Afiero, Massimiliano Hohenstaufen. 9.SS Panzer Division

The "Hohenstaufen" SS division was formed at the end of 1942 together with the other "twin" "Frundsberg". The name of the unit is reminiscent of the House of Hohenstaufen, a German noble family that originally came from Swabia. The division was deployed to the eastern front to deal with a crisis situation in the Lviv and Tarnopol sectors in Poland, and later reorganised in northern Ukraine. After the Allied landings in Normandy, the II SS-Pz.Korps was recalled to the Western Front: The "Hohenstaufen" was subordinated to Panzergruppe West and immediately fought against the Allied troops on the Odon and south-west of Caen. This was followed by fighting in the Villers-Bocage sector in July. After the battles for the retreat from the Falaise area, the armoured group was thrown back towards the Seine and redeployed to Holland north of Arnhem at the beginning of September 1944. After handing over all of its heavy armament to the SS "Frundsberg" Division, the division was to be transferred to Germany for reorganisation, but after the Allied air raids began in Holland, the order was revoked and the Harzer Battle Group was formed with the remnants of the "Hohenstaufen" Division. It was not until the end of September, after the Allied attacks had been successfully repelled, that the division was able to return to Germany and was reorganised, mainly thanks to new recruits from the Luftwaffe. In December 1944, it took part in the counter-offensive in the Ardennes and fought in the Malmedy and Saint Vith sectors. In March 1945, it was transferred to Hungary and fought in the area west of Budapest, where it suffered heavy losses. In mid-March, the division withdrew across the Danube to Austria. The last units of the division, which were combined into two battle groups, arrived in Vienna and fought until the end of the war in Austria, where they surrendered to the American forces in May 1945.