25th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Hunyadi (1st Hungarian)
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The 25th ''Waffen'' Grenadier Division of the SS "Hunyadi" (1st Hungarian) was a short-lived
infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
of the
Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...
, an armed branch of the German
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
that served alongside but was never formally part of the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
during World War II. Established in November 1944 following the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
overthrow of the Hungarian regime of
Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya ( hu, Vitéz nagybányai Horthy Miklós; ; English: Nicholas Horthy; german: Nikolaus Horthy Ritter von Nagybánya; 18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957), was a Hungarian admiral and dictator who served as the Regent o ...
, it consisted mainly of troops drawn from the
Royal Hungarian Army The Royal Hungarian Army ( hu, Magyar Királyi Honvédség, german: Königlich Ungarische Armee) was the name given to the land forces of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary in the period from 1922 to 1945. Its name was inher ...
's 13th ''Honvéd'' Division. It was never properly formed, trained, or equipped, and after being evacuated from its training camp in the face of the advancing
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
, it surrendered to the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
in
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in May 1945.


History

The division was initially designated 25. SS-'' Freiwilligen'' Grenadier Division by the
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
, but was later redesignated 25. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS "Hunyadi" (ungarische Nr. 1). The title ''Hunyadi'' commemorated the 15th century Hungarian general
John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (, , , ; 1406 – 11 August 1456) was a leading Hungarian military and political figure in Central and Southeastern Europe during the 15th century. According to most contemporary sources, he was the member of a noble family of ...
. Established in November 1944 following the German overthrow of the Hungarian regime of
Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya ( hu, Vitéz nagybányai Horthy Miklós; ; English: Nicholas Horthy; german: Nikolaus Horthy Ritter von Nagybánya; 18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957), was a Hungarian admiral and dictator who served as the Regent o ...
, it consisted of troops drawn from the
Royal Hungarian Army The Royal Hungarian Army ( hu, Magyar Királyi Honvédség, german: Königlich Ungarische Armee) was the name given to the land forces of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary in the period from 1922 to 1945. Its name was inher ...
's 13th ''Honvéd'' Division, as well as a ski battalion. By January 1945, the 20,000 troops available for the formation of the division were concentrated at the German training camp at Neuhammer, but there were few weapons and vehicles to equip the fledgling division, and supplies were also scarce. In February 1945, the
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
was closing on the division's training area, so the troops were evacuated, reaching Austria in April. A ''
kampfgruppe In military history, the German term (pl. ; abbrev. KG, or KGr in usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or "battle group") can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the of Nazi Germa ...
'' left behind as a rearguard at Neuhammer was destroyed. The remainder of the division was involved in its first significant combat on 3 May, fighting elements of the U.S. Third Army. It surrendered to the Americans near the Attersee over the following two days.


Commanders

The division was commanded by two officers: *SS-''
Oberführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberführer'' (short: ''Oberf'', , ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dating back to 1921. An ''Oberführer'' was typically a NSDAP member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographic ...
''
Thomas Müller Thomas Müller (; born 13 September 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays for club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. A versatile player, Müller has been deployed in a variety of attacking roles – as an attacking m ...
(November 1944) *''Waffen-
Gruppenführer __NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire de ...
''
József Grassy József Grassy (31 December 1894 – 5 November 1946) was a Hungarian military officer in the Royal Hungarian Army who, in the Second World War, commanded Hungarian divisions as an SS-'' Gruppenführer'' and ''Generalleutnant'' of the Waffen-SS. ...
(November 1944 – May 1945)


Order of Battle (1944–1945)

The division consisted of the following principal units: *61st ''Waffen-SS'' Infantry Regiment **2 Battalions *62nd ''Waffen-SS'' Infantry Regiment **2 battalions *63rd ''Waffen-SS'' Infantry Regiment **2 battalions *25th ''Waffen''-''SS'' Artillery Regiment **4 battalions *25th ''Waffen''-''SS'' Ski Battalion *25th ''Waffen''-''SS'' Bicycle Battalion *25th ''Waffen-SS'' Combat Engineer Battalion *25th ''Waffen-SS'' Anti-Tank Battalion *25th ''Waffen-SS'' Anti-Aircraft Battalion *25th ''Waffen-SS'' Signal Battalion *25th ''Waffen-SS'' Divisional Interpreter Company *25th ''Waffen-SS'' Divisional Supply Regiment *25th ''Waffen-SS'' Training and Replacement Regiment *86th ''Hungarian'' Replacement and Training Regiment **4 battalions


Insignia

A right hand collar patch bearing the capital letter "H" was manufactured and was worn by some members of the division, but it is likely that many of the troops wore blank collar patches or the standard
sig runes The esoteric insignia of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (known in German as the ''SS-Runen'') were used from the 1920s to 1945 on ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) flags, uniforms and other items as symbols of various aspects of Nazi ideology and Germanic mysticism. ...
. An armshield in the Hungarian national colours was planned, but it is unclear if any were made or worn.


See also

*
List of Waffen-SS units This is a partially incomplete list of Waffen-SS units. Waffen-SS Armies Waffen-SS Corps * I SS Panzer Corps * II SS Panzer Corps * III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps * IV SS Panzer Corps – (formerly VII SS Panzer Corps) * V SS Mountain Corps * ...
*
Table of ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS __NOTOC__ This table contains the final ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS, which were in use from April 1942 to May 1945, in comparison to the Wehrmacht. The highest ranks of the combined SS (german: Gesamt-SS) was that of and ; however, there ...
*
Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts During World War II, the Waffen-SS recruited significant numbers of non-Germans, both as volunteers and conscripts. In total some 500,000 non-Germans and ethnic Germans from outside Germany, mostly from German-occupied Europe, were recruited betwe ...


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

* * * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 #25 Military units and formations of Hungary in World War II Foreign volunteer units of the Waffen-SS Infantry divisions of the Waffen-SS Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Collaboration with the Axis Powers Germany–Hungary relations