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| 3rd Motorized Infantry Division 3rd Panzergrenadier Division | |
|---|---|
| German:3. Infanterie-Division (mot.) 3. Panzergrenadier-Division | |
.svg) Unit insignia | |
| Active | 1 October 1934 – 2 February 1943; 1 March 1943 – 21 April 1945 |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch |  German Army |
| Type | Panzergrenadier |
| Role | Maneuver warfare Raiding |
| Size | Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Frankfurt (Oder) |
| Engagements | World War II |
The3rd Infantry Division was aninfantrydivision of theGerman Army that fought inWorld War II. The division was established under the cover nameWehrgauleitung Frankfurt in 1934 by expanding the 3rd Division of theReichswehr. It was redesignatedKommandant von Frankfurt shortly afterward, and took on its bona fide name when the formation of theWehrmacht was announced in October 1935. In March 1939 the division took part in the invasion andoccupation of Czechoslovakia.
During World War II the division took part in theinvasion of Poland in September 1939 where it was part of theGerman 4th Army. It then took part in theinvasion of France in May 1940. In October that year it returned to Germany and was upgraded to a fullymotorized division. (Most German divisions during the war had no transport for the infantry and used horses to tow their artillery; German industry could not turn out sufficient motor transport while also trying to meet other military requirements.)
Redesignated the3rd Motorized Infantry Division it took part inOperation Barbarossa in June 1941, advancing onLeningrad underArmy Group North. In October the division was transferred toArmy Group Center forOperation Typhoon and theBattle of Moscow and the defensive battles of the winter. In mid-1942 it was transferred toArmy Group South to take part in the summer offensiveFall Blau ("Case Blue"), and was ultimately caught up in theBattle of Stalingrad, where it was destroyed in the encirclement with theGerman 6th Army in February 1943.
It was reconstituted as the3rd Panzergrenadier Division in March, absorbing the386th Motorized Division in the process. It then fought on theItalian Front until the summer of 1944, when it was transferred to theWestern Front to help re-establish the front line after theAlliedbreakout from the Normandy beachhead. Later in the year, it participated in theBattle of the Bulge and then in the defensive actions atRemagen. During this battle, several dozen soldiers of the division were killed in theChenogne massacre.[1] The division surrendered in theRuhr Pocket in April 1945, shortly beforeVictory in Europe Day.
The division has been implicated in a number of war crimes in Italy between September 1943 and August 1944.[2] It is estimated that the division massacre roughly 200 Italian civilians during this time period. After the division moved toFrance, it continued to commit war crimes, including the massacre of 86 civilians inCouvonges.[3][4]
Two members of the division, LieutenantWolfgang Lehnigk-Emden and NCOKurt Schuster were sentenced to life in prison in absentia by an Italian court for their role in theCaiazzo massacre, the murder of twenty-two civilians at Caiazzo, near Naples, in October 1943 but not extradited. Lehnigk-Emden was captured by Allied forces during the war, confessed the crime but then released by accident. He was found guilty of manslaughter by theBundesgerichtshof, Germany's highest court but released because of theStatute of limitations had expired. This caused considerable outrage in both Germany and Italy because of the particularly brutal nature of the crime, and was seen as aMiscarriage of justice.[5][6][7]
