Editing Waffen-SS (section)

===1941===
[[File:Waffen-SS poster.jpg|thumb|left|Recruitment poster.]]
At the beginning of the new year, the ''Polizei'' Division was brought under FHA administration, although it would not be formally merged into the ''Waffen-SS'' until 1942. At the same time, the ''Totenkopf-Standarten'', aside from the three constituting the TK-Division, lost their Death's Head designation and insignia and were reclassified ''SS-Infanterie-'' (or ''Kavallerie-'') ''Regimente''. The 11th Regiment was transferred into the ''Reich'' Division to replace ''Germania''; the remainder were grouped into three independent brigades and a battle group in Norway.

By the spring of 1941, the ''Waffen-SS'' consisted of the equivalent of six or seven divisions: the ''[[2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich|Reich]]'', ''Totenkopf'', ''Polizei'', and ''Wiking'' Divisions and [[6th SS Mountain Division Nord|''Kampfgruppe'' (later Division) ''Nord'']], and the {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}}, [[1st SS Infantry Brigade|1st SS Infantry]], [[2nd SS Infantry Brigade|2nd SS Infantry]], and [[SS Cavalry Brigade|SS Cavalry]] Brigades.

====Balkans====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-158-0094-35, Balkan, PKW der Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler.jpg|thumb|Troops of the [[1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler|''Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler'' Division]] advancing into the [[Balkans]], 1941]]
In March 1941, a major Italian counterattack against Greek forces failed, and Germany came to the aid of its ally. [[German invasion of Greece|Operation Marita]] began on 6 April 1941, with German troops invading Greece through [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] and [[Yugoslavia]] in an effort to secure its southern flank.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=153}}

''Reich'' was ordered to leave France and head for [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], and the {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} was ordered to Bulgaria. The {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}}, attached to the [[XXXX Panzer Corps|XL Panzer Corps]], advanced west then south from Bulgaria into the mountains, and by 9 April had reached [[Prilep]] in Yugoslavia, 30 miles from the Greek border.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=163}} Further north the ''Reich'' Division, with the [[XXXXI Panzer Corps|XLI Panzer Corps]], crossed the Romanian border and advanced on [[Belgrade]], the Yugoslav capital. [[Fritz Klingenberg]], a company commander in the ''Reich'', led his men into Belgrade, where a small group in the vanguard accepted the surrender of the city on 13 April. A few days later the [[Royal Yugoslav Army]] surrendered.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|pp=162, 163}}{{sfn|Weale|2012|p=297}}

The {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} had now crossed into Greece, and on 10 April engaged the [[6th Division (Australia)|6th Australian Division]] in the [[Battle of Vevi (1941)|Battle of the Klidi Pass]]. For 48 hours they fought for control of the heights, often engaging in hand-to-hand combat, eventually gaining control with the capture of Height 997, which opened the pass and allowed the German Army to advance into the Greek interior.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=165}} This victory gained praise from the OKW: in the order of the day they were commended for their "unshakable offensive spirit" and told that "the present victory signifies for the {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} a new and imperishable page of honour in its history."{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=165}}

The {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} continued the advance on 13 May. When the Reconnaissance Battalion under the command of [[Kurt Meyer]] came under heavy fire from the Greek Army [[Capture of Klisura Pass|defending the Klisura Pass]], they broke through the defenders and captured 1,000 prisoners of war at the cost of only six dead and nine wounded.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=165}} The next day, Meyer captured [[Kastoria]] and took another 11,000 prisoners of war. By 20 May, the {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} had cut off the retreating Greek Army at [[Metsovo]] and accepted the surrender of the Greek Epirus-Macedonian Army.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=165}} As a reward, the {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} was nominally redesignated as a full motorised division, although few additional elements had been added by the start of the Soviet campaign and the "division" remained effectively a reinforced brigade.

====Soviet Union====
[[Operation Barbarossa]], the German invasion of the Soviet Union, started on 22 June 1941, and all the ''Waffen-SS'' formations participated (including the ''Reich'' Division, which was formally renamed to ''Das Reich'' by the fall of 1941).{{sfn|Stein|2002|p=104}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-A0706-0018-030, Ukraine, ermordete Familie.jpg|thumb|''Einsatzgruppen'' members at a murder site of Jews in the village of [[Zboriv]], Ukraine, 1941]]
SS Division Nord, which was in northern [[Finland]], took part in [[Operation Arctic Fox]] with the Finnish Army and fought at the battle of [[Salla]], where against strong Soviet forces they suffered 300 killed and 400 wounded in the first two days of the invasion. Thick forests and heavy smoke from forest fires disoriented the troops and the division's units completely fell apart.{{sfn|Windrow|Burn|1992|p=9}} By the end of 1941, ''Nord'' had suffered severe casualties. Over the winter of 1941–42 it received replacements from the general pool of ''Waffen-SS'' recruits, who were supposedly younger and better trained than the SS men of the original formation, which had been drawn largely from ''Totenkopfstandarten'' of [[Nazi concentration camps|Nazi concentration camp]] guards.

The rest of the ''Waffen-SS'' divisions and brigades fared better. The ''Totenkopf'' and ''Polizei'' divisions were attached to [[Army Group North]], with the mission to advance through the [[Baltic states]] and on to [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]].{{sfn|Windrow|Burn|1992|pp=7–8}}{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=166}} The ''Das Reich'' Division was with [[Army Group Centre]] and headed towards [[Moscow]].{{sfn|Windrow|Burn|1992|pp=7–8}}{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=166}} The {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} and ''Wiking'' Divisions were with [[Army Group South]], heading for [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]] and the city of [[Kyiv|Kiev]].{{sfn|Windrow|Burn|1992|pp=7–8}}{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=166}}

The invasion of the Soviet Union proceeded well at first, but the cost to the ''Waffen-SS'' was extreme: by late October, the {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} was at half strength due to enemy action and [[dysentery]] that swept through the ranks.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=168}} ''Das Reich'' lost 60% of its strength and was still to take part in the [[Battle of Moscow]]. The unit was later decimated in the following Soviet offensive. The ''Der Führer'' Regiment was reduced to 35 men out of the 2,000 that had started the campaign in June.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=168}} Altogether, the ''Waffen-SS'' had suffered 43,000 casualties.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=168}}

While the {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} and the SS divisions were fighting in the front line, behind the lines it was a different story. The 1st SS Infantry and 2nd SS Infantry Brigades, which had been formed from surplus concentration camp guards of the SS-TV, and the SS Cavalry Brigade moved into the Soviet Union behind the advancing armies. At first, they fought [[Soviet partisans]] and cut off units of the [[Red Army]] in the rear of Army Group South, capturing 7,000 prisoners of war, but from mid-August 1941 until late 1942 they were assigned to the [[Reich Security Main Office]] headed by [[Reinhard Heydrich]].{{sfn|Windrow|Burn|1992|p=9}}{{sfn|Hannes|Naumann|2000|p=136}} The brigades were now used for rear area security and policing, and were no longer under army or ''Waffen-SS'' command. In the autumn of 1941, they left the anti-partisan role to other units and actively took part in the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]]. While assisting the ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'', they participated in the extermination of the Jewish population of the Soviet Union, forming firing parties when required. The three brigades were responsible for the murder of tens of thousands by the end of 1941.{{sfn|Hannes|Naumann|2000|p=136}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Adendorff-002-18A, Russland, SS-Kavallerie-Brigade.jpg|thumb|Cavalrymen of the [[SS Cavalry Brigade]], September 1941]]

Because it was more mobile and better able to carry out large-scale operations, the SS Cavalry Brigade had 2 regiments with a strength of 3500 men and played a pivotal role in the transition to the wholesale extermination of the Jewish population.{{sfn|Browning|2007|p=279}} In the summer of 1941, Himmler assigned [[Hermann Fegelein]] to be in charge of both regiments.{{sfn|Pieper|2015|pp=52–53}} On 19 July 1941, Himmler assigned Fegelein's regiments to the general command of HSSPF [[Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski]] for the "systematic combing" of the [[Pripyat Marshes massacres|Pripyat swamps]], an operation designed to round up and exterminate Jews, partisans, and civilians in that area of the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]].{{sfn|Pieper|2015|pp=62, 80}}

Fegelein split the territory to be covered into two sections divided by the [[Pripyat (river)|Pripyat River]], with the 1st Regiment taking the northern half and the 2nd Regiment the south.{{sfn|Pieper|2015|p=81}} The regiments worked their way from east to west through their assigned territory, and filed daily reports on the number of people killed and taken prisoner. By 1 August, 1st SS Cavalry Regiment under the command of [[Gustav Lombard]] was responsible for the death of 800 people; by 6 August, this total had reached 3,000 "Jews and partisans".{{sfn|Browning|2007|p=280}} Throughout the following weeks, the regiment's personnel under Lombard's command murdered an estimated 11,000 Jews and more than 400 dispersed soldiers of the Red Army.{{sfn|Cuppers|2006|p=279}} Thus Fegelein's units were among the first in the Holocaust to wipe out entire Jewish communities.{{sfn|Pieper|2015|pp=86, 88–89}} Fegelein's final operational report dated 18 September 1941, states that they killed 14,178 Jews, 1,001 partisans, 699 Red Army soldiers, with 830 prisoners taken and losses of 17 dead, 36 wounded, and 3 missing.{{sfn|Pieper|2015|pp=119–120}}{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=310}} Historian Henning Pieper estimates the actual number of Jews killed was closer to 23,700.{{sfn|Pieper|2015|p=120}}