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5th SS Panzer Division Wiking | |
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5. SS-Panzerdivision Wiking | |
![]() Unit insignia | |
Active | 1941–1945 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Type | Infantry Panzer |
Role | Armoured warfare |
Size | Division |
Engagements | |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders |
The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking (German: 5. SS-Panzerdivision Wiking) or SS Division Wiking was an infantry and later an armoured division among the thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions of Nazi Germany. During World War II, the division served on the Eastern Front. It surrendered on 9 May 1945 to the American forces in Austria.
The division contained contingents of foreign volunteers from Northern European countries including, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, the Netherlands and Belgium.[1][2] Although the role of foreign volunteers was played up by German wartime propaganda, the vast majority of the division’s personnel (over 90% at times) remained German, with the Nordic volunteers being from the “Westland” and “Nordland” SS regiments.[3] Like other Waffen-SS divisions, Division Wiking participated in war crimes in Eastern Europe.