Active 1944–1945 Branch Waffen SS Size Division | Country Nazi Germany Type Panzergrenadier | |
The 18th SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Horst Wessel was formed in 1944 around a cadre from the 1 SS Infantry Brigade and included mainly ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) from Hungary. The 1st battalion of about 1000 men was attached to SS Division Horst Wessel and sent to Galicia.
Contents
It was used for "rear-security" duties until it was sent to the Eastern front, with the exception of one regiment that fought the Slovak National Uprising in August 1944. It later fought as a single unit in Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia where it was destroyed.
The Division was named after SA member, Horst Wessel, known for being the author of the lyrics to the Nazi party anthem, the Horst Wessel Song, and glorified by the Nazi regime as a martyr of the party's early years.