The 13th Panzer Division ( en, 13th Armoured Division) was a unit of the German Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, established in 1940. The division was organized under the code name Infantry Command IV (''Infanterieführer IV'') in October 1934. On October 15, 1935, following Germany's open rejection of terms of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

restricting Germany's military, the division was designated the 13th Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division''). The division was motorized during the winter of 1936-1937, and was accordingly renamed the 13th Motorized Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert)'') on October 12, 1937. The 13th Motorized Infantry Division participated in the campaigns against Poland (1939) and western Europe (1940). Following the Fall of France in June 1940, on October 11, 1940, the division was reorganized as the 13th Panzer Division (''13. Panzer-Division''). It participated in

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

(the invasion of the USSR) in 1941 and the advance on the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

in 1942. The division suffered heavy losses in the retreats of 1943 and 1944. It was partially refitted in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, where it was encircled and destroyed by Red Army in the winter of 1944-1945. The formation was reformed as Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2 in the spring of 1945 and surrendered in May 1945. During the invasion of Poland, the troops of the division committed war crimes, including reprisal killings, using civilians as human shields, and destroying a medical column.

Operational history

The 13th Motorized Infantry Division participated in the invasion of Poland, as part of the southern thrust, and the Battle of France, advancing through Belgium towards Calais and on to

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

.Mitcham (2000), p. 112. The 13th Panzer Division was formed in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in October 1940 from the 13th Motorized Infantry Division and was immediately sent to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

but was not part of the Balkan campaign. It served in

as part of ''Panzer'' Group 1 (

Army Group South Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group So ...

), and it contributed to the successful encirclements of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

forces at Kiev. At the end of 1941, it was positioned at

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While ...

; however, it was forced to retreat due to fierce Soviet counter-attacks.Mitcham (2000), p. 113. In 1942 and 1943, the division formed part of the

First Panzer Army The 1st Panzer Army (german: 1. Panzerarmee) was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II. When originally formed on 1 March 1940, the predecessor of the 1st Panzer Army was named Panzer Group ...

(

Army Group A Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) was the name of several German Army Groups during World War II. During the Battle of France, the army group named Army Group A was composed of 45½ divisions, including 7 armored panzer divisions. It was responsibl ...

); it was involved in the battles for the

oil fields and at the Kuban Peninsula after the Battle of Stalingrad. In the fall of 1943, it was withdrawn to Western Ukraine, where it fought defensive battles near the river

Dniepr } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...

. The offensive of the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

pushed the Germans to their starting positions of June 1941. The 13th Panzer Division was attached to

Army Group South Ukraine __NOTOC__ Army Group South Ukraine (german: Heeresgruppe Südukraine) was a German army group on the Eastern Front during World War II. Army Group South Ukraine was created on 5 April 1944 by renaming Army Group A. This army group saw action dur ...

, which had orders to stop the Soviets from capturing the Romanian oil fields. The division was reformed in July and it received modern equipment, including the

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in So ...

G tank and the

Jagdpanzer IV The ''Jagdpanzer'' IV, Sd.Kfz. 162, was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer, literally "hunting tank") designs, it was develop ...

. The Red Army offensive of August 1944 resulted in the deaths or imprisonment of most of the division. In the

Battle of Debrecen The Battle of Debrecen, called by the Red Army the ''Debrecen Offensive Operation'', was a battle taking place 6–29 October 1944 on the Eastern Front in Hungary during World War II. The offensive was conducted by the 2nd Ukrainian Front ...

, the division helped to annihilate three Soviet

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

; however, it was encircled in Budapest at the end of 1944 and destroyed in January 1945.Mitcham (2000), p. 114. In the spring of 1945, the division was reformed under the name ''Feldherrnhalle 2''. The last engagements with the Soviets were fought on the Austro-Hungarian border. The division surrendered in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in May 1945.

War crimes

During the invasion of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, the division used civilians as human shields in the battle with the retreating Polish

Prusy Army The Prusy Army ( pl, Armia Prusy) was one of the Polish armies to fight during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Created in the summer of 1939 as the main reserve of the Commander in Chief, it was commanded by Gen. Stefan Dąb-Biernacki. The word ' ...

and on September 8, 1939 attacked a medical column marked with the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

signs near Odrzywół. A day later, soldiers from the division took part in the revenge killing of 11 civilians and two Polish priests including Dean Stanisław Klimecki in the nearby town of

Drzewica Drzewica is a town in Opoczno County, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,778 inhabitants as of December 2021. From 1975 to 1998 the town was a part of Radom Voivodeship. Located on the Drzewiczka river (a tributary to the Pilica), in the nort ...

in retaliation for their own military losses. Killings have also been reported in nearby settlements of Gielniów, Kamienna Wola, Masovian Voivodeship, Kamienna Wola, Klwów, Ossa, Masovian Voivodeship, Ossa, Przysucha, Potok, Gmina Sobienie-Jeziory, Potok, Rozwady and Zarzęcin. [Also in: ]

Commanders

The commanders of the division:Mitcham (2000), pp. 114–117. Infantry Command IV (''Infanterieführer IV''), 13th Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division''), and 13th Motorized Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert)'') *''Generalleutnant'' (1 October 1934 – 20 August 1939) 13th Motorized Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert)'') *''Generalleutnant'' Moritz von Faber du Faur (21 August 1939 – 6 September 1939) *''Generalleutnant'' Paul Otto (7 September – 31 October 1939) 13th Motorized Infantry Division (''13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert)''), and 13th Panzer Division (''13. Panzer-Division'') *''Generalleutnant'' Friedrich-Wilhelm von Rothkirch und Panthen (1 November 1939 – 13 June 1941) 13th Panzer Division (''13. Panzer-Division'') *''Generalleutnant'' Walter Düvert (14 June 1941 – 28 November 1941) *''General der Panzertruppe'' Traugott Herr (29 November 1941 – 1 November 1942) *(acting) ''Oberst'' Walter Kuehn (1 October 1942 – 31 October 1942) *''Generalleutnant'' Hellmut von der Chevallerie (1 November 1942 – 30 November 1942) *''Generalmajor'' Wilhelm Crisolli (1 December 1942 – 14 May 1943) *''Generalleutnant'' Hellmut von der Chevallerie (15 May 1943 – 31 August 1943) *''Generalleutnant'' Eduard Hauser (general), Eduard Hauser (1 September 1943 – 22 December 1943) *''Generalleutnant'' Hans Mikosch (23 December 1943 – 17 May 1944) *''Oberst'' Friedrich-Erdmann von Hake (18 May 1944 – 24 May 1944) *''Generalleutnant'' Hans Tröger (25 May 1944 – 8 September 1944) *''Generalmajor'' Gerhard Schmidhuber (9 September 1944 – 11 February 1945) *''Oberstleutnant d.R.'' Wilhelm Schöning (12 February 1945 – )

Organisation

The organisation of the division in October 1944: *''Panzer-Regiment 4'' *''Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 66'' *''Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 93'' *''Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 13'' *''Feldersatz-Battalion 13'' *''Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 13'' *''Heeres-Flak-Artillerie-Abteilung 271'' *''Panzerjäger-Abteilung 13'' *''Panzer-Pionier-Battalion 4'' *''Panzer-Nachrichten-Abteilung 13'' *''Panzer-Versorgungstruppen 13''

References

Bibliography