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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 ...
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.
One of the participating German units, the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf, had been strongly indoctrinated with the Nazi Party ideology by its commander, Theodor Eicke. Eicke's men were fanatically loyal to him and to Germany. The men of Totenkopf fought fiercely throughout the campaign, suffering higher death rates than other German forces. [6]
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 ...
The SS Division Totenkopf, also known as the Totenkopf Division, went on to become one of the most effective German formations on the Eastern Front, fighting during invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, as well as the summer offensive in 1942, the capture of Kharkov, in the Demyansk Pocket, during the Vistula–Oder Offensive, and the Battle of ...
In July 1942, Seela was given command of the 3rd SS Pioneer Battalion Totenkopf until April 1944 when he was appointed commander of the II SS Panzer Corps Pioneers. He was then given command of the 19th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment, 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen. On 8 May 1945, Seela surrendered to the American forces.
On August 2, 1944, soldiers of the Waffen-SS - SS-Pz. Gren. Ausb.-und Ers. Btl. 3 (of SS-Panzer Division "Totenkopf") shot about 600 Poles on the premises of the prison at 37 Rakowiecka Street. It was one of the biggest crimes committed by the Germans in Mokotów during the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising.