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The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (German: 3. SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") [1] was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, Totenkopf, is German for "death's head" – the skull and crossbones symbol – and it is thus sometimes referred to as the Death's ...
SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV; lit. ' Death's Head Units ' [2]) was a major branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary Schutzstaffel (SS) organisation. It was responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps for Nazi Germany, among similar duties. [3]
Totenkopf (German: [ˈtoːtn̩ˌkɔpf], i.e. skull, literally "dead person's head") is the German word for skull. The word is often used to denote a figurative, graphic or sculptural symbol, common in Western culture, consisting of the representation of a human skull – usually frontal, more rarely in profile with or without the mandible .
One of the participating German units, the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf, had been strongly indoctrinated with the Nazi Party ideology by its commander, Theodor Eicke. Eicke's men were fanatically loyal to him and to Germany. The men of Totenkopf fought fiercely throughout the campaign, suffering higher death rates than other German forces. [6]
German SS doctor, who carried out deadly experiments on humans in the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau 1939 Franz Karl Reichleitner: Second and last Commandant of Sobibor extermination camp: 357065 6369213 Rudolf Reinecke SS Totenkopf and SS Frunsberg Divisions Died 1995 Rudolf von Ribbentrop: Waffen-SS Officer (branch: Panzertruppe) Fritz ...
SS-Ehrenring design. The symbolism of the ring reflects Himmler's interest in Germanic mysticism and includes the Totenkopf symbol and Armanen runes. [4] The ring was designed by Karl Maria Wiligut, an Austrian occultist and SS-Brigadeführer with manufacturing provided by the Otto and Karolina Gahr Family Jewelry from Munich. [5]
The SS Division Totenkopf, also known as the Totenkopf Division, went on to become one of the most effective German formations on the Eastern Front, fighting during invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, as well as the summer offensive in 1942, the capture of Kharkov, in the Demyansk Pocket, during the Vistula–Oder Offensive, and the Battle of ...
[220] [221] The Totenkopf (death's head) symbol, used by German military units for hundreds of years, had been chosen for the SS by Julius Schreck. [222] Himmler placed particular importance on the death's-head rings; they were never to be sold, and were to be returned to him upon the death of the owner. He interpreted the death's-head symbol ...