16005 WSS GEBIRGSJAGER "PRINZ EUGEN"

7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen" (Ger. The 7th SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen") was formed in March 1942 in the territory of German-occupied Yugoslavia. The unit was largely composed of volunteers of German origin from the Banat region, but also Croatia and Transylvania. However, relatively quickly, many Serbs, Croats and Hungarians were added to these volunteers. The name of the unit referred to an outstanding commander serving the Habsburg dynasty - Prince Eugene of Savoy, who lived at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. From the very beginning, the unit was dedicated to rear tasks and fighting guerrillas in Yugoslavia, therefore it was neither the best equipped nor trained. Virtually all the time it operated in Yugoslavia, it fought mainly against the communist partisans under the command of Tito. She first came into combat contact with the Red Army in October 1944. The unit capitulated in Slovenia in April 1945.The first paramilitary unit to have the abbreviation SS (German: Schutz Staffel) in its name was the personal protection of the dictator of the Third Reich called Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, which was officially formed in 1933. From 1934, the SS was an independent formation headed by Heinrich Himmler. With time, further SS units were formed, including the SS-Totenkopfverbände and the SS-Verfügungstruppe. It is worth adding that the latter was trained similarly to regular Wehrmacht infantry units. On a relatively small scale, SS units were used in combat during the fighting in Poland in 1939 and in the French campaign in 1940. The first units intended from the beginning to fight at the front were created in mid-1940, giving them the name of the Waffen SS. Initially, they were recruited on a voluntary basis, also among non-German people, but over time, compulsory recruitment began to apply. Within the Waffen-SS, many divisions of different combat value were formed. Nevertheless, a few of them (e.g. the 1st SS LAH Panzer Division, the 2nd SS Das Reich Panzer Division or the 12th SS Hitlerjugend Panzer Division) can be considered elite units, with very high combat value and often equipped with the best available equipment. They demonstrated their considerable advantages not only on the Eastern Front (1941-1945), especially during the battles near Kharkiv in 1943, but also during the battles in France in 1944. Another thing is that the quality of the commanding staff of these units was in many cases debatable, and many Waffen-SS soldiers committed war crimes during World War II.