The 100th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

during World War II, formed twice. In November 1923 in the Belaya Tserkov area of the Ukrainian Military District, the 45th Territorial Rifle Division was established. On 24 April 1924 the 45th Territorial Rifle Division became the 100th Rifle Division (Territorial). The division fought in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

with Finland. When Operation Barbarossa began, it was part of 2nd Rifle Corps, with 2nd Rifle Corps immediately subordinate to

Western Front (Soviet Union) The Western Front was a front of the Red Army, one of the Red Army Fronts during World War II. The Western Front was created on 22 June 1941 from the Western Special Military District (which before July 1940 was known as Belorussian Special ...

. It became 1st Guards Rifle Division on 18 September 1941, one of the first

Guards unit Guards units () were elite units and formations in the Soviet Armed Forces that continue to exist in the Russian Armed Forces and other post-Soviet states. These units were awarded Guards status after distinguishing themselves in wartime service ...

s, immediately after the Yelnya Offensive. The second formation of the division began forming at Kushchuba station in

Vologda Oblast Vologda Oblast (, ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is Vologda. The oblast has a population of 1,202,444 (Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census). The largest city is Cherepovets, t ...

on 5 February 1942. Predominantly Russian, it was primarily made up of conscripts from

and

Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast ( rus, Архангельская область, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz ...

. The formation of the division was completed by 15 May. Fought near Stalingrad, and in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and Belorussia. It was awarded the honorific "Lviv" for its part in the capture of that city during July 1944. On 27 January 1945, the division liberated the

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

Concentration Camp. During the Moravian-Ostrava Offensive, the division captured Ratibor and entered Czechoslovak territory. It then fought in the Prague Offensive. It was with 60th Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front in May 1945. The division was disbanded in the final days of June and its personnel used to reinforce the 186th Rifle Division at

Turek Turek is a town in central Poland with 31,282 inhabitants . It is the capital of Turek County in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is located in the Sieradz Land. History Turek is first mentioned in the historical record 1136, when it was lis ...

References

*Poirer and Connor, Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War, 1985 {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standard SI prefix for a hundred is " hecto-". 100 is the b ...

Military units and formations established in 1924 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Military units and formations of the Soviet invasion of Poland Military units and formations of the Soviet Union in the Winter War