ϟϟ-Division „Leibstandarte ϟϟ“ in Heeresgruppe Süd

SS-Unterscharführer of the Leibstandarte SS

Soviet POWs were expendable and considered subhuman

The Leibstandarte SS and the Wiking Division went to Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group South during the Barbarossa campaign of 1941. They were drawn up one behind the other under the command of Generaloberst Ewald von Kleist's first Panzer group and they would soon spearhead the German armies. The Leibstandarte seized a bridgehead over the Dnieper, it broke through the Soviet defences of the Crimea at Pereskop and stormed Taganrog and Rostov. After battles in the beginning of the operation the Leibstandarte turned south in order to close the Uman cauldron at Novo Arkhangelsk at the beginning of Aug. 1941. Then after fighting in at Sasselje and Novo Danzig, it took the town of Kherson and took up defensive position on the River Dnieper at Berislav. It then advanced on Pereskop on the neck of the Crimean Peninsular and attacked the fortifications defending the Crimea. The Leibstandarte then engaged in pursuit of the enemy interchanged with defence against enemy counter attacks, between the Sea of Azov and the lower Dnieper. The Leibstandarte subsequently aimed for Rostov. On Oct. 17 it took Taganrog and it took Rostov on Nov. 21 but withdrew because of the danger of encirclement threatened. Up to beginning of December, there was fighting east of the River Mius before settling into winter positions along the Ssambek River. Top image: photo of unknown origin claiming to show an NCO of the Leibstandarte in Ukraine. Source: LSSAH in Photos 1933-1945. FU. Bottom image: Soviet Red Army soldiers captured by the Leibstandarte during Barbarossa. Nazi Germany engaged in a policy of deliberate maltreatment of Soviet POWs, in contrast to their treatment of Western POWs. They deliberately starved to death Soviet prisoners in staggering numbers. In the eyes of the Nazis, the war against the Soviets would be a war of annihilation. Photo by Paul Augustin who served as a SS-Kriegsberichter with the Leibstandarte SS from at least 1940 until March 1943. During that period, he took many hundreds of photographs of his unit, and a collection of those photos is maintained by U.S. National Archives. Augustin was promoted to SS-Hschaf on March 1 1943 and KIA eight days later. Credit: Mensburg. U.S. NARA.