The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
's ''
Schutzstaffel
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...
'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, along with
volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.
The grew from three
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...
s to over 38
divisions during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and served alongside 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 ...
(''Heer''), ''
Ordnungspolizei
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...
'' (uniformed police) and other security units. Originally, it was under the control of the (SS operational command office) beneath
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
, the head of the SS. With the start of World War II, tactical control was exercised by the (OKW, "High Command of the Armed Forces"), with some units being subordinated to (Command Staff Reichsführer-SS) directly under Himmler's control.
Initially, in keeping with the
racial policy of Nazi Germany
The racial policy of Nazi Germany was a set of policies and laws implemented in Nazi Germany under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, based on a specific racist doctrine asserting the superiority of the Aryan race, which claimed scientific legi ...
, membership was open only to people of Germanic origin (so-called "
Aryan ancestry"). The rules were partially relaxed in 1940, and after the
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Nazi propaganda claimed that the war was a "European crusade against
Bolshevism
Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, fo ...
" and subsequently units consisting largely or solely of foreign volunteers and conscripts were also raised. These units were made up of men mainly from among the nationals of
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
-occupied Europe. Despite relaxation of the rules, the was still based on the racist ideology of
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
, and ethnic Poles (who were viewed as
subhumans) were specifically barred from the formations.
Members of the were involved in numerous atrocities. At the post-war
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.
Between 1939 and 1945 ...
, the was judged to be a criminal organisation due to its connection to the Nazi Party and direct involvement in numerous
war crimes and
crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
. Former members, with the exception of conscripts, who comprised about one third of the membership, were denied many of the rights afforded to military veterans.
Origins (1929–39)
![Bundesarchiv Bild 119-01-03, Berlin, Parade zum dritten Jahrestag LSSHA crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Bundesarchiv_Bild_119-01-03%2C_Berlin%2C_Parade_zum_dritten_Jahrestag_LSSHA_crop.jpg)
The origins of the Waffen-SS can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men on 17 March 1933 by
Sepp Dietrich
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (28 May 1892 – 21 April 1966) was a German politician and SS commander during the Nazi era. He joined the Nazi Party in 1928 and was elected to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic in 1930. Prior to 1929, Dietrich was A ...
to form the ''Sonderkommando'' Berlin. By November 1933 the formation had 800 men, and at a commemorative ceremony in Munich for the tenth anniversary of the failed
Munich Putsch
The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and othe ...
the regiment swore allegiance to
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. The oaths pledged were "Pledging loyalty to him alone" and "Obedience unto death". The formation was given the title () ''Adolf Hitler'' (LAH). On 13 April 1934, by order of Himmler, the regiment became known as the ''
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH, (german: 1. SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding ...
'' (LSSAH).
The demonstrated their loyalty to Hitler in 1934 during the "
Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives (German: ), or the Röhm purge (German: ''Röhm-Putsch''), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: ''Unternehmen Kolibri''), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Ad ...
", when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political killings and the purge of the (SA). Led by one of Hitler's oldest comrades,
Ernst Röhm
Ernst Julius Günther Röhm (; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934) was a German military officer and an early member of the Nazi Party. As one of the members of its predecessor, the German Workers' Party, he was a close friend and early ally ...
, the SA was seen as a threat by Hitler to his newly gained political power. Hitler also wanted to appease leaders of the ''
Reichswehr
''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...
'' (the Republic's army) and conservatives of the country, people whose support Hitler needed to solidify his position. When Hitler decided to act against the SA, the SS was put in charge of eliminating Röhm and the other high-ranking SA officers. The Night of the Long Knives occurred between 30 June and 2 July 1934, claiming up to 200 victims and eliminating almost the entire SA leadership, effectively ending its power. This action was largely carried out by SS personnel (including the ) and the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
.
In September 1934, Hitler authorised the formation of the
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
wing of the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
and approved the formation of the (SS-VT), a special service troop under Hitler's overall command. The SS-VT had to depend on 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 ...
for its supply of weapons and military training, and its local draft boards responsible for assigning conscripts to the different branches of the Wehrmacht to meet quotas set by the
German High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW in German); the SS was given the lowest priority for recruits.
Even with the difficulties presented by the quota system,
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
formed two new SS regiments, the and , which together with the and a communications unit made up the SS-VT. At the same time Himmler established two
SS-Junker Schools
SS-Junker Schools (German ''SS-Junkerschulen'') were leadership training facilities for officer candidates of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The term ''Junkerschulen'' was introduced by Nazi Germany in 1937, although the first facilities were establi ...
(SS officer training camps) that, under the direction of the former Lieutenant General
Paul Hausser
Paul Hausser also known as Paul Falk after taking his maiden name post war (7 October 1880 – 21 December 1972) was a German general and then a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS who played a key role in the post-war efforts by former mem ...
, prepared future SS leaders. In addition to military training, the courses aimed to instill a proper ideological worldview, with antisemitism being the main tenet. Instructors such as
Matthias Kleinheisterkamp
Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (22 June 1893 – 29 April 1945) was an SS-''Obergruppenführer'' during World War II. He commanded the SS Division Totenkopf, SS Division Nord, SS Division Das Reich, III SS Panzer Corps, VII SS Panzer Corps, IV S ...
(an army has-been and alcoholic), or future war criminals, such as
Franz Magill
Franz Hermann Anton Magill (August 22, 1900 - April 14, 1972) was a German riding instructor, SS officer and war criminal of the Nazi era.
Background
Franz Magill was the son of a day laborer. His father bought a small farm in Zuchen i ...
of the notorious SS Cavalry Brigade were of questionable competence.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-061-38, Berlin, vor Krolloper, Hitler mit Leibstandarte](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-061-38%2C_Berlin%2C_vor_Krolloper%2C_Hitler_mit_Leibstandarte.jpg)
In 1934, Himmler set stringent requirements for recruits. They were to be German nationals who could prove their Aryan ancestry back to 1800, unmarried, and without a criminal record. A four-year commitment was required for the SS-VT and LSSAH. Recruits had to be between the ages of 17 and 23, at least tall ( for the LSSAH). Concentration camp guards had to make a one-year commitment, be between the ages of 16 and 23, and at least tall. All recruits were required to have
20/20 eyesight, no dental fillings, and to provide a medical certificate. By 1938, the height restrictions were relaxed, up to six dental fillings were permitted, and eyeglasses for astigmatism and mild vision correction were allowed. Once the war commenced, the physical requirements were no longer strictly enforced, and any recruit who could pass a basic medical exam was considered for service. Members of the SS could be of any religion except
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
, but atheists were not allowed according to Himmler in 1937. Hitler expounded on the attitude he wanted during a talk in the
Wolf's Lair
The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II.
The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ostp ...
: "I have six divisions of SS composed of men absolutely indifferent in matters of religion. It doesn't prevent them from going to their deaths with serenity in their souls."
Historian
Bernd Wegner
Bernd Wegner (born 1949) is a German historian who specialises in military history and the history of Nazism. Since 1997 he has been professor of modern history at the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg, Germany.
Wegner is a contributor to th ...
found in his study of officers that a large majority of the senior officers corps of the were from an upper-middle-class background and would have been considered for commissioning by traditional standards. Among later generals, approximately six out of ten had a "university entrance qualification (Abitur), and no less than one-fifth a university degree".
Hausser became the Inspector of the SS-VT in 1936. In this role, Hausser was in charge of the troops' military and ideological training but did not have command authority. The decision on deployment of the troops remained in Himmler's hands. This aligned with Hitler's intentions to maintain these troops exclusively at his disposal, "neither
partof the army, nor of the police", according to Hitler's order of 17 August 1938.
On 17 August 1938, Hitler declared that the SS-VT would have a role in domestic as well as foreign affairs, which transformed this growing armed force into the rival that the army had feared. He decreed that service in the SS-VT qualified to fulfill military service obligations, although service in the (SS-TV) would not. Some units of the SS-TV would, in the case of war, be used as reserves for the SS-VT, which did not have its own reserves. For all its training, the SS-VT was untested in combat. In 1938, a battalion of the was chosen to accompany the army troops in occupying
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
during the ''
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
'', and the three regiments of the SS-VT participated in the occupation of the
Sudetenland
The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...
that October. In both actions no resistance was met.
Recruiting ethnic Germans from other countries began in April 1940, and units consisting of non-Germanic recruits were formed beginning in 1942. Non-Germanic units were not considered to be part of the SS, which still maintained its racial criteria, but rather were considered to be foreign nationals serving under the command of the SS. As a general rule, an "SS Division" was made up of Germans or other Germanic peoples, while a "Division of the SS" was made up of non-Germanic volunteers and conscripts.
World War II
1939
Invasion of Poland
![Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1968-034-19A, Exekution von polnischen Geiseln](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1968-034-19A%2C_Exekution_von_polnischen_Geiseln.jpg)
Himmler's military formations at the outbreak of the war comprised several subgroups that would become the basis of the Waffen-SS.
* The ''Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler'' (LSSAH), under then ''Obergruppenführer''
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich.
* The Inspectorate of ''Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT), under ''Gruppenführer''
Paul Hausser
Paul Hausser also known as Paul Falk after taking his maiden name post war (7 October 1880 – 21 December 1972) was a German general and then a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS who played a key role in the post-war efforts by former mem ...
, which commanded the ''Deutschland'', ''Germania'' and ''Der Führer'' regiments. The latter was recruited in Austria after the
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
and was not yet combat-ready.
* The Inspectorate of Concentration Camps, under ''Gruppenführer''
Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke (17 October 1892 – 26 February 1943) was a senior SS functionary and Waffen SS divisional commander during the Nazi era. He was one of the key figures in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the seco ...
, which fielded four infantry and one cavalry
Death's-Head ''Standarten'', comprising camp guards of the ''SS-Totenkopfverbände'' (SS-TV). These troops wore the SS-TV skull and crossbones rather than the SS-VT "SS" runes.
* Police units of ''Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei''
Kurt Daluege
Kurt Max Franz Daluege (15 September 1897 – 24 October 1946) was chief of the national uniformed ''Ordnungspolizei'' (Order Police) of Nazi Germany. Following Reinhard Heydrich's assassination in 1942, he served as Deputy Protector for th ...
's ''
Ordnungspolizei
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...
'', which reported to Himmler in his capacity as Chief of German Police. These troops used police
ranks and insignia rather than those of the SS.
In August 1939, Hitler placed the and the SS-VT under the operational control of the Army High Command (
OKH
The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat at ...
). Himmler retained command of the for employment behind the advancing combat units in what were euphemistically called "special tasks of a police nature".
In spite of the swift military victory over
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
in September 1939, the regular army felt that the performance of the SS-VT left much to be desired; its units took unnecessary risks and had a higher casualty rate than the army. They also stated that the SS-VT was poorly trained and its officers unsuitable for combat command. As an example, OKW noted that the had to be rescued by an army regiment after becoming surrounded by the Poles at
Pabianice
Pabianice is a city in central Poland with 63,023 inhabitants (2021). Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County. It lies about southwest of Łódź and belongs to the metropolitan area of that city. It is the ...
. In its defence, the SS insisted that it had been hampered by having to fight piecemeal instead of as one formation, and was improperly equipped by the army to carry out its objectives. Himmler insisted that the SS-VT should be allowed to fight in its own formations under its own commanders, while the OKW tried to have the SS-VT disbanded altogether. Hitler was unwilling to upset either the army or Himmler, and chose a third path. He ordered that the SS-VT form its own divisions but that the divisions would be under army command.
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
resisted integrating the Waffen-SS into the army, as it was intended to remain the armed wing of the Party and to become an elite police force once the war was won.
During the invasion, war crimes were committed against the Polish people. The became notorious for torching villages without military justification. Members of the also committed atrocities in numerous towns, including the murder of 50 Polish Jews in
Błonie
Błonie is a town in Warsaw West County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, with a population of 12,058 as of December 2021.
History
The settlement dates back to the 8th century. It was first mentioned in the 11th century, and already in the 12th c ...
and the massacre of 200 civilians, including children, who were machine gunned in
Złoczew
Złoczew (german: 1939-45 Schlötzau) is a town in Sieradz County, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,340 inhabitants (2020). The city is south of Sieradz and north of Wieluń.
History
The first known historical reference to the town of Złoc ...
. Shootings also took place in
Bolesławiec
Bolesławiec (pronounced , szl, Bolesławiec, german: Bunzlau) is a historic city situated on the Bóbr River in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in western Poland. It is the administrative seat of Bolesławiec County, and of Gmina Bolesławiec ...
,
Torzeniec
Torzeniec is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Doruchów, within Ostrzeszów County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Doruchów, east of Ostrzeszów, and south-east of the ...
,
Goworowo,
Mława
Mława (; yi, מלאווע ''Mlave'') is a town in north-east Poland with 30,403 inhabitants in 2020. It is the capital of Mława County. It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship.
During the invasion of Poland in 1939, the battle of Mława wa ...
, and
Włocławek
Włocławek (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Leslau) is a city located in central Poland along the Vistula (Wisła) River and is bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park. As of December 2021, the population of the city is 106,928. Loc ...
. Eicke's SS-TV field forces were not military. "Their military capabilities were employed instead in terrorizing the civilian population through acts that included hunting down straggling Polish soldiers, confiscating agricultural produce and livestock, and torturing and murdering large numbers of Polish political leaders, aristocrats, businessmen, priests, intellectuals, and Jews." His troops were called on to carry out "police and security measures" in the rear areas. What these measures involved is demonstrated by the record of ''SS Totenkopf Standarte "Brandenburg"''. It arrived in
Włocławek
Włocławek (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Leslau) is a city located in central Poland along the Vistula (Wisła) River and is bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park. As of December 2021, the population of the city is 106,928. Loc ...
on 22 September 1939 and embarked on a four-day "Jewish action" that included the burning of synagogues and the execution en-masse of the leaders of the Jewish community. On 29 September the ''Standarte'' travelled to Bydgoszcz to conduct an "
intelligentsia action".
First Divisions
In October 1939, the ''Deutschland'', ''Germania'', and ''Der Führer'' regiments were reorganised into the ''
SS-Verfügungs-Division
The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich (german: 2. SS-Panzerdivision "Das Reich") or SS Division Das Reich was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the regiments of the '' SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-V ...
''. The remained independent and was increased in strength to a reinforced motorised regiment. Hitler authorised the creation of two new divisions: the
SS ''Totenkopf'' Division, formed from militarised ''Standarten'' of the ''
SS-Totenkopfverbände
''SS-Totenkopfverbände'' (SS-TV; ) was the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps for Nazi Germany, among similar duties. While the ''Totenkopf'' was the univer ...
'', and the
Polizei Division, formed from members of the
national police force. Almost overnight the force that the OKW had tried to disband had increased from 18,000 to over 100,000 men. Hitler next authorised the creation of four Motorized Artillery battalions in March 1940, one for each division and the . The OKW was supposed to supply these new battalions with artillery, but was reluctant to hand over guns from its own arsenal. The weapons arrived only slowly and, by the time of 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 ...
, only the battalion was up to strength.
1940
France and the Netherlands
The three SS divisions and the spent the winter of 1939 and the spring of 1940 training and preparing for the coming war in the west. In May, they moved to the front, and the was attached to the army's
227th Infantry Division. The ''Der Führer'' Regiment was detached from the SS-VT Division and attached to the
207th Infantry Division. The SS-VT Division minus ''Der Führer'' was concentrated near
Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
awaiting the invasion of The
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. The SS ''Totenkopf'' and Polizei Divisions were held in reserve.
On 10 May, the overcame Dutch border guards to spearhead the German advance of X.Corps into the Netherlands, north of the rivers towards the Dutch
Grebbe line and subsequently the Amsterdam region. The neighbouring ''Der Führer'' advanced towards the Grebbeline in the sector of the
Grebbeberg
The Grebbeberg is a 52-meter high hill located east of Rhenen, Netherlands in the province of Utrecht. It forms the southeastern tip of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, a moraine. Due to its strategic location with a view of the Lower Rhine and the Bet ...
with as a follow-up objective the city of
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
. The
battle of the Grebbeberg
The Battle of the Grebbeberg ( nl, Slag om de Grebbeberg) was a major engagement during the Battle of the Netherlands, which was a part of the World War II Operation ''Fall Gelb'' in 1940.
Background
In the 1930s, the Dutch government pursued ...
lasted three days and took a toll on ''Der Führer''. On 11 May, the SS-VT Division crossed into the Netherlands south of the rivers and headed towards
Breda
Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
. It fought a series of skirmishes before ''Germania'' advanced into the Dutch province of Zeeland on 14 May. The rest of the SS-VT Division joined the northern front against the forces in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, . On the same day, the entered
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
. After the surrender of Rotterdam, the left for
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
, which they reached on 15 May, capturing 3,500 Dutch as
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
.
In France, the SS ''Totenkopf'' was involved in the only Allied tank counterattack in 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 ...
. On 21 May, units of the
1st Army Tank Brigade, supported by the
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that saw distinguished service in the Second World War. Pre-war, the division was part of the Territorial Army (TA) and the two ''Ts'' in the divisional ins ...
, took part in the
Battle of Arras. The SS ''Totenkopf'', on the southern flank of the 7th Panzer Division, was overrun, finding their standard
anti-tank gun
An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...
, the
3.7 cm PaK 36, was no match for the British
Matilda II
The Infantry Tank Mark II, best known as the Matilda, was a British infantry tank of the Second World War.Jentz, p. 11.
The design began as the A12 specification in 1936, as a gun-armed counterpart to the first British infantry tank, the machin ...
tank.
After the Dutch surrender, the moved south to France on 24 May. Becoming part of the XIX Panzer Corps under the command of General
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (; 17 June 1888 – 14 May 1954) was a German general during World War II who, after the war, became a successful memoirist. An early pioneer and advocate of the " blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in t ...
, they took up a position 15 miles south west of
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.[Saint-Venant
Saint-Venant ( vls, Papingem) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department (administrative division) in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
Saint-Venant is situated some northwest of Béthune and west of Lille, at the junction o ...]
, but was destroyed by British armour. A larger force from the SS-VT Division then crossed the canal and formed a bridgehead at Saint-Venant; 30 miles from Dunkirk. That night the OKW ordered the advance to halt, with the
British Expeditionary Force trapped. The paused for the night. However, on the following day, in defiance of Hitler's orders, Dietrich ordered his III Battalion to cross the canal and take the heights beyond, where
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
artillery observers were putting the regiment at risk. They assaulted the heights and drove the observers off. Instead of being censured for his act of defiance, Dietrich was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Knight' ...
. On that same day, British forces attacked Saint-Venant, forcing the SS-VT Division to retreat.
On 26 May, the German advance resumed. On 27 May, the ''Deutschland'' regiment of the SS-VT Division reached the allied defensive line on the
Leie River
The Lys () or Leie () is a river in France and Belgium, and a left-bank tributary of the Scheldt. Its source is in Pas-de-Calais, France, and it flows into the river Scheldt in Ghent, Belgium. Its total length is .
Historically a very pollut ...
at
Merville. They forced a bridgehead across the river and waited for the SS ''Totenkopf'' Division to arrive to cover their flank. What arrived first was a unit of British tanks, which penetrated their position. The SS-VT managed to hold on against the British tank force, which got to within 15 feet of commander
Felix Steiner
Felix Martin Julius Steiner (23 May 1896 – 12 May 1966) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he served in the Waffen-SS, the combat branch of the SS, and commanded several SS divisions and corps. He was awarded t ...
's position. Only the arrival of the ''Totenkopf''
Panzerjäger
''Panzerjäger'' (German language, German "armour-hunters" or "tank-hunters", abbreviated to ''Pz.Jg.'' in German) was a branch of service of the Nazi Germany, German Wehrmacht during the World War II, Second World War. It was an Anti-tank war ...
platoon saved the ''Deutschland'' from being destroyed and their bridgehead lost.
That same day, as the SS ''Totenkopf'' Division advanced near Merville, they encountered stubborn resistance from British Army units, which slowed their advance. The SS ''Totenkopf'' 4 Company, then committed the
Le Paradis massacre
The Le Paradis massacre was a World War II war crime committed by members of the 14th Company, SS Division Totenkopf, under the command of ''Hauptsturmführer'' Fritz Knöchlein. It took place on 27 May 1940, during the Battle of France, at ...
, where 97 captured men of the 2nd Battalion,
Royal Norfolk Regiment
The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...
were machine gunned after surrendering, with survivors finished off with
bayonet
A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...
s. Two men survived.
By 28 May, the had taken the village of
Wormhout
Wormhout (; before 1975: ''Wormhoudt''; vls, Wormout) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Several people in Wormhout still speak West Flemish, a local dialect of Dutch and the traditional language of the region, while French ...
, only ten miles from Dunkirk. After their surrender, soldiers from the 2nd Battalion,
Royal Warwickshire Regiment
The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...
, along with some other units (including
French soldiers
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...
), were taken to a barn in ''La Plaine au Bois'' near
Wormhout
Wormhout (; before 1975: ''Wormhoudt''; vls, Wormout) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Several people in Wormhout still speak West Flemish, a local dialect of Dutch and the traditional language of the region, while French ...
and
Esquelbecq
Esquelbecq (; from ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
Its southern limit with Ledringhem is ''chemin de Rubrouck''.
Heraldry
History
In 1436, Wautier de Ghistelles was ''seigneur d'Ekelsbeke et de Ledringhem'' (Lord ...
. It was there that troops of the 's 2nd Battalion committed the
Wormhoudt massacre
The Wormhoudt massacre (or Wormhout massacre) was the mass murder of 81 British and French POWs by Waffen-SS soldiers from the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler during the Battle of France in May 1940.
Fighting
As part of the Brit ...
, where 80 British and French prisoners of war were killed.
By 30 May, the British were
cornered at Dunkirk, and the SS divisions continued the advance into France. The reached
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Saint-Étienne is the t ...
, 250 miles south of Paris, and had advanced further into France than any other unit. By the next day, the fighting was all but over. German forces arrived in Paris unopposed on 14 June and France formally surrendered on 25 June. Hitler expressed his pleasure with the performance of the in the Netherlands and France, telling them, "Henceforth it will be an honour for you, who bear my name, to lead every German attack."
1940 expansion
On 19 July 1940, Hitler gave a speech to the Reichstag, where he gave a summary of the western campaign and praised the German forces involved. He used the term Waffen-SS when describing the units of the LSSAH and SS-VT that took part. From that day forward, the term Waffen-SS became the official designation for the SS combat formations. Himmler gained approval for the Waffen-SS to form its own high command, the ''Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS'' within the ''
SS-Führungshauptamt'', which was created in August 1940. It received command of the SS-VT (the and the ''Verfügungs-Division'', renamed ''Reich'') and the armed SS-TV regiments (the ''Totenkopf-Division'' together with several independent ''Totenkopf-Standarten'').
In 1940, SS chief of staff
Gottlob Berger
Gottlob Christian Berger (16 July 1896 – 5 January 1975) was a senior German Nazi official who held the rank of '' SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'' (lieutenant general) and was the chief of the SS Main Office responsibl ...
approached Himmler with a plan to recruit volunteers in the conquered territories from the ethnic German and Germanic populations. At first, Hitler had doubts about recruiting foreigners, but he was persuaded by Himmler and Berger. He gave approval for a new division to be formed from foreign nationals with German officers. By June 1940,
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
and
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
volunteers had formed the SS Regiment ''
Nordland
Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...
'', with
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
volunteers forming the SS Regiment ''Westland''. The two regiments, together with ''Germania'' (transferred from the ''Reich'' Division), formed the
SS Division ''Wiking''. A sufficient number of volunteers came forward requiring the SS to open a new training camp just for foreign volunteers at
Sennheim
Cernay (; german: Sennheim; gsw-FR, Sanna) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
It is situated on the river Thur, 17 km northwest of Mulhouse.
Second World War
The SS had an " ideology school" ...
in
Alsace-Lorraine.
1941
At the beginning of the new year, the ''Polizei-Division'' was brought under FHA administration, although it would not be formally merged into the Waffen-SS until 1942. At the same time, the ''Totenkopf-Standarten'', aside from the three constituting the TK-Division, lost their Death's Head designation and insignia and were reclassified ''SS-Infanterie-'' (or ''Kavallerie-'') ''Regimente''. The 11th Rgt. was transferred into the ''Reich'' Division to replace ''Germania''; the remainder were grouped into three independent brigades and a battle group in Norway.
By the spring of 1941, the Waffen-SS consisted of the equivalent of six or seven divisions: the ''
Reich
''Reich'' (; ) is a German language, German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emp ...
'', ''Totenkopf'', ''Polizei'', and ''Wiking'' Divisions and
''Kampfgruppe'' (later Division) ''Nord'', and the ,
1 SS Infantry,
2 SS Infantry, and
SS Cavalry Brigades.
Balkans
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-158-0094-35, Balkan, PKW der Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-158-0094-35%2C_Balkan%2C_PKW_der_Leibstandarte_Adolf_Hitler.jpg)
In March 1941, a major
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
counterattack against
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
forces failed, and Germany came to the aid of its ally.
Operation Marita
The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Kingdom of Greece, Greece by Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy and Nazi Germany, Germany during Wo ...
began on 6 April 1941, with German troops invading Greece through
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
and
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
in an effort to secure its southern flank.
''Reich'' was ordered to leave France and head for
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, and the was ordered to
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
. The , attached to the
XL Panzer Corps
XXXX Panzer Corps was a tank corps in the German Army during World War II.
History
The XXXX. Armeekorps was formed on 26 January 1940 in Lubeck in the Wehrkreis X.
It took part in the invasions of France and Greece before being sent to the Easte ...
, advanced west then south from Bulgaria into the mountains, and by 9 April had reached
Prilep
Prilep ( mk, Прилеп ) is the fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. It has a population of 66,246 and is known as "the city under Marko's Towers" because of its proximity to the towers of Prince Marko.
Name
The name of Prilep appear ...
in Yugoslavia, 30 miles from the Greek border. Further north the SS ''Reich'', with the
XLI Panzer Corps
XXXXI Panzer Corps (also written as: XLI Panzer Corps) was a Panzer (armoured) corps in the German Army during World War II.
Operational history
The corps was originally formed, as the XXXXI Corps, on 5 February 1940 in ''Wehrkreis'' VIII (Sile ...
, crossed the Romanian border and advanced on
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, the
Yugoslav capital.
Fritz Klingenberg
__NOTOC__
Fritz Paul Heinrich Otto Klingenberg (17 December 1912 – 23 March 1945) was a German officer in the Waffen-SS who served with the SS Division Das Reich and was a commander of the SS Division Götz von Berlichingen. He was best known fo ...
, a company commander in the ''Reich'', led his men into Belgrade, where a small group in the vanguard accepted the surrender of the city on 13 April. A few days later the
Royal Yugoslav Army
The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the land warfare military service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally Kingdom of Serbs ...
surrendered.
The had now crossed into Greece, and on 10 April engaged the
6th Australian Division
The 6th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army. It was raised briefly in 1917 during World War I, but was broken up to provide reinforcements before seeing action. It was not re-raised until the outbreak of World War II, when ...
in the
Battle of the Klidi Pass
The Battle of Vevi (or Veve, el, Μάχη της Bεύης), in Greece, also known as the Battle of the Klidi Pass, was part of the Greek campaign of World War II. It took place on 11–12 April 1941, north of the town of Amyntaion, close to ...
. For 48 hours they fought for control of the heights, often engaging in hand-to-hand combat, eventually gaining control with the capture of Height 997, which opened the pass and allowed the German Army to advance into the Greek interior. This victory gained praise from the OKW: in the order of the day they were commended for their "unshakable offensive spirit" and told that "the present victory signifies for the a new and imperishable page of honour in its history."
The continued the advance on 13 May. When the Reconnaissance Battalion under the command of
Kurt Meyer
Kurt Meyer (23 December 1910 – 23 December 1961) was an SS commander and convicted war criminal of Nazi Germany. He served in the Waffen-SS (the combat branch of the SS) and participated in the Battle of France, Operation Barbarossa, and ot ...
came under heavy fire from the Greek Army
defending the Klisura Pass, they broke through the defenders and captured 1,000 prisoners of war at the cost of six dead and nine wounded. The next day, Meyer captured
Kastoria
Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...
and took another 11,000 prisoners of war. By 20 May, the had cut off the retreating Greek Army at
Metsovon
Metsovo ( el, Μέτσοβο; rup, Aminciu) is a town in Epirus, in the mountains of Pindus in northern Greece, between Ioannina to the west and Meteora to the east.
The largest centre of Aromanian (Vlach) life in Greece, Metsovo is a large ...
and accepted the surrender of the Greek Epirus-Macedonian Army. As a reward, the was nominally redesignated as a full motorised division, although few additional elements had been added by the start of the Russian campaign and the "Division" remained effectively a reinforced brigade.
Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, started on 22 June 1941, and all the Waffen-SS formations participated (including the SS ''Reich'', which was formally renamed to SS ''Das Reich'' by the Fall of 1941).
SS Division Nord
The 6th SS Mountain Division "Nord" (german: 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord") was a German unit of the Waffen-SS during World War II, formed in February 1941 as ''SS Kampfgruppe Nord'' (SS Battle Group North).
The division was the only Waffen-SS ...
, which was in northern
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, took part in
Operation Arctic Fox
Operation Arctic Fox (German: ''Unternehmen Polarfuchs''; fi, operaatio Napakettu; Russian: ''Кандалакшская операция'') was the codename given to a World War II campaign by German and Finnish forces against Soviet Northern ...
with the Finnish Army and fought at the battle of
Salla
Salla (''Kuolajärvi'' until 1936) ( smn, Kyelijävri) is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
which
is water. The population density is
.
The nearby settlement of S ...
, where against strong Soviet forces they suffered 300 killed and 400 wounded in the first two days of the invasion. Thick forests and heavy smoke from forest fires disoriented the troops and the division's units completely fell apart. By the end of 1941, ''Nord'' had suffered severe casualties. Over the winter of 1941–42 it received replacements from the general pool of Waffen-SS recruits, who were supposedly younger and better trained than the SS men of the original formation, which had been drawn largely from ''Totenkopfstandarten'' of
Nazi concentration camp
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...
guards.
The rest of the Waffen-SS divisions and brigades fared better. The SS ''Totenkopf'' and Polizei divisions were attached to
Army Group North
Army Group North (german: Heeresgruppe Nord) was a German strategic formation, commanding a grouping of field armies during World War II. The German Army Group was subordinated to the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH), the German army high comma ...
, with the mission to advance through the
Baltic states
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
and on to
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. The SS Division ''Das Reich'' was with
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army fo ...
and headed towards
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. The SS Division ''Wiking'' and the were with
Army Group South
Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II.
It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group Sou ...
, heading for the
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and the city of
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 ...
.
The war in the Soviet Union proceeded well at first, but the cost to the Waffen-SS was extreme: by late October, the was at half strength due to enemy action and
dysentery
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
that swept through the ranks. ''Das Reich'' lost 60% of its strength and was still to take part in the
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...
. The unit was decimated in the following Soviet offensive. The ''Der Führer'' Regiment was reduced to 35 men out of the 2,000 that had started the campaign in June. Altogether, the Waffen-SS had suffered 43,000 casualties.
While the and the SS divisions were fighting in the front line, behind the lines it was a different story. The 1 SS Infantry and 2 SS Infantry Brigades, which had been formed from surplus concentration camp guards of the SS-TV, and the SS Cavalry Brigade moved into the Soviet Union behind the advancing armies. At first, they fought
Soviet partisans
Soviet partisans were members of resistance movements that fought a guerrilla war against Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Soviet-occupied territories of interwar Poland in 1941–45 and eastern Finland. The ...
and cut off units of the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
in the rear of
Army Group South
Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II.
It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group Sou ...
, capturing 7,000
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
, but from mid-August 1941 until late 1942 they were assigned to the
Reich Security Main Office
The Reich Security Main Office (german: Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and ''Reichsführer-SS'', the head of the Nazi ...
headed by
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust.
He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...
. The brigades were now used for rear area security and policing, and were no longer under army or Waffen-SS command. In the Autumn of 1941, they left the anti-partisan role to other units and actively took part in
The Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. While assisting the ''
Einsatzgruppen
(, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the im ...
'', they participated in the extermination of the
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
population of the Soviet Union, forming firing parties when required. The three brigades were responsible for the murder of tens of thousands by the end of 1941.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Adendorff-002-18A, Russland, SS-Kavallerie-Brigade](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101III-Adendorff-002-18A%2C_Russland%2C_SS-Kavallerie-Brigade.jpg)
Because it was more mobile and better able to carry out large-scale operations, the SS Cavalry Brigade had 2 regiments with a strength of 3500 men and played a pivotal role in the transition to the wholesale extermination of the Jewish population. In the summer of 1941, Himmler assigned
Hermann Fegelein
Hans Otto Georg Hermann Fegelein (30 October 1906 – 28 April 1945) was a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany. He was a member of Adolf Hitler's entourage and brother-in-law to Eva Braun through his marriage to her si ...
to be in charge of both regiments. On 19 July 1941, Himmler assigned Fegelein's regiments to the general command of HSSPF
Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski
Erich Julius Eberhard von dem Bach-Zelewski (born Erich Julius Eberhard von Zelewski; 1 March 1899 – 8 March 1972) was a high-ranking SS commander of Nazi Germany. During World War II, he was in charge of the Nazi security warfare against tho ...
for the "systematic combing" of the
Pripyat swamps, an operation designed to round up and exterminate
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, partisans, and civilians in that area of
Byelorussian SSR
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор ...
.
Fegelein split the territory to be covered into two sections divided by the
Pripyat River
The Pripyat or Prypiat ( , uk, Прип'ять, ; be, Прыпяць, translit=Prypiać}, ; pl, Prypeć, ; russian: Припять, ) is a river in Eastern Europe, approximately long. It flows east through Ukraine, Belarus, and Ukraine ag ...
, with the 1st Regiment taking the northern half and the 2nd Regiment the south. The regiments worked their way from east to west through their assigned territory, and filed daily reports on the number of people killed and taken prisoner. By 1 August, SS Cavalry Regiment 1 under the command of
Gustav Lombard
Gustav Lombard (10 April 1895 – 18 September 1992) was a high-ranking member in the SS during World War II. During the war, Lombard commanded 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer and the 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division. He was a recipie ...
was responsible for the death of 800 people; by 6 August, this total had reached 3,000 "Jews and partisans". Throughout the following weeks, personnel of SS Cavalry Regiment 1 under Lombard's command murdered an estimated 11,000 Jews and more than 400 dispersed soldiers of the Red Army. Thus Fegelein's units were among the first in the Holocaust to wipe out entire Jewish communities. Fegelein's final operational report dated 18 September 1941, states that they killed 14,178 Jews, 1,001 partisans, 699 Red Army soldiers, with 830 prisoners taken and losses of 17 dead, 36 wounded, and 3 missing. Historian Henning Pieper estimates the actual number of Jews killed was closer to 23,700.
1942
1942 expansion
![Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1977-143-15, Russland, Angehörige der Waffen-SS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1977-143-15%2C_Russland%2C_Angeh%C3%B6rige_der_Waffen-SS.jpg)
In 1942, the Waffen-SS was further expanded and a new division was entered on the rolls in March. By the second half of 1942, an increasing number of foreigners, many of whom were not volunteers, began entering the ranks. The
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division ''Prinz Eugen'' was recruited from
Volksdeutsche
In Nazi German terminology, ''Volksdeutsche'' () were "people whose language and culture had German origins but who did not hold German citizenship". The term is the nominalised plural of '' volksdeutsch'', with ''Volksdeutsche'' denoting a sin ...
(ethnic Germans) drafted under threat of punishment by the local German leadership from
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, and
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
and used for anti-partisan operations in the Balkans. Himmler approved the introduction of formal compulsory service for the Volksdeutsche in German-occupied Serbia. Another new division was formed at the same time, when the SS Cavalry Brigade was used as the
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 ...
in the formation of the
8th SS Cavalry Division ''Florian Geyer''.
Panzergrenadier divisions
The front line divisions of the Waffen-SS that had suffered losses through the winter of 1941–1942 and during the Soviet counter-offensive were withdrawn to France to recover and be reformed as
Panzergrenadier
''Panzergrenadier'' (), abbreviated as ''PzG'' (WWII) or ''PzGren'' (modern), meaning '' "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier"'', is a German term for mechanized infantry units of armoured forces who specialize in fighting from and in conjunc ...
divisions. Due to the efforts of Himmler and ''
Obergruppenführer
' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...
''
Paul Hausser
Paul Hausser also known as Paul Falk after taking his maiden name post war (7 October 1880 – 21 December 1972) was a German general and then a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS who played a key role in the post-war efforts by former mem ...
, the new commander of the
SS Panzer Corps, the three SS Panzergrenadier divisions , ''Das Reich'', and ''Totenkopf'' were to be formed with a full regiment of tanks rather than only a battalion. This meant that the SS Panzergrenadier divisions were full-strength Panzer divisions in all but name. They each received nine
Tiger tank Tiger tank may refer to:
*Tiger I, or ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf. E'', a German heavy tank produced from 1942 to 1944
*Tiger II, or ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf. B'', a German heavy tank produced from 1943 to 1945, also known as ''Kön ...
s, which were formed into the
heavy panzer companies.
Demyansk Pocket
The Soviet offensive of January 1942 trapped a number of German divisions in the
Demyansk Pocket
The Demyansk Pocket (german: Kessel von Demjansk; russian: Демя́нский котёл) was the name given to the pocket of German troops encircled by the Red Army around Demyansk, south of Leningrad, during World War II's Eastern Front. Th ...
between February and April 1942; the 3rd SS ''Totenkopf'' was one of the divisions encircled by the Red Army. The Red Army liberated
Demyansk
Demyansk (russian: Демя́нск) is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Demyansky District of Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located along the Yavon River. Municipally, it is incorporated as Demyanskoye Urban Se ...
on 1 March 1943 with the retreat of the German troops. "For his excellence in command and the particularly fierce fighting of the ''Totenkopf''", ''
Obergruppenführer
' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...
''
Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke (17 October 1892 – 26 February 1943) was a senior SS functionary and Waffen SS divisional commander during the Nazi era. He was one of the key figures in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the seco ...
was awarded the Oak Leaves to the
Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross (German language ''Ritterkreuz'') refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that often denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield.
Most frequently the term Knight's Cross is used to refer to the Knight's Cr ...
on 20 May 1942.
1943
1943 expansion
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Mielke-036-23, Waffen-SS, 13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101III-Mielke-036-23%2C_Waffen-SS%2C_13._Gebirgs-Div._%22Handschar%22.jpg)
The Waffen-SS expanded further in 1943: in February the
9th SS Panzer Division ''Hohenstaufen'' and its sister division, the
10th SS Panzer Division ''Frundsberg'', were formed in France. They were followed in July by the
11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division ''Nordland'' created from Norwegian and Danish volunteers. September saw the formation of the
12th SS Panzer Division ''Hitlerjugend'' using volunteers from the
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
. Himmler and Berger successfully appealed to Hitler to form a
Bosnian Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
division, and the
, the first non-Germanic division, was formed, to fight
Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...
's
Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
. This was followed by the
formed from volunteers from
Galicia in western
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. The
15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian)
The 15th ''Waffen'' Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian) (german: 15. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr. 1)), lv, 15. SS grenadieru divīzija (latviešu Nr. 1)) was an Infantry Division of the ''Waffen-SS'' during World War I ...
was created in 1943, using compulsory military service in the
Ostland
The Reichskommissariat Ostland (RKO) was established by Nazi Germany in 1941 during World War II. It became the civilian occupation regime in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the western part of Byelorussian SSR. German planning documents ini ...
. The final new 1943 division was the
16th SS Panzergrenadier Division ''Reichsführer-SS'', which was created using the ''
Sturmbrigade Reichsführer SS'' as a cadre. By the end of the year, the Waffen-SS had increased in size from eight divisions and some brigades to 16 divisions. By 1943 the Waffen-SS could no longer claim to be an "elite" fighting force. Recruitment and conscription based on "numerical over qualitative expansion" took place, with many of the "foreign" units being good for only rear-guard duty.
Kharkov
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Zschaeckel-189-13, Russland, Charkow, Waffen-SS mit Panzer IV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101III-Zschaeckel-189-13%2C_Russland%2C_Charkow%2C_Waffen-SS_mit_Panzer_IV.jpg)
On the Eastern Front, the Germans suffered a devastating defeat when the
6th Army was defeated during 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 ...
. Hitler ordered the SS Panzer Corps back to the Eastern Front for a counter-attack with the city of
Kharkov
Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine. as its objective. The SS Panzer Corps was in full retreat on 19 February, having been attacked by the
Soviet 6th Army, when they received the order to counter-attack. Disobeying Hitler's order to "stand fast and fight to the death", Hausser withdrew in front of the Red Army. During
Manstein's counteroffensive, the SS Panzer Corps, without support from the
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
or neighbouring German formations, broke through the Soviet line and advanced on Kharkov. Despite orders to encircle Kharkov from the north, the SS Panzer Corps directly attacked in the
Third Battle of Kharkov
The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by Army Group South of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Red Army, around the city of Kharkov between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Known to ...
on 11 March. This led to four days of house-to-house fighting before Kharkov was recaptured by the SS Division Leibstandarte on 15 March. Two days later, the German forces recaptured
Belgorod
Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics
The population of Be ...
, creating the
salient that, in July 1943, led to the
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...
. The German offensive cost the Red Army an estimated 70,000
casualties
A casualty, as a term in military usage, is a person in military service, combatant or non-combatant, who becomes unavailable for duty due to any of several circumstances, including death, injury, illness, capture or desertion.
In civilian usa ...
but the house-to-house fighting in Kharkov was particularly bloody for the SS Panzer Corps, which lost approximately 44% of its strength by the time operations ended in late March.
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
![Stroop Report - Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Stroop_Report_-_Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising_03.jpg)
The
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; pl, powstanie w getcie warszawskim; german: link=no, Aufstand im Warschauer Ghetto was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's ...
was a Jewish
insurgency
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...
that arose within the
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...
from 19 April to 16 May, an effort to prevent the transportation of the remaining population of the ghetto to
Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Masovian Voivodeship. The camp ...
. Units involved from the Waffen-SS were 821 Waffen-SS
Panzergrenadier
''Panzergrenadier'' (), abbreviated as ''PzG'' (WWII) or ''PzGren'' (modern), meaning '' "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier"'', is a German term for mechanized infantry units of armoured forces who specialize in fighting from and in conjunc ...
s from five reserve and training battalions and one cavalry reserve and training battalion.
Kursk
For the
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...
, the SS Panzer Corps was renamed the
II SS Panzer Corps
The II SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on both the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern and Western Front (World War II), Western Fronts during World War II. It was commanded by Paul Hausser during the Thir ...
and was part of the
4th Panzer Army
The 4th Panzer Army (german: 4. Panzerarmee) (operating as Panzer Group 4 (german: 4. Panzergruppe) from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, when it was redesignated as a full army) was a German panzer formation during World War ...
. The II SS Panzer Corps spearheaded the attack through the Soviet defences. The attack penetrated to a depth of and was then stopped by the
Soviet 1st Tank Army.
The Soviet reserves had been sent south to defend against a German attack by the
III Panzer Corps
III Army Corps was a corps level formation of the German Army during World War II.
III Army Corps
The III Corps was formed in October 1934 as III. Armeekorps. The corps took part in Fall Weiss, the 1939 invasion of Poland as a part of Army Gr ...
. With the loss of their reserves, any hope they may have had of dealing a major defeat to the SS Panzer Corps ended. But the German advances now failed – despite appalling losses, the Soviet tank armies held the line and prevented the II SS Panzer Corps from making the expected breakthrough.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Zschaeckel-207-12, Schlacht um Kursk, Panzer VI (Tiger I)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101III-Zschaeckel-207-12%2C_Schlacht_um_Kursk%2C_Panzer_VI_%28Tiger_I%29.jpg)
The failure to break through the Soviet tactical zone and the need to break off the assault by the German 9th Army on the northern shoulder of the Kursk salient due to
Operation Kutuzov
Operation Kutuzov was the first of the two counteroffensives launched by the Red Army as part of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation. It commenced on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German '' He ...
contributed to Hitler's decision to halt the offensive. A parallel attack by the Red Army against the new 6th Army on the Mius river south of
Kharkov
Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine. necessitated the withdrawal of reserve forces held to exploit any success on the southern shoulder of Kursk. The OKW also had to draw on some German troops from the Eastern Front to bolster the Mediterranean theatre following the Anglo-American
Invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...
. On 17 July, Hitler called off the operation and ordered a withdrawal. The Soviet Union was not beaten, and the strategic initiative had swung to the Red Army. The Germans were forced onto the defensive as the Red Army began the liberation of Western Russia.
Italy
The was thereafter sent to Italy to help stabilise the situation there following the deposal of
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
by the
Badoglio
Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (, ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime ...
government and the Allied invasion of Sicily, which was the beginning of the
Italian Campaign. The division left behind its armour and equipment, which was given to ''Das Reich'' and ''Totenkopf''. After the
Italian surrender
The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II.
It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brig ...
and collapse of 8 September 1943, the was ordered to begin disarming nearby Italian units. It also had the task of guarding vital road and rail junctions in the north of Italy and was involved in several skirmishes with partisans. This went smoothly, with the exception of a brief skirmish with Italian troops stationed in
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...
on 9 September. By 19 September, all Italian forces in the
Po River plain had been disarmed, but the OKW received reports that elements of the
Italian Fourth Army The 4th Army ( it, 4ª Armata) was a World War I and World War II field army of the Royal Italian Army.
World War I
During World War I, the 4th Army was positioned between the Asiago plateau and the Carnic Alps. During the Caporetto disaster, it ...
were regrouping in
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
, near the French border.
Joachim Peiper
Joachim Peiper (30 January 1915 – 14 July 1976) was a German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) officer and a Nazi war criminal convicted for the Malmedy massacre of U.S. Army prisoners of war (POWs). During the Second World War in Europe, Peiper serve ...
's mechanised III Battalion, SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 2, was sent to disarm these units. On arriving in the province of
Cuneo
Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area.
It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...
, Peiper was met by an Italian officer who warned that his forces would attack unless Peiper's unit vacated the province immediately. After Peiper refused, the Italians attacked. Peiper's battalion defeated the Italians, and subsequently shelled and burnt down the village of
Boves, killing at least 34 civilians. Peiper's battalion then disarmed the remaining Italian forces in the area.
While the was operating in the north, the 16 SS ''Reichsführer''-SS sent a small battlegroup to contain the
Anzio landings
The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944 (ending with the capture of Rome). The ope ...
in January 1944. In March, the bulk of the 1st Italienische Freiwilligen Sturmbrigade (or ''Brigata d'Assalto, Volontari'' in Italian) was sent to the Anzio beachhead, where they fought alongside their German allies, receiving favourable reports and taking heavy losses. In recognition of their performance, Himmler declared the unit to be fully integrated into the Waffen-SS.
1944
1944 expansion
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J16696, Soldaten der Legion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-J16696%2C_Soldaten_der_Legion_%22Freies_Indien%22.jpg)
The Waffen-SS expanded again during 1944. January saw the formation of the
19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian)
__NOTOC__
The 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) (german: 19. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr. 2), lv, 19. SS grenadieru divīzija (latviešu Nr. 2)) was an infantry division of the Waffen-SS during World War ...
, formed from the two SS Infantry Brigades as cadre with Latvian conscripts. The
20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) was formed via general conscription in February 1944, around a cadre from the
3 Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade. The
was formed in March 1944 from Albanian and Kosovan volunteers, which as with other "eastern formations" were intended for use against "irregular forces". A second Waffen-SS cavalry division followed in April 1944, the
22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division ''Maria Theresia''. The bulk of the troops were
Hungarian Army
The Hungarian Ground Forces ( hu, Magyar Szárazföldi Haderő) is the land branch of the Hungarian Defence Forces, and is responsible for ground activities and troops including artillery, tanks, APCs, IFVs and ground support. Hungary's ground f ...
Volksdeutsche conscripts transferred to the Waffen-SS following an agreement between Germany and Hungary. The
23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division ''Nederland'' followed, formed from the 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland, but it was never more than a large brigade. The
24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Karstjäger
The 24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS "Karstjäger" was a German mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS, the armed wing of the German Nazi Party that served alongside, but was never formally part of, the Wehrmacht during World War II. ...
was another division that was never more than brigade size, consisting mainly of ethnic German volunteers from Italy and Yugoslavia, along with volunteers from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Ukraine. They were primarily involved in fighting partisans in the
Kras
''KRAS'' (Kirsten rat sarcoma virus) is a gene that provides instructions for making a protein called K-Ras, a part of the RAS/MAPK pathway. The protein relays signals from outside the cell to the cell's nucleus. These signals instruct the cell ...
region of the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
on the frontiers of
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, the mountainous terrain requiring specialised mountain troops and equipment. Two
Hungarian divisions followed: the
and the
26th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Hungarian)
The 26th ''Waffen'' Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Hungarian) (german: 26. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (ungarische Nr.2), hu, 26. Waffen-SS Gránátos Hadosztály (2. magyar)), was a short-lived infantry division of the Waffen-SS, an ar ...
. These were formed under the authority of the Hungarian defence minister, at the request of Himmler. One regiment from the Hungarian Army was ordered to join, but they mostly consisted of Hungarian and Romanian volunteers.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-721-0387-05A, Frankreich, SS-Panzersoldaten vor Panzer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-721-0387-05A%2C_Frankreich%2C_SS-Panzersoldaten_vor_Panzer.jpg)
The
SS Division Langemarck
The Flemish Legion ( nl, Vlaams Legioen) was a Collaboration with the Axis Powers during World War II, collaborationist military formation recruited among Dutch-speaking volunteers from German occupation of Belgium during World War II, German-oc ...
was formed next in October 1944, from
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
volunteers added to the 6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Langemarck, but again it was nothing more than a large brigade. The 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien was also upgraded to the
SS Division Wallonien
The Walloon Legion (french: Légion Wallonie, "Wallonia Legion") was a unit of the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') and later of the Waffen-SS recruited among French-speaking collaborationists in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. It wa ...
, but it too was never more than a large brigade. Plans to convert the Kaminski Brigade into the
29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian)
Kaminski Brigade, also known as Waffen-Sturm-Brigade der SS RONA, was a collaborationist formation composed of Russian nationals from the territory of the Lokot Autonomy in Axis-occupied areas of the RSFSR, Soviet Union on the Eastern Front.R ...
were dropped after the execution of their commander,
Bronislav Kaminski
Bronislav Vladislavovich Stroganof Kaminski (russian: Бронисла́в Владисла́вович Ками́нский, 16 June 1899 – 28 August 1944) was a Russian Nazi collaborator and the commander of the Kaminski Brigade, an anti-par ...
; instead the Waffen Grenadier Brigade of SS (Italian no. 1) became the
29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Italian)
The 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Italian) also Legione SS Italiana (german: 29. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (italienische Nr. 1)) was an SS formation of Nazi Germany during World War II. It was originally created in the pup ...
. The
30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Russian)
The 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Belarusian) (german: 30. Waffen-Grenadierdivision der SS (weißruthenische Nr. 1)) was a short-lived German Waffen SS infantry division formed largely from Byelorussian, Russian and Ukrainian pers ...
was formed from the Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling. The final new division of late 1944 was the
31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division __NOTOC__
The 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division (german: 31. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division)Official designation in German language as to „Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv“ in Freiburg im Breisgau, stores of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS. was ...
, formed from Hungarians and conscripted ''Volksdeutsche''.
In November 1944 the
1st Cossack Division
The 1st Cossack Cavalry Division (german: 1. Kosaken-Kavallerie-Division) was a Russian Cossack division of the German Army that served during World War II. It was created on the Eastern Front mostly out of Don Cossacks already serving in the We ...
, originally mustered by the German Army in 1943, was taken over by the Waffen-SS. The ''
SS Führungshauptamt
The SS-Führungshauptamt ( en, SS Leadership Main Office) (SS-FHA) was the operational headquarters of the SS during the Nazi era.
The office was responsible for the administration of the SS-Junker Schools, medical services, logistics, and ra ...
'' reorganised the division and used further Cossack combat units from the army and the ''
Ordnungspolizei
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...
'' to form a
2nd Cossack Division. Both divisions were placed under the command of the
XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps
The XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps was a cavalry corps in the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Background
During the Russian Civil War (1917–1923), Cossack leaders and their governments generally sided with the White movement. A ...
on 1 February 1945. With the transfer of the Volunteer Cossack-Stamm-Regiment 5 from the
Freiwilligen-Stamm-Division
The Freiwilligen-Stamm-Division ("Regular Volunteer Division") was a German infantry division of the Wehrmacht during World War II. It was created on 1 February 1944 in Southern France. The Division was a so-called '' Ostlegion'', which means its ...
on the same day the takeover of the Cossack units by the Waffen-SS was complete.
Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket
The
Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket was formed in January 1944 when units of the
8th Army withdrew to the
Panther-Wotan Line, a defensive position along the
Dnieper River
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
in Ukraine. Two army corps were left holding a
salient into the Soviet lines extending some . The Red Army's 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts encircled the pocket. Trapped in the pocket were a total of six German divisions, including the 5 SS ''Wiking'', with the attached
5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien
The Walloon Legion (french: Légion Wallonie, "Wallonia Legion") was a unit of the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') and later of the Waffen-SS recruited among French-speaking collaborationists in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. It was ...
, and the Estonian SS Battalion ''Narwa''. The Germans broke out in co-ordination with other German forces from the outside, including the 1 SS . Roughly two out of every three encircled men successfully escaped the pocket.
Raid on Drvar
The
Raid on Drvar
Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to:
Attack
* Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground
* Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business
* Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...
, codenamed ''Operation Rösselsprung'', was an attack by the Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe on the command structure of the Yugoslav partisans. Their objective was the elimination of the partisan-controlled Supreme Headquarters and the capture of Tito. The offensive took place in April and May 1944. The Waffen-SS units involved were the
500th SS Parachute Battalion
The 500th SS-Parachute Battalion (german: SS-Fallschirmjägerbataillon 500) was the parachute unit of the ''Waffen-SS''. The idea to form a paratrooper unit within the ''Waffen-SS'' allegedly came directly from ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himml ...
and the 7 SS ''Prinz Eugen''.
The assault started when a small group parachuted into
Drvar
Drvar (, ) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 2013 census registered the municipality as having a population of 7,036. It is situated in western Bos ...
to secure landing grounds for the following
glider
Glider may refer to:
Aircraft and transport Aircraft
* Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight
** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...
force. The 500th SS Parachute Battalion fought their way to Tito's cave headquarters and exchanged heavy gunfire resulting in numerous casualties on both sides. By the time German forces had penetrated into the cave, Tito had already escaped. At the end of the battle, only 200 men of the 500th SS Parachute Battalion remained unwounded.
Baltic states
In Estonia, the
Battle of Narva started in February. The battle can be divided into two phases: the
Battle for Narva Bridgehead
The Battle of Narva Bridgehead ( et, Narva lahingud, german: Schlacht um den Brückenkopf von Narva, russian: Битва за плацдарм Нарва; 2 February – 26 July 1944) was the campaign that stalled the Soviet Estonian operati ...
from February to July and the
Battle of Tannenberg Line
The Battle of Tannenberg Line (german: Die Schlacht um die Tannenbergstellung; russian: Битва за линию «Танненберг») or the Battle of the Blue Hills ( et, Sinimägede lahing) was a military engagement between the Germ ...
from July to September. A number of volunteer and conscript Waffen-SS units from Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Estonia fought in Narva. The units were all part of the
III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps
The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of its designation was grante ...
in
Army Group North
Army Group North (german: Heeresgruppe Nord) was a German strategic formation, commanding a grouping of field armies during World War II. The German Army Group was subordinated to the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH), the German army high comma ...
, which consisted of the 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division ''Nordland'', the 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade ''Nederland'', the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade ''Wallonien'', the 6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade ''Langemarck'', and the conscript 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian), under the command of ''
Obergruppenführer
' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...
''
Felix Steiner
Felix Martin Julius Steiner (23 May 1896 – 12 May 1966) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he served in the Waffen-SS, the combat branch of the SS, and commanded several SS divisions and corps. He was awarded t ...
.
Also in Army Group North was the
VI SS Corps
VI SS Army Corps (Latvian) or VI. SS-Freiwilligen-Armeekorps (Lettisches) (German) was a unit of the Waffen SS during World War II. It was formed in October 1943, to command the Latvian Waffen SS divisions. It fought in the northern sector of the ...
, which consisted of the
15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian)
The 15th ''Waffen'' Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian) (german: 15. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr. 1)), lv, 15. SS grenadieru divīzija (latviešu Nr. 1)) was an Infantry Division of the ''Waffen-SS'' during World War I ...
and the
19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian)
__NOTOC__
The 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) (german: 19. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr. 2), lv, 19. SS grenadieru divīzija (latviešu Nr. 2)) was an infantry division of the Waffen-SS during World War ...
. Latvian Waffen SS and German army units held out in the
Courland Pocket
The Courland Pocket (Blockade of the Courland army group), (german: Kurland-Kessel)/german: Kurland-Brückenkopf (Courland Bridgehead), lv, Kurzemes katls (Courland Cauldron) or ''Kurzemes cietoksnis'' (Courland Fortress)., group=lower-alpha ...
until the end of the war.
Normandy
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...
, the Allied
"D-Day" landings in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, took place on 6 June 1944. In preparation for the expected landings, the I SS Panzer Corps ''Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler'' was moved to
Septeuil
Septeuil () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.
River
Septeuil is traversed by a small river, ''la Flexanville''. This waterway flows through eight other communes for a total distance of ...
to the west of Paris in April 1944. The Corps had the 1 SS ''Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler'', 12 SS ''Hitlerjugend'', the 17 SS ''Götz von Berlichingen'' and the army's
Panzer-Lehr-Division
The Panzer-Lehr-Division (in the meaning of: Armoured training division) was an elite German armoured division during World War II. It was formed in 1943 onwards from training and demonstration troops (''Lehr'' = "teach") stationed in Germany, t ...
divisions assigned to it. The Corps was to form a part of General
Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg
Leo Dietrich Franz Reichsfreiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg (2 March 1886 – 27 January 1974), was a German general during World War II, noted for his pioneering stance and expertise in the field of armoured warfare.
He commanded the 5th Panzer Arm ...
's
Panzer Group West
5th Panzer Army (german: 5. Panzerarmee) was the name of two different German armoured warfare, armoured formations during World War II. The first of these was formed in 1942, during the North African campaign and surrendered to the Allies at Tun ...
, the Western theatre's armoured reserve. The Corps was restructured on 4 July 1944 and only the 1 SS and the 12 SS ''Hitlerjugend'' remained on strength.
After the landings, the first Waffen-SS unit in action was the 12 SS ''Hitlerjugend'', which arrived at the invasion front on 7 June, in the
Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,[Ardenne Abbey massacre
The Ardenne Abbey massacre occurred during the Battle of Normandy at the Ardenne Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery in Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe, near Caen, France. In June 1944, 20 Canadian soldiers were massacred in a garden at the abbe ...]
against Canadian army prisoners of war. The next unit to arrive was the 17 SS ''Götz von Berlichingen'' on 11 June, which came into contact with the
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
. The
SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 101
101st Heavy SS Panzer Battalion (german: Schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 101) was a German heavy tank battalion in the Waffen-SS during World War II. With the introduction of new Tiger II tanks in late 1944, the unit was renumbered as the ''501st H ...
arrived next to protect the left wing of the I SS Panzer Corps. The 1 SS arrived towards the end of the month with lead elements becoming embroiled in the British offensive
Operation Epsom
Operation Epsom, also known as the First Battle of the Odon, was a British offensive in the Second World War between 26 and 30 June 1944, during the Battle of Normandy. The offensive was intended to outflank and seize the German-occupied city ...
.
The only other Waffen-SS unit in France at this time was the 2 SS ''Das Reich'', in
Montauban
Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, an ...
, north of
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
. They were ordered north to the landing beaches and on 9 June were responsible for the
Tulle massacre
The Tulle massacre was the roundup and summary execution of civilians in the French town of Tulle by the 2nd SS Panzer Division ''Das Reich'' in June 1944, three days after the D-Day landings in World War II.
After a successful offensive by ...
, where 99 men were murdered. The next day, they reached
Oradour-sur-Glane
Oradour-sur-Glane (; oc, Orador de Glana) was a commune in the Haute-Vienne department, New Aquitaine, west central France, as well as the name of the main village within the commune.
History
The original village was destroyed on 10 June 1944 ...
where they massacred 642 French civilians.
The
II SS Panzer Corps
The II SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on both the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern and Western Front (World War II), Western Fronts during World War II. It was commanded by Paul Hausser during the Thir ...
, consisting of the 9th SS ''Hohenstaufen'' and 10th SS ''Frundsberg'' divisions and the
SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 102
The 102nd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion (german: schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 102) was a German heavy tank battalion of the Waffen-SS during World War II. It fought as part of the II SS Panzer Corps during the Battle of Normandy and was nearly destro ...
, was transferred from the Eastern Front to spearhead an offensive to destroy the Allied beachhead. However, the British launched Operation Epsom and the two divisions were fed piecemeal into the battle, and launched several counterattacks over the following days.
![Falaise Pocket German Counterattack](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Falaise_Pocket_German_Counterattack.png)
Without any further reinforcements in men or materiel, the Waffen-SS divisions could not stop the Allied advance. 1 SS ''Leibstandarte '' and 2 SS ''Das Reich'' took part in the failed
Operation Lüttich
Operation Lüttich (7–13 August 1944) was the codename of the Nazi German counter-attack during the Battle of Normandy, which occurred near U.S. positions near Mortain, in northwestern France. ''Lüttich'' is the German name for the city of Liè ...
in early August. The end came in mid August when the German Army was encircled and trapped in the
Falaise pocket, including the 1 SS , 10 SS ''Frundsberg'' and 12 SS ''Hitlerjugend'' and the 17 SS ''Götz von Berlichingen'', while the 2 SS ''Das Reich'' and the 9 SS ''Hohenstaufen'' were ordered to attack
Hill 262
Battle of Hill 262, or the Mont Ormel ridge (elevation ), is an area of high ground above the village of Coudehard in Normandy that was the location of a bloody engagement in the final stages of the Battle of Falaise in the Normandy Campaign dur ...
from the outside in order to keep the gap open. By 22 August, the Falaise pocket had been closed, and all German forces west of the Allied lines were dead or in captivity. In the fighting around Hill 262 alone, casualties totalled 2,000 killed and 5,000 taken prisoner. The 12 SS ''Hitlerjugend'' had lost 94 per cent of its armour, nearly all of its artillery, and 70 per cent of its vehicles. The division had close to 20,000 men and 150 tanks before the campaign started, and was now reduced to 300 men and 10 tanks.
![German prisoners SS-Panzerdivision Hitlerjugend](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/German_prisoners_SS-Panzerdivision_Hitlerjugend.jpg)
With the German Army in full retreat, two further Waffen-SS formations entered the battle in France, the
SS Panzergrenadier Brigade 49 and the
SS Panzergrenadier Brigade 51
SS Panzergrenadier Brigade 51 was a short-lived Waffen-SS unit formed in June 1944 from SS ''Kampfgruppen'' (Combat Group) 3. Although designated as panzergrenadier (mechanized infantry) the unit was only equipped with wheeled vehicles. The SS Ma ...
. Both had been formed in June 1944 from staff and students at the ''
SS-Junkerschule
SS-Junker Schools (German ''SS-Junkerschulen'') were leadership training facilities for officer candidates of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The term ''Junkerschulen'' was introduced by Nazi Germany in 1937, although the first facilities were establi ...
''. They were stationed in Denmark to allow the garrison there to move into France, but were brought forward at the beginning of August to the area south and east of Paris. Both Brigades were tasked to hold crossings over the
Seine River
)
, mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system = Seine basin
, basin_size =
, tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle
, tributaries ...
allowing the army to retreat. Eventually, they were forced back and then withdrew, the surviving troops being incorporated into the 17 SS ''Götz von Berlichingen''.
Greece
While the bulk of the Waffen-SS was now on the Eastern Front or in Normandy, the 4th SS ''Polizei'' Panzergrenadier Division was stationed in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
on
internal security
Internal security is the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other Self-governance, self-governing territories, generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats. Responsibility fo ...
duties and anti-partisan operations. On 10 June, they committed the
Distomo massacre
The Distomo massacre ( el, Σφαγή του Διστόμου; german: Massaker von Distomo or ''Distomo-Massaker'') was a Nazi war crime perpetrated by members of the Waffen-SS in the village of Distomo, Greece, in 1944, during the German occu ...
, when over a period of two hours they went door to door and massacred Greek civilians, reportedly in revenge for a
Greek Resistance attack. In total, 218 men, women and children were killed. According to survivors, the SS forces "
bayonet
A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...
ed babies in their cribs, stabbed pregnant women, and beheaded the village priest."
Italy
On the Italian Front, the 16 SS ''Reichsführer-SS'', conducting anti-partisan operations, is remembered more for the atrocities it perpetrated than its fighting ability: it committed the
Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre
The Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre was a German war crime committed in the hill village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema in Tuscany, Italy, in the course of an operation against the Italian resistance movement during the Italian Campaign of World War I ...
in August 1944 and the
Marzabotto massacre
The Marzabotto massacre, or more correctly, the massacre of Monte Sole, was a World War II war crime consisting of the mass murder of at least 770 civilians by Nazi troops, which took place in the territory around the small village of Marzabotto, ...
between September and October 1944.
Finland
In Finland, the 6 SS ''Nord'' had held its lines during the Soviet summer offensive until it was ordered to withdraw from Finland upon the conclusion of an armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union in September 1944. It then formed the rear guard for the three German corps withdrawing from Finland in
Operation Birch, and from September to November 1944 marched 1,600 kilometres to
Mo i Rana
Mo i Rana () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city, and the administrative centre of the Municipalities of Norway, municipality of Rana, Norway, Rana, in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the Helgeland region of Nordland, just sou ...
, Norway, where it entrained for the southern end of the country, crossing the
Skagerrak
The Skagerrak (, , ) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea.
The ...
to Denmark.
Arnhem and Operation Market Garden
In early September 1944, the II SS Panzer Corps (9 SS ''Hohenstaufen'' and 10 SS ''Frundberg'') were pulled out of the line and sent to the
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...
area in the Netherlands. Upon arrival, they began the task of refitting, and the majority of the remaining armoured vehicles were loaded onto trains in preparation for transport to repair depots in Germany. On Sunday 17 September 1944, the Allies launched
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...
, and the British
1st Airborne Division was dropped in
Oosterbeek
Oosterbeek is a village in the eastern part of Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Renkum in the province of Gelderland, about west of Arnhem.
The oldest part of Oosterbeek is the Benedendorp (Lower Village), on the northern bank o ...
, to the west of Arnhem. Realizing the threat,
Wilhelm Bittrich
Wilhelm Bittrich (26 February 1894 – 19 April 1979) was a high-ranking Waffen-SS commander of Nazi Germany. Between August 1942 and February 1943, Bittrich commanded the SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer, in rear security operations (''Banden ...
, commander of II SS Panzer Corps, ordered ''Hohenstaufen'' and ''Frundsberg'' to ready themselves for combat. Also in the area was the Training and Reserve Battalion, 16th SS Division ''Reichsführer-SS''. The Allied airborne operation was a failure, and
Arnhem was not liberated until 14 April 1945.
Warsaw Uprising
![Warsaw Old Town 1945](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Warsaw_Old_Town_1945.jpg)
At the other end of Europe, the Waffen-SS was dealing with the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...
. Between August and October 1944, the
Dirlewanger Brigade
, image = File:Dirlewanger Crossed Grenades symbol.svg
, image_size = 180
, caption = Symbol of the Division
, dates = 1940–45
, country ...
(recruited from criminals and the mentally ill throughout Germany), which included
Aserbaidschanische Legion
The Azerbaijani Legion (german: Aserbaidschanische Legion) was one of the foreign units of the Wehrmacht. It was formed in December 1941 on the Eastern Front as the ''Kaukasische-Mohammedanische Legion'' (Muslim Caucasus Legion) and was re-desig ...
(part of the
Ostlegionen
''Ostlegionen'' ("eastern legions"), ''Ost-Bataillone'' ("eastern battalions"), ''Osttruppen'' ("eastern troops"), and ''Osteinheiten'' ("eastern units") were units in the Army of Nazi Germany during World War II made up of personnel from the ...
), and the
S.S. Sturmbrigade R.O.N.A.
Kaminski Brigade, also known as Waffen-Sturm-Brigade der SS RONA, was a collaborationist formation composed of Russian nationals from the territory of the Lokot Autonomy in Axis-occupied areas of the RSFSR, Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. ...
''Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya (Russian National Liberation Army)'', which was made up of anti-Soviet Russian, Belorussian and Ukrainian collaborators, were both sent to
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
to put down the uprising. During the battle, the ''Dirlewanger'' behaved atrociously, raping, looting, and killing citizens of Warsaw regardless of whether they belonged to the Polish resistance or not; the unit commander
SS-''Oberführer'' Oskar Dirlewanger encouraged their excesses. The unit's behaviour was reportedly so bestial and indiscriminate that Himmler was forced to send a battalion of SS military police to ensure the Dirlewanger convicts did not turn their aggressions against the leadership of the brigade or other nearby German units. At the same time, they were encouraged by Himmler to terrorise freely, take no prisoners, and generally indulge their perverse tendencies. Favoured tactics of the Dirlewanger men during the siege reportedly included the ubiquitous gang rape of female Poles, both women and children; playing "bayonet catch" with live babies; and torturing captives to death by hacking off their arms, dousing them with gasoline, and setting them alight to run armless and flaming down the street. The Dirlewanger brigade committed almost non-stop atrocities during this period, in particular the four-day
Wola massacre
The Wola massacre ( pl, Rzeź Woli, lit=Wola slaughter) was the systematic killing of between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles in the Wola neighbourhood of the Polish capital city, Warsaw, by the German Wehrmacht and fellow Axis collaborators in the Az ...
.
![Polish civilians murdered by German-SS-troops in Warsaw Uprising Warsaw August 1944](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Polish_civilians_murdered_by_German-SS-troops_in_Warsaw_Uprising_Warsaw_August_1944.jpg)
The other unit, ''Waffen-Sturm-Brigade R.O.N.A.'', was tasked with clearing the
Ochota
Ochota () is a district of Warsaw, Poland, located in the central part of the Polish capital city's urban agglomeration.
The biggest housing estates of Ochota are:
* Kolonia Lubeckiego
* Kolonia Staszica
* Filtry
* Rakowiec
* Szosa Krakowska
...
district in Warsaw that was defended by members of the Polish
Home Army
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...
. Their attack was planned for the morning of 5 August, but when the time came, the RONA unit could not be found; after some searching by the SS military police, members of the unit were found looting abandoned houses in the rear of the German column. Later, thousands of Polish civilians were killed by the RONA SS men during the events known as the
Ochota massacre
The Ochota Massacre (in Polish: ''Rzeź Ochoty'' – ''"Ochota slaughter"'') was a wave of German-orchestrated mass murder, looting, arson, torture and rape, which swept through the Warsaw district of Ochota from 4–25 August 1944, during the Wa ...
; many victims were also raped. In the following weeks, the RONA unit was moved south to the
Wola
Wola (, ) is a district in western Warsaw, Poland, formerly the village of Wielka Wola, incorporated into Warsaw in 1916. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into an office (co ...
district, but it fared no better in combat there than it did in Ochota; in one incident, a sub-unit of the RONA brigade advanced to loot a captured building on the
front line
A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, usually referring to land forces. When a front (an intentional or uninte ...
, but was subsequently cut off from the rest of the SS formation and wiped out by the Poles. Following the fiasco,
SS-''Brigadeführer'' Bronislav Vladislavovich Kaminski, the unit's commander, was called to
Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
to attend a SS leadership conference. He never arrived; official Nazi sources blamed Polish partisans for an alleged ambush that killed the RONA commander. But, according to various other sources, he was arrested and tried by the SS, or simply shot on the spot by the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
. The behaviour of the ''RONA'' during the battle was an embarrassment even to the SS, and the alleged rape and murder of two German
Strength Through Joy
NC Gemeinschaft (KdF; ) was a German state-operated leisure organization in Nazi Germany.Richard Grunberger, ''The 12-Year Reich'', p. 197, It was part of the German Labour Front (german: link=no, Deutsche Arbeitsfront), the national labour org ...
girls may have played a part in the eventual execution of the brigade's commander.
Vistula River line
In late August 1944, 5 SS ''Wiking'' was ordered back to
Modlin on the
Vistula River
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
line near Warsaw, where it was to join the newly formed
Army Group Vistula
Army Group Vistula () was an Army Group of the ''Wehrmacht'', formed on 24 January 1945. It lasted for 105 days, having been put together from elements of Army Group A (shattered in the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive), Army Group Centre (similarl ...
. Fighting alongside the Luftwaffe's
Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 ''Hermann Göring'', they were faced against the Soviet 3rd Tank Corps. The advent of the Warsaw Uprising brought the Soviet offensive to a halt, and relative peace fell on the front line. The division remained in the Modlin area, grouped with the 3 SS ''Totenkopf'' in the
IV SS Panzer Corps
The IV SS Panzer Corps was a panzer corps of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany which saw action on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans during World War II.
History
The Panzerkorps was formed in August 1943 in Poitiers, France. The formation was o ...
. Heavy defensive battles around Modlin followed for the rest of the year.
![Kampfgruppe Knittel's troops on the road to Stavelot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Kampfgruppe_Knittel%27s_troops_on_the_road_to_Stavelot.jpg)
The Ardennes Offensive (popularly known as the "
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...
"), between 16 December 1944 and 25 January 1945, was a major German offensive through the forested
Ardennes
The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...
mountains region of Belgium. The Waffen-SS units included the
6th Panzer Army
The 6th Panzer Army (german: 6. Panzerarmee) was a formation of the German Army, formed in the autumn of 1944. The 6th Panzer Army was first used as an offensive force during the Battle of the Bulge, in which it operated as the northernmost element ...
under
Sepp Dietrich
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (28 May 1892 – 21 April 1966) was a German politician and SS commander during the Nazi era. He joined the Nazi Party in 1928 and was elected to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic in 1930. Prior to 1929, Dietrich was A ...
. Created on 26 October 1944, it incorporated the
I SS Panzer Corps
The I SS Panzer Corps (german: I.SS-Panzerkorps) was a German armoured corps of the Waffen-SS. It saw action on both the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II.
Formation and training
The corps was raised on 26 July 1943 in Berlin-L ...
(1 SS , the 12 SS ''Hitlerjugend'' and the
SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 101
101st Heavy SS Panzer Battalion (german: Schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 101) was a German heavy tank battalion in the Waffen-SS during World War II. With the introduction of new Tiger II tanks in late 1944, the unit was renumbered as the ''501st H ...
). It also had the
II SS Panzer Corps
The II SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on both the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern and Western Front (World War II), Western Fronts during World War II. It was commanded by Paul Hausser during the Thir ...
(2 SS ''Das Reich'' and the 9 SS ''Hohenstaufen''). Another unit involved was
Otto Skorzeny
Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-''Obersturmbannführer'' (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen-SS during World War II. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including th ...
's
SS Panzer Brigade 150
Panzer Brigade 150 or SS Panzer Brigade 150 (german: 150. SS-Panzer-Brigade) was a formation of the German Army during World War II that was formed to take part in the Ardennes offensive. It was unusual in that it was formed from all parts of th ...
.
The purpose of the attack was to split the British and American line in half, capture
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, , and encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the
Western Allies
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. ...
to negotiate a
peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...
on terms favourable to the
Axis Powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
. However, advancing through the forests and wooded hills of the Ardennes proved difficult in the winter weather. Initially, the Germans made good progress in the northern end of its advance. However, they ran into unexpectedly strong resistance by the U.S. 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions. By 23 December, weather conditions started improving, allowing the Allied air forces, which had been grounded, to attack. In increasingly difficult conditions, the German advance slowed. The attack was ultimately a failure. Despite the efforts of the Waffen-SS and the German Army, the fuel shortages, stiff American resistance, including in and around the town of
Bastogne
Bastogne (; nl, Bastenaken, ; german: Bastnach/Bastenach; lb, Baaschtnech) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Bastogne, ...
and Allied air-assaults on German supply columns proved too much, costing the Germans 700 tanks and most of their remaining mobile forces in the west. Hitler's failed counteroffensive had used most of Germany's remaining reserves of manpower and materiel, which could not be replaced.
![Malmedy Massacre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Malmedy_Massacre.jpg)
During the battle, ''Kampfgruppe'' Peiper, part of the 1 SS , left a path of destruction, which included Waffen-SS men murdering American POWs and unarmed Belgian civilians. It is infamous for the
Malmedy massacre
The Malmedy massacre was a German war crime committed by soldiers of the on 17 December 1944, at the Baugnez crossroads near the city of Malmedy, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945). Soldiers of sum ...
, in which approximately 90 unarmed American
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
were murdered on 17 December 1944. Also during this battle, 3./SS-PzAA1 LSSAH captured and shot eleven African-American soldiers from the American
333rd Artillery Battalion in the hamlet of Wereth. Their remains were found by Allied troops two months later. The soldiers had their fingers cut off and legs broken, and one was shot while trying to bandage a comrade's wounds.
Siege of Budapest
In late December 1944, the Axis forces, including IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian), defending
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, were encircled in the
Siege of Budapest
The Siege of Budapest or Battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet Union, Soviet and Kingdom of Romania, Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital (political), capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the b ...
. The IV SS Panzer Corps (3 SS ''Totenkopf'' and 5 SS ''Wiking'') was ordered south to join
Hermann Balck
Georg Otto Hermann Balck (7 December 1893 – 29 November 1982) was a highly decorated officer of the German Army who served in both World War I and World War II, rising to the rank of General der Panzertruppe.
Early career
Balck was born in ...
's
6th Army (Army Group ''Balck''), which was mustering for a relief effort code named
Operation Konrad
Operation Konrad was the German- Hungarian effort to relieve the encircled garrison of Budapest during the Battle of Budapest in January 1945. The operation was divided into three parts:
* Operation Konrad I - 1 January 1945 - Led by IV SS Panzer ...
.
As a part of Operation Konrad I, the IV SS Panzer Corps was committed to action on 1 January 1945, near
Tata, with the advance columns of ''Wiking'' slamming into the Soviet
4th Guards Army
The 4th Guards Army was an elite Guards field army of the Soviet Union during World War II and the early postwar era.
History
On April 16, 1943, the Supreme Command ordered the army to be established. On May 5, 1943, the army was formed on t ...
. A heavy battle ensued, with the 5 SS ''Wiking'' and 3 SS ''Totenkopf'' destroying many of the Soviet tanks. In three days their panzer spearheads had driven 45 kilometres, over half the distance from the start point to Budapest. The Red Army manoeuvred forces to block the advance, halting them at
Bicske
Bicske (; la, Lusomana or ) is a town in Fejér County, Hungary. Its name is also spelled ''Bykche'', ''Biccke'', ''Bykcze'', ''Biczke'', and ''Bitske''. It is around west of Budapest. Its administration has undergone many changes; it has been a ...
, from Budapest. Two further attacks, Operations Konrad II and
III
III or iii may refer to:
Companies
* Information International, Inc., a computer technology company
* Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library-software company
* 3i, formerly Investors in Industry, a British investment company
Other uses
* Ins ...
, also failed.
The
Hungarian Third Army
The Hungarian Third Army ( hu, 3. magyar hadsereg) was a field army in the Royal Hungarian Army that saw action during World War II.
Commanders
* Lieutenant General Elemér Gorondy-Novák from 1 March 1940 to 1 November 1941
* Lieutenant General ...
was besieged in Budapest along with the
IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian)
The IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian) (german: IX. Waffen-Gebirgskorps der SS (Kroatisches)), later simply IX SS Mountain Corps, was a German Waffen-SS alpine corps during World War II. Originally set up to control Croatian and Albani ...
(8 SS ''Florian Geyer'' and 22 SS '' Maria Theresia''). The siege lasted from 29 December 1944 until the city surrendered unconditionally on 13 February 1945. Only 170 men of the 22 SS '' Maria Theresia'' made it back to the German lines.
1945
1945 expansion
The Waffen-SS continued to expand in 1945. January saw the
32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier Division ''30 Januar'' formed from the remnants of other units and staff from the SS-Junkerschules. In February, the Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS "Charlemagne" was upgraded to a division and became known as the
33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS ''Charlemagne'' (1st French). At this time, it had a strength of 7,340 men. The SS Volunteer Grenadier-Brigade Landstorm Nederland was upgraded to the
34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division ''Landstorm Nederland''. The second SS Police division followed when the
35th SS and Police Grenadier Division
The 35th SS- und Police Grenadier Division (german: 35. SS- und Polizei-Grenadier-Division) was an infantry division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. It was created from SS-Police units transferred to the Waffen-SS. It was fo ...
was formed from SS Police units that had been transferred to the Waffen-SS. The Dirlewanger Brigade was reformed as the
. As there was now a real shortage of Waffen-SS volunteers and conscripts, units from the army were attached to bring it up to strength. The third SS Cavalry division
37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division ''Lützow'' was formed from the remnants of the 8 SS ''Florian Geyer'' and 22 SS ''Maria Theresia'', which had both been virtually destroyed. The last Waffen-SS division was the
38th SS Division ''Nibelungen'', which was formed from students and staff from the ''SS-Junkerschule'', but consisted of only around 6,000 men, the strength of a normal brigade.
Operation Nordwind
Operation Nordwind
Operation Northwind (german: Unternehmen Nordwind) was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. Northwind was launched to support the German Ardennes offensive campaign in the Battle of the Bulge, which by December ...
was the last major German offensive on the Western Front. It began on 1 January 1945 in
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
and
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
in north-eastern France, and it ended on 25 January. The initial attack was conducted by three Corps of the 1st Army. By 15 January, at least 17 German divisions (including units in the
Colmar Pocket
The Colmar Pocket (french: Poche de Colmar; de , Brückenkopf Elsass) was the area held in central Alsace, France, by the German Nineteenth Army from November 1944 to February 1945, against the U.S. 6th Army Group (6th AG) during World War II. ...
) were engaged, including the
XIII SS Army Corps
XIII SS Army Corps was formed August 1944 at Breslau. It was moved to France and the Western Front. By the end of April 1945, some XIII Corps operated in Czechoslovakia where they encountered the 97th Infantry Division. Others fought north of th ...
(17 SS ''Götz von Berlichingen'' and 38 SS ''Nibelungen'') and the 6 SS ''Nord'' and 10 SS ''Frundsberg''. At the same time, the Luftwaffe mounted a large offensive over the skies of France. Some 240 fighters were lost and just as many pilots. It was the 'last gasp' attempt for the Luftwaffe to take back air supremacy from the western allies.
Operation Solstice
Operation Solstice
Operation Solstice (german: Unternehmen Sonnenwende), also known as ''Unternehmen Husarenritt'' or the Stargard tank battle, was one of the last Nazi Germany, German armoured warfare, armoured offensive operations on the Eastern Front (World War ...
, or the "Stargard Tank Battle" (February 1945) was one of the last
armoured
Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...
offensive operations on the Eastern Front. It was a limited counter-attack by the three Corps of the
Eleventh SS Panzer Army __NOTOC__
The 11th SS Panzer Army (''SS-Panzer-Armeeoberkommando 11'') was not much more than a paper army formed in February 1945 by Heinrich Himmler while he was commander of Army Group Vistula.
The military historian Antony Beevor wrote that wh ...
, which was being assembled in
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
, against the spearheads of the 1st Belorussian Front. Originally planned as a major offensive, it was executed as a more limited attack. It was repulsed by the Red Army, but helped to convince the
Soviet High Command to postpone the planned attack on
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.
Initially, the attack achieved a total surprise, reaching the banks of the
Ina River and, on 17 January,
Arnswalde
Choszczno (german: Arnswalde) is a town in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 14,831. The town is in a marshy district between the river Stobnica and Klukom lake, southeast of Stargard and on ...
. Strong Soviet counter-attacks halted the advance, and the operation was called off. The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps, was pulled back to the
Stargard
Stargard (; 1945: ''Starogród'', 1950–2016: ''Stargard Szczeciński''; formerly German language, German: ''Stargard in Pommern'', or ''Stargard an der Ihna''; csb, Stôrgard) is a city in northwestern Poland, located in the West Pomeranian V ...
and
Stettin
Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...
on the northern
Oder River
The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...
.
East Pomeranian Offensive
The
East Pomeranian Offensive lasted from 24 February to 4 April, in
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
and
West Prussia
The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...
. The Waffen-SS units involved were the 11 SS ''Nordland'', 20 SS ''Estonian'', 23 SS ''Nederland'', 27 SS ''Langemark'', 28 SS ''Wallonien'', all in the
III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of its designation was granted ...
, and the
X SS Corps
The X SS Corps (German: ''Generalkommando X. SS-Armeekorps'' or ''Gruppe Krappe'') was a short-lived SS corps-level headquarters employed on the Eastern Front in 1945 during World War II.
History
The X SS Corps headquarters was formed in Januar ...
, which did not command any SS units.
In March 1945, the X SS Corps was encircled by the
1st Guards Tank Army
The 1st Guards Tank Army () is a tank Field army, army of the Russian Ground Forces.
The army traces its heritage back to the 1st Tank Army, formed twice in July 1942 and in January 1943 and converted into the 1st Guards Tank Army in January 1 ...
,
3rd Shock Army
The 3rd Shock Army (russian: Третья ударная армия) was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces ...
, and the
Polish 1st Army in the area of
Dramburg
Drawsko Pomorskie (until 1948 pl, Drawsko; formerly german: Dramburg) is a town in Drawsko County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland, the administrative seat of Drawsko County and the urban-rural commune of Gmina Drawsko Po ...
. This pocket was destroyed by the Red Army on 7 March 1945. On 8 March 1945, the Soviet forces announced the capture of General Krappe and 8,000 men of the X SS Corps.
Operation Spring Awakening
![Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1989-105-13A, Ungarn, deutscher Rückzug](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1989-105-13A%2C_Ungarn%2C_deutscher_R%C3%BCckzug.jpg)
After the Ardennes offensive failed, in Hitler's estimation, the Nagykanizsa oilfields southwest of
Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...
were the most strategically valuable reserves on the Eastern Front. The SS Divisions were pulled out and refitted in Germany in preparation for
Operation Spring Awakening
Operation Spring Awakening (german: Unternehmen Frühlingserwachen) was the last major German offensive of World War II. The operation was referred to in Germany as the Plattensee offensive and in the Soviet Union as the Balaton defensive operati ...
(''Frühlingserwachsen''). Hitler ordered Dietrich's 6th SS Panzer Army to take the lead and move to Hungary in order to protect the oilfields and refineries there. The 6th SS Panzer Army was made up of the I SS Panzer Corps (1 SS and 12 SS ''Hitlerjugend'') and the II SS Panzer Corps (2 SS ''Das Reich'' and the 10 SS ''Frundsberg''). Also present but not part of the 6th SS Panzer Army was the IV SS Panzer Corps (3 SS ''Totenkopf'' and 5 SS ''Wiking'').
This final German offensive in the east began on 6 March. The German forces attacked near Lake Balaton with the Sixth SS Panzer Army advancing northwards towards Budapest and the 2nd Panzer Army moving eastwards and south. Dietrich's army made "good progress" at first, but as they drew near the Danube, the combination of the muddy terrain and strong resistance of the Soviet forces ground them to a halt. The overwhelming numerical superiority of the Red Army made any defence impossible, yet Hitler somehow had believed victory was attainable.
After Operation Spring Awakening, the 6th SS Panzer Army withdrew towards
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and was involved what became known as the
Vienna Offensive
The Vienna offensive was an offensive launched by the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in order to capture Vienna, Austria, during World War II. The offensive lasted from 16 March to 15 April 1945.
After several days of street-to-street fi ...
. The only major force to face the attacking Red Army was the II SS Panzer Corps (2 SS ''Das Reich'' and 3 SS ''Totenkopf''), under the command of
Wilhelm Bittrich
Wilhelm Bittrich (26 February 1894 – 19 April 1979) was a high-ranking Waffen-SS commander of Nazi Germany. Between August 1942 and February 1943, Bittrich commanded the SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer, in rear security operations (''Banden ...
, along with ''ad hoc'' forces made up of garrison and anti-aircraft units. Vienna fell to the Soviet forces on 13 April. Bittrich's II SS Panzer Corps had pulled out to the west that evening to avoid encirclement. The LSSAH retreated westward with less than 1,600 men and 16 tanks remaining.
This failure is famous for the "armband order" that followed. The order was issued to the Sixth SS Panzer Army commander Sepp Dietrich by Adolf Hitler, who claimed that the troops, and more importantly, the 1 SS , "did not fight as the situation demanded". As a mark of disgrace, the Waffen-SS units involved in the battle were ordered to remove their distinctive
cuff title
The cuff title (German: ''Ärmelstreifen'') is a form of commemorative or affiliation insignia placed on the sleeve, near the cuff, of German military and paramilitary uniforms. The tradition can be traced back to the foundation of the "Gibralta ...
s. Dietrich did not relay the order to his troops.
Berlin
The
Army Group Vistula
Army Group Vistula () was an Army Group of the ''Wehrmacht'', formed on 24 January 1945. It lasted for 105 days, having been put together from elements of Army Group A (shattered in the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive), Army Group Centre (similarl ...
was formed in 1945 to protect Berlin from the advancing Red Army. It fought in the
Battle of the Seelow Heights
The Battle of the Seelow Heights (german: Schlacht um die Seelower Höhen) was part of the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation (16 April–2 May 1945). A pitched battle, it was one of the last assaults on large entrenched defensive positions o ...
(16–19 April) and the
Battle of Halbe
The Battle of Halbe (german: Kesselschlacht von Halbe, russian: Хальбский котёл, Halbe pocket) was a battle lasting from April 24 – May 1, 1945 in which the German Ninth Army—under the command of General Theodor Busse—was dest ...
(21 April – 1 May), both part of the
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II.
After the Vistula– ...
. The Waffen-SS was represented by the III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps.
On 23 April, ''Brigadeführer''
Wilhelm Mohnke
Wilhelm Mohnke (15 March 1911 – 6 August 2001) was one of the original members of the SS-Staff Guard (''Stabswache'') "Berlin" formed in March 1933. From those ranks, Mohnke rose to become one of Adolf Hitler's last remaining generals. He joi ...
was appointed by Hitler as Battle Commander for the centre government district (Zitadelle sector), which included the
Reich Chancellery
The Reich Chancellery (german: Reichskanzlei) was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared s ...
and ''
Führerbunker
The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ( ...
''. Mohnke's command post was in the bunkers under the Reich Chancellery. He formed ''Kampfgruppe Mohnke'' (Battle Group Mohnke), divided into two weak regiments. It was made up of the LSSAH Flak Company, replacements from LSSAH Training and Reserve Battalion from Spreenhagan (under ''Standartenfuhrer'' Anhalt), 600 men from the ''
Begleit-Bataillon Reichsführer-SS Begleit-Bataillon Reichsführer-SS was formed in May 1941 from Himmler's personal escort. The Begleit-Bataillon fought on the eastern front during Operation Barbarossa. Further, when SS-''Brigadeführer'' Wilhelm Mohnke formed ''Kampfgruppe Mohnke ...
'', the Führer-Begleit-Company, and the core group—800 men of the LSSAH Guard Battalion assigned to guard the Führer.
On 23 April, the
Reich Chancellery
The Reich Chancellery (german: Reichskanzlei) was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared s ...
ordered ''Brigadeführer''
Gustav Krukenberg
Gustav Krukenberg (8 March 1888 – 23 October 1980) was a high-ranking member of the Waffen-SS and commander of the SS Charlemagne Division and the remains of the SS Division Nordland during the Battle of Berlin in April 1945. After Krukenberg ...
to proceed to Berlin with his men, who were reorganised as ''Sturmbataillon'' ("assault battalion") "Charlemagne". Between 320 and 330 French troops arrived in Berlin on 24 April after a long detour to avoid Soviet advance columns. Krukenberg was also appointed the commander of (Berlin) Defence Sector C. This included the ''Nordland'' Division, whose previous commander,
Joachim Ziegler
Joachim Ziegler (2 October 1904 – 2 May 1945) was a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a commander of the SS Division Nordland, and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak ...
, was relieved of command the same day. On 27 April, after a futile defence, the remnants of ''Nordland'' were pushed back into the centre government district (Zitadelle sector) in Defence sector Z. There Krukenberg's ''Nordland'' headquarters was a carriage in the Stadtmitte U-Bahn station. The men of ''Nordland'' were now under Mohnke's overall command. Among the men were French, Latvian, and Scandinavian Waffen-SS troops.
A heavy artillery bombardment of the centre government district had begun on 20 April 1945 and lasted until the end of hostilities. Under the intense shelling, the SS troops put up stiff resistance which led to bitter and bloody street fighting with the Soviet Red Army forces. By 26 April, the ''Nordland'' defenders were pushed back into the Reichstag and Reich Chancellery. There, over the next few days, the survivors (mainly French SS troops from the former 33 SS ''Charlemagne'') fought in vain against the Soviet army forces.
![Himmler Dead](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Himmler_Dead.jpg)
On 30 April, after receiving news of Hitler's suicide, orders were issued that those who could do so were to break out. Prior to the break-out, Mohnke briefed all commanders that could be reached within the Zitadelle sector about Hitler's death and the planned break-out. The break out started at 2300 hours on 1 May. There were ten main groups that attempted to head northwest towards Mecklenburg. Fierce fighting continued all around, especially in the
Weidendammer Bridge
The Weidendammer Bridge is a bridge where the Friedrichstraße crosses the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. It is notable for its ornate wrought iron railings, lanterns, and Imperial eagles.
History
In 1685, ...
area. What was left of the 11 SS ''Nordland'' under ''Brigadeführer'' Krukenberg fought hard in that area, but the Soviet artillery, anti-tank guns and tanks destroyed the groups. Several very small groups managed to reach the Americans at the
Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
's west bank, but most, including Mohnke's group, could not make it through the Soviet rings.
Himmler fled and attempted to go into hiding. Using a forged paybook under the name of Sergeant Heinrich Hitzinger, he fled south on 11 May to
Friedrichskoog
Friedrichskoog ( nds, Friechskouch) is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated near the outflow of the Elbe into the North Sea, approximately 25 km southwest of Heide, and 25 km nor ...
. On 21 May, Himmler and two aides were detained at a checkpoint set up by former Soviet POWs and then handed over to the British Army. On 23 May, after Himmler had admitted his real identity, a doctor attempted to examine him. However, Himmler bit into a hidden
cyanide pill
A suicide pill (also known as the cyanide pill, kill-pill, lethal pill, death-pill, or L-pill) is a pill, capsule, ampoule, or tablet containing a fatally poisonous substance that a person ingests deliberately in order to achieve death quickly th ...
and collapsed onto the floor. He was dead within 15 minutes.
Divisions
All divisions in the Waffen-SS were ordered in a single series of numbers as formed, regardless of type. A total of 39 were formed, beginning with the initial three in 1933 and ramping up to nine alone in 1945. Those tagged with nationalities were at least nominally recruited from those nationalities. Many of the late-formed higher-numbered units were in fact small battlegroups (''
Kampfgruppe
In military history, the German term (pl. ; abbrev. KG, or KGr in usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or "battle group") can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the of Nazi Germa ...
n''), and divisions in name only.
Commanders
*
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich, a former army sergeant with a
peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
background, commanded the forerunner of the Waffen-SS, the Sonderkommando Berlin. He would command the ''
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH, (german: 1. SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding ...
'' from its inception to
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...
,
brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.
Br ...
, and
division
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
. He was then given command of the
I SS Panzer Corps
The I SS Panzer Corps (german: I.SS-Panzerkorps) was a German armoured corps of the Waffen-SS. It saw action on both the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II.
Formation and training
The corps was raised on 26 July 1943 in Berlin-L ...
and by the end of the war was the commander of the
6th SS Panzer Army
The 6th Panzer Army (german: 6. Panzerarmee) was a formation of the German Army, formed in the autumn of 1944. The 6th Panzer Army was first used as an offensive force during the Battle of the Bulge, in which it operated as the northernmost element ...
.
*
Hermann Fegelein
Hans Otto Georg Hermann Fegelein (30 October 1906 – 28 April 1945) was a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany. He was a member of Adolf Hitler's entourage and brother-in-law to Eva Braun through his marriage to her si ...
commanded the SS ''
Totenkopf
''Totenkopf'' (, i.e. ''skull'', literally "dead person's head") is the German word for the skull and crossbones symbol. The "skull and crossbones" symbol is an old international symbol for death, the defiance of death, danger, or the dead, as ...
Reiterstandarte'' (Death's-Head Horse Regiment). He was a member of
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's entourage and brother-in-law to
Eva Braun
Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich when she was a 17-year-old assistant and model for his ...
through his marriage to her sister
Gretl
gretl is an open-source statistical package, mainly for econometrics. The name is an acronym for ''G''nu ''R''egression, ''E''conometrics and ''T''ime-series ''L''ibrary.
It has both a graphical user interface (GUI) and a command-line interfa ...
.
*
Paul Hausser
Paul Hausser also known as Paul Falk after taking his maiden name post war (7 October 1880 – 21 December 1972) was a German general and then a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS who played a key role in the post-war efforts by former mem ...
, a former general in the regular army, was chosen by Himmler to transform the SS-VT into a credible military organisation. He was the first divisional commander of the Waffen-SS when the SS-VT was formed into a division for 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 ...
. He went on to command the
II SS Panzer Corps
The II SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on both the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern and Western Front (World War II), Western Fronts during World War II. It was commanded by Paul Hausser during the Thir ...
and the
7th Army.
*
Artur Phleps
Artur Gustav Martin Phleps (29 November 1881 – 21 September 1944) was an Austro-Hungarian, Romanian and German army officer who held the rank of '' SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'' (lieutenant general) in the Waffen-SS d ...
, a former
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
general who joined the Waffen-SS, raised and commanded the
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division ''Prinz Eugen'' then rose to command the
V SS Mountain Corps __NOTOC__
V SS Mountain Corps was a Waffen-SS formation that existed in later periods of World War II.
The Corps fought against Yugoslav Partisans in the Balkans as part of 2nd Panzer Army from October 1943 to December 1944. At this time it rarely ...
which fought the
Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
.
*
Felix Steiner
Felix Martin Julius Steiner (23 May 1896 – 12 May 1966) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he served in the Waffen-SS, the combat branch of the SS, and commanded several SS divisions and corps. He was awarded t ...
, another former army officer and veteran of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. He was given command of the SS Regiment ''Deutschland''. He is credited with the creation of small mobile
battle groups. He armed his men with
submachine gun
A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...
s and
grenade
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...
s instead of rifles and issued
camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...
clothing. He commanded the
SS Division ''Wiking'' and the
III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of its designation was granted ...
.
Casualties
![Dead_german_member_of_Waffen-SS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Dead_german_member_of_Waffen-SS.jpg)
Military historian
Rüdiger Overmans
Rüdiger Overmans (born 6 April 1954 in Düsseldorf) is a German military historian who specializes in World War II history. His book ''German Military Losses in World War II'', which he compiled as leader of a project sponsored by the Gerda He ...
estimates that the Waffen-SS suffered 314,000 dead. Casualty rates were not significantly higher than in the Wehrmacht overall and were comparable to those among the armoured divisions of the army and the
Luftwaffe paratroop formations.
Criminality
![Stroop Report - Warsaw Ghetto Uprising BW](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Stroop_Report_-_Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising_BW.jpg)
The ''
Allgemeine SS
The ''Allgemeine SS'' (; "General SS") was a major branch of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany; it was managed by the SS Main Office (''SS-Hauptamt''). The ''Allgemeine SS'' was officially established in the autum ...
'' was responsible for the administration of both the
concentration
In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Several types of mathematical description can be distinguished: '' mass concentration'', ''molar concentration'', ''number concentration'', an ...
and
extermination camp
Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...
s. Many members of it and the ''
SS-Totenkopfverbände
''SS-Totenkopfverbände'' (SS-TV; ) was the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps for Nazi Germany, among similar duties. While the ''Totenkopf'' was the univer ...
'' subsequently became members of the Waffen-SS, forming the initial core of the
3rd SS ''Totenkopf'' Division. A number of SS medical personnel who were members of the Waffen-SS were convicted of crimes during the "
Doctors' trial
The Doctors' Trial (officially ''United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al.'') was the first of 12 trials for war crimes of high-ranking German officials and industrialists that the United States authorities held in their occupation zone ...
s" in Nuremberg, held between 1946 and 1947 for the
Nazi human experimentation
Nazi human experimentation was a series of human experimentation, medical experiments on large numbers of prisoners, including children, by Nazi Germany in its Nazi concentration camps, concentration camps in the early to mid 1940s, during Wo ...
they performed at the camps.
![Stefan Baretzki at the Judenrampe (Auschwitz Album)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Stefan_Baretzki_at_the_Judenrampe_%28Auschwitz_Album%29.jpg)
According to the ''Modern Genocide: The Definitive Resource and Document Collection'', the Waffen-SS had played a "paramount role" in the ideological war of extermination (''Vernichtungskrieg''), and not just as frontline or rear area security formations: a third of the ''
Einsatzgruppen
(, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the im ...
'' (mobile killing squads) members which were responsible for mass murder, especially of Jews, Slavs and communists, had been recruited from Waffen-SS personnel prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Waffen-SS construction office built the gas chambers at Auschwitz, and, according to
Rudolf Höss
Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss (also Höß, Hoeß, or Hoess; 25 November 1901 – 16 April 1947) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era who, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, was convicted for war crimes. Höss was the longest-serving comm ...
, about 7,000 served as guards at that camp.
Many Waffen-SS members and units were responsible for
war crimes against civilians and allied servicemen. After the war the SS organisation as a whole was held to be a criminal organisation by the post-war German government. Formations such as the ''Dirlewanger'' and
Kaminski Brigade
Kaminski Brigade, also known as Waffen-Sturm-Brigade der SS RONA, was a collaborationist formation composed of Russian nationals from the territory of the Lokot Autonomy in Axis-occupied areas of the RSFSR, Soviet Union on the Eastern Front.R ...
s were singled out, and many others participated in large-scale massacres or smaller-scale killings such as murder of 34 captured allied servicemen ordered by
Josef Kieffer Hans Josef Kieffer (4 December 1900 – 26 June 1947) was a Sturmbannführer (Major) and the head in Paris of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the intelligence agency of the SS during the German occupation of France during the Second World War. Kieffer' ...
during
Operation Bulbasket
Operation Bulbasket was an operation by 'B' Squadron, 1st Special Air Service (SAS), behind the German lines in German occupied France, between June and August 1944. The operation was located to the east of Poitiers in the Vienne department of ...
in 1944, the Houtman affair, or murders perpetrated by
Heinrich Boere
Heinrich Boere (27 September 1921 – 1 December 2013) was a convicted German-Dutch war criminal and former member of the Waffen-SS. He was on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of most wanted Nazi war criminals.
Early life
Heinrich Boere wa ...
. The listed Waffen-SS units were responsible for the following massacres:
*
Wormhoudt massacre
The Wormhoudt massacre (or Wormhout massacre) was the mass murder of 81 British and French POWs by Waffen-SS soldiers from the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler during the Battle of France in May 1940.
Fighting
As part of the Brit ...
by the
SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, 1940, France
*
Le Paradis massacre
The Le Paradis massacre was a World War II war crime committed by members of the 14th Company, SS Division Totenkopf, under the command of ''Hauptsturmführer'' Fritz Knöchlein. It took place on 27 May 1940, during the Battle of France, at ...
by the
SS Division Totenkopf
The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (german: 3. SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, ''Totenkopf'', is German for "de ...
, 1940, France
*
Pripyat swamps (punitive operation)
The Pripyat Marshes massacres (german: Prypyatsümpfe Säuberung) were a series of mass murders, carried out by German military forces, against Jewish civilians in Belarus and Ukraine, during July–August 1941. SS leader Heinrich Himmler ordered t ...
by the
SS Cavalry Brigade
The SS Cavalry Brigade (''SS-Kavallerie-Brigade'') was a unit of the German Waffen-SS during World War II. Operating under the control of the ''Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS'', it initially performed rear security duties in General Government, Ge ...
, 1941, USSR
*
Ascq massacre
The Ascq massacre was a massacre of 86 men on 1 April 1944 in Ascq, France, by the Waffen-SS during the Second World War.
The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend set out by rail for Normandy at the end of March, 1944. On 1 April, their train wa ...
by the
12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend
The SS Division Hitlerjugend or 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" (german: 12. SS-Panzerdivision "Hitlerjugend") was a German armoured division of the Waffen-SS during World War II. The majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from me ...
, 1944, France
*
Tulle massacre
The Tulle massacre was the roundup and summary execution of civilians in the French town of Tulle by the 2nd SS Panzer Division ''Das Reich'' in June 1944, three days after the D-Day landings in World War II.
After a successful offensive by ...
by
2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich
The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich (german: 2. SS-Panzerdivision "Das Reich") or SS Division Das Reich was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the regiments of the '' SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-V ...
, 1944, France
*
Oradour-sur-Glane massacre
On 10 June 1944, four days after D-Day, the village of Oradour-sur-Glane in Haute-Vienne in Nazi-occupied France was destroyed when 643 civilians, including non-combatant women and children, were massacred by a German Waffen-SS company.
A new ...
by the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich, 1944, France
*
Ochota massacre
The Ochota Massacre (in Polish: ''Rzeź Ochoty'' – ''"Ochota slaughter"'') was a wave of German-orchestrated mass murder, looting, arson, torture and rape, which swept through the Warsaw district of Ochota from 4–25 August 1944, during the Wa ...
by the SS Kaminski Brigade, 1944, Poland
*
Wola massacre
The Wola massacre ( pl, Rzeź Woli, lit=Wola slaughter) was the systematic killing of between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles in the Wola neighbourhood of the Polish capital city, Warsaw, by the German Wehrmacht and fellow Axis collaborators in the Az ...
by Dirlewanger Brigade, SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger, 1944, Poland
* Huta Pieniacka massacre by the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician), 14th Galician SS Volunteer Division, 1944, Poland
![Wereth_11_Memorial](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Wereth_11_Memorial.JPG)
* Battle of Graignes, Graignes Massacre by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen, 1944, France
* Maillé massacre, also by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen, 1944, France
*
Marzabotto massacre
The Marzabotto massacre, or more correctly, the massacre of Monte Sole, was a World War II war crime consisting of the mass murder of at least 770 civilians by Nazi troops, which took place in the territory around the small village of Marzabotto, ...
by the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS, 1944, Italy
*
Malmedy massacre
The Malmedy massacre was a German war crime committed by soldiers of the on 17 December 1944, at the Baugnez crossroads near the city of Malmedy, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945). Soldiers of sum ...
by Kampfgruppe Peiper, part of the 1st SS Panzer Division, 1944, Belgium
* 333rd Field Artillery Battalion (United States)#Wereth 11 Massacre, Wereth 11 massacre by the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 1944, Belgium
* Ardeatine massacre by two SS officers, 1944, Italy
*
Distomo massacre
The Distomo massacre ( el, Σφαγή του Διστόμου; german: Massaker von Distomo or ''Distomo-Massaker'') was a Nazi war crime perpetrated by members of the Waffen-SS in the village of Distomo, Greece, in 1944, during the German occu ...
by the 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division, 1944, Greece
*
Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre
The Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre was a German war crime committed in the hill village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema in Tuscany, Italy, in the course of an operation against the Italian resistance movement during the Italian Campaign of World War I ...
by the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS, 1944, Italy
*
Ardenne Abbey massacre
The Ardenne Abbey massacre occurred during the Battle of Normandy at the Ardenne Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery in Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe, near Caen, France. In June 1944, 20 Canadian soldiers were massacred in a garden at the abbe ...
by the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, 1944, France
The linking of the SS-VT with the ''SS-Totenkopfverbände'' (SS-TV) in 1938 raised important questions about Waffen-SS criminality, since the SS-TV were already responsible for the imprisonment, torture, and murder of Jews and other political opponents through providing the personnel for manning the concentration camps. Their leader,
Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke (17 October 1892 – 26 February 1943) was a senior SS functionary and Waffen SS divisional commander during the Nazi era. He was one of the key figures in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the seco ...
, who was the commandant of Dachau, inspector of the camps, and murderer of
Ernst Röhm
Ernst Julius Günther Röhm (; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934) was a German military officer and an early member of the Nazi Party. As one of the members of its predecessor, the German Workers' Party, he was a close friend and early ally ...
, later became the commander of the 3rd SS ''Totenkopf'' Division. With the invasion of Poland, the ''Totenkopfverbände'' troops were called on to carry out so-called "police and security measures" in rear areas. What these measures entailed is demonstrated by the record of ''SS Totenkopf Standarte Brandenburg''. It arrived in
Włocławek
Włocławek (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Leslau) is a city located in central Poland along the Vistula (Wisła) River and is bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park. As of December 2021, the population of the city is 106,928. Loc ...
on 22 September 1939 and embarked on a four-day "Jewish action" that included the burning of synagogues and the execution en masse of the leaders of the Jewish community. On 29 September the Standarte travelled to Bydgoszcz to conduct an "intelligentsia action". Approximately 800 Polish civilians and what the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) termed "potential resistance leaders" were killed. Later the formation became the 3rd SS Panzer Division ''Totenkopf'', but from the start they were among the first executors of a policy of systematic extermination.
![DeadBelgiumcivilians1944](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/DeadBelgiumcivilians1944.jpg)
Waffen-SS formations were found guilty of war crimes, especially in the opening and closing phases of the war. In addition to documented atrocities, Waffen-SS units assisted in rounding up Eastern European Jews for deportation and utilised scorched earth tactics during rear security operations. Some Waffen-SS personnel convalesced at concentration camps, from which they were drawn, by serving guard duties. Other members of the Waffen-SS were more directly involved in genocide.
The end of the war saw a number of war crime trials, including the Malmedy massacre trial. The counts of indictment related to the massacre of more than 300 American prisoners in the vicinity of Malmedy, between 16 December 1944 and 13 January 1945, and the massacre of 100 Belgian civilians mainly in the vicinity of Stavelot.
During the
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.
Between 1939 and 1945 ...
, the Waffen-SS was declared a criminal organisation for its major involvement in war crimes and for being an "integral part" of the SS. An exception was made for conscripts who were not given a choice in joining the ranks, and had not committed "such crimes". They were determined to be exempt.
Post-war
Waffen-SS veterans in post-war Germany
![HIAG-Ulrichsberg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/HIAG-Ulrichsberg.jpg)
Waffen-SS veterans in post-war Germany played a large role, through publications and political pressure, in the efforts to rehabilitate the reputation of the Waffen-SS, which had committed many war crimes during World War II. High ranking German politicians such as Konrad Adenauer, Franz Josef Strauss and Kurt Schumacher courted former Waffen-SS members and their veteran organisation, HIAG, in an effort to tap into the voter potential, and helped deflect blame for war crimes onto other branches of the SS. A small number of veterans served in the new German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, something that raised national and international unease in regards to how it would affect the democratic nature of the new army.
SS Major General Heinz Lammerding, who commanded the SS Division Das Reich that perpetrated the Tulle murders, Tulle and the
Oradour-sur-Glane massacre
On 10 June 1944, four days after D-Day, the village of Oradour-sur-Glane in Haute-Vienne in Nazi-occupied France was destroyed when 643 civilians, including non-combatant women and children, were massacred by a German Waffen-SS company.
A new ...
s in occupied France, died in 1971, following a successful business career in West Germany. The West German government refused to extradite him to France.
A historical review in Germany of the impact of Waffen-SS veterans in post-war German society continues, and a number of books on the subject have been published in recent years.
Waffen-SS veterans have received pensions (West Germany's ''War Victims' Assistance Act'', or the "Bundesversorgungsgesetz") from the German government. According to ''The Times of Israel'', "The benefits come through the Federal Pension Act, which was passed in 1950 to support war victims, whether civilians or veterans of the Wehrmacht or Waffen-SS."
On 22 June 2005, the Italian military court in La Spezia found ten former Waffen-SS officers and non-commissioned officer, NCOs living in Germany guilty of participation in the
Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre
The Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre was a German war crime committed in the hill village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema in Tuscany, Italy, in the course of an operation against the Italian resistance movement during the Italian Campaign of World War I ...
and sentenced them trial in absentia, ''in absentia'' to life imprisonment. However, extradition requests from Italy were rejected by Germany.
Baltic states
![Sinimäed Memorial 2009 - 150](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Sinim%C3%A4ed_Memorial_2009_-_150.jpg)
In 1990, Latvian Legion veterans started commemorating ''Legionnaire Day'' (Leģionāru diena) in Latvia. On 21 February 2012, The Council of Europe's Commission against Racism and Intolerance published its report on Latvia (fourth monitoring cycle), in which it condemned commemorations of persons who fought in the Waffen-SS.
[. "All attempts to commemorate persons who fought in the Waffen SS and collaborated with the Nazis, should be condemned. Any gathering or march legitimising in any way Nazism should be banned."]
20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian), Estonian Waffen SS Grenadier Division veterans are among the participants of yearly commemoration of the
Battle of Tannenberg Line
The Battle of Tannenberg Line (german: Die Schlacht um die Tannenbergstellung; russian: Битва за линию «Танненберг») or the Battle of the Blue Hills ( et, Sinimägede lahing) was a military engagement between the Germ ...
at Sinimäed Hills in Estonia.
HIAG lobby group
HIAG (german: Hilfsgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit der Angehörigen der ehemaligen Waffen-SS, literally "Mutual aid association of former Waffen-SS members") was a Advocacy group, lobby group and a revisionist veterans' organisation founded by former high-ranking Waffen-SS personnel in West Germany in 1951. It campaigned for the legal, economic and historical rehabilitation of the Waffen-SS, using contacts with political parties to manipulate them for its purposes. Kurt Meyer, ''Brigadeführer'' of the 12th SS Division, a convicted war criminal, was HIAG's most effective spokesperson.
HIAG's historical revisionism encompassed multi-prong Propaganda, propaganda efforts, including periodicals, books and public speeches, alongside a publishing house that served as a platform for its publicity aims. This extensive body of work – 57 book titles and more than 50 years of monthly periodicals – have been described by historians as revisionist apologia: [a] "chorus of self-justification"; "crucible of historical revisionism"; "false" and "outrageous" claims; "most important works of [Waffen-SS] apologist literature" (in reference to books by Hausser and Steiner); and "exculpating multi-volume chronicle" (in reference to the history of the SS Division ).
Always in touch with its Nazi past, HIAG was a subject of significant controversy, both in West Germany and abroad, since its founding. The organisation drifted into right-wing extremism in its later history. It was disbanded in 1992 at the federal level, but local groups, along with the organisation's monthly periodical, continued to exist at least into the 2000s.
While the HIAG leadership only partially achieved the goals of legal and economic rehabilitation of Waffen-SS, falling short of their "extravagant fantasies about [Waffen-SS's] past and future", HIAG's propaganda efforts have led to a reshaping of the image of Waffen-SS in popular culture. The results are still felt, with scholarly works being drowned out by a "veritable avalanche of titles", including amateur historical studies, memoirs, picture books, websites, and wargames.
See also
* German war crimes
* Glossary of Nazi Germany
* List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the Waffen-SS, List of Knight's Cross recipients of the Waffen-SS
* List of SS personnel
* List of Waffen-SS divisions
* List of Waffen-SS division commanders, List of Waffen-SS divisions commanders
* List of Waffen-SS units
* Ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS
* Signal Corps of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS
* SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers
* SS and police leader, SS and Police Leader
* Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel
* Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts
* Waffen-SS in popular culture
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The Nazi German Armed SS 1933-1945 (Schutzstaffel)
{{Authority control
Waffen-SS,
Nazi SS,
German words and phrases
Military history of Germany during World War II
Military wings of fascist parties