The 3rd SS "Totenkopf [Death's Head]" Mechanized Infantry (later Armored) Division was formed in 1939-40 from concentration camp guards, among other personnel and led by the former inspector of camps and guard units, Theodore Eicke. It consisted of the 5th SS "Thule" and 6th SS "Theodore Eicke" Regiments, a tank regiment, the usual artillery regiment and battalions of reconnaissance, antitank, antiaircraft, engineer and signal troops. After an uneven service in the Battle of France, the division next saw duty in the invasion of Russia, where it suffered very high casualties on the Northern Front, including operations in the Demansk Pocket. Refitted in 1942 as an armored division, it fought as an elite division in several key battles in Russia in 1943. The division never left the Russian front thereafter and fought out the last year in Hungary and Austria before surrendering.
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