The Third SS Panzer Division (bearing the nickname "Totenkopf" from 1942) was formed shortly after the September campaign in 1939, and its first commander was Theodore Eicke. It functioned then as a motorized division. It is worth noting that many of its members, at the time of the formation of the unit, previously performed duties in German concentration camps. The unit underwent its baptism of fire in the course of fighting in France in 1940, where it fought from May 16. The unit also took part in the fighting on the Eastern Front from June 1941, taking part, inter alia, in very heavy fighting in the cauldron near Demiañskie (February-April 1942). After these fights, she was transferred to France, where she was renamed the SS Panzer Grenadier Division "Totenkopf", and in 1943 became the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf". In 1943 he took part in the battles near Kharkiv, Kursk and Belgorod. In 1944, he fights with the Soviet troops in Ukraine, and then in the Bia³ystok region. In the last year of the war, the unit fought in Hungary, and later withdrew to Austria, where it capitulated. During World War II, the soldiers of the "Totenkopf" division committed numerous war crimes, including murdering civilians and prisoners.
Battle for Kharkiv was played from February 21 to March 18, 1943. It is assumed that about 70,000 soldiers took part in the battle on the German side, while on the Soviet side - about 340,000. soldiers. On the German side was commanded by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, while on the Soviet side - Marshal Filip Golikow. The genesis of the Battle of Kharkiv in 1943 dates back to the German defeat at Stalingrad in February 1943 and the Red Army's move to the west offensive in the area of today's south-west Russia, which was aimed at the German Army Group "South". At the beginning of February 1943, Soviet troops liberated, among others, Kharkiv, Kursk and Belgorod. At the same time, however, despite the successes, the Soviet troops were stretched significantly, their logistics was defective and, above all, they suffered relatively high losses in the course of their offensive operations. In this situation, despite the significant numerical superiority of the enemy, the German troops (especially armored forces - including the 2nd SS Panzer Corps) launched the offensive and in the period from February 21 to 28, 1943, they encircled and destroyed the Red Army troops fighting south of Kharkiv. On March 4, the II Corps entered the city, retaking it from the Soviet hands until March 15, and three days later Belgorod was recaptured. The Battle of Kharkiv stabilized the eastern front until the Battle of the Kursk in July 1943. In the course of the fighting, the Soviets lost about 80,000 people, while the German side - about 11,000 people.