7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen", initially named the SS-Volunteer Division Prinz Eugen, was a mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS, an armed branch of the German Nazi Party that served alongside but was never formally part of the Wehrmacht during World War II. At the post-war Nuremberg trials, the Waffen-SS was declared to be a criminal organisation due to its major involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity. From 1942 to 1945, the division fought a counter-insurgency campaign against communist-led Yugoslav Partisan resistance forces in occupied Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1941 from both Reich Germans and Volksdeutsche – ethnic German volunteers and conscripts from the Banat, Independent State of Croatia, Hungary and Romania. The division surrendered on 11 May 1945 to Yugoslav Partisan forces.
Vehicles of Prinz Eugen's 7th Panzer Battalion (including SOMUA S35 and Hotchkiss H39 tanks) laagering on the outskirts of a Bosnian town in 1941
Prinz Eugen soldiers disarming the Lim-Sandžak Chetnik Detachment prior to Operation Schwarz, May 1943
Prinz Eugen MG 42 position on the Dalmatian coast, 1943
Otto Kumm as an SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) in March 1943. Kumm commanded the 7th SS through some of its hardest fighting in 1944, and ended the war with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
Gebirgsjäger are the light infantry part of the alpine or mountain troops (Gebirgstruppe) of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The word Jäger is a characteristic term used for light infantry in German speaking countries.
German Gebirgsjäger during a climbing exercise
Gebirgsjäger group in late 1942 during the Battle of the Caucasus
A German Gebirgsjäger wearing the formal uniform with the characteristic clothes and boots
A Bv 206S as a medical transporter. The 206S is the standard transport vehicle of the German mountain infantry.
