The 8th SS Cavalry Division "Florian Geyer" was a German

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 ...

cavalry division 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 ...

. It was formed in 1942 from a cadre of the

SS Cavalry Brigade The SS Cavalry Brigade (''SS-Kavallerie-Brigade'') was a unit of the German Waffen-SS during World War II. Operating under the control of the '' Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS'', it initially performed rear security duties in German-occupied Pola ...

which was involved in the '' Bandenbekämpfung'' ("bandit-fighting") operations behind the front line and was responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of the civilian population.

Hannes Heer Hans Georg Heer (known as ''Hannes'') (born 16 March 1941) is a German historian, chiefly known for the ''Wehrmachtsausstellung'' (German: "Wehrmacht Exhibition") in the 1990s. While controversial at that time, the exhibition is nowadays widely c ...

, War of Extermination, p.136 It continued "pacification" operations in the occupied Soviet Union, leading to further atrocities.

Formation

The training and replacement battalion of the division was involved in suppressing the 1943

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; pl, powstanie w getcie warszawskim; german: link=no, Aufstand im Warschauer Ghetto was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany' ...

. In March 1944, it was named after

Florian Geyer Florian Geyer von Giebelstadt (also spelled ''Geier''; ''c''. 1490 – 10 June 1525) was a German nobleman, diplomat, and knight. He became widely known for leading peasants during the German Peasants' War. Early life Florian Geyer was born ...

(1490–1525), the Franconian nobleman who led the

Black Company The Black Company or the Black Troops () was a unit of Franconian farmers and knights that fought on the side of the peasants during the Peasants' Revolt in the 1520s, during the Protestant Reformation in Germany. Name The original German nam ...

during the German Peasants' War. Veterans from the division formed the core of the 22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Maria Theresia, following the latter's creation on 29April 1944.

Operational history

Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Adendorff-002-18A, Russland, SS-Kavallerie-Brigade

Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Bueschel-069-31, Russland, Kradfahrer der Waffen-SS

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1991-0205-510, Sowjetunion, SS-Reiter bei Mosyr im Einsatz gegen Partisanen

The newly created division was soon sent back to the Eastern Front and was stationed in the Rzhev and Orel sectors in central Russia until the spring of 1943, in the

Army Group Centre Rear Area Army Group Centre Rear Area () was one of the three Army Group Rear Area Commands, established during the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union. Initially commanded by General Max von Schenckendorff, it was an area of military jurisdiction beh ...

. As the Ninth Army planned the evacuation from the Rzhev salient in

Operation Büffel Operation Büffel ("Buffalo") was a series of local retreats conducted by the German Army Group Centre on the Eastern Front during the period 1–22 March 1943. This movement eliminated the Rzhev Salient and shortened the front by , releasing t ...

in March 1943, the division took part in large-scale Bandenbekämpfung ("bandit-fighting") actions in the weeks before the operation, alongside elements of four Wehrmacht divisions and other SS and police units. An estimated 3,000 Russians were killed, the great majority of whom were unarmed: only 277 rifles, 41 pistols, 61 machine guns and 17 mortars were recovered. As part of the withdrawal, Ninth Army's commander

Walter Model Otto Moritz Walter Model (; 24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945) was a German field marshal during World War II. Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive panzer commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defen ...

personally ordered the deportation of all male civilians, wells poisoned, and at least two dozen villages razed in a scorched earth policy to hinder the Red Army's follow up in the area. The division was then moved to the area around

Bobruisk Babruysk, Babrujsk or Bobruisk ( be, Бабруйск , Łacinka: , rus, Бобруйск, Bobrujsk, bɐˈbruɪ̯s̪k, yi, באָברויסק ) is a city in the Mogilev Region of eastern Belarus on the Berezina River. , its population was 209 ...

, on internal security and Bandenbekämpfung duties until September 1943. In September the division was moved to the Southern front and took part in the German retreat to the

Dnieper } 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 ...

river.Mitcham, German Order of Battle, Volume 3. p 150 The division was then sent to

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 ...

in October 1943, where the

Panzerjäger ''Panzerjäger'' ( German "armour-hunters" or "tank-hunters", abbreviated to ''Pz.Jg.'' in German) was a branch of service of the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. It was an anti-tank arm-of-service that operated self-propelled ...

and Sturmgeschütz battalions were combined and the Reconnaissance Battalion became a Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion. Following this reorganization the division was posted to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

but many new recruits were

Danube Swabians The Danube Swabians (german: Donauschwaben ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in various countries of central-eastern Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in grea ...

(''Shwoveh'') drawn from Hungary in March 1944. In April 1944, they returned to Hungary and took part in the fighting in

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

after the Romanian front collapsed. The division was trapped in the

Siege of Budapest The Siege of Budapest or Battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the broader Budapest Offensive, the siege began when Budape ...

with the

IX SS Mountain Corps The IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian) (german: IX. Waffen-Gebirgskorps der SS (Kroatisches)), later simply IX SS Mountain Corps, was a German Waffen-SS alpine corps during World War II. Originally set up to control Croatian and Albani ...

when the Soviet and Romanian forces surrounded the city in December 1944. The division was destroyed in the fighting for Budapest, and by the end of the siege, of the 30,000 men of the SS Corps, only about 800 reached German lines.

Commanders

*SS-Brigadeführer

Gustav Lombard Gustav Lombard (10 April 1895 – 18 September 1992) was a high-ranking member in the SS during World War II. During the war, Lombard commanded 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer and the 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division. He was a recipient ...

(March 1942 – April 1942) *SS-Gruppenführer

Hermann Fegelein Hans Otto Georg Hermann Fegelein (30 October 1906 – 28 April 1945) was a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany. He was a member of Adolf Hitler's entourage and brother-in-law to Eva Braun through his marriage to her si ...

(April 1942 – August 1942) *SS-Obergruppenführer

Wilhelm Bittrich Wilhelm Bittrich (26 February 1894 – 19 April 1979) was a high-ranking Waffen-SS commander of Nazi Germany. Between August 1942 and February 1943, Bittrich commanded the SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer, in rear security operations (''Banden ...

(August 1942 – 15 February 1943) *SS-Brigadeführer

Fritz Freitag Fritz Freitag (28 April 1894 – 10 May 1945) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he commanded the 2nd SS Infantry Brigade, the SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer, and the SS Division Galicia. Freitag committed ...

(15 February 1943 – 20 April 1943) *SS-Brigadeführer

(20 April 1943 – 14 May 1943) *SS-Gruppenführer

(14 May 1943 – 13 September 1943) *SS-Gruppenführer Bruno Streckenbach (13 September 1943 – 22 October 1943) *SS-Gruppenführer

(22 October 1943 – 1 January 1944) *SS-Gruppenführer Bruno Streckenbach (1 January 1944 – 14 April 1944) *SS-Brigadeführer

(14 April 1944 – 1 July 1944) *SS-Brigadeführer Joachim Rumohr (1 July 1944 – 11 February 1945)

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Charles Trang
Florian Geyer Division
2000, *