Atrocities of the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich&quo
Having grown up around real men who fought against the Nazi's, I still go to the reunions and listen to their real life experiences, I have a hard time seeing how 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" could ever be considered a "Great" or "Impresive" Military Division. The atrocities they committed on Eastern Front were so extreme to innocent civilians that it is hard to read.
However one of the most famous atrocties they committed, is much closer to home. There is no herosim or glory in what these most evil of evil men did almost on a daily basis. When my father received the Silver Star it was against a SS machine gun position. The day before they had gunned down several American prisoners. Part of my Dad's citiation read that he killed 6 Germans and captured 21. All of these Texas Soldiers had great respect for General Rommel, because he had fought with honor and treated captured POW humanely. The Africa Corp brought honor to German Vermacht.
I could go on for hours with the disgust that all of these men who were actually there felt against these animals. Below is a historical clip of what they did as common practice. These people killed were someone mom, Dad, brother, sister, son, cousin, Aunt, granfather who were loved and cherished. There is no defense against their record.
Historical Fact
On June 10, 1944, the SS occupied the town. The entire population of the town was rounded up. Men were separated from women and children. The women and children were herded into a church. The men were locked in 5 garages and barns, where they were shot. The buildings were then
torched. The church with 400 women and children locked inside was also razed to the ground. The SS reported 548 "enemy" killed, with one SS dead and one "wounded". Post-war investigators estimated 393 residents of the town, 167 people from the surrounding countryside, 33 people from Limoges and 55 from other areas were killed during this rampage.
There were no official German sanctions for these or other SS atrocities. Rather, they were viewed only as an "excess of zeal", with no repricussions for any of the participants. The chivalric values of the SS were reserved only for the "deserving". The actions of the SS set new standards for brutality in warfare, whatever the military accomplishments of these units might otherwise have been.
Text by Dan reinbold
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