7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen

Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division SS-Freiwilligen-Division "Prinz Eugen" SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen" 7.SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen"

The 7.SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs Division "Prinz Eugen" was a German volunteer Waffen-SS Mountain division. It saw action in the Balkans against Tito's Partisan Army and against the advancing Red Army. The division was named after the famous Austrian general Prince Eugene of Savoy who fought the Turks at Vienna, conquered Belgrade and expelled them from Hungary.

The "Prinz Eugen" was formed from Volksdeutsche personnel from Croatia, Serbia, Hungary and Romania. Its initial composition was of an all-volunteer force until conscription began later in the war. It surrendered on 11 May 1945 to Bulgarian forces. It was equipped entirely with foreign equipment. [http://www.achtungpanzer.com/ct.htm]

War Crimes

The division is infamous for its cruelty [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN157181504X&id=63tr7z2356sC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=prince+eugen+division&sig=pKItiXqYZ8L3ervCjm-1tu7GR3g] and massive atrocities committed in the area of Niksic in Montenegro [http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-20/tgmwc-20-196-02.shtml] ::"Everything they came across they burnt down, they murdered and pillaged. The officers and men of the SS division 'Prinz Eugen' committed crimes of an outrageous cruelty on this occasion. The victims were shot, slaughtered and tortured, or burnt to death in burning houses. Where a victim was found not in his house but on the road or in the fields some distance away, he was murdered and burnt there. Infants with their mothers, pregnant women and frail old people were also murdered. In short, every civilian met with by these troops in these villages was murdered. In many cases, whole families who, not expecting such treatment or lacking the time for escape, had remained quietly in their homes were annihilated and murdered. Whole families were thrown into burning houses in many cases and thus burnt. It has been established from the investigations entered upon that 121 persons, mostly women, and including 30 persons aged 60-92 years and 29 children of ages ranging from 6 months to 14 years, were executed on this occasion in the horrible manner narrated above. The villages" - and then follows the list of the villages - "were burnt down and razed to the ground." -Dr. Dusan Nedeljkovic, Yugoslav State Commission, Document D-940.

Commanders

*SS-Obergruppenführer Arthur Phleps (30 Jan 1942 - 15 May 1943)
*SS-Brigadeführer Karl Reichsritter von Oberkamp (15 May 1943 - 30 Jan 1944)
*SS-Brigadeführer Otto Kumm (30 Jan 1944 - 20 Jan 1945)
*SS-Brigadeführer August Schmidthuber (20 Jan 1945 - 8 May 1945)

Order of battle

October 1943 - Croatia

*Division Stab
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 13
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 14 "Skanderberg"
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Artillerie-Regiment 7
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Aufklärungs-Abteilung (mot) 7
*SS-Panzer-Abteilung 7
*SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 7
*SS-Gebirgs-Pionier-Battaillon 7
*SS-Gebirgs-Flak-Abteilung 7
*SS-Radfahr-Battailon 7
*SS-Kavallerie-Abteilung 7
*SS-Gebirgs-Nachrichten-Abteilung 7
*SS-Gebirgs-Feldersatz-Battaillon 7
*SS-Sanitäts-Abteilung 7
*SS-Feldgendarmerie-Trupp 7
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Veterinär-Kompanie 7
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Kriegsberichter-Zug 7
*SS-Divisions Versorgungs Truppen 7

November 1944 - Balkans

*Division Stab
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 13 "Artur Phleps"
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebrigsjäger-Regiment 14 "Skanderbeg"
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebrigs-Artillerie-Regiment 7
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Aufklärungs-Abteilung (mot) 7
*SS-Panzer-Abteilung 7
*SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Zug
*SS-Gebirgs-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 7
*SS-Sturmgeschutz-Abteilung 7
*SS-Gebirgs-Pionier-Battaillon 7
*SS-Flak-Abteilung 7
*SS-Radfahr-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 7
*SS-Kavallerie-Abteilung 7
*SS-Kradschützen-Battalion 7
*SS-Gebirgs-Nachrichten-Abteilung 7
*SS-Feldertaz-Abteilung 7
*SS-Sanitäts-Abteilung 7
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Veterinär-Kompanie 7
*SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Kriegsberichter-Zug 7
*SS-Propaganda-Zug
*SS-Feldgendarmerie-Trupp 7
*SS-Werkstatt-Kompanie
*SS-Nachshub-Kompanie 7
*SS-Instandsetzung-Abteilung 7
*SS-Wirtschafts-Battaillon 7
*SS-Wehrgeologisches-Battaillon

References

*Casagrande, Thomas: Die Volksdeutsche SS-Division "Prinz Eugen", Frankfurt am Main: Campus Verlag, 2003.
*Kumm, Otto - The History of the 7. SS Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen"
*Pipes, Jason. " [http://www.feldgrau.com/7ss.html 7.SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen"] ". Retrieved July 28, 2005.
*Wendel, Marcus (2005). " [http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=1971 7.SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen"] ". Retrieved July 28, 2005.
*" [http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/GebirgsdivisionenSS/7GebDSS.htm 7.SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen"] ". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. (Follow links for the entire unit history.) Retrieved July 28, 2005.
* [http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-20/tgmwc-20-196-02.shtml The Trial of German Major War Criminals. Nuremberg, 1946]