Colorizations By Users

SS Totenkopf in Russia colorized

Bundesarchiv, colorized by Schuultz

A squadron of the Waffen SS Division Totenkopf seemingly trying to figure out where to go next in Russia, September 1941.

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One third of the original enlisted men of the Totenkopf Division were drafted from Concentration Camp guards, hence the name and insignia usually reserved for those Guards and Einsatzgruppen.

First brought into action during the Battle of France, they fought fanatically, and it did not take long until the unit committed its first major war crime, machine gunning 97 British Officers shortly after their surrender during the Battle of France.

By the end of the Battle of France, Totenkopf had experienced extremely high losses, including over 300 officers and was basically combat ineffective.
From this point on, it was refilled with regular Waffen SS recruits, and former Camp Guards ended up making out only a small portion of the Division.

During Operation Barbarossa, the unit saw action in the North, near Lithuania and Latvia, and ended up marching on Leningrad. On the way there, it was halted and encircled by the Soviet Army, in what was to become known as the Demjansk Pocket.

By the time Totenkopf broke out of the pocket in April 1942 , it had lost 73% of the personnel it had started the campaign with, and regained only 28% of the original divisional strength in replacements. It was therefore sent to France to be refitted.

Colorized by Schuultz