7-а добровольча гірська дивізія СС «Принц Ойген» / 7. SS-Frw.Geb.Div. "Prinz Eugen"

Prinz Eugen" officers and SNCOs playing skat on a mountain slope.

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ноябрь 1942 года. Югославия

Neretvi, Югославия, апрель 1943 (первое фото)

 

Left to right:
Andreas Schmidt, Artur Phleps, and Eggert Neumann

 

Französischer Panzer vom Typ "Renault Char B1/B2 740(f)" im Dienst der 7. SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division „Prinz Eugen“. Dieser Panzer war einer der besten und stärksten Panzer während des Westfeldzuges

 

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Отто Кумм? Наверное фото сделано сразу после возвращения с восточного фронта.

 

Operation "Black". The founders of the SS Division "Prinz Eugen", SS-Gruppenführer Artur Phleps (on the right) and SS-Standartenführer Stefan Hedrich (both Transylvanian Germans and former officers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Romania), at a lunch on the occasion of the visit by General Lüters (operation leader) and State Secretary Benak, in a tent at the division's headquarters in the Gacko Field. Sitting on the far left (partially visible) is the third of the division's highest-ranking officers and its chief physician, SS-Oberführer Dr Kurt-Peter Müller. On their left sleeves, all three wear the rarely seen circular insignia of the "Prinz Eugen" Division. (Unlike Phleps, who would be killed by Soviet soldiers the following year, tough Hedrich would live for many more years, and die a month and a half before his 95th birthday. The doctor would outlive both his comrades and die only a month before his 99th birthday.)

Parade of the SS Division "Prinz Eugen" in Mostar. Half-tracks [Sd.Kfz. 7] of the Artillery Regiment parade through the King Peter Street (previously named after Franz Joseph, today after the Mostar Battalion), in the direction of the bridge of the same name, after the successful completion of Operation "Black".

Operation "White". On the morning of 3 March 1943, the entire SS Division "Prinz Eugen" headed towards Bosansko Grahovo, which was resiliently, yet hopelessly, defended by the newly-formed Partisan X Krajina Brigade (of the X Krajina Division). The Germans attacked with artillery, tanks and mortars, while many of the Partisans had only rifles – with about fifteen bullets at their disposal, which had to be used wisely. The city was captured on the same day by the division's 2nd regiment, led by SS-Obersturmbannführer Schmidhuber (however, already at the end of the same month, after the departure of the German troops, the Partisans returned to Grahovo). Pictured, an endless column of the "Prinz Eugen" Division advances towards Bosansko Grahovo; seen in the background is one of the staff cars (BMW 321), with the divisional insignia on its left fender (an Odal rune in a circle) and the insignia of motorised mountain division headquarters on the right one (a division headquarters flag, mountain and wheels)


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1. Operation "Black". Members of the SS Division "Prinz Eugen", an officer and an NCO (an MP), interrogate two captured Partisans. The prisoners are trying to remain calm, although they are surely aware that the Germans were ordered not to treat them as prisoners of war, but as common arrestees, that is, bandits.

2. Operation "Black". Members of the 2nd Regiment, SS Division "Prinz Eugen", with captured Herzegovinian Chetniks (members of the Trebinje Corps) in Stolac, at the very beginning of the operation; according to the original report from that day, the group was disarmed without greater resistance.

3. Operation "Black". Interrogation of a Partisan, captured by members of the SS Division "Prinz Eugen", on a hill north-west of Mratinje.

4.поют похоже..

5. Operation "Black". The commander of German Troops in Croatia, General Rudolf Lüters, inspects the honour guard of the III Battalion, 2nd Regiment, SS Division "Prinz Eugen", in Podgorica, before meeting with the Italian commander, Divisional General Ercole Roncaglia. He is accompanied by the division commander, SS-Gruppenführer Artur Phleps (on the far left), and the battalion commander, SS-Hauptsturmführer Otto Meckelburg (his battalion, together with an artillery battery, armoured company and a pioneer and two anti-aircraft platoons, came to the city to help out the Italians, who suffered heavy losses from the Partisans). The photograph was taken at the corner of the Njegoš and Vučedol Street, in front of the Bank of Montenegro. This building, as well as almost entire Podgorica, would soon be destroyed, in numerous Allied bombings.

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Captain Walter M. Schwartz, a downed US pilot, posing smiling in his Curtiss P-40F, next to SS-Untersturmführer Karl Schaeffer, an officer of the 14th Regiment, SS Division "Prinz Eugen". Walter Marshall Schwartz Jr. was born in Philadelphia, a successful businessman and president of the Proctor Electric Company, who after the outbreak of World War II volunteered in the British – and then (after his homeland entered the war) also in the US Air Force. He was commander of the 65th Squadron of the 57th Fighter Group, which, on 12 November 1943, flew over Čapljina on a mission to bomb the military airfield in Mostar. On the return flight, the unit attacked the railway station in Čapljina, and the Anti-Aircraft Battalion of the "Prinz Eugen" Division, which was located nearby. In this dramatic combat, the aircraft of captain Schwartz was hit, and it landed in the village of Višići, near Čapljina (luckily stopping only 14 m from a row of poplars). The US pilot was found the next day, near his aircraft, where he hid and spent the night. He was taken care of by Karl Schaeffer, one of the (apparently) honourable officers of this otherwise infamous SS division. Schwartz was fed, bathed and shaved, and his clothes were cleaned. The two officers then drove to the downed aircraft, where the German asked the American to demonstrate how the machine guns in his Curtiss work. The prisoner accepted, asked that the soldiers move away from the machine so that they would not get hurt, pushed the button and fired an impressive burst; this photograph was taken on that occasion too. Schwartz was soon sent to the German Air Force, from where he was transferred to a POW camp near Barth [Stalag Luft I], in which he saw the end of the war as well. As he was leaving, he left a message of gratitude for the good treatment to Schaeffer. Both officers survived the war; Schaeffer later lived and worked in Brazil, and Schwartz continued to lead the old company (which, during the war, also made parts for the aircraft in which he was shot down). The brave captain, as the SS officer called him, died at the age of 75. He left behind two daughters and six grandchildren.

Reichsführer-SS visits the SS Division "Prinz Eugen". SS-Gruppenführer August Meyszner, SS and Police Commander in Serbia, greets the solemn guest at dinner. Sitting at the table, from left to right, are: SS-Standartenführer Dr Emanuel Schäfer, chief of the Security Police in Serbia (the man who cleansed Serbia from Jews), Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (one of the creators of the Holocaust), SS-Standartenführer Stefan Hedrich, infantry commander and deputy division commander, and SS-Standartenführer Martin Konradt, commander of the division's artillery regiment; with their backs turned: SS-Gruppenführer Artur Phleps, division commander (whose troops five days earlier committed the massacre of civilians in the village of Kriva Reka), SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff, chief of the Personal Staff of the Reichsführer-SS, and SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Bayer, chief of the division's political department. On the wall in the background there is a portrait of Prince Eugene of Savoy, whose 279th birthday the division would be celebrating the next day in the company of the Reichsführer. (Himmler visited the "Prinz Eugen" Division along the way, while returning from Italy. He stayed in Serbia for less than 20 hours. He used this occasion to boost the morale of the newly-formed division with his presence and words, and to promote some of the officers. Among others, the Reichsführer promoted Richard Kaaserer, whose battalion committed the massacre in Kriva Reka.)

Operations "Axis" and "Gaiseric". Hotchkiss tanks (H39) of the Armoured Company, SS Division "Prinz Eugen", cooling their engines at the French Quay in Split, after capturing the city. In the background: Harbour Master's Office building

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1. Operation "Kopaonik". Members of the SS Division "Prinz Eugen" (of Battle Group South) and the Bulgarian 9th Infantry Division (of Blocking Group East) meeting before the attack on Kriva Reka (which housed the Chetnik Rasina Corps Headquarters). The officer in the foreground is the commander of the I Battalion, 2nd Regiment, "Prinz Eugen" Division, SS-Hauptsturmführer Richard Kaaserer (his troops would massacre the population of Kriva Reka, and torch the village).

2. Operation "Ball Lightning". Members of the SS Division "Prinz Eugen" and the 92nd Grenadier Regiment interrogating captured Partisans. The prisoner speaking wears civilian clothing, while the other one wears parts of Bulgarian uniform. Despite the intimidating atmosphere, they both seem fairly calm (unlike some of their comrades, out of frame, who even started weeping, in fear of death).

3. Operation "Kopaonik". Relaxing by the campfire before action; from left to right: SS-Untersturmführer Anton Wickl, commander of the 8th Platoon, SS War Correspondent Battalion, SS-Obersturmbannführer August Schmidhuber, commander of the 2nd Regiment, "Prinz Eugen" Division (Battle Group South), and SS-Gruppenführer August Meyszner, SS and Police Commander in Serbia (who came to witness the newly-formed SS division's first operation, aimed at destroying the Headquarters of the Chetnik Rasina Corps; the operation, however, ended with a massacre of civilians and torching of a settlement that the Chetniks already abandoned). The photo was taken in the area of present-day Kopaonik tourist centre

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SS-Ustuf.