29th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 29th Infantry Division was a unit of the German army created in the fall of 1936. It was based on the old Reichswehr 15th Infantry Regiment and drew its initial recruits from Thuringia. It was upgraded to 29th Motorized Infantry Division in the fall of 1937. The division was also known as the Falke-Division.
German soldiers of the 15th Regiment of 29th Infantry Division after the execution of Polish civilians during the Invasion of Poland, 9 September 1939.
The Ciepielów massacre that took place on 8 September 1939 was one of the largest and most documented war crimes of the Wehrmacht during its invasion of Poland. On that day, the forest near Ciepielów was the site of a mass murder of Polish prisoners of war from the Polish Upper Silesian 74th Infantry Regiment. The massacre was carried out by soldiers from the German Army's 15th Motorized Infantry Regiment, 29th Motorized Infantry Division, under the command of Colonel Walter Wessel.
Polish POWs murdered by the Wehrmacht
Polish POWs and German soldiers shortly before the massacre
Memorial in Dąbrowa