How they defeated the strongest SS Panzer Division. How the strongest SS Panzer Division was defeated SS Motorized Division "Reich"

On June 6, 1944, the Allies finally opened a second front in Western Europe. On this day, American, British and Canadian units successfully landed on five sections of the Normandy coast in France, Operation Overlord began. For the successful development of the offensive deep into the continent, the Allied forces needed to capture the French city of Caen. This city was considered the key that would open the way for the Allied troops to the south-east of France.

Caen, this ancient city of Normandy, played an exceptional role in the system of transport communications on the Norman coast of France. In fact, he was the main link between the Cotentin Peninsula and the rest of France. This was well understood by both the Germans and the Allies. The main task of the 3rd Infantry Division of the British Army was to capture this city on the first day of the invasion - June 6th. In addition, the main tasks of the Allied troops in this direction were to capture and hold the Carpiquet airfield, located in the vicinity of Caen at a distance of 18 kilometers from the coast; access to the landing zones of paratroopers of the 6th British Airborne Division, which was able to capture a number of bridges over the Orne River; capture of the dominant heights near Caen.

The Allied attempt to take Caen on the move failed. The Allied troops were able to capture the city only on July 20, 1944, and the battle for Caen itself lasted until August 6. In many ways, the plans of the allies were thwarted by the German tank divisions. Already at 4 pm on June 6, 1944, the Germans brought the forces of the 21st Panzer Division into battle in this direction. It was the only tank division that began to act against the landing forces directly on the day of the landing. The division was unable to throw the British and Canadians into the sea, but seriously confused their plans, preventing them from taking Caen on the very first day of the operation and allowing other tank and mechanized units of the Wehrmacht and SS troops to approach the city.

Having managed to stop the advance of British and Canadian troops on Caen on June 6, 1944, the German command began to hatch a plan for a powerful offensive in this area. On June 7-9, trying to improve their positions before the upcoming offensive, the German troops carried out several local counterattacks against the Allied forces. The most stubborn battles in the end had to be fought by Canadians who fought in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe settlements of Ro, Bretville-l'Orgueyuse and Norrey-en-Bessin.

Here the allies first encountered the German Panthers, which during the fighting in Normandy turned out to be a “hard nut to crack” for them. In total, by the time the Allied forces landed in France on June 6, 1944, there were a total of 663 Panthers in the tank formations of the SS and Wehrmacht troops in the West. This tank was distinguished by good frontal armor and a formidable long-barreled 75-mm gun, which made it possible to effectively destroy all types of allied tanks. The only truly formidable rival for the German Panthers was only the British Sherman Firefly tank (Sherman Firefly), re-equipped with an English 17-pounder anti-tank gun (76.2 mm gun, barrel length 55 calibers).

British and Canadian units could have encountered even more Panthers near Caen, but the German industry could not produce this tank in the volumes that the military required. Initially, it was planned to replace all Pz III and Pz IV tanks with Panther tanks in combat units, but the pace of mass production could not satisfy the needs of the troops in armored vehicles. In the end, the Inspector General of the Wehrmacht's tank forces, Colonel General Heinz Guderian, after consulting with the Minister of Armaments Albert Speer, decided that only one battalion in a tank regiment was to be re-equipped with new tanks.

The battalion was supposed to include 4 companies of 17 Panther tanks each. At the same time, at the headquarters of the battalion there were 8 more tanks, an air defense platoon armed with Mobelwagen or Wirbelwind ZSU, and a sapper platoon. Also, the battalion was supposed to have a technical company, equipped with various vehicles and evacuation tractors. In practice, the number of units in the German army never corresponded to the staffing table. So in parts of the Panzerwaffe there were an average of 51-54 Panther tanks in the battalion, and in the SS troops - 61-64 tanks.

First appearance of the Panthers

The first appearance of the Panther tanks did not make much of an impression on the Allies. The debut of the formidable cat on the western front came out crumpled and led to heavy losses of tanks. The first three Panther companies (approximately 40 tanks) arrived at the front near Caen on the evening of June 8, 1944. These were combat vehicles from the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth". The division was formed from more than 16 thousand members of the Hitler Youth. It called for 17-year-old members of this Nazi organization, who then underwent a 6-month training. In addition, about a thousand soldiers and officers of veterans of the SS troops and experienced commanders from the Wehrmacht were transferred to the division. The division was transferred to Normandy in the spring of 1944, at that time it had more than 20 thousand people and about 150 tanks. It was one of the most fanatically fighting German units. By July 9, 1944, the division had lost 60% of its original strength in combat.

The commander of the PzKpfw V "Panther" tank of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth", in the commander's turret hatch, during a march as part of a column. Machines from the 3rd company. photo: waralbum.ru

Arriving at the front on the evening of June 8, 1944, the Panthers of the 12th Hitler Youth Panzer Division attacked the allies at night, trying to capture the village of Ro. The Canadian infantry, which was in the village, did not resist for long, retreating to Bretville, where a well-prepared defense was waiting for the Germans. As the German tanks approached Bretteville, they were met with a flurry of fire from anti-tank artillery, tanks and hand grenade launchers. As a result, several Panthers were hit and burned. Canadian Joe Lapointe especially distinguished himself in this battle, who, having entered into a duel with the Panther, knocked out the tank with three shots from a PIAT grenade launcher. The German infantry also did not succeed and was forced to retreat, leaving their tanks without support. As a result, the Panthers retreated after her.

Having failed to immediately capture Bretville and Norrey in a night attack from 8 to 9 June 1944, the Germans decided to repeat the offensive during the day. However, they failed to prepare a truly powerful blow to the allies, since the 12th SS Panzer Division entered the battle in parts. This development of events not only weakened the offensive capabilities of the division, but also prevented the organization of full-fledged interaction between tanks, infantry and artillery.

At noon on June 9, the 1st and 3rd Panther companies (approximately 25 tanks) took part in the attack on Norrey. Another tank company covered their actions, firing from a place. At the same time, the German infantry almost did not support the attack, most likely for the reason that they were pressed to their trenches by strong Allied artillery fire. As a result, German tanks were forced to operate with little or no support, accompanied by only two or three dozen soldiers.

Panther shot down by Joe Lapointe

The Panthers were racing towards Norrey at top speed. At the same time, the tanks of the 1st company made a short stop and fired at the spire of the church, believing that Canadian observers could hide there. After that, the Panthers again rushed forward. The tanks had not yet reached the village when Canadian anti-tank guns opened fire on them. There was a short fight. Although in this battle the German tankers destroyed a couple of guns without losing a single one of their tanks, the company commander decided not to tempt fate by ordering the tanks to retreat. On this, the participation of the 1st company "Panthers" from the 12th SS Panzer Division in the battles of June 9 ended.

Massacre of the Panthers at Bretteville-l'Orgueyuse

A much sadder fate awaited the 3rd Panther Company of the same Panzer Division. This company was commanded by Captain Luderman, who was urgently found to replace the main unit commander, who was wounded the day before. Very little is known about his personality; his name is not even preserved in the sources. It is known that 12 tanks of his company advanced along the railway. At some point, he gave the order to slow down and turn left towards Norrey. According to Luderman, in this way, his "Panthers" turned to the Canadian anti-tank guns with their most protected part - their forehead. However, in practice, this order turned out to be fatal, only a few seconds passed and allied shells flew into the Panthers, but not from the front, but from the right side. In just a few minutes of the battle, the Germans lost 7 tanks - five destroyed and two knocked out.

Everything happened so quickly that the crews of German tanks did not even understand who exactly was shooting at them. The Panthers simply caught fire, and their crews tried to leave the burning cars as soon as possible. Those who participated in this battle and survived later remembered him with horror. The Panther, commanded by Germani (name and rank not preserved), was hit on the starboard side of the turret. The shell hit under the gunner's seat, causing a fire. Germani was an experienced tanker, before the battle he did not lock the cover of the commander's hatch. Thanks to this, he was the first to leave the burning tank. The gunner had to get out through the flames, he received serious burns.

The commander of another Panther tank leaned out of the turret to look around and was killed by a direct hit from a shell. Another "Panther" received a lot of hits in the tracks and rollers, but managed to keep moving and somehow retreated to their original positions. Some of the 7 Panthers destroyed in this attack had their turrets torn off by an explosion of ammunition.

As a result, the remnants of the 3rd Panzer Company of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth" retreated without seeing their enemy. Many tankers after the battle were shocked by what they saw and experienced. The company commander Luderman even had a nervous breakdown. The captain was sent to the hospital, where it took him several days to recover. One of the German officers who witnessed the beating of the Panthers in that battle noted after the end of World War II: “I could then cry with rage and grief.”

Canadian "fireflies"

Who ended up knocking out the Panthers? Their killers were Sherman tanks from a reserve unit that had arrived to replenish the 1st Canadian Hussars Tank Regiment. Among the 9 tanks that arrived, there were several in the Firefly (Firefly) modification, armed with long-barreled 76.2-mm guns that perfectly pierced any of the German tanks. It was this Allied tank that could fight on equal terms with the German Panthers and Tigers. The armor-piercing projectile of the English 17-pounder accelerated to 884 m/s, the piercing projectile to 1204 m/s. At the same time, at a distance of 900 meters, a conventional armor-piercing projectile of this gun pierced armor 110 mm thick, located at an angle of 30 degrees. Armor-piercing with a ballistic tip in the same conditions - 131 mm of armor, and a sub-caliber projectile - 192 mm. This was more than enough to fight the Panther tank.

When the German tankers went on the attack on Norrey, the Shermans were located in the neighborhood, not far from Bretville. The Panthers of the 3rd company, having made their turn, substituted the sides of the Canadian tanks. The sides of the panthers had armor of only 50-40 mm (top and bottom of the hull, respectively), armor of the turret side - 45 mm. The shooting distance was those same 900 meters. At such a battle distance, the very first shells fired by the Canadians were able to find targets.

Tank Sherman Firefly

In this battle, the crew of the Canadian tank, commanded by Lieutenant Henry, especially distinguished himself. His gunner managed to knock out 5 attacking Panthers with five shots. Two more Fireflies were able to chalk up one of the seven Panthers that were left burning on the battlefield. At the same time, all available Shermans fired on German tanks, so some Panthers received several hits at once. While the Fireflies quite easily pierced their sides with armor-piercing shells, conventional Sherman tanks fired high-explosive fragmentation shells. They could not seriously harm the German tanks, but they confused their crews, and also prevented them from observing the surroundings and finding targets. That is why for the German tankers it remained a mystery who exactly fired at them.

Canadian Sherman tanks on the afternoon of June 9, 1944 were in right time in the right place. And although the German troops launched a counterattack suddenly, the Canadians managed to quickly orient themselves and do their job perfectly, without suffering losses in tanks on their part. At the same time, the German command again became convinced that haste in organizing and carrying out tank attacks inevitably leads to the failure of the offensive. At the same time, this battle was the first victory of Canadian tankers and their Shermans over the German Panthers.

Sources of information:
http://worldoftanks.ru/ru/news/pc-browser/12/panthers_defeat_near_bretteville
http://armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/WWII/PzV/txt/PzV2.php
http://narkompoisk.ru/arhivy-dokumenty-analitika/2015/10/28/diviziya-ss-gitleryugend.html
Materials from open sources

The offensive of the German troops on July 5, 1943 near Kursk received the code name "Citadel". The latest postponement of the offensive date - from June 13 to July 5 - gave the Germans the opportunity to send two more battalions of Panther tanks in General Model's division to the northern flank of the arc, as well as a number of new medium tanks to the southern section of the Kursk salient. The main blows were delivered by the 4th Panzer Army of Colonel General Hoth from the south and the 9th Panzer Army of Colonel General Model from the north. Both groups were to link up east of Kursk, squeezing large Red Army forces on the ledge into steel pincers. The 4th Panzer Army advanced with the forces of the 48th Panzer Corps (3rd, 11th Panzer Divisions and the motorized division "Grossdeutschland") and the SS Panzer Corps, consisting of three divisions (LSSAH, "Reich" and "Totenkopf") .

The Battle of Kursk was preceded by an unprecedented concentration of armored vehicles in military history. In the photo - a column of tanks of the SS division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" stretched to the horizon. In the foreground - tanks Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. G from the 7th company of the tank regiment of the division.

Its right flank was covered by the army group of General Kempf, which attacked to the northeast - one tank (300 tanks) and two infantry corps. Due to the exposure of other sectors of the Eastern Front, the German grouping of troops near Kursk looked exceptionally formidable. The two German strike groups numbered more than 900,000 people, about 10,000 guns and mortars, up to 2,700 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, and about 2,050 aircraft. They were opposed by the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts, which by the beginning of July 1943 included 1336 thousand people, more than 19 thousand guns and mortars, 3444 tanks and self-propelled guns and 2172 aircraft. The troops of the reserve Steppe Front had 573 thousand people, 7401 guns and mortars, 1551 tanks.

The SS tank corps, located in the center of the Manstein grouping on the southern flank of the arc, advanced on Kursk and Oboyan. The Germans were opposed by the 6th Guards Army, which included two tank corps. At the beginning of the offensive, the SS units managed to achieve some success - the Red Army was forced to yield advanced defensive lines. SS units, using PzKpfw VI "Tiger" tanks from heavy tank battalions and PzKpfw V "Panther" tanks from specially formed Panther Brigade, were able to break through the defenses of the Red Army in several places. Air support played an important role: a special anti-tank version of the famous Junkers Ju-87 "Stuka" aircraft intensively cleared the way for German tanks and infantry. In just one day, covering the leading fierce battles of the 4th tank army of Hoth, German aviation made 1,700 sorties. By noon on July 6, the SS Regiment "Fuhrer" (SS division "Reich") occupied Luzhki 30 km deep in the defense of the Soviet troops. However, further progress slowed down. By July 9, they managed to drive three deep wedges into the Russian defenses, but due to fierce resistance, they could not connect in any way and, being subjected to continuous flank counterattacks, suffered serious losses in manpower and equipment. The 3rd Panzer Corps, which was supposed to support the flank of the SS division "Reich", advanced too slowly.

The SS division "Totenkopf" managed to force the Psel River and penetrate somewhat into the defenses of the Soviet troops. On July 11, the LSSAH and Reich were able to link up with each other, but the Dead Head still operated alone. By July 12, the commander of the 4th Panzer Army decided to break through the defenses of the Red Army and enter the operational space. On the morning of July 12, all the combat-ready tanks of the Kempf, Hausser and Knobelsdorf corps - about 750 vehicles, including more than 100 "Tigers" were gathered into a fist and thrown into a decisive battle. The Germans were opposed by Rotmistrov's 5th Guards Tank Army, which had about 850 tanks (T-34, KV-1 and T-70, the latter - 261 pieces). tank battle near Prokhorovka began in an unusual manner, and its beginning was unexpected for both opponents. When the Soviet tanks left their hiding places and moved forward, the observers noticed that the equally formidable German armada also went on the offensive and was moving towards them, Soviet and German aircraft rushed to help their tanks, but a thick veil of smoke and dust and mixed battle formations made it difficult for the pilots to distinguish friends from strangers, as a result, the air armada grappled with each other and fierce air battles were in full swing over the battlefield from morning to evening. A few minutes later, the first Soviet tanks, firing on the move, crashed into the battle formations of the Germans, literally piercing them with a diagonal through blow.

Battle of Kursk Soviet counteroffensive

A German tanker, a participant in the battle near Prokhorovka, later wrote: “We were warned that we would meet with anti-tank guns and individual tanks buried in the ground, and also, possibly, with several separate tank brigades of slow-moving KVs. In fact, we were faced with a seemingly inexhaustible mass of Russian tanks - never before had I had such a vivid impression of Russian power and numbers as on that day. Clouds of thick dust made it impossible to get support from the Luftwaffe, and soon numerous T-34s broke through our forward barrier and, like predatory animals, prowled the singing battle."

In this close combat, the Tigers and Panther tanks lost their advantage, which gave them more powerful guns and thick armor. The whole world seemed to tremble at the deafening roar of battle. The rumble of hundreds of strainedly roaring engines, feverish artillery fire, explosions of thousands of shells and bombs, the roar of exploding tanks, the howl of falling planes - all merged into an infernal thunder that did not stop until dark. More than 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns mingled in a gigantic whirlpool, shrouded in a veil of smoke and dust, illuminated by the flashes of hundreds of tank guns. The dashing attack of the T-34 was carried out so swiftly that the carefully worked out German battle plans were thwarted, and the Germans did not get the opportunity to establish control over their units and subunits. Tanks circled the battlefield, bumping into each other in the midst of the roar of guns, flashes of fire, sudden bright flashes of exploding tanks and self-propelled guns. The battlefield seemed too cramped for so many combat vehicles, and within an hour it was littered with the skeletons of burning, smoky, mangled tanks; from the explosions of ammunition, the towers took off into the air and flew off for tens of meters. The surviving tank crews could not get out of the battlefield - under a shower of shells, flying fragments and machine-gun bursts, walking across the battlefield was tantamount to suicide. The battle broke up into fierce clashes between separate groups of tanks, which constantly maneuvered, concentrating fire on the enemy. Rotmistrov, apparently, was shocked and stunned by the picture that opened up to him from his observation post. In a thick cloud of dust, where hundreds of tanks blazed like torches and suffocating oily columns of smoke stretched up above the motionless vehicles, it was difficult to determine who was advancing and who was defending. In the darkness that had descended on the battlefield, for a long time one could still see the fires of burning tanks and aircraft. The Germans lost 400 tanks, and the surviving vehicles needed repairs, maintenance, refueling and replenishment of ammunition. There were other irretrievable losses - more than 10,000 people: tank crews, infantrymen, as well as dozens of aircraft with crews.

Self-propelled gun "Ferdinand" was shot down in the Battle of Kursk.

The German historian Leo Kessler wrote in his book Iron Fist: “On the evening of July 12, Goth himself arrived on the battlefield in a command tank. He was dissatisfied with what he saw. him to the aid of the 6th Panzer Division." The 5th Guards Tank Army lost about 300 tanks.

Destroyed tank "Panther" (PzKpfw V Ausf. D2) in the operation "Citadel"

By July 17, it became clear that the offensive had finally bogged down. In addition, Anglo-American troops landed in Sicily and there was a danger of Italy withdrawing from the war. Therefore, Operation Citadel was officially terminated. Hitler decided to transfer the SS Panzer Corps to Italy. In reality, only the SS division LSSAH was sent to Italy. Before the SS divisions "Reich" and "Dead Head" had time to plunge into the wagons, they decided to use them to strike at the bridgehead captured by the Red Army on the Mius River. Their attacks were successful and the front line in this area stabilized. However, these battles were no longer of decisive importance, since the Red Army went on the offensive along the entire front. "Reich" and "Dead Head" were urgently transferred to the north. For the third time that year, SS divisions under the command of Hausser entered Kharkov. However, their stay in the city turned out to be short - the German units began to retreat to the Dnieper. On August 22 "Reich" and "Dead Head" left Kharkov, and in early September they were in reserve in the Kyiv region, having received only a short respite. The SS division "Viking", which did not have time to recover from last year's campaign, was in reserve during the battle on the Kursk Bulge. When the Red Army launched a major offensive in the Orel region, this division was transferred to this sector of the front in order to stop the advance of the enemy. But it was all in vain: "Viking" did not have sufficient combat power to solve the task. After fierce fighting, the division retreated across the Dnieper to the Gomel region and then was sent to the Balkans for rest and re-equipment. The LSSAH division was in Italy. By the end of the summer, a new tank regiment was included in its composition, which included a battalion of heavy tanks PzKpfw VI "Tiger". At the same time, the division was renamed 1-SS-Panzer-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler". When the German units in Russia were unable to stop the advance of the Red Army and rolled back further and further to the Dnieper, the LSSAH was urgently transferred to the Eastern Front.

Kyiv was supposed to be the location of the division, but while the division was on the way. The Red Army has already entered the capital of Ukraine. By the beginning of 1944, the location of the SS divisions was as follows: LSSAH occupied positions beyond the Dnieper, "Reich" - in the Kyiv region, "Dead Head" was in reserve in the Dnepropetrovsk region, "Viking", after returning to the front in December 1943, was sent in the Cherkassy region. Meanwhile, the first of the four new divisions of the SS "Nordland" entered the battles in the Leningrad direction. She participated in bloody battles during the winter retreat of German troops to Narva. When the Red Army crossed the Dnieper north of Kyiv in November 1943, only the SS division "Reich" was able to counterattack the enemy. The Germans no longer had the strength to stop the advance of the enemy. November 6, 1943 "Reich" was forced to leave their positions in the Kyiv region and begin a retreat to the southwest. After continuous stubborn fighting, the division managed to gain a foothold only in the Fastov area. The entry into battle of the SS division LSSAH on November 12 could not change anything: by this time it was no longer possible to push back the advancing units of the Red Army beyond the Dnieper. Between November 15 and December 30, the 48th Panzer Corps, based on the LSSAH and the badly battered Reich, launched several fairly powerful counterattacks. Having thrown back three Russian corps to Brusilov and captured Radomyshl, the LSSAH cut off the significant forces of the advancing enemy in the Korosten area. The front line in the Kyiv area was temporarily stabilized. All subsequent events in the Korosten region clearly showed how catastrophically the Germans lacked reserves.

LSSAH, 1st and 7th Panzer Divisions opposed seven Soviet corps on this sector of the front. The Germans not only failed to keep part of the Red Army surrounded, but also had to urgently retreat so as not to be defeated by their own recent victims. Parts of the Red Army broke through the German defense line in the Brusilov area, defeating the 24th Panzer Corps, which by this time included the SS Reich division. The retreating LSSAH linked up with the remnants of the SS division "Reich". This group, waging stubborn battles, retreated to Zhitomir, where, finally, the German defensive lines were restored. The battles in the Zhytomyr region had not yet died down, as the LSSAH, together with the 1st Panzer Division, entered the battles in the Berdichev region. Only by repelling the offensive of the Red Army in this direction, the division received a much-needed respite. By this time, the troops on both sides of the front were heavily exhausted and the decisive battle for Ukraine was postponed for the time being. The backbone of the Reich division, which had been greatly thinned in the battles near Kyiv and Brusilov, was withdrawn to France in early February 1944. Several disparate units of this division were consolidated into the "Lamerding" combat group (numbering up to a battalion), and, together with the LSSAH, were left on the Eastern Front.

Tanks "Tiger" from the division "Das Reich" in the forest near Berdichev.

Subsequent battles flared up near Cherkassy. The Red Army offensive was halted north of Berdichev and Kirovograd (where the Totenkopf and Great Germany divisions were involved in heavy fighting). Now the Soviet command planned to deliver a powerful blow to the center of the German positions. The Russians threw two corps into the gap, which launched an offensive against the German defense line between Cherkassy and Kanev. After stubborn fighting, units of the Red Army on February 1 overcame the enemy's defensive lines in the south and north, and surrounded six German divisions (including the SS Viking division) near the city of Korsun. Prior to this, the German units were surrounded more than once. Before the disaster at Stalingrad, the Germans always managed to save their encircled units. Based on this experience, the encircled divisions were ordered to hold their positions and wait for outside help. However, this was the largest encirclement of German troops after Stalingrad, and the Russians were determined to destroy the encircled units, preparing for them the fate of the 6th Paulus Army. To break through the encirclement, the Germans gathered four panzer divisions, led by the 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH. Strength had to crush strength. Arriving in the Buzhanovka area, on February 3, the LSSAH immediately entered the battle near the village of Shenderovka, where the distance to the encircled units was the smallest.

Partly due to the fact that the German formations, by the decision of the OKH, were thrown into battle separately, over several days, and most importantly due to the fact that the four exhausted divisions had insufficient combat power (they were opposed by two tank and one guards tank armies) an attempt to break through failed. After twelve days of continuous desperate fighting, the Germans barely overcame only half of the 30 km that separated them from the encircled group. After another four days, the German command realized that the breakthrough troops urgently needed help from the encircled divisions. On February 7, the SS division "Viking" was transferred to the village of Shenderovka. On the morning of February 11, the Germania regiment took the village. For the next six days, the heavily bled German troops repulsed the continuous attacks of the Red Army, which sought to recapture these key positions. However, all the efforts of the Germans came to nothing - the breakthrough troops could not overcome the remaining 5 km, which separated them from the encircled troops. In this regard, the German command ordered the encircled divisions to break out of the ring on their own. On the morning of February 16, the German units, led by the SS division "Viking", attempted to break through. After a day and a half of fighting, at the cost of huge losses, individual German units managed to break out of the ring and go to their own.

During this attempted breakthrough, most of the German divisions were effectively destroyed. The Russians threw the main forces of the 5th Panzer Army to the place of the breakthrough. The Belgian officer, who was in the "cauldron" along with the SS "Wallonia" brigade, later described a terrible picture of the impact of Soviet tanks on German columns trying to break out of the encirclement. T-34 tanks rolled on the Germans in waves, crushing wagons, vehicles and guns with caterpillars. When the German units reached the river, many soldiers and officers threw themselves into the icy water in the hope of reaching the opposite bank, while Soviet tanks poured lead rain on this floundering mass of people. Thousands of German soldiers found their death on the snow-covered banks of the river. Another column, which included the remnants of the SS division "Viking" and the SS brigade "Wallonia" at dawn on February 17 near the village of Shenderovka, was also subjected to massive attacks. The divisions that managed to link up with the LSSAH were in a deplorable state. They retained only about 30% of their staff and lost all heavy weapons. At the very time when the Viking broke out of the boiler, having lost almost all military equipment, officially it was renamed the "tank" division of the SS.

After the catastrophe near Korsun, it became clear to the German command that their defensive lines should be significantly reduced. The northern front, which had been relatively calm since the spring of 1942, was on the verge of collapse after the winter battles of 1943-1944. The SS division "Nordland" had been fighting on this front since November 1943, and already in mid-January 1944 it was forced to retreat before the onslaught of superior enemy forces. Due to the acute shortage of tactical reserves, the German command was forced to hastily transfer several mobile formations to the north. Because of the danger of the Russian offensive on the Vistula, the practically defeated SS division "Viking" and the still relatively strong SS division "Totenkopf" were transferred to Warsaw, where they formed the 19th Panzer Corps. The SS divisions LSSAH, "Reich" and the "Lamerding" group were transferred to the German defensive lines in Western Ukraine.

It was no secret to anyone that the next offensive of the Red Army units in the south could lead to the encirclement of a large number of German troops and the enemy's withdrawal to Rovno and Uman. The offensive began unexpectedly, before the end of the spring thaw, which, as a rule, made it impossible to conduct major offensive operations. Nevertheless, the Red Army went on the offensive not in April or May, as the Germans believed, but on March 4, 1944, taking the German units by surprise, since they were not yet prepared. The advanced positions were occupied with minimal losses. Despite the confusion, the LSSAH, being part of the 4th Panzer Army, immediately launched a counterattack in the direction of Rovno, but it was impossible to stop the Russian advance with such forces. A few days later, the division was drawn into bloody battles and was forced to begin a retreat to the west. The battle group "Lamerding" and the SS division "Reich" (1st Panzer Army) also quickly retreated in front of superior enemy forces to Kamenetz-Podolsk on the Dniester. In just a few days, the advancing wedges of the Red Army, breaking through the enemy defenses on the move, went deep into the rear of the Germans for 80 km and dismembered two German armies.

Manstein, the commander of this grouping of troops, was extremely concerned about the growing gap between his armies. He understood that if the 1st Army continued its retreat to the south, then the Russians would have a great opportunity to surround this formation. Manstein could not afford to lose eight panzer divisions at once, so the 1st Panzer Army was ordered to break through to the west. The task was extremely difficult - the 1st and 4th tank armies were separated by more than 100 km, and more and more armored formations of the Red Army rushed into this gap. The German attack began on March 29. The two armies were advancing towards each other and were to join in the Bukhach area. Two new SS divisions (9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen" and 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg"), which formed the 2nd SS Panzer Corps, were urgently transferred to the Eastern Front and took part in this offensive. After several days of stubborn The 2nd SS Panzer Corps captured Buchach and the two German armies were able to link up.However, the situation remained disastrous on the entire front.German losses were enormous, many divisions were almost destroyed, and the last strong and mobile divisions of the SS, such as the LSSAH, after continuous fighting in dire need of rest and re-equipment.At the same time as the offensive in the south, the Soviet command conducted a somewhat smaller operation in eastern Poland, during which the Russians surrounded Kovel. a little later, the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg allowed the Soviet units to be pushed a little and to establish contact with the surrounded city. After that, the front line in this sector of the front stabilized until mid-July.

By this time, on paper, the Waffen SS was a formidable force, including 17 divisions, 12 of which had armored units. In fact, even these 12 divisions were far from fully equipped. The most depleted of them were transferred to the west to rest and protect the coast from a possible Allied landing. The LSSAH and the literally pieced together SS division "Reich" were stationed in France, where two new SS divisions "Hitlerjugend" and "Goetz von Berlichingen" were formed. Parts of the "Peichsfuehrer SS" brigade that fought in Anzio, together with the SS division "Prinz Eugen" were transferred to the Balkans, and the SS divisions "Nordland", "Florian Geyer", "Hohenstaufen", "Frundsberg", "Totenkopf" and " Wiking" were left on the Eastern Front.

Parts of the SS by this time were no longer the relatively few elite troops that represented the flower of the German nation. Heavy losses and numerous replacements greatly diluted those specially selected personnel who had previously been sent to the SS. The only difference between the elite troops, which the SS units could still claim, was the relatively good equipment compared to army divisions. Nevertheless, during a brief lull in the early summer of 1944, the SS divisions continued to be regarded as the most formidable and combat-ready German formations, despite the heavy losses they suffered in terms of manpower and equipment.

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Emblems of SS divisions

Almost all German divisions had their own emblems or identification marks. As a rule, they were applied with white, black or yellow oil paint on divisional military equipment and vehicles; buildings in which the ranks of the respective divisions were quartered; corresponding pointers in the locations of the parts; aircraft (if any), etc. In SS divisions, such identification marks or emblems (“Erkennungszeichen”, German: Erkennungszeichen) almost always fit into heraldic shields that had a “Varangian” or “Norman” form, or the form of a tarch, and in many cases differed from the lavalier signs of the ranks of the corresponding divisions. Although in practice such identification marks (judging by the surviving photographs) were often applied to equipment and divisional property without heraldic shields or simply fit into a circle.

1st Panzer Division "SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" . The name of the division can be translated as "SS Regiment of Adolf Hitler's personal guard". The emblem of the division was a shield-tarch with a picture of a master key (and not a key, as is often incorrectly written and thought). This choice of drawing is explained by the fact that the name of the division commander Josef (Sepp) Dietrich in German means master key (dietrich). After Josef Dietrich was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the division began to be framed by 2 oak leaves or a semicircular oak wreath. The division was founded on March 17, 1933 by Hitler shortly after he came to power. At the beginning of World War II, the 1st SS Division fought as a motorized infantry regiment. According to the testimonies, due to the special stamina, this unit suffered high losses, due to insufficient military training and blind fanaticism. Achievement of the set task, regardless of losses, was considered a special pride.

2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" . The name of the division can be translated into Russian as "Empire", "Power". The emblem of the division was the “wolfsangel” (wolf hook) inscribed in the shield-tarch - an old German rune-amulet that scared away wolves and werewolves (in German: “werewolves”, in Greek: “lycanthropes”, in Icelandic: “ulfhedins” , in Norwegian: "varulvov" or "vargs", in Slavic: "volkolaks", "volkudlaks" or "volkodlaks"), located horizontally. The division was created on October 10, 1938 by the union of the "SS reserve troops" and part of the "Dead Head" SS formations.

3rd SS Panzer Division "Dead Head" ("Totenkopf"). The emblem of the division was the image of the dead (Adam's) head (skull with bones) inscribed in the shield-tarch - a symbol of loyalty to the leader until death. It was created on November 1, 1939, as a division of motorized infantry. It included parts of the SS "Dead Head", engaged in the protection of concentration camps, and the SS Danzig battalion.

4th SS Motorized Infantry Division "Police" ("Police"), also known as the "(4th) SS Police Division". This division got its name because it was formed from the ranks of the German police. The emblem of the division was the "wolf hook" - "wolfsangel" in a vertical position, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch. Founded October 1, 1939 as a Police Division from employees of the German police. February 10, 1942 passed to the Waffen-SS, to which she belonged informally.

5th SS Panzer Division "Viking". It was founded in April 1941 from the SS Nordland and Westland regiments. The division was the first to include foreigners. It was fought by foreign volunteers from "racially acceptable peoples", mostly residents of the countries of Northern Europe (Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden), as well as Belgium, the Netherlands, Latvia and Estonia. However, foreigners made up only 10% of the personnel. By the end of the war, Swiss, Russian, Ukrainian and Spanish volunteers served in the ranks of the division. The emblem of the division was an oblique cross (sun wheel), that is, a swastika with curved crossbars, on a heraldic shield-tarch.

6th Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division of the SS "Nord" ("North"). It was founded in the autumn of 1942 in Finland as the SS mountain division "Nord" from the SS division "Nord". October 22, 1943 received the 6th number and became the 6th SS division. The name of this division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from natives of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia and Latvia). The emblem of the division was the ancient German rune “hagall” (“hagalaz”) inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, which was considered a symbol of unshakable faith.

7th SS Volunteer Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division "Prince Eugen (Eugen)". Founded in October 1942. Showed particular cruelty to the civilian population. According to the results of a military investigation in 1944, it became known that as a result of the atrocities of the division, 22 settlements with a total population of about 1000 people. This division, recruited mainly from ethnic Germans living in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Vojvodina, Banat and Romania, was named after the famous commander of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" in the second half of the XVII- early XVIII in. Prince Eugene (in German: Eugen) of Savoy, who became famous for his victories over the Ottoman Turks and, in particular, won Belgrade for the Roman-German emperor (1717). Eugene of Savoy also became famous in the War of the Spanish Succession for his victories over the French and earned himself no less fame as a patron of the arts. The emblem of the division was a stylized and inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch the ancient Germanic rune "odal" ("otilia", "etel") with curved lower ends. The rune itself means “real estate / estate” or “heritage” and symbolizes the roots and past of a person - clan, family, homeland, home, property, traditions. However, it should be noted that some foreign and domestic runologists tend to consider such a variant of the outline of the “odal” rune (with curved lower ends) as a separate, “irregular” rune “erda” (“earth rune”). According to their interpretation, the rune of the earth and the earth goddess, bearing the same name in the Germanic languages ​​\u200b\u200b- “erda”, symbolizes, on the one hand, the earth itself and its holiness, and on the other hand, the native land, homeland, clan. Nevertheless, apparently, in the Third Reich in general, and in the SS - in particular, no distinctions were made between the runes "odal" and "Erda" (in relation to both variants of the runic sign described above, as well as in relation to the third variant - with arrow-shaped lower ends, used as the emblem of the Dutch SS division "Landstorm Nederland" - the name "odal rune" was used).

8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer. It was created on September 9, 1942 as an SS cavalry division. Participated in the suppression of the partisan population, acted against the Polish rebels from the Home Army in Volhynia. This division was named after the imperial knight Florian Geyer, who led during the Peasant War in Germany (1524-1526) one of the detachments of German peasants (“Black detachment”, in German: “Schwarzer Haufen”), who rebelled against the princes (large feudal lords who opposed the unification of Germany under the scepter of the emperor). Since Florian Geyer wore black armor and his "Black Squad" fought under a black banner, the SS considered him as their predecessor (especially since he opposed not only the princes, but also for the unification of the German state). Florian Geyer (immortalized in the drama of the same name by the classic of German literature Gerhart Hauptmann) died heroically in battle with the superior forces of the German princes in 1525 in the Taubertal valley. His image entered German folklore (especially song folklore), enjoying no less popularity than, say, Stepan Razin - in Russian song folklore. The emblem of the division was a straight naked sword inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, point upwards, crossing the shield from right to left diagonally and a horse's head.

9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen" ("Hohenstaufen"). Created from the Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler reserve on December 31, 1942 in France. Replenished by volunteers from all over the Reich. This division was named after the dynasty of the Swabian dukes (since 1079) and the medieval Roman-German Kaiser emperors (1138-1254) - the Hohenstaufen (Staufen). Under them, the medieval German state (“Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation”), founded by Charlemagne (in 800 AD) and renewed by Otto (n) I the Great, reached the peak of its power, subordinating Italy, Sicily, the Holy Land and Poland. The Hohenstaufen tried, relying on economically highly developed Northern Italy as a base, to centralize their power over Germany and restore the Roman Empire - "at least" - Western (within the borders of the empire of Charlemagne), ideally - the entire Roman Empire, including the Eastern Roman (Byzantine), in which, however, they did not succeed. The most famous representatives of the Hohenstaufen dynasty are the Crusader Kaisers Frederick I Barbarossa (who died during the Third Crusade) and his great-nephew Frederick II (Emperor of Rome, King of Germany, Sicily and Jerusalem), as well as Konradin, who was defeated in the fight against the Pope and Duke Charles of Anjou for Italy and beheaded by the French in 1268. The emblem of the division was a straight naked sword inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, pointing upwards, superimposed on the capital Latin letter "H" ("Hohenstaufen").

10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg". It was created on February 1, 1943 in southern France as the 10th SS Panzergrenadier Division. On October 3, 1943, it was renamed and received the name Frundsberg in honor of the German Renaissance commander Georg (Jörg) von Frundsberg, nicknamed the "Father of the Landsknechts" (1473-1528), under whose command the troops of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and King of Spain Charles I of Habsburg conquered Italy and in 1514 took Rome, forcing the Pope to recognize the supremacy of the Empire. They say that the ferocious Georg Frundsberg always carried a golden noose with him, with which he intended to strangle the Pope if he fell into his hands alive. The emblem of the division was the capital Gothic letter “F” (“Frundsberg”) inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, superimposed on an oak leaf, located diagonally from right to left.

11th SS Infantry Division "Nordland" ("Northern Country"). It was established in July 1943. It fought on the Eastern Front, in May 1945 it was almost completely destroyed in Berlin. The name of the division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from volunteers born in northern European countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Latvia and Estonia). The emblem of this SS division was originally a "wolf hook" without a central vertical line, and later - a heraldic shield-tarch with the image of a "sun wheel" inscribed in a circle.

12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth" ("Hitler Youth"). The order to form a division from conscripts born in 1926 was signed on February 10, 1943. This division was recruited mainly from the ranks of the eponymous youth organization of the Third Reich. The emblem of the division was the ancient German "solar" rune "sig" ("sovulo", "sovelu"), inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch - a symbol of victory and the emblem of the Nazi youth organizations "Jungfolk" and "Hitler Youth", from whose members the volunteers of the division were recruited, superimposed on the master key ("alignment with Dietrich").

13th mountain (mountain) division of the Waffen SS "Khanjar" (often also referred to in military literature as "Handshar" or "Yatagan"), which consisted of Croatian, Bosnian and Herzegovina Muslims (Bosnyaks). The beginning of the formation - August 1943. The division has established itself as a competent anti-partisan detachment, the main area of ​​\u200b\u200boperation is Bosnia, Serbia. The emblem of the division was a curved khanjar sword inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch - a traditional Muslim edged weapon, directed diagonally upwards from left to right. According to the surviving data, the division also had another identification mark, which was an image of a hand with a khanjar superimposed on a double "SS" rune "sig" ("sovulo").

14th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Galicia" (Sichevyh Striltsov) she is also the Galician division No. 1, since 1945 - the Ukrainian division No. 1). The emblem of the division was the old coat of arms of the city of Lvov, the capital of Galicia - a lion walking on its hind legs, surrounded by three three-pronged crowns, inscribed in the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield. Along with the 13th SS division, the first SS division was recruited from "non-Nordic" Ukrainian volunteers - Galicians.

15th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Latvian No. 1). It was created in early 1943 and was originally called German. Lettische SS-Freiwilligen Division, renamed a division in June 1944, like the 19th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division, from the Latvian SS Legion. Almost all leading positions of the division were occupied by Latvians. The emblem of the division was originally a "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of the Roman numeral "I" above the stylized printed capital Latin letter "L" ("Latvia"). Subsequently, the division received another sign - three stars against the background of the rising sun. The stars meant three Latvian provinces - Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Latgale (a similar image adorned the cockade of the servicemen of the pre-war army of the Republic of Latvia).

16th SS Infantry Division "Reichsführer SS". It was created on October 3, 1943 in Ljubljana from the SS assault brigade "Reichsführer SS". The division is responsible for the massacre at Sant'Anna di Stazzema and at Marzabotto on August 12, 1944 and October 1, 1944 respectively. It was widely used from Italy and Corsica to Hungary. This division was named after SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler. in a heraldic shield-tarch a bunch of three oak leaves with two acorns at the handle framed by a laurel wreath.

17th SS Panzer Division "Götz von Berlichingen" It was created in the late autumn of 1943 in the south-west of France from the 49th and 51st Panzer Grenadier Brigades and other units, among others the 10th Panzer Division. Used in the Balkans against Tito's partisans, in France, in Normandy against 3 American divisions, Saarpfalz, Bavaria. This division was named after the hero of the Peasant War in Germany (1524-1526), ​​the imperial knight Georg (Götz, Goetz) von Berlichingen (1480-1562), the fighter against the separatism of the German princes for the unity of Germany, the leader of the rebel peasants and the hero of the drama Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "Goetz von Berlichingen with an iron hand" (Knight Goetz, who lost his hand in one of the battles, ordered to make an iron prosthesis instead of it, which he owned no worse than others - a hand of flesh and blood). The emblem of the division was the iron hand of Goetz von Berlichingen clenched into a fist (crossing the shield-tarch from right to left and from bottom to top diagonally).

18th SS Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division Horst Wessel. It was created from the 1st SS Infantry Brigade on January 25, 1944 in the Zagreb (Celje) region in western Croatia. The formation of the division was planned from the employees of the SA, however, due to their insufficient number, the division was staffed by Hungarian Germans. This division was named after one of the "martyrs of the Nazi movement" - the commander of the Berlin attack aircraft Horst Wessel, who composed the song "Banners up"! (which became the anthem of the NSDAP and the "second anthem" of the Third Reich) and was killed by communist militants. The emblem of the division was a straight naked sword with the tip up, crossing the shield-tarch from right to left diagonally. According to the surviving data, this division also had another emblem, which was the Latin letters SA stylized as runes (SA - Sturmabteilungen, i.e. "assault squads" - Horst Wessel was one of the leaders), inscribed in a circle.

19th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Latvian No. 2). Formed on the basis of the "Latvian Volunteer Brigade" in January 1944. Most of the soldiers and officers up to the regimental commanders were Latvians. The emblem of the division at the time of formation was the “Varangian” (“Norman”) heraldic shield with the image of the Roman numeral “II” above the stylized printed capital Latin letter “L” (“Latvia”). Subsequently, the division received another tactical sign - an upright right-sided swastika on the "Varangian" shield. The swastika - the “fiery cross” (“ugunskrusts”) or the “cross (of the god of thunder) Perkon” (“perkonkrusts”) has been a traditional element of the Latvian folk ornament for centuries.

20th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Estonian No. 1). The formation began in February 1944 and was carried out on a voluntary basis. Everyone wishing to serve in this unit had to meet the requirements of the SS troops for health and ideological considerations. The emblem of the division was the “Varangian” (“Norman”) heraldic shield with the image of a straight naked sword, point upwards, crossing the shield diagonally from right to left and superimposed on the capital Latin letter “E” (“Estonia”). According to some reports, this emblem was sometimes depicted on the helmets of Estonian SS volunteers.

21st mountain (mountain) division of the Waffen SS "Skanderbeg" (Albanian No. 1). It began to be created on May 1, 1944 in Northern Albania (the province of Kosovo) on the orders of Himmler. This division, recruited mainly from Albanians, was named after the national hero of the Albanian people, Prince George Alexander Kastriot (nicknamed "Iskander-beg" or "Skanderbeg" for short) by the Turks. While Skanderbeg (1403-1468) was alive, the Ottoman Turks, who repeatedly suffered defeats from him, could not subjugate Albania to their power. The emblem of the division was the ancient coat of arms of Albania, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch - a double-headed eagle (the ancient Albanian rulers claimed kinship with the basileus-emperors of Byzantium). According to the surviving information, the division also had another sign - a stylized image of the “Skanderbeg helmet” with goat horns superimposed on 2 horizontal stripes.

22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Maria Theresa" (and not "Maria Teresa", as is often incorrectly spelled). It was formed on April 29, 1944 from Hungarian volunteers. It operated as part of the Army Group South Ukraine. She received her baptism of fire in October 1944 as part of the 6th Army. Participated in the defense of Budapest, where it was actually destroyed, the remnants of the division were used in the formation of the 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Lützow". This division, recruited mainly from ethnic Germans living in Hungary and from Hungarians, was named after the Empress of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" and Austria, Queen of Bohemia (Czech Republic) and Hungary Maria Theresa von Habsburg (1717-1780), one of the most prominent rulers of the second half of XVIII century. The emblem of the division was the image of a cornflower flower inscribed in a heraldic shield-tarch with eight petals, a stem, two leaves and one bud - (subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Danubian monarchy who wanted to join German Empire, until 1918 they wore a cornflower in their buttonhole - the favorite flower of the German emperor Wilhelm II of Hohenzollern).

23rd Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Kama" (Croatian No. 2). The formation of the division began on June 10, 1944 in eastern Croatia from Croatian, Bosnian and Herzegovina Muslims, but was not completed due to the threat to the training camp of the division by the advancing Red Army. The personnel were included in the 13th SS mountain division "Handshar", which consisted of Croatian, Bosnian and Herzegovina Muslims. "Kama" is the name of a cold weapon traditional for Balkan Muslims with a curved blade (something like a scimitar). The tactical sign of the division was a stylized image of the astronomical sign of the sun in a crown of rays on a heraldic shield-tarch. Information has also been preserved about two other tactical signs of the division. The first was a Tyr rune with two arrow-shaped processes perpendicular to the rune's trunk in its lower part; the second - the rune "odal" (similar to the tactical sign of the SS division "Prince Eugene".

23rd Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Netherlands" (1st Dutch) . The division appeared in February 1945, after the renaming of the SS volunteer tank-grenadier brigade "Nederland". Nominally, the division consisted of volunteers, in fact - from Dutch collaborators who fled to Germany after the occupation of Holland by the Allies, as well as from German soldiers of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS. (The division number "23" had previously been used for the never-formed 23rd SS Mountain Division "Kama" (Croatian No. 2)). Until the end of the war, the division, never numbering more than 5200 personnel, fought in Pomerania against the Red Army, before being almost completely destroyed in the encirclement at Halba. and surrendered. The emblem of the division was the rune "odal" ("otilia") with the lower ends in the form of arrows, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch.

24th Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division of the Waffen SS "Karst Jaegers" ("Karst Jaegers", "Karstjäger"). It was organized on August 1, 1944 and consisted mainly of Italian volunteers. Used in northern Italy, primarily in Friuli and Julian Venice, against partisans. The name of this division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from the natives of the mountainous Karst region, located on the border between Italy and Yugoslavia. The emblem of the division was a stylized image of a “karst flower” (“karstbloom”), inscribed in the heraldic shield of the “Varangian” (“Norman”) form.

25th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Hunyadi" (Hungarian No. 1). It was formed from the employees of the Hungarian army in February 1945. The Soviet winter offensive forced a retreat to the west, where she surrendered to American forces. This division was named after the medieval Transylvanian-Hungarian Hunyadi dynasty, the most prominent representatives of which were Janos Hunyadi (Johannes Guniades, Giovanni Vaivoda, 1385-1456) and his son King Matthias Corvinus (Matyas Hunyadi, 1443-1490), who heroically fought for freedom Hungary against the Ottoman Turks. The emblem of the division was the “Varangian” (“Norman”) heraldic shield with the image of the “arrow-shaped cross” - the symbol of the Viennese National Socialist Arrow Crossed (“Nilashists”) party Ferenc Salashi - under two three-pronged crowns.

26th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Gömbös" (Hungarian No. 2). This division, which consisted mainly of Hungarians, was named after the Hungarian Foreign Minister Count Gyula Gömbes (1886-1936), a staunch supporter of a close military-political alliance with Germany and an ardent anti-Semite. The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield depicting the same arrow-shaped cross, but under three three-pronged crowns.

27th SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Langemark" (Flemish No. 1). This division, formed from the German-speaking Belgians (Flemings), was named after the place of the bloody battle that took place on the territory of Belgium during the Great (First World) War, in 1914. The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of the "triskelion" ("triphos" or "triquetra").

28th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Wallonia. It was finally formed on October 18, 1944, after the 5th SS Volunteer Assault Brigade "Wallonia" was reorganized, consisting of the 69th and 70th SS Grenadier Regiments. This division owed its name to the fact that it was formed mainly from French-speaking Belgians (Walloons). The emblem of the division was a heraldic shield-tarch with the image of a straight sword and a curved saber crossed in the shape of the letter "X" with the handles up (in rare cases - with the handles down).

29th Grenadier Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "RONA" (Russian No. 1). The formation of the division was officially announced on August 1, 1944, but the Warsaw Uprising that began soon led to the fact that the promising potential of the "division" (4-5 thousand people) was used by the German command in its suppression, where it suffered heavy losses; at the same time, the composition of the proposed division showed its extremely low combat value with an almost completely absent discipline and morality. In September 1944, together with the Dirlewanger brigade, she was transferred to the suppression of the Slovak uprising, where she operated until October 1944. By this time, the idea of ​​forming a division was finally abandoned, and the remaining personnel (about 3 thousand) were transferred to the formation of the 600th Wehrmacht Infantry Division (aka the 1st division of the ROA) where they were described by the new command as “bandits, marauders and thieves” ; by the end of October 1944, after a review of the remaining personnel stationed in Katowice, plans to form a division finally disappear. The unit as a real combat division never existed, and did not take part in the hostilities. Despite this, in popular literature It is mentioned under this name, as it actually existed. At the beginning of 1945, the 29th SS Grenadier Division "Italia" was created under the same number (No. 29). The divisional sign applied to the equipment, judging by the surviving photographs, was a broadened cross with the abbreviation "RONA" under it.

29th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Italy" (Italian No. 1). It arose on February 10, 1945 as the second SS division under this number (the 29th SS Grenadier Division "RONA" (Russian No. 1), was previously disbanded) from the SS Waffen-Grenadier Brigade (Italian No. 1) that already existed since November 1943. In some publications, the additional name of the division appears as "Italy" or "SS Legion Italiana". This division owed its name to the fact that it consisted of Italian volunteers who remained loyal to Benito Mussolini after he was released from prison by a detachment of German paratroopers led by SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny. The tactical sign of the division was the vertically located lictor fascia (in Italian: "littorio"), inscribed in the heraldic shield of the "Varangian" ("Norman") form - a bunch of rods (rods) with an ax embedded in them (the official emblem of the National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini) .

30th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Russian No. 2, it is also Belarusian No. 1). It began to form on March 9, 1945 on the basis of the 1st Belarusian SS brigade, created on January 15, 1945 and consisting of one regiment. It was planned that the formation of the division would be completed by June 30, 1945, but events at the front led to the division being disbanded between April 15 and 20, 1945. The basis of the personnel was Belarusians, who had previously served in police units and detachments of the Belarusian Regional Defense, and then in the 75th and 76th regiments of the 2nd Russian. The division was not fully formed and did not take part in hostilities. The tactical sign of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of a double ("patriarchal") cross of the Holy Princess Euphrosyne of Polotsk, located horizontally.

31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division (also known as the 23rd Waffen SS Volunteer Mountain Division). It was created on October 1, 1944 on the territory of Hungary from Volksdeutsche self-defense units and soldiers from the disbanded 23rd SS mountain division "Kama". Initially, the division took part in the fighting in the Mohacs-Pecs region. There they participated in the battles near Popovac, Bortsy, Fekete Kapu. Then the division retreated to the northeast to Pechvarad, then participated in the battles south of Szeksard. Having suffered significant losses, in December 1944, the division was forced to retreat again, this time to the Dombovar area. During these battles, the division again suffered significant losses and was withdrawn to Styria, to Marburg. At the end of January 1945, the somehow replenished division was sent to Army Group Center in Silesia. Upon arrival in the Liegnitz area, the Brisken SS police regiment was introduced into its composition and sent to the front. The division first took part in the offensive in the area of ​​Schonau and Goldberg, and then went on the defensive. After that, the division defended near Murau, then withdrew to Hirschberg, then to Könnigratz, and there surrendered to the Red Army. The emblem of the division was the full-face deer head on the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield.

31st SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Bohemia and Moravia" (German: "Böhmen und Meren"). This division was formed from the natives of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, who came under the German control of the territories of the Czech Republic (after the declaration of independence by Slovakia). The emblem of the division was the Bohemian (Czech) crowned lion walking on its hind legs, and the orb crowned with a double cross on the “Varangian” (“Norman”) heraldic shield.

32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "January 30". It was formed in January 1945 in the city of Kurmark from German Volksdeutsche conscripts (volunteers and mobilized), teachers of the "SS Junker Schools", instructors and cadets of SS tank and infantry schools. Initially, there were about 2000 people. The division suffered heavy losses on the Eastern Front on the Oder River, where it fought in February-March 1945. Some units defended the southern part of Berlin. The surviving remnants of the division surrendered to the Allies on May 5, 1945 in the city of Tanemünde. This division was named in memory of the day Adolf Hitler came to power (January 30, 1933). The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield with the image of a vertically located "combat rune" - a symbol of the ancient German god of war Tyr (Tira, Tiu, Tsiu, Tuisto, Tuesco).

33rd Cavalry Division of the Waffen SS "Hungaria", or "Hungary" (Hungarian No. 3). This division was supposedly formed in Hungary in 1944-1945 from Hungarian cavalry units and was destroyed in Budapest. Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

33rd Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Charlemagne" (French No. 1). The formation of the brigade was started back in 1944, however, this military formation became a division only on February 10, 1945 in West Prussia, after the SS Charlemagne Grenadier Waffen Brigade (French No. 1) was reorganized with giving it the status of a division. After suffering heavy losses in Pomerania on March 25, 1945, the unit was withdrawn east of Neustrelitz and was to remain there until the end of replenishment and rest. In May 1945, the division surrendered to the Soviet troops. This division was named after the Frankish king Charlemagne ("Charlemagne", from the Latin "Carolus Magnus", 742-814), who was crowned emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 800 in Rome (which included the territories of modern Northern Italy, France, Germany , Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and part of Spain), and is considered the founder of modern German and French statehood. The emblem of the division was a dissected "Varangian" ("Norman") shield with a half of the Roman-German imperial eagle and three heraldic lilies (French: fleurs de lys) of the French kingdom.

34th SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Landstorm Nederland" ("Netherlands Militia"), (Dutch No. 2). Initially, it was an SS volunteer brigade in the Third Reich, consisting mainly of Danes and Dutch. She took part in the fighting on the western front of the European theater of World War II. In February 1945, the brigade received an order that it reorganized into an SS division, despite the fact that its strength had never been higher than that of a separate brigade. The emblem of the division was the “Dutch national” version of the “wolf hook” - “wolfsangel” inscribed in the “Varangian” (“Norman”) heraldic shield (adopted in the Dutch National Socialist movement of Anton-Adrian Mussert).

35th SS Police Grenadier (Infantry) Division ("Police Division II") The formation of the division began on March 16, 1945, when the 29th and 30th SS police regiments were assigned to the Waffen-SS and consisted of those mobilized for military service German police officials. The real combat potential of the division remained unknown, since the division only managed to take part in the defense of Berlin (in the Battle of the Seelow Heights) and was destroyed in an attempt to break through the Soviet defense, known in Western historiography as the Battle of Halba. Some minor parts of the division managed to surrender to American or Soviet troops in the area of ​​​​the demarcation line of the two army groups near the Elbe.

36th Grenadier Division of the Waffen SS "Dirlewanger". The SS assault brigade "Dirlewanger" - a punitive SS unit under the command of Oskar Dirlewanger, was recruited from prisoners of German prisons, concentration camps and SS military prisons. The special status of the brigade was marked by the fact that on the buttonholes, instead of the SS runes, its members wore the symbol of the brigade - crossed grenades. At the end of the war, the 36th SS Waffen Grenadier Division "Dirlewanger" was created on the basis of the brigade. It can only be called a division conditionally, since formally it never became one (in 1944, on the basis of this brigade, it was supposed to form a separate (36th according to the standard “through” numbering) division, but the formation was never completed, since in 1945, almost all members of the brigade were destroyed). The emblem of the division was inscribed in the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield, two crossed in the shape of the letter "X" hand grenades "mallets" with handles down.

According to the orders of the imperial leader (Reichsführer) of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, in the last months of the war, the formation of several more SS divisions was started (but not completed):

35th SS Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Police" ("Police"), it is also the 35th SS Police Grenadier (Infantry) Division. Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

36th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS. Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Lützow". It was formed near Marchfeld on the Hungarian-Slovak border in February 1945. The personnel of the division was assembled from the remnants of the cavalry divisions - the 22nd "Maria Theresa" and the 8th "Florian Geyer", battered in the battles near the besieged Budapest, and, due to the recruitment of the Hungarian Volksdeutsche, was brought to the required number as quickly as possible. The division was named in honor of the hero of the fight against Napoleon - Major of the Prussian army Adolf von Lützow (1782-1834), who formed the first in history liberation wars(1813-1815) German patriots against Napoleonic tyranny volunteer corps ("Luttsov's black chasseurs"). The tactical sign of the division was the image of a straight naked sword inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, point upwards, superimposed on the capital Gothic letter "L", that is, "Luttsov").

38th SS Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Nibelungen" ("Nibelungen"). It was formed on March 27, 1945 and by Hitler's personal order was sent to Western Front. Vela fighting in Bavaria. She ended the war on May 8, 1945 in Reit im Winkl by surrendering to American troops. The division was named after the heroes of the medieval Germanic heroic epic - the Nibelungen. This was originally the name given to the spirits of darkness and fog, elusive to the enemy and possessing countless treasures; then - the knights of the kingdom of the Burgundians who took possession of these treasures. As you know, SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler dreamed of creating an "SS order state" on the territory of Burgundy after the war. The emblem of the division was the image of the winged invisibility helmet of the Nibelungen inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch.

39th Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division of the SS "Andreas Gofer". The division was named in honor of the national hero of Austria Andreas Hofer (1767-1810), the leader of the Tyrolean rebels against Napoleonic tyranny, betrayed by traitors to the French and shot in 1810 in the Italian fortress of Mantua. In the 20th century, the German Social Democrats composed their own song “We are the young guard of the proletariat”, and the Soviet Bolsheviks - “We are the young guard of workers and peasants” to the tune of the folk song about the execution of Andreas Hofer - “Under Mantua in Chains”. Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

40th SS Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division "Feldgerrngalle" (not to be confused with the German Wehrmacht division of the same name). This division was named after the building of the "Gallery of the Generals" (Feldgerrngalle), in front of which on November 9, 1923, the Reichswehr and the police of the Bavarian separatist leader Gustav Ritter von Kahr shot a column of participants in the Hitler-Ludendorff coup against the government of the Weimar Republic. Information about the tactical sign of the division has not been preserved.

41st Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Kalevala" (Finnish No. 1). This division, named after the Finnish heroic folk epic, began to be formed from among the Finnish volunteers of the Waffen SS, who did not obey the order given in 1943 by the Finnish Commander-in-Chief Marshal Baron Carl Gustav Emil von Mannerheim to return from the Eastern Front to their homeland and re-join the Finnish army. Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

42nd SS Infantry Division "Lower Saxony" ("Niedersachsen"). Information about the emblem of the division, the formation of which was not completed, has not been preserved.

43rd Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Reichsmarschall". This division, the formation of which was begun on the basis of parts of the German air force ("Luftwaffe"), left without aviation technology, cadets of flight schools and ground personnel, was named after the Imperial Marshal (Reichsmarschall) of the Third Reich Hermann Goering. Reliable information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

44th Motorized Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Wallenstein". This SS division, recruited from ethnic Germans living in the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and Slovakia, as well as from Czech and Moravian volunteers, was named after the German imperial commander during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), Duke of Friedland Albrecht Eusebius Wenzel von Wallenstein (1583-1634), a Czech by birth, the hero of the dramatic trilogy of the classic of German literature Friedrich von Schiller "Wallenstein" ("Wallenstein's Camp", "Piccolomini" and "The Death of Wallenstein"). Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

45th SS Infantry Division "Varyags" ("Vareger"). Initially, Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler intended to give the name "Varyags" ("Vareger") to the Nordic (Northern European) SS division, formed from Norwegians, Swedes, Danes and other Scandinavians who sent their volunteer contingents to help the Third Reich. However, according to a number of sources, Adolf Hitler "rejected" the name "Varyags" for his Nordic SS volunteers, seeking to avoid undesirable associations with the medieval "Varangian guard" (consisting of Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, Russians and Anglo-Saxons) in the service of the Byzantine emperors. The Fuhrer had a negative attitude towards the Constantinople "basileus", considering them, like all the Byzantines, "morally and spiritually decomposed, deceitful, treacherous, corrupt and treacherous decadents", and not wanting to be associated with the rulers of Byzantium. As a result, the German-Scandinavian division formed as part of the Waffen SS (which later also included the Dutch, Walloons, Flemings, Finns, Latvians, Estonians, Ukrainians and Russians) was given the name "Viking". Along with this, on the basis of Russian white emigrants and former citizens of the USSR in the Balkans, the formation of another SS division called "Vareger" ("Varangians"); however, due to the circumstances, the matter was limited to the formation in the Balkans of the "Russian (security) corps (Russian security group)" and a separate Russian regiment of the SS "Varyag".

Serbian SS Volunteer Corps. The corps consisted of former military personnel of the Yugoslav royal army (mainly of Serbian origin), most of whom were members of the Serbian monarcho-fascist movement Z.B.O.R., headed by Dmitry Letic. The tactical sign of the corps was a tarch shield and an image of a grain ear superimposed on a naked sword with the point down, located diagonally.

The formations of the SS (Waffen SS) had an interesting difference from the formations of the Wehrmacht, and probably from all other formations of the warring parties.

Almost all of these divisions had their own emblems (tactical, or identification marks), which were by no means worn by the ranks of these divisions as sleeve patches (rare exceptions did not change the overall picture at all), but were applied with white, black or yellow oil paint on divisional military equipment and motor transport; buildings in which the ranks of the respective divisions were quartered; corresponding pointers in the locations of the parts; aircraft (if any), etc. These identification (tactical) signs, or emblems (“Erkennungszeichen”, German: Erkennungszeichen) of SS divisions are almost always inscribed in heraldic shields (having a “Varangian”, or “Norman”, or tarch form) / 1 / - in many cases differed from the lapel pins of the ranks of the respective divisions.

I present to your attention short description and emblems of all divisions of the Waffen SS.

1st SS Panzer Division "SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler".

The name of the division means "SS Regiment of Adolf Hitler's personal guard". The emblem (tactical, or identification mark) of the division was a shield-tarch with the image of a master key (and not a key, as is often incorrectly written and thought). The choice of such an unusual emblem is explained very simply. The surname of the division commander Josef ("Sepp") Dietrich was "speaking" (or, in heraldic language, "vowel"). Dietrich means "master key" in German. After Dietrich's Sepp was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the division's emblem began to be framed with 2 oak leaves or a semicircular oak wreath.

2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.

The name of the division - "Reich" ("Das Reich") translated into Russian means "Empire", "Power". The emblem of the division was the “wolfsangel” (“wolf hook”) inscribed in the shield-tarch - an old German amulet that scared away wolves and werewolves (in German: “werewolves”, in Greek: “lycanthropes”, in Icelandic: “ ulfhedins", in Norwegian: "varulvov" or "vargs", in Slavic: "ghouls", "volkolaks", "volkudlaks" or "volkodlaks"), located horizontally.

"Wolfsangels" (slightly different in form) served as identification marks for some other formations of the armed forces of the Third Reich - the 4th SS Police Division, as well as the motorized infantry (panzer-grenadier, tank-grenadier) divisions "Feldgerrngalle", 209th and 256 th infantry divisions and the 19th tank division of the German Wehrmacht. In addition, the “wolf hook” (without a central vertical line) originally served as the identification mark of the 11th SS Panzer Division “Nordland”, until it was replaced by a “sun wheel” (a swastika with arcuate ends) inscribed in a circle.

3rd SS Panzer Division "Dead Head" ("Totenkopf").

The division got its name from the emblem of the SS - the "dead (Adam's) head" (skull with bones) - a symbol of loyalty to the leader until death. The same emblem, inscribed in the shield-tarch, also served as the identification mark of the division.

4th SS Motorized Infantry Division "Police" ("Police"), also known as the "(4th) SS Police Division".

This division got its name because it was formed from the ranks of the German police. The emblem of the division was the "wolf hook" - "wolfsangel" in a vertical position, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch.

5th SS Panzer Division "Viking".

The name of this division is explained by the fact that, along with the Germans, it was recruited from the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden), as well as Belgium, the Netherlands, Latvia and Estonia. In addition, Swiss, Russian, Ukrainian and Spanish volunteers served in the ranks of the Viking division. The emblem of the division was the “oblique cross” (“sun wheel”), that is, a swastika with curved crossbars, on a heraldic shield-tarch.

6th Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division of the SS "Nord" ("North").

The name of this division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from natives of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia and Latvia). The emblem of the division was the ancient German rune "hagall" inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch (resembling the Russian letter "Zh"). The rune "hagall" ("hagalaz") was considered a symbol of unshakable faith.

7th SS Volunteer Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division "Prince Eugen (Eugen)".

This division, recruited mainly from ethnic Germans living in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Vojvodina, Banat and Romania, was named after the famous commander of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" in the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries. Prince Eugene (in German: Eugen) of Savoy, who became famous for his victories over the Ottoman Turks and, in particular, won Belgrade for the Roman-German emperor (1717). Eugene of Savoy also became famous in the War of the Spanish Succession for his victories over the French and earned himself no less fame as a patron of the arts. The emblem of the division was the ancient Germanic rune “odal” (“otilia”, “etel”) inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch with curved lower ends.

A similar rune "odal", according to some sources, served as the identification mark of the 23rd Volunteer Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division of the SS "Kama" (Croatian No. 2).

The rune "odal" of a somewhat simplified form (without curved lower ends) was used as an identification mark of the 14th Panzer Division of the German Wehrmacht.

It should be noted that the version of the “odal” rune (with curved lower ends) used as an identification mark of the SS division “Prince Eugen (Eugen)” by some foreign and domestic runologists (for example, Anton Platov in his capital study “The Magical Arts of Ancient Europe”, "Sofia", Publishing House "Helios", M., 2002, pp. 289 and 376) tend to be considered as a separate, "irregular" rune "erda" ("earth rune").

According to their interpretation, the rune of the earth and the earth goddess, bearing the same name in the Germanic languages ​​\u200b\u200b- “Erda”, symbolizes, on the one hand, the earth itself and its holiness, and on the other hand, the native land, homeland, clan (which is why " rune of the earth "became the emblem of the Main Directorate of the Race and Settlements of the SS). This circumstance makes the rune "erd" related to its simplified version (without curved lower ends) - the "classical" rune "odal". The main meaning of the rune "odal" is inheritance, heritage (both spiritual and material), clan, family, homeland, home, property, traditions, kinship (in spirit and blood). All this made the rune "odal" a rune-amulet protecting the family, property, and the well-being of the clan.

Nevertheless, apparently, in the Third Reich in general, and in the SS in particular, no distinctions were made between the runes "odal" and "Erda" (in relation to both variants of the runic sign described above, as well as in relation to the third option - with arrow-shaped lower ends, used as the emblem of the Dutch SS division "Landstorm Nederland" - the name "odal rune" was used).

8th SS Cavalry Division "Florian Geyer"

This division was named after the imperial knight Florian Geyer, who led during the Peasants' War in Germany (1524-1526) one of the detachments of German peasants ("Black detachment", in German: "Schwarzer Haufen"), who rebelled against the princes (large feudal lords who opposed the unification of Germany under the scepter of the emperor). Since Florian Geyer wore black armor and his "Black Squad" fought under a black banner, the SS considered him as their predecessor (especially since he opposed not only the princes, but also for the unification of the German state). Florian Geyer (immortalized in the drama of the same name by the classic of German literature Gerhart Hauptmann) died heroically in battle with the superior forces of the German princes in 1525 in the Taubertal valley. His image entered German folklore (especially song folklore), enjoying no less popularity than, say, Stepan Razin - in Russian song folklore. The emblem of the division was a straight naked sword inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, pointing up, crossing the shield from right to left diagonally, and a horse's head.

9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen"

This division was named after the dynasty of the Swabian dukes (since 1079) and the medieval Roman-German Kaiser emperors (1138-1254) - the Hohenstaufen (Staufen). Under them, the medieval German state (“Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation”), founded by Charlemagne (in 800 A.D.) and renewed by Otto (n) I the Great, reached the peak of its power, subordinating Italy to its influence, Sicily, the Holy Land and Poland. The Hohenstaufen tried, relying on economically highly developed Northern Italy as a base, to centralize their power over Germany and restore the Roman Empire - "at least" - the Western (within the borders of Charlemagne's empire), ideally - the entire Roman Empire, including the Eastern Roman Empire. (Byzantine), in which, however, they did not succeed. The most famous representatives of the Hohenstaufen dynasty are the Crusader Kaisers Frederick I Barbarossa (who died during the Third Crusade) and his great-nephew Frederick II (Emperor of Rome, King of Germany, Sicily and Jerusalem), as well as Konradin, who was defeated in the fight against the Pope and Duke Charles of Anjou for Italy and beheaded by the French in 1268. The emblem of the division was a straight naked sword inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, pointing upwards, superimposed on the capital Latin letter "H" ("Hohenstaufen").

10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg"

This SS division was named after the German Renaissance commander Georg (Jörg) von Frundsberg, nicknamed the "Father of the Landsknechts" (1473-1528), under whose command the troops of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and King of Spain Charles I of Habsburg conquered Italy and in 1514 took Rome, forcing the pope to recognize the supremacy of the Empire. They say that the ferocious Georg Frundsberg always carried a golden noose with him, with which he intended to strangle the Pope if he fell into his hands alive. In the ranks of the SS division "Frundsberg" served in his youth a famous German writer, laureate Nobel Prize Gunther Grass. The emblem of this SS division was the capital Gothic letter “F” (“Frundsberg”) inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, superimposed on an oak leaf located diagonally from right to left.

11th SS Infantry Division "Nordland" ("Northern Country")

The name of the division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from volunteers born in northern European countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Latvia and Estonia). The emblem of this SS division was originally a "wolf hook" without a central vertical line, and later - a heraldic shield-tarch with the image of a "sun wheel" inscribed in a circle.

The "sun wheel", inscribed in a circle, also served as the emblem of the 4th Jaeger Division of the German Wehrmacht.

12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth" ("Hitler Youth")

This division was recruited mainly from the ranks of the youth organization of the Third Reich "Hitler Youth" ("Hitler Youth"). The tactical sign of this "youth" SS division was the ancient German "solar" rune "sig" ("sovulo", "sovelu"), inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch - a symbol of victory and the emblem of the Nazi youth organizations "Jungfolk" and "Hitler Youth", from among whose members were recruited by the volunteers of the division, imposed on the master key ("alignment with Dietrich").

13th mountain (mountain) division of the Waffen SS "Khanjar"

Often referred to in military literature as "Handshar" or "Yatagan", which consisted of Croatian, Bosnian and Herzegovina Muslims (Bosnyaks). "Khanjar" is a traditional Muslim edged weapon with a curved blade (related to the Russian words "konchar" and "dagger", also meaning a bladed edged weapon). The emblem of the division was a curved sword-khanjar inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, directed diagonally upwards from left to right. According to the surviving data, the division also had another identification mark, which was an image of a hand with a khanjar superimposed on a double "SS" rune "sig" ("sovulo").

14th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Galician No. 1, since 1945 - Ukrainian No. 1); she is the SS division (Sichevyh Striltsov) "Galicia"

The emblem of the division was the ancient coat of arms of the city of Lvov, the capital of Galicia - a lion walking on its hind legs, surrounded by 3 three-pronged crowns, inscribed in the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield.

15th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Latvian No. 1)

The emblem of the division was originally a "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of the Roman numeral "I" above the stylized printed capital Latin letter "L" ("Latvia"). Subsequently, the division received another tactical sign - 3 stars against the background of the rising sun. 3 stars meant 3 Latvian provinces - Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Latgale (a similar image adorned the cockade of the pre-war army of the Republic of Latvia).

16th SS Infantry Division "Reichsführer SS"

This SS division was named after Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler. The emblem of the division was a bunch of 3 oak leaves inscribed in a heraldic shield-tarch with 2 acorns near the handle framed by a laurel wreath, inscribed in a shield-tarch.

17th SS Panzer Division "Götz von Berlichingen"

This SS division was named after the hero of the Peasant War in Germany (1524-1526), ​​the imperial knight Georg (Götz, Goetz) von Berlichingen (1480-1562), the fighter against the separatism of the German princes for the unity of Germany, the leader of the rebel peasants and the hero of the drama Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "Goetz von Berlichingen with an iron hand" (Knight Goetz, who lost his hand in one of the battles, ordered to make an iron prosthesis instead of it, which he owned no worse than others - a hand of flesh and blood). The emblem of the division was the iron hand of Goetz von Berlichingen clenched into a fist (crossing the shield-tarch from right to left and from bottom to top diagonally).

18th SS Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division "Horst Wessel"

This division was named after one of the "martyrs of the Nazi movement" - the commander of the Berlin attack aircraft Horst Wessel, who composed the song "Banners up"! (which became the anthem of the NSDAP and the "second anthem" of the Third Reich) and was killed by communist militants. The emblem of the division was a straight naked sword with the tip up, crossing the shield-tarch from right to left diagonally. According to the surviving data, the Horst Wessel division also had another emblem, which was the Latin letters SA stylized as runes (SA = Sturmabteilungen, that is, “assault units”; Horst Wessel, the “martyr of the Movement”, in whose honor the division got its name , was one of the leaders of the Berlin stormtroopers) inscribed in a circle.

19th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Latvian No. 2)

The emblem of the division at the time of formation was the “Varangian” (“Norman”) heraldic shield with the image of the Roman numeral “II” above the stylized printed capital Latin letter “L” (“Latvia”). Subsequently, the division received another tactical sign - an upright right-sided swastika on the "Varangian" shield. The swastika - the “fiery cross” (“ugunskrusts”) or the “cross (of the god of thunder) Perkon” (“perkonkrusts”) has been a traditional element of the Latvian folk ornament for centuries.

20th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Estonian No. 1)

The emblem of the division was the “Varangian” (“Norman”) heraldic shield with the image of a straight naked sword, point upwards, crossing the shield from right to left diagonally and superimposed on the capital Latin letter “E” (“E”, that is, “Estonia”). According to some reports, this emblem was sometimes depicted on the helmets of Estonian SS volunteers.

21st mountain (mountain) division of the Waffen SS "Skanderbeg" (Albanian No. 1)

This division, recruited mainly from Albanians, was named after the national hero of the Albanian people, Prince George Alexander Kastriot (nicknamed "Iskander-beg" or, in short, "Skanderbeg" by the Turks). While Skanderbeg (1403-1468) was alive, the Ottoman Turks, who repeatedly suffered defeats from him, could not subjugate Albania to their power. The emblem of the division was the ancient coat of arms of Albania, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch - a double-headed eagle (the ancient Albanian rulers claimed kinship with the basileus-emperors of Byzantium). According to the surviving information, the division also had another tactical sign - a stylized image of the “Skanderbeg helmet” with goat horns superimposed on 2 horizontal stripes.

22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Maria Theresa" (and not "Maria Theresa", as they often write and think wrong!)

This division, recruited mainly from ethnic Germans living in Hungary and from Hungarians, was named after the Empress of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" and Austria, Queen of Bohemia (Czech Republic) and Hungary Maria Theresa von Habsburg (1717-1780), one of the most prominent rulers of the second half of the 18th century. The emblem of the division was the image of a cornflower flower inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch with 8 petals, a stem, 2 leaves and 1 bud - (subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Danube Monarchy, who wanted to join the German Empire, until 1918 wore cornflower in their buttonhole - the favorite flower of the German emperor Wilhelm II of Hohenzollern).

23rd Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Kama"

Croatian No. 2, consisting of Croatian, Bosnian and Herzegovina Muslims. "Kama" is the name of a cold weapon traditional for Balkan Muslims with a curved blade (something like a scimitar). The tactical sign of the division was a stylized image of the astronomical sign of the sun in a crown of rays on a heraldic shield-tarch. Information has also been preserved about 2 other tactical signs of the division, which were:

1) the rune "Tyr" with 2 arrow-shaped processes perpendicular to the trunk of the rune, in its lower part:

2) rune "odal" (similar to the tactical sign of the SS division "Prince Eugene")

23rd Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Netherlands" (Netherlands No. 1)

The name of this division is explained by the fact that its personnel were recruited mainly from the Dutch (Dutch) Waffen SS volunteers. The emblem of the division was the rune "odal" ("otilia") with the lower ends in the form of arrows, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch.

24th Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division of the Waffen SS "Karst Jaegers" ("Karst Jaegers", "Karstjäger")

The name of this division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from the natives of the mountainous Karst region, located on the border between Italy and Yugoslavia. The emblem of the division was a stylized image of a “karst flower” (“karstbloom”), inscribed in the heraldic shield of the “Varangian” (“Norman”) form.

25th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Hunyadi" (Hungarian No. 1)

This division, recruited mainly from Hungarians, was named after the medieval Transylvanian-Hungarian Hunyadi dynasty, the most prominent representatives of which were Janos Hunyadi (Johannes Guniades, Giovanni Vaivoda, 1385-1456) and his son King Matthias Corvinus (Mathias Hunyadi, 1443- 1490), who heroically fought for the freedom of Hungary against the Ottoman Turks. The emblem of the division was the “Varangian” (“Norman”) heraldic shield with the image of the “arrow-shaped cross” - the symbol of the Viennese National Socialist Arrow Crossed (“Nilashists”) party Ferenc Salashi - under 2 three-pronged crowns.

During the Second World War, the divisions of the SS troops were considered the elite formations of the armed forces of the Third Reich.

Almost all of these divisions had their own emblems (tactical, or identification marks), which were by no means worn by the ranks of these divisions as sleeve patches (rare exceptions did not change the overall picture at all), but were applied with white or black oil paint on divisional military equipment and vehicles, buildings in which the ranks of the respective divisions were quartered, the corresponding signs in the locations of the units, etc. These identification (tactical) signs (emblems) of SS divisions - almost always inscribed in heraldic shields (having the "Varangian", or "Norman", form or the form of a tarch) - in many cases differed from the lapel signs of the ranks of the corresponding divisions.

1. 1st SS Panzer Division "SS Adolf Hitler's Leibstandarte".

The name of the division means "SS Regiment of Adolf Hitler's personal guard". The emblem (tactical, or identification mark) of the division was a shield-tarch with the image of a master key (and not a key, as is often incorrectly written and thought). The choice of such an unusual emblem is explained very simply. The surname of the division commander Josef ("Sepp") Dietrich was "speaking" (or, in heraldic language, "vowel"). In German, "Dietrich" means "master key". After "Sepp" Dietrich was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the division began to be framed with 2 oak leaves or a semicircular oak wreath.

2. 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich".

The name of the division - "Reich" ("Das Reich") translated into Russian means "Empire", "Power". The emblem of the division was the "wolfsangel" ("wolf hook") inscribed in the shield-tarch - an old German amulet sign that scared away wolves and werewolves (in German: "werewolves", in Greek: "lycanthropes", in Icelandic: " ulfhedins", in Norwegian: "varulvov" or "vargs", in Slavic: "ghouls", "volkolaks", "volkudlaks" or "wolflacs"), located horizontally.

3. 3rd SS Panzer Division "Dead Head" ("Totenkopf").

The division got its name from the emblem of the SS - the "dead (Adam's) head" (skull with bones) - a symbol of loyalty to the leader until death. The same emblem, inscribed in the shield-tarch, also served as the identification mark of the division.

4. 4th SS Motorized Infantry Division "Police" ("Police"), also known as the "(4th) SS Police Division".

This division got its name because it was formed from the ranks of the German police. The emblem of the division was the "wolf hook" - "wolfsangel" in a vertical position, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch.

5. 5th SS Panzer Division "Viking".

The name of this division is explained by the fact that, along with the Germans, it was recruited from the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden), as well as Belgium, the Netherlands, Latvia and Estonia. In addition, Swiss, Russian, Ukrainian and Spanish volunteers served in the ranks of the Viking division. The emblem of the division was the "oblique cross" ("sun wheel"), that is, a swastika with curved crossbars, on a heraldic shield-tarch.

6. 6th Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division of the SS "Nord" ("North").

The name of this division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from natives of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia and Latvia). The emblem of the division was the ancient German rune "hagall" inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch (resembling the Russian letter "Zh"). The rune "hagall" ("hagalaz") was considered a symbol of unshakable faith.

7. 7th SS Volunteer Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division "Prince Eugen (Eugen)".

This division, recruited mainly from ethnic Germans living in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Vojvodina, Banat and Romania, was named after the famous commander of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" in the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries. Prince Eugene (in German: Eugen) of Savoy, who became famous for his victories over the Ottoman Turks and, in particular, won Belgrade for the Roman-German emperor (1717). Eugene of Savoy also became famous in the War of the Spanish Succession for his victories over the French and earned himself no less fame as a patron of the arts. The emblem of the division was the ancient Germanic rune "odal" ("otilia"), inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, meaning "heritage" and "blood relationship".

8. 8th SS Cavalry Division "Florian Geyer".

This division was named after the imperial knight Florian Geyer, who led during the Peasants' War in Germany (1524-1526) one of the detachments of German peasants ("Black detachment", in German: "Schwarzer Haufen"), who rebelled against the princes (large feudal lords who opposed the unification of Germany under the scepter of the emperor). Since Florian Geyer wore black armor and his "Black Squad" fought under a black banner, the SS considered him as their predecessor (especially since he opposed not only the princes, but also for the unification of the German state). Florian Geyer (immortalized in the drama of the same name by the classic of German literature Gerhart Hauptmann) died heroically in battle with the superior forces of the German princes in 1525 in the Taubertal valley. His image entered German folklore (especially song folklore), enjoying no less popularity than, say, Stepan Razin - in Russian song folklore. The emblem of the division was a naked sword inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, pointing up, crossing the shield from right to left diagonally, and a horse's head.

9. 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen".

This division was named after the dynasty of the Swabian dukes (since 1079) and the medieval Roman-German Kaiser emperors (1138-1254) - the Hohenstaufen (Staufen). Under them, the medieval German state ("Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation"), founded by Charlemagne (in 800 A.D.) and renewed by Otto (n) I the Great, reached the peak of its power, subordinating Italy to its influence, Sicily, the Holy Land and Poland. The Hohenstaufens tried, relying on economically highly developed Northern Italy as a base, to centralize their power over Germany and restore the Roman Empire - "at least" - Western (within the borders of the empire of Charlemagne), ideally - the entire Roman Empire, including the Eastern Roman (Byzantine), in which, however, they did not succeed. The most famous representatives of the Hohenstaufen dynasty are the Crusader Kaisers Frederick I Barbarossa (who died during the Third Crusade) and his great-nephew Frederick II (Emperor of Rome, King of Germany, Sicily and Jerusalem), as well as Konradin, who was defeated in the fight against the Pope and Duke Charles of Anjou for Italy and beheaded by the French in 1268. The emblem of the division was a vertically naked sword inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, point upwards, superimposed on the capital Latin letter "H" ("Hohenstaufen").

10. 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg".

This SS division was named after the German Renaissance commander Georg (Jörg) von Frundsberg, nicknamed the "Father of the Landsknechts" (1473-1528), under whose command the troops of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and King of Spain Charles I of Habsburg conquered Italy and in 1514 took Rome, forcing the pope to recognize the supremacy of the Empire. They say that the ferocious Georg Frundsberg always carried a golden noose with him, with which he intended to strangle the Pope if he fell into his hands alive. In the ranks of the SS division "Frundsberg" served in his youth, the famous German writer, Nobel Prize winner Günter Grass. The emblem of this SS division was the capital Gothic letter "F" ("Frundsberg") inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, superimposed on an oak leaf, located diagonally from right to left.

11. 11th SS Motorized Infantry Division "Nordland" ("Northern Country").

The name of the division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from volunteers born in northern European countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Latvia and Estonia). The emblem of this SS division was a heraldic shield-tarch with the image of a "sun wheel" inscribed in a circle.

12. 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth"

This division was recruited mainly from the ranks of the youth organization of the Third Reich "Hitler Youth" ("Hitler Youth"). The tactical sign of this "youth" SS division was the ancient German "solar" rune "sig" ("sovulo", "sovelu"), inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch - a symbol of victory and the emblem of the Nazi youth organizations "Jungfolk" and "Hitler Youth", from among whose members were recruited volunteers of the division, imposed on the master key ("alignment with Dietrich").

13. 13th mountain (mountain) division of the Waffen SS "Khanjar"

(often also referred to in military literature as "Handshar" or "Yatagan"), which consisted of Croatian, Bosnian and Herzegovina Muslims (Bosnyaks). "Khanjar" is a traditional Muslim edged weapon with a curved blade (related to the Russian words "konchar" and "dagger", also meaning edged weapons). The emblem of the division was a curved sword-khanjar inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, directed diagonally upwards from left to right. According to the surviving data, the division also had another identification mark, which was an image of a hand with a khanjar superimposed on a double "SS" rune "sig" ("sovulo").

14. 14th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Galician No. 1, since 1945 - Ukrainian No. 1); she is the SS division "Galicia".

The emblem of the division was the old coat of arms of the city of Lvov, the capital of Galicia - a lion walking on its hind legs, surrounded by 3 three-pronged crowns, inscribed in the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield.

15. 15th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Latvian No. 1).

The emblem of the division was originally a "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of the Roman numeral "I" above the stylized printed capital Latin letter "L" ("Latvia"). Subsequently, the division received another tactical sign - 3 stars against the background of the rising sun. 3 stars meant 3 Latvian provinces - Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Latgale (a similar image adorned the cockade of the military personnel of the pre-war army of the Republic of Latvia).

16. 16th SS Infantry Division "Reichsführer SS".

This SS division was named after Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler. The emblem of the division was a bunch of 3 oak leaves inscribed in a heraldic shield-tarch with 2 acorns near the handle framed by a laurel wreath, inscribed in a shield-tarch.

17. 17th SS Panzer Division "Götz von Berlichingen".

This SS division was named after the hero of the Peasant War in Germany (1524-1526), ​​the imperial knight Georg (Götz, Goetz) von Berlichingen (1480-1562), the fighter against the separatism of the German princes for the unity of Germany, the leader of the rebel peasants and the hero of the drama Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "Goetz von Berlichingen with an iron hand" (the knight Goetz, who lost his arm in one of the battles, ordered to make an iron prosthesis for himself, which he owned no worse than others - a hand of flesh and blood). The emblem of the division was the iron hand of Goetz von Berlichingen clenched into a fist (crossing the shield-tarch from right to left and from bottom to top diagonally).

18. 18th SS Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division "Horst Wessel".

This division was named after one of the "martyrs of the Nazi movement" - the commander of the Berlin attack aircraft Horst Wessel, who composed the song "Banners up"! (which became the anthem of the NSDAP and the "second anthem" of the Third Reich) and was killed by communist militants. The emblem of the division was a naked sword with the tip up, crossing the shield-tarch from right to left diagonally. According to the surviving data, the Horst Wessel division also had another emblem, which was the Latin letters SA stylized as runes (SA = Sturmabteilungen, i.e. "storm troops"; "martyr of the Movement" Horst Wessel, after whom the division got its name , was one of the leaders of the Berlin stormtroopers) inscribed in a circle.

19. 19th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Latvian No. 2).

The emblem of the division at the time of formation was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of the Roman numeral "II" above the stylized printed capital Latin letter "L" ("Latvia"). Subsequently, the division received another tactical sign - an upright right-sided swastika on the "Varangian" shield. The swastika - the "fiery cross" ("ugunskrusts") or the "cross (of the god of thunder) Perkon" ("perkonkrusts") has been a traditional element of the Latvian folk ornament from time immemorial.

20. 20th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Estonian No. 1).

The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of a straight naked sword, point upwards, crossing the shield from right to left diagonally and superimposed on the capital Latin letter "E" ("E", that is, "Estonia"). According to some reports, this emblem was sometimes depicted on the helmets of Estonian SS volunteers.

21. 21st mountain (mountain) division of the Waffen SS "Skanderbeg" (Albanian No. 1).

This division, recruited mainly from Albanians, was named after the national hero of the Albanian people, Prince George Alexander Kastriot (nicknamed by the Turks "Iskander-beg" or, for short, "Skanderbeg"). While Skanderbeg (1403-1468) was alive, the Ottoman Turks, who repeatedly suffered defeats from him, could not subjugate Albania to their power. The emblem of the division was the ancient coat of arms of Albania, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch - a double-headed eagle (the ancient Albanian rulers claimed kinship with the basileus-emperors of Byzantium). According to surviving information, the division also had another tactical sign - a stylized image of the "Skanderbeg helmet" with goat horns superimposed on 2 horizontal stripes.

22. 22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Maria Theresa".

This division, recruited mainly from ethnic Germans living in Hungary and from Hungarians, was named after the Empress of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" and Austria, Queen of Bohemia (Czech Republic) and Hungary Maria Theresa von Habsburg (1717-1780), one of the most prominent rulers of the second half of the 18th century. The emblem of the division was the image of a cornflower flower inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch with 8 petals, a stem, 2 leaves and 1 bud - (subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Danube Monarchy, who wanted to join the German Empire, until 1918 wore cornflower in their buttonhole - the favorite flower of the German emperor Wilhelm II of Hohenzollern).

23. 23rd Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Kama" (Croatian No. 2)

consisting of Croatian, Bosnian and Herzegovinian Muslims. "Kama" is the name of a cold weapon traditional for the Balkan Muslims with a curved blade (something like a scimitar). The tactical sign of the division was a stylized image of the astronomical sign of the sun in a crown of rays on a heraldic shield-tarch. Information has also been preserved about another tactical sign of the division, which was a rune "Tyur" with 2 arrow-shaped processes perpendicular to the trunk of the rune in its lower part.

24. 23rd Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Netherlands"

(Dutch No. 1).

The name of this division is explained by the fact that its personnel were recruited mainly from the Dutch (Dutch) Waffen SS volunteers. The emblem of the division was the rune "odal" ("otilia") with the lower ends in the form of arrows, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch.

25. 24th Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division of the Waffen SS "Karst Jaegers" ("Jägers Karst", "Karstjäger").

The name of this division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from the natives of the mountainous Karst region, located on the border between Italy and Yugoslavia. The emblem of the division was a stylized image of a "karst flower" ("karstbloom"), inscribed in the heraldic shield of the "Varangian" ("Norman") form.

26. 25th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Hunyadi"

(Hungarian No. 1).

This division, recruited mainly from Hungarians, was named after the medieval Transylvanian-Hungarian Hunyadi dynasty, the most prominent representatives of which were Janos Hunyadi (Johannes Guniades, Giovanni Vaivoda, 1385-1456) and his son King Matthias Corvinus (Mathias Hunyadi, 1443- 1490), who heroically fought for the freedom of Hungary against the Ottoman Turks. The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of the "arrow-shaped cross" - the symbol of the Viennese National Socialist party "Arrow Crossed" ("Nigerlashists") Ferenc Salashi - under 2 three-pronged crowns.

27. 26th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Gömbös" (Hungarian No. 2).

This division, which consisted mainly of Hungarians, was named after the Hungarian Foreign Minister Count Gyula Gömbes (1886-1936), a staunch supporter of a close military-political alliance with Germany and an ardent anti-Semite. The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield depicting the same arrow-shaped cross, but under 3 three-pronged crowns.

28. 27th SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Langemark" (Flemish No. 1).

This division, formed from the German-speaking Belgians (Flemings), was named after the place of the bloody battle that took place on the territory of Belgium during the Great (First World) War, in 1914. The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of the "triskelion" ("trifos" or "triquetra").

29. 28th SS Panzer Division. Information about the tactical sign of the division has not been preserved.

30. 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Wallonia".

This division owed its name to the fact that it was formed mainly from French-speaking Belgians (Walloons). The emblem of the division was a heraldic shield-tarch with the image of a straight sword and a curved saber crossed in the shape of the letter "X" with the handles up.

31. 29th Grenadier Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "RONA" (Russian No. 1).

This division - "Russian Liberation People's Army" consisted of Russian volunteers B.V. Kaminsky. The tactical sign of the division, applied to its equipment, judging by the surviving photographs, was a broadened cross with the abbreviation "RONA" under it.

32. 29th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Italy" (Italian No. 1).

This division owed its name to the fact that it consisted of Italian volunteers who remained loyal to Benito Mussolini after he was released from prison by a detachment of German paratroopers led by SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny. The tactical sign of the division was the vertically located lictor fascia (in Italian: "littorio"), inscribed in the heraldic shield of the "Varangian" ("Norman") form - a bunch of rods (rods) with an ax embedded in them (the official emblem of the National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini) .

33. 30th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Russian No. 2, it is also Belarusian No. 1).

This division consisted mainly of former fighters of the "Belarusian Regional Defense" detachments. The tactical badge of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of a double ("patriarchal") cross of the Holy Princess Euphrosyne of Polotsk, located horizontally.

It should be noted that the double ("patriarchal") cross, located vertically, served as a tactical sign of the 79th Infantry, and located diagonally - the emblem of the 2nd Motorized Infantry Division of the German Wehrmacht.

34. 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division (also known as the 23rd Waffen SS Volunteer Mountain Division).

The emblem of the division was the head of a deer full face on the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield.

35. 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Bohemia and Moravia" (German: "Böhmen und Meren").

This division was formed from the natives of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, who came under the German control of the territories of the Czech Republic (after the declaration of independence by Slovakia). The emblem of the division was the Bohemian (Czech) crowned lion walking on its hind legs, and the orb crowned with a double cross on the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield.

36. 32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "January 30".

This division was named in memory of the day Adolf Hitler came to power (January 30, 1933). The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield with the image of a vertically located "combat rune" - a symbol of the ancient German god of war Tyr (Tira, Tiu, Tsiu, Tuisto, Tuesco).

37. 33rd Cavalry Division of the Waffen SS "Hungaria", or "Hungary" (Hungarian No. 3).

This division, which consisted of Hungarian volunteers, received the appropriate name. Information about the tactical sign (emblem) of the division has not been preserved.

38. 33rd Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Charlemagne" (French No. 1).

This division was named after the Frankish king Charlemagne ("Charlemagne", from the Latin "Carolus Magnus", 742-814), who was crowned emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 800 in Rome (which included the territories of modern Northern Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and part of Spain), and is considered the founder of modern German and French statehood. The emblem of the division was a dissected "Varangian" ("Norman") shield with a half of the Roman-German imperial eagle and 3 heraldic lilies (French: fleurs de lys) of the French kingdom.

39. 34th SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Landstorm Nederland" (Dutch No. 2).

"Landstorm Nederland" means "Netherlands militia". The emblem of the division was the "Dutch national" version of the "wolf hook" - "wolfsangel" inscribed in the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield (adopted in the Netherlands National Socialist movement of Anton-Adrian Mussert).

40. 36th SS Police Grenadier (Infantry) Division ("Police Division II")

consisted of the ranks of the German police mobilized for military service. The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield with the image of the hagall rune and the Roman numeral "II".

41. 36th Grenadier Division of the Waffen SS "Dirlewanger".

The emblem of the division was inscribed in the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield 2 crossed in the shape of the letter "X" hand grenades - "mallets" with handles down.

In addition, in the last months of the war, the formation of the following new SS divisions, mentioned in the orders of the imperial leader (Reichsführer) SS Heinrich Himmler, was started (but not completed):

42. 35th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the SS "Police" ("Police"), it is also the 35th Police Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the SS. Information about the tactical sign (emblem) of the division has not been preserved.

43. 36th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS. Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

44. 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Lützow".

The division was named in honor of the hero of the fight against Napoleon, Major of the Prussian army Adolf von Lützow (1782-1834), who formed the first in the history of the Wars of Liberation (1813-1815) German patriots against Napoleonic tyranny, a volunteer corps ("Lützow's black huntsmen"). The tactical sign of the division was the image of a straight naked sword, point upwards, inscribed in a heraldic shield-tarch, superimposed on the capital Gothic letter "L", that is, "Lützow").

45. 38th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the SS "Nibelungen" ("Nibelungen").

The division was named after the heroes of the medieval Germanic heroic epic - the Nibelungen. This was originally the name given to the spirits of darkness and fog, elusive to the enemy and possessing countless treasures; then - the knights of the kingdom of the Burgundians who took possession of these treasures. As you know, SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler dreamed of creating an "SS order state" on the territory of Burgundy after the war. The emblem of the division was the image of the winged invisibility helmet of the Nibelungen inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch.

46. ​​39th mountain (mountain rifle) division of the SS "Andreas Gofer".

The division was named in honor of the national hero of Austria Andreas Hofer (1767-1810), the leader of the Tyrolean rebels against Napoleonic tyranny, betrayed by traitors to the French and shot in 1810 in the Italian fortress of Mantua. To the tune of the folk song about the execution of Andreas Hofer - "Under Mantua in chains" (German: "Zu Mantua in banden"), German social democrats in the twentieth century composed their own song "We are the young guard of the proletariat" (German: "Vir zind di junge garde des proletariats"), and the Soviet Bolsheviks - "We are the young guard of workers and peasants." Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

47. 40th SS Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division "Feldgerrngalle" (not to be confused with the German Wehrmacht division of the same name).

This division was named after the building of the "Generals' Gallery" (Feldgerrngalle), in front of which on November 9, 1923, the Reichswehr and the police of the Bavarian separatist leader Gustav Ritter von Kahr shot down a column of participants in the Hitler-Ludendorff coup against the government of the Weimar Republic. Information about the tactical sign of the division has not been preserved.

48. 41st Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Kalevala" (Finnish No. 1).

This SS division, named after the Finnish heroic folk epos, began to be formed from among the Finnish Waffen SS volunteers who did not obey the order given in 1943 by the Finnish Commander-in-Chief Marshal Baron Carl Gustav Emil von Mannerheim to return from the Eastern Front to their homeland and re-join the Finnish army . Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

49. 42nd SS Infantry Division "Lower Saxony" ("Niedersachsen").

Information about the emblem of the division, the formation of which was not completed, has not been preserved.

50. 43rd Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Reichsmarschall".

This division, the formation of which was begun on the basis of parts of the German air force ("Luftwaffe"), left without aviation equipment, cadets of flight schools and ground personnel, was named after the Imperial Marshal (Reichsmarschall) of the Third Reich Hermann Goering. Reliable information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

51. 44th Waffen SS Motorized Infantry Division "Wallenstein".

This SS division, recruited from ethnic Germans living in the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and Slovakia, as well as from Czech and Moravian volunteers, was named after the German imperial commander during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), Duke of Friedland Albrecht Eusebius Wenzel von Wallenstein (1583-1634), a Czech by birth, the hero of the dramatic trilogy of the classic of German literature Friedrich von Schiller "Wallenstein" ("Wallenstein's Camp", "Piccolomini" and "The Death of Wallenstein"). Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

52. 45th SS Infantry Division "Varyags" ("Vareger").

Initially, SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler intended to give the name "Varyags" ("Vareger") to the Nordic (Northern European) SS division, formed from Norwegians, Swedes, Danes and other Scandinavians who sent their volunteer contingents to help the Third Reich. However, according to a number of sources, Adolf Hitler "rejected" the name "Varyags" for his Nordic SS volunteers, seeking to avoid undesirable associations with the medieval "Varangian guard" (consisting of Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, Russians and Anglo-Saxons) in the service of the Byzantine emperors. The Fuhrer of the Third Reich had a negative attitude towards the Constantinople "Vasileus", considering them, like all Byzantines, "morally and spiritually decomposed, deceitful, treacherous, corrupt and treacherous decadents", and not wanting to be associated with the rulers of Byzantium.

It should be noted that Hitler was not alone in his antipathy towards the Byzantines. Most Western Europeans fully shared this antipathy towards the "Romans" (since the era of the Crusades), and it is no coincidence that in the Western European lexicon there is even a special concept of "Byzantinism" (meaning: "treachery", "cynicism", "meanness", " groveling before the strong and ruthlessness towards the weak", "treachery"... in general, "the Greeks are deceitful even to this day," as the well-known Russian chronicler wrote). As a result, the German-Scandinavian division formed as part of the Waffen SS (which later also included the Dutch, Walloons, Flemings, Finns, Latvians, Estonians, Ukrainians and Russians) was given the name "Viking". Along with this, on the basis of Russian white emigrants and former citizens of the USSR in the Balkans, the formation of another SS division called "Vareger" ("Varangians"); however, due to the circumstances, the matter was limited to the formation in the Balkans of the "Russian (security) corps (Russian security group)" and a separate Russian regiment of the SS "Varyag".

During the Second World War on the territory of Serbia in 1941-1944. in alliance with the Germans, the Serbian SS Volunteer Corps also operated, consisting of former military personnel of the Yugoslav royal army (mainly of Serbian origin), most of whom were members of the Serbian monarcho-fascist movement Z.B.O.R., headed by Dmitry Letic. The tactical sign of the corps was a tarch shield and an image of a grain ear superimposed on a naked sword with the point down, located diagonally.