Forces of WWII: Inside the Units
SS Division Das Reich: From the Eastern Front to Massacres in France
14m
The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich became one of the most notorious formations of the Waffen-SS. From atrocities in Yugoslavia and participation in mass murder during Operation Barbarossa to its brutal reprisals in occupied France, violence against civilians followed the division across Europe.
After D-Day, Das Reich was ordered north toward Normandy. Along the way, resistance attacks were answered with terror. At Tulle, 99 men were publicly hanged, while at Oradour-sur-Glane, SS troops massacred 642 men, women, and children before burning the village. This documentary traces the division’s wartime history, its destruction in the final battles of Nazi Germany, and the fate of the commanders responsible for its crimes.
Up Next in Season 1
-
Former Soviets Who Joined Nazi SS and...
The Kaminski Brigade was one of the most notorious collaborationist formations created from Soviet citizens during the Second World War. Emerging in German-occupied Soviet territory, RONA grew from a local militia into a force of thousands, including former Soviet prisoners of war.
The brigade f...
-
Hitler’s 6th Army: From War Crimes to...
Hitler’s 6th Army became one of Nazi Germany’s most infamous formations on the Eastern Front. Under Walter von Reichenau, it supported mass murder, enforced starvation policies and assisted SS killing units in crimes against civilians and Jews in occupied Soviet territory.
In 1942, now commanded...
