German 13th Infantry Division

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Symbol of the 13th Panzer Division
Symbol of the 13th Panzer Division

13.Infanterie-Division
13.Infanterie-Division (mot)
13.Panzer-Division
13.Panzer-Division Feldherrnhalle
Panzer-Division Feldherrnhalle 2


Created in 1934 or 1935 under the cover name Infanterieführer IV, then unveiled as the 13th Infantry Division when the creation of the Wehrmacht was announced. Upgraded to 13th Motorized Infantry Division in 1937, and as such participated in the campaigns against Poland (1939) and western Europe (1940). Reorganized as 13th Panzer Division in 1940. Participated in Operation Barbarossa in 1941 and the advance on the Caucasus in 1942. Suffered heavy losses in the withdrawal of 1943 and subsequent defensive actions in the south through 1944. Partially refitted in Hungary, then encircled and destroyed there in the winter of 1944-1945, with heavy fighting in Budapest. Re-created as Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2 in the spring. Surrendered in Austria at war's end.

[edit] War Crimes

During the September Campaign in Poland soldiers from the division took part in massacres of civilian population in the village of Drzewica over the course of the 8th and 9th of September. Medical columns marked with Red Cross signs were also attacked. Soldiers from the division used civilians as human shields[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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