34th Infantry Division (Germany)
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The 34th Infantry Division, (), was a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
military unit that fought in the
Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...
and on the Eastern Front during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The division was first formed following the expansion of the army under
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
's leadership, but finally disbanded following their surrender to the Americans in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.


History

The 34th Infantry Division was formed between 1935 and 36 during the rapid expansion of the army following the withdrawal from the
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
. The division was setup within Wehrkreis XII and based in
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
. When recruiting originally, the division was mostly made up of men from the area of the
Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...
and
Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...
. After mobilisation just before the
Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, the division was based in
Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...
and on both sides of Saarlautern. While being based in the area, the division was assigned to defence group of the
Westwall The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall (= western bulwark)'', was a German defense_line, defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than from Kleve on the bor ...
. On September 19 the 105th Infantry Regiment and 2nd Battalion of the 34th Artillery Regiment were moved to form the new 72nd Infantry Division, with the 105th being replaced by the new formed 253rd infantry regiment. The second artillery battalion was replaced by light artillery group of the 749th artillery regiment. After small skirmishes with the French during the
Saar Offensive The Saar Offensive was the French invasion of Saarland, Germany, in the first stages of World War II, from September 7 to October 16, 1939, in response to the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. The original plans called for 40 di ...
, they were in the region of
Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...
. Following the start of the Western Campaign on 10 May 1940, the division moved through
Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...
to the area between
Longwy Longwy (; older , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. The inhabitants are known as ''Longoviciens''. In ...
and Dudelingen where they were assigned to flank protection for the northern
Maginot Line The Maginot Line (; ), named after the Minister of War (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, France in the 1930s to deter invas ...
. During the second phase of the invasion, the division made its way to
Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...
where they forced the French across the river back to
Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...
and the Marne. The division finally made it to the
Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...
and finally ended up in
Allier Allier ( , , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region that borders Cher (department), Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire (department), Loire to the east, Pu ...
after the ceasefire. Following the ceasefire the division was moved to the
demarcation line {{Refimprove, date=January 2008 A political demarcation line is a geopolitical border, often agreed upon as part of an armistice or ceasefire. Africa * Moroccan Wall, delimiting the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara from the Sahraw ...
on security duties, and by July was part of the occupation force based in
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where they were tasked with coastal defence duties. In December the third battalions of all regiments were relinquished and replaced by fresh troops. In May 1941 the division was transported by rail to Poland and delivered to
Brest-Litovsk Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as the admini ...
in preparation for the
Russian Campaign The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the continent ...
. On 22 June 1941,
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
was launched and the division easily broke through the defensive line around the town and pushed to Beresina and finally the
Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called 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. Approximately long, with ...
south of
Mogilev Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...
. From this point, the division crossed the river and by the beginning of September was in
Bryansk Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryans ...
. The division was engaged in almost continuous fighting in Russia over the next three years. After heavy losses in the vicinity of the Cherkassy Pocket at the Hnyly Tikych river south of
Zhashkiv Zhashkiv (, ) is a city in Uman Raion, Cherkasy Oblast (province) of Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Zhashkiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It had a population of Administrative status Zhashkiv gained status as a city ...
and during battles around
Uman Uman (, , ) is a city in Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the east of the historical region of Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River. Uman serves as the administrative c ...
, the division had to be replenished in May 1944 by the Schatten Division ''Neuhammer''. In July 1944 the division was transferred to ''Armeeabteilung Zangen'' in Italy, around
Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
. The division fought in the Second Battle of the Alps and capitulated in April 1945.


Order of Battle

The structure of the division was as follows; * Divisional Staff * 24th Signal Battalion * 34th Reconnaissance Battalion * 80th Infantry Regiment * 105th Infantry Regiment (replaced by 253rd Infantry Regiment after mobilisation in 1939) * 107th Infantry Regiment * 34th Field Replacement Battalion * 34th Artillery Regiment (originally 3 battalions, later 4) * 34th Anti-Tank Battalion (Panzerjäger) * 34th Engineer Battalion * 34th Divisional Supply and Support Column


Commanding officers

*Generalleutnant Erich Lüdke, 1 April 1936 – 1 October 1937 *Generalmajor Max von Viebahn, 1 October 1937 – 1 March 1938 *Generalleutnant Friedrich Bremer, 1 March 1938 – 1 April 1939 *General der Artillerie Hans Behlendorff, 19 July 1939 – 10 May 1940 *Generalleutnant
Werner Sanne __NOTOC__ Werner Otto Sanne (5 April 1889 – 26 September 1952) was a German general (Generalleutnant) in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi German ...
, 11 May 1940 – 1 November 1940 *General der Artillerie Hans Behlendorff, 1 November 1940 – 18 October 1941 *Generalleutnant Friedrich Fürst, 18 October 1941 – 5 September 1942 *Generalleutnant Theodor Scherer, 5 September 1942 – 2 November 1942 *General der Infanterie
Friedrich Hochbaum __NOTOC__ Friedrich Hochbaum (7 August 1894 – 28 January 1955) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Hochbaum surren ...
, 2 November 1942 – 31 May 1944 *Generalleutnant Theobald Lieb, 31 May 1944 – 1945 *Oberst Ferdinand Hippel, 1945


War crimes

Elements of the division have been implicated in the
Grugliasco Grugliasco (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont, about west of Turin. Grugliasco borders the municipalities of Turin, Collegno, and Rivoli. In 1945, members of the retreating ...
massacre,
Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
, alongside the 5th Mountain Division, where, on 30 April 1945, 67 civilians were executed. On 7 December 1944 a patrol of the division, led by a local spy, broke into the "Vittoria" hotel in the village of Grimaldi, municipality of
Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; , ; ; ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located west of Genoa, and from the French-Italian border, on the Gulf of Genoa, having a small harbour at the mouth of the Roia river, w ...
, and captured three families who had found shelter there. The twelve prisoners were then taken out of the hotel and shot there.


References

* Mitcham, S. ''German Order of Battle, Volume 1'', Stackpole, 2007, * Gassend, Jean-Loup. ''Autopsy of a Battle, the Allied Liberation of the French Riviera, August September 1944'', Schiffer, 2014, {{DEFAULTSORT:34th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) Military units and formations established in 1936 0*034 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945