The 1st Mountain Division () was an elite formation of the German Wehrmacht during World War II, and is remembered for its involvement in multiple large-scale war crimes. It was created on 9 April 1938 in Garmisch Partenkirchen from the Mountain Brigade () which was itself formed on 1 June 1935. The division consisted mainly of Bavarians and some Austrians. Poland and France The 1st Mountain Division fought in the Invasion of Poland as a part of Army Group South and distinguished itself during fighting in the Carpathians and at Lwów. On 8 September 1939 in Rozdziel village its soldiers committed a war crime (killing 6 civilians and 3 POWs, burning houses) and attempting to execute another 250 civilians. It subsequently took part in the Battle of France as a part of XVIII Army Corps and was selected to take part in the planned operations against the United Kingdom (Operation Sea Lion) and Gibraltar (Operation Felix) but both operations were cancelled. With Felix cancelled, the division took part in the Invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 as part of the 2nd Army. Eastern Front and Balkans The 1st Mountain Division participated in Operation Barbarossa, (the invasion of the Soviet Union). On 30 June, the division captured Lviv. There, the Germans discovered several thousand bodies of prisoners who had been executed by the NKVD, as they could not be evacuated. The 1st Mountain Division continued its advance into the Soviet Union, participating in the breakthrough of the Stalin Line and the advance to the Dniepr and Mius rivers. In May 1942, the division fought in the Second Battle of Kharkov and then participated in the offensive through southern Russia and into the Caucasus (Operation Edelweiss). In a symbolic propaganda move, the division sent a detachment to raise the German flag on Mount Elbrus on 21 August. Although the feat was widely publicized by Goebbels, Hitler was furious over what he called "these crazy mountain climbers," his rage lasting for hours. However, by December 1942 with Soviet forces en-circling the 6th Army at Stalingrad, the 1st Mountain Division, as part of the 17th Army, was ordered to withdraw to the Kuban bridgehead. In April 1943, the division was posted to Yugoslavia, where it participated in the anti-Partisan offensive named Case Black, and later Greece where it took part in anti-partisan operations. In November 1943, the division returned to Yugoslavia, where it took