![The black and white photograph shows a military parade by the soldiers of the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division in the streets of the city of Oradea. The soldiers walk in rows of three. All are wearing uniforms and helmets. Some houses can be seen in the background.](/fileadmin/_processed_/5/a/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_SS-Aufklaerungsabteilung_marschiert_Oradea_564c8d8379.jpg 320w, /fileadmin/_processed_/5/a/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_SS-Aufklaerungsabteilung_marschiert_Oradea_71fe6045b5.jpg 480w, /fileadmin/_processed_/5/a/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_SS-Aufklaerungsabteilung_marschiert_Oradea_16cf5ee1ae.jpg 640w, /fileadmin/_processed_/5/a/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_SS-Aufklaerungsabteilung_marschiert_Oradea_4d574e7d05.jpg 960w, /fileadmin/_processed_/5/a/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_SS-Aufklaerungsabteilung_marschiert_Oradea_de43e81f53.jpg 1280w, /fileadmin/_processed_/5/a/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_SS-Aufklaerungsabteilung_marschiert_Oradea_0b90d6fa2e.jpg 1920w, /fileadmin/_processed_/5/a/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_SS-Aufklaerungsabteilung_marschiert_Oradea_0aa6d43c94.jpg 2560w)
16. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Reichsführer-SS"
In autumn 1943, the
In June 1944, the division engaged in bloody fighting with the American forces, suffering heavy losses, especially the Reconnaissance battalion led by
- Armed force
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Waffen-SS
- Commanders
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SS-Gruppenführer Max Simon (3 Oct. 1943-15 Oct. 1944)
SS-Brigadeführer Otto Baum (24 Oct. 1944-8 May 1945) - Years of service
- 3 Oct. 1943 – 8 May 1945
- Offensive
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Eastern Front
Occupation of Italy (1943-45)
Hungary - Confirmed Massacres
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Pisa, San Rossore, Lago di Massaciuccoli, Sant'Anna di Stazzema, Bardine di San Terenzo e Valla, Castelpoggio, Vinca, Laiano di Filettole, Camaiore, Massa, Bergiola Foscalina, Fosse del Frigido, Monte Sole, Casalecchio di Reno, San Cesario sul Panaro, Vignola.
![This black-and-white photograph shows the 12 division commanders of the 16th SS Panzer Grenadier Division "Reichsführer-SS", in the garden of their headquarters in Mongardino (Sasso Marconi) in November 1944. All the men are wearing uniforms, but no caps. They are facing each other in what appears to be an informal conversation. Those photographed include Otto Baum, Walter Reder and Helmut Looß.](/fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_Comandanti_Otto_Baum_walter_Reder_694cf2c888.jpg 320w, /fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_Comandanti_Otto_Baum_walter_Reder_f619e688e8.jpg 400w, /fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_Comandanti_Otto_Baum_walter_Reder_d20d0ba3ac.jpg 480w, /fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_Comandanti_Otto_Baum_walter_Reder_50ef2bb1d6.jpg 560w, /fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_Comandanti_Otto_Baum_walter_Reder_31eda7d7c1.jpg 640w, /fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_Comandanti_Otto_Baum_walter_Reder_afe20fbf9f.jpg 800w, /fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_Comandanti_Otto_Baum_walter_Reder_98add56014.jpg 960w, /fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_Comandanti_Otto_Baum_walter_Reder_f4c78bcf6d.jpg 1120w, /fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_16._SS-Panzergrenadier-Division_Reichsfuehrer-SS_Comandanti_Otto_Baum_walter_Reder_5ba6c75f46.jpg 1280w)
Organization and war experience
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Deployment of the ‘Reichsführer-SS’ Division
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First deployments and restructuring of the Panzer Division
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SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 35
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SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 36
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The Reconnaissance Battalion
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Structural deficits
On the Italian front
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On the front along the Tyrrhenian coast
The situation in the division sector was chaotic, resulting in increasing disciplinary violations that were punished severely. One of the central elements in SS ideology was training for the most extreme – yet disciplined and impersonal – brutality toward the enemy, but also toward oneself and one’s own soldiers.
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Iron discipline, punishment, desertions
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The ‘Reichsführer-SS’ perpetrators
After the massacres at Monte Sole, there was less violence against civilians in the division’s area. In autumn 1944, German troops in any case became less brutal in their approach to the anti-partisan fighting. It was by now clear to all soldiers that Germany had lost the war.
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The end of the war
The postwar period
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Former division members and their association
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A historical account of the division
Literature
Divisionsgeschichtliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Truppenkameradschaft der 16.
Carlo Gentile, Wehrmacht und Waffen-
Carlo Gentile, Zivilisten als Feind: Die 16.
Andrea Rossi, La SS dopo Marzabotto. La 16ª Divisione
Authorship and translation
Autor: Carlo Gentile
Translated from German by: Joel Golb
© Project ‘The Massacres in Occupied Italy (1943-1945): Integrating the Perpetrators’ Memories’
2023