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5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
5. SS-Panzerdivision Wiking
Unit insignia
Active1941–1945
Country Nazi Germany
BranchSchutzstaffel Waffen-SS
TypeInfantry
Panzer
RoleArmoured warfare
SizeDivision
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.

  1. ^ Butler, Rupert (2002). SS-Wiking: the history of the Fifth SS Division, 1941-45. Havertown, PA: Casemate. ISBN 978-1-932033-04-5. OCLC 51650889.
  2. ^ Quarrie, Bruce (1986). Hitler's Teutonic Knights: SS panzers in action. Wellingborough : New York, N.Y: P. Stephens ; Distributed by Sterling Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-85059-764-6.
  3. ^ Bishop, Chris (16 July 2012). SS: Hitler's Foreign Divisions: Foreign Volunteers in the Waffen-SS 1940–45. Amber Books Ltd. pp. 12 and 116. ISBN 978-1-908273-99-4. Retrieved 24 January 2025.

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