SS-Division "Totenkopf"

2. Kompanie Impressions as "Totenkopf"

On this page you will see the various impressions the men of 2. Kompanie wear while portraying "Totenkopf". These impressions cover the years from 1939 all the way until the end of the war. Depending on the scenario of the specific event, we will choose an appropriate impression. At public events, and most generic Ost Front's our main impressions is "Totenkopf" during Operation Barbarossa.

The SS-Division "Totenkopf" was formed of new recruits and a cadre from three SS-Totenkopfstandarten, that were involved in the invasion of Poland, and were formerly guards in prison camps, that would later become concentration and death camps. Each soldier assigned to the newly formed Division was forced to sign a waiver, swearing himself to secrecy, and any divulging of information, or negative speak of the Division would result in the soldier being kicked out of the SS, and sent to one of the prison camps as an inmate. In the early years, many men were not fond of Theodor Eicke, the Division commander because of these policies, and many of the men who openly didn't agree with some of things they were taught were sent to camps. The remainder of the men learned to follow their leaders, and not question orders.

During their training, the men of the newly formed Division were constantly getting in trouble in in the cities near by where they were stationed. While stationed near Munich, the Munich District Commander filed a complaint to OKW because roving bands of men of the "Totenkopf" Division were stealing side arms from Heer NCO's and Officers. The Division first saw combat in France and suffered high casualties, and didn't develop a good reputation for combat effectiveness until it's fighting in Russia. By this time, most of the misfits from the early years were either dead or discharged.

At it's high point, the Totenkopfdivision was one of the most elite fighting forces in the world, and were feared by their enemies. When they surrendered to the Americans in 1945, they were promptly handed over to the Russians, who were on the look out for the men of the Death's Head Division who had inflicted massive casualties on the Russians, fighting almost exclusively on the Russian front. Upon being handed over to the Russians, the high ranking "Totenkopf" officers were executed and the remaining survivors were marched from Austria to Gulags in Siberia, where they remained until the mid-fifties. Most men who made the march to Siberia, never returned.

One of the first things people notice about our impressions of "Totenkopf" is that we appear to be more uniform than most other SS re-enacting units. The reason for this, is we all primarily wear Plane Tree or Palm pattern smocks. Photographic evidence shows that these patterns were the most used by our unit, and the Division received all it's camo items from their own Depot at Dachau, therefor, at least camo wise, the Division remained fairly uniform. However, the tunics worn by the men of the Division varied greatly in style and make, as well as the different death's head collar patches. This is something we also try to maintain, and the men of 2. Kompanie wear various styles of tunics, including the SS M37 tunic.

SS-TOTENKOPFSTANDARTEN 1. "OBERBAYERN" - POLAND, 1939