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SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") [1] was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, Totenkopf, is German for "death's head" – the skull and crossbones symbol – and it is thus sometimes referred to as the Death's Head Division. [2]
It received command of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (the Leibstandarte and the SS-Verfügungs-Division, renamed Reich) and the armed SS-TV regiments (the Totenkopf-Division together with the independent Totenkopf-Standarten). The Waffen-SS was greatly expanded and allowed to recruit volunteers from conquered territories from the ethnic German and ...
While the Totenkopf was the universal cap badge of the SS, the SS-TV also wore this insignia on the right collar tab to distinguish itself from other SS formations. The Totenkopf was also used as the unit insignia of the Panzer forces of the German Heer (Army), and also by the Panzer units of the Luftwaffe, including those of the elite ...
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]
2nd pattern SS Totenkopf, 1934–45. While different uniforms existed [1] for the SS over time, the all-black SS uniform adopted in 1932 is the most well known. [2] The black–white–red colour scheme was characteristic of the German Empire, and it was later adopted by the Nazi Party.
Eicke and the SS Division Totenkopf in the Soviet Union in 1941. At the beginning of World War II in 1939, the success of the Totenkopf's sister formations, the SS-Infanterie-Regiment (mot) Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and the three Standarten of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) led to the creation of three additional Waffen-SS divisions by ...
All Waffen-SS divisions were ordered in a single series of numbers as formed, regardless of type. [1] Those with ethnic groups listed were at least nominally recruited from those groups. Many of the higher-numbered units were divisions in name only, being in reality only small battlegroups (Kampfgruppen).
Hellmuth Becker (12 August 1902, Alt Ruppin, Neuruppin – 28 February 1953) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era.In World War II, he led the SS Division Totenkopf and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.