served in Operation Barbarossa as part of Panzer Group 1 (Army Group South), and it contributed to the successful encirclements of the Soviet forces at Kiev. At the end of 1941, it was positioned at Rostov; however, it was forced to retreat due to fierce Soviet counter-attacks.Mitcham (2000), p. 113. In 1942 and 1943, the division formed part of the First Panzer Army (Army Group A); it was involved in the battles for the Caucasus oil fields and at the Kuban Peninsula after the Battle of Stalingrad. In the fall of 1943, it was withdrawn to Western Ukraine, where it fought defensive battles near the river Dniepr. The offensive of the Soviet Army pushed the Germans to their starting positions of June 1941. The 13th Panzer Division was attached to Army Group South Ukraine, which had orders to stop the Soviets from capturing the Romanian oil fields. The division was reformed in July and it received modern equipment, including the Panther G tank and the Jagdpanzer IV. The Red Army offensive of August 1944 resulted in the deaths or imprisonment of most of the division. In the Battle of Debrecen, the division helped to annihilate three Soviet corps; however, it was encircled in Budapest at the end of 1944 and destroyed in January 1945. In the spring of 1945, the division was reformed under the name Feldherrnhalle 2. The last engagements with the Soviets were fought on the Austro-Hungarian border. The division surrendered in Austria in May 1945. War crimes During the invasion of Poland, the division used civilians as human shields in the battle with the retreating Polish Prusy Army and on September 8, 1939, attacked a medical column marked with the Red Cross signs near Odrzywół. A day later, soldiers from the division took part in the revenge killing of 11 civilians and two Polish priests including Dean Stanisław Klimecki in the nearby town of Drzewica in retaliation for their own military losses. Killings have also been reported in nearby settlements of Gielniów, Kamienna Wola, Klwów, Ossa, Przysucha, Potok, Rozwady and Zarzęcin. Commanders The commanders of the division: Infantry Command IV (Infanterieführer IV), 13th Infantry Division (13. Infanterie-Division), and 13th Motorized Infantry Division (13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert))Generalleutnant (1 October 1934 – 20 August 1939) 13th Motorized Infantry Division (13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert))Generalleutnant Moritz von Faber du Faur (21 August 1939 – 6 September 1939)Generalleutnant Paul Otto (7 September – 31