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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 .
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.
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.
All Waffen-SS divisions were ordered in a single series of numbers as formed, regardless of type. [1] Those with ethnic groups listed were at least nominally recruited from those groups. Many of the higher-numbered units were divisions in name only, being in reality only small battlegroups ( Kampfgruppen ).
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 ...
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 ...
30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Belarusian) 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division, variously reported as being named Böhmen-Mähren (Bohemia-Moravia) (this division is not SS Kampfgruppe Division "Böhmen-Mähren", this was a separate unit formed from training units in the protectorate after the Batschka Division) or Batschka
The SS-Heimwehr Danzig also participated in the attack on the Danzig Westerplatte, an illegal Polish-occupied part of the Free City Territory and already was considered a part of the 3rd SS Totenkopf Division then forming under Theodor Eicke. Later, it provided coast guard services in Danzig.