the SS Division Götz von Berlichingen and the SS Division Horst Wessel. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of ...
(10 January 1945 – March 1945)
*''Standartenführer''
Heinrich Petersen (March 1945 – 8 May 1945)
Battles
*Hungary (January 1944 – July 1944)
*Eastern front, central sector (July 1944 – October 1944)
*Poland & Czechoslovakia (October 1944 – May 1945)
See also
*
List of Waffen-SS units
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:18th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Horst Wessel
#18
Military units and formations established in 1944
Panzergrenadier divisions of the Waffen-SS
Horst Wessel
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945