Third Battle of Kharkov: „Das Reich“ and the Kharkov Tractor Plant

SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich outside the Kharkov Tractor Plant

SS-Kampfgruppe Kumm on the yard of the Kharkov Tractor Plant

The Soviets rushed reinforcements, including a tank brigade and an élite brigade of NKVD security troops, into the city. During the night and into the next day, several Waffen-SS kampfgruppen swept through central Kharkov. Every block had to be cleared of enemy troops. The SS-Panzergrenadiers encountered especially stubborn resistance from NKVD troops in the last remaining pockets of Soviet resistance. On March 14 1943 elements of the 17th NKVD Regiment and the 19th Rifle Division, reinforced by a dozen or so tanks, occupied the tractor factory complex to the southeast of the city. Early in the morning of March 15 1943, Das Reich's SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Deutschland's 2nd battalion, under command of SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Bissinger led the attack on the entrenched NKVD troops and concealed T-34s. The fighting continued until after the darkness fell. On March 16 1943, SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Kumm's Regiment Der Führer's 3rd battalion, arrived and began a final attack to clear the last Soviet troops out of the factory. By mid-morning, the NKVD troops and surviving Soviet infantry abandoned Kharkov and withdrew to the south and east. XLVIII Panzerkorps swept around Kharkov from the south and were soon joined by SS-Kampfgruppe Harmel as they cut of the Soviet 3rd Tank Army's routes of escape across the Donetz. On March 18 1943, the SS-Panzerkorps attacked along the Kharkov-Belgorod railway. Soviet resistance had collapsed and the enemy withdrew to hastily prepared defences on the eastern bank of the Donetz River. The Third Battle of Kharkov was over. Images: battle-hardened Waffen-SS Panzergrenadiers of SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich during the mopping-up operation at the Kharkov Tractor Plant on March 15-16 1943. A photography from the same slides appeared on the cover of the Deutsche Illustrierte Nr 15 on April 6 1943 with caption: Kampfpause; Grenadiere der Waffen-ϟϟ haben sich mutig geschlagen, auch dieser Stadtteil wurde im gleich starken Einstaz vom letzten Bolschewisten geräumt. Die wohlverdiente Ruhe entspannt eine kurze Zeit die kampferprobten Gesichter. Photos by South Tyrol-born SS-Kriegsberichter Friedrich Zschäckel. Commons: Bundesarchiv.