2nd SS Panzer Division
Das Reich
Paul "Papa" Hausser
Battling in both the Eastern and Western fronts of World War II, he was seriously wounded twice, losing an eye in the first incident.
During the period following the fall of France, the Division was stationed in France preparing for the invasion of England. The Germania regiment was then sent to be the cadre in the formation of a new division, SS Division Germania (later Wiking), and a replacement third regiment was transferred from the Totenkopfverb?nde (SS Regiment 11); the reorganized formation was re-equipped as a motorized division and renamed the SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) Reich. The Division was moved to Romania to take part in the Invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece in March 1941. In April 1941, Das Reich took part in the successful capture of Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia.
After the D-Day invasion, Das Reich was committed to stop the Allied advance, and took part in the attempts to stop the Americans near Saint-L? alongside the Panzer-Lehr-Division. Das Reich panzer commander Ernst Barkmann became famous for the creation of 'Barkmann's Corner', where he destroyed numerous American tanks in small skirmishes.
Early in 1943, Das Reich was transferred back to the Eastern Front, where it helped reclaim the crumbling central front around Kharkov. After helping to recapture Kharkov, Das Reich, along with many other divisions, was thrown into a massive assault in the Kursk salient, a huge bulge in the German front line around the area of Kursk and Byelgorod. Das Reich pushed over 40 miles (approximately 64 kilometers)[citation needed] into the southern sector of the bulge, but was pulled out of the battle along with the other SS divisions when the offensive was called off.
