13th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)

13th Panzer Division
13. Panzer-Division
13th Panzer Division during Operation Barbarossa
Active	11 October 1940 – January 1945
Country	Germany
Branch	German Heer
Type	Panzer
Role	Armoured warfare
Size	Division
Part of	Wehrmacht
Garrison/HQ	Wehrkreis XI: Magdeburg
Engagements	World War II Operation Barbarossa Battle of the Caucasus Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive Battle of Debrecen Siege of Budapest
Insignia
1940–1945

The 13th Panzer Division (English: 13th Armoured Division) was a unit of the German Army during World War II, established in 1940.

The division was organized under the code name Infantry Command IV (Infanterieführer IV) in October 1934. On October 15, 1935, following Germany's open rejection of terms of the Treaty of Versailles restricting Germany's military, the division was designated the 13th Infantry Division (13. Infanterie-Division). The division was motorized during the winter of 1936–1937, and was accordingly renamed the 13th Motorized Infantry Division (13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert)) on October 12, 1937. The 13th Motorized Infantry Division participated in the campaigns against Poland (1939) and western Europe (1940). Following the Fall of France in June 1940, on October 11, 1940, the division was reorganized as the 13th Panzer Division (13. Panzer-Division). It participated in Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of the USSR) in 1941 and the advance on the Caucasus in 1942. The division suffered heavy losses in the retreats of 1943 and 1944. It was partially refitted in Hungary, where it was encircled and destroyed by Red Army in the winter of 1944–1945. The formation was reformed as Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2 in the spring of 1945 and surrendered in May 1945.^{[where?][citation needed]}

During the invasion of Poland, the troops of the division committed war crimes, including reprisal killings, using civilians as human shields, and destroying a medical column.^[1]