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SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") [1] 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 "death's head" – the skull and crossbones symbol – and it is thus sometimes referred to as the Death's Head Division .
Both the 3rd SS Panzer Division of the Waffen-SS, and the World War II era Luftwaffe's 54th Bomber Wing Kampfgeschwader 54 were given the unit name "Totenkopf", and used a strikingly similar-looking graphic skull-crossbones insignia as the SS units of the same name. The 3rd SS Panzer Division also had skull patches on their uniform collars ...
The men of Totenkopf fought fiercely throughout the campaign, suffering higher death rates than other German forces. [6] The Battle of France was SS Division Totenkopf ' s first major engagement of the Second World War. The division, part of the reserves of Army Group A, was called to the front line on 17 May.
Division Name (in German) Ethnic composition Named after Years Active Insignia Maximum Manpower 1st: Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler: Germans and 300 Italians after 8/9/1943: Life Regiment Adolf Hitler: 1933–1945: 22,000 (1944) [2] 2nd: Das Reich: Germans: Greater Germanic Reich: 1939–1945: 19,021 (1941) [1] 3rd: Totenkopf: Germans: Totenkopf ...
SS-Totenkopf-Infanterie-Regiment, [56] and assigned to the Totenkopf Division 10/39. 3rd TK-Standarte 'Thüringen'. Formed 1937 at Buchenwald. During the Polish invasion conducted so-called "security operations" behind the lines, which were operations of terrorizing and murdering the Polish civilian population. [26] Redesignated 3.
Another prominent German actor, Horst Tappert, kept his past secret and only five years after his death was it made public that he had served in the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" from 1942. [19] East German painter Bernhard Heisig who volunteered for the SS in 1942, admitted his past early and joined the communist party after the war. [20]
Kampfgeschwader 54 "Totenkopf" (German pronunciation: [kampfɡəʃvaːdɐ fiːɐ ʊntfʏnftsɪç], KG 54) was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II. It served on nearly all the fronts in the European Theatre where the German Luftwaffe operated.
The Soviet 1st Mechanized Corps was also deployed to fight the SS, slowing down the German advance which was redirected north-east towards Lake Velence. 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf pushed into the Soviet defenses and was within 25 kilometers of the Budapest pocket by 26 January.