36th SS Waffen Grenadier Division Dirlewanger Patch

36th SS Waffen Grenadier Dirlewanger Division Patch. Iron on can be sewn on if you choose. Approx 2.5″ tall.

The Dirlewanger Brigade, also known as the SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger (1944), or the 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (German: 36. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS), or Black Hunters, was a unit of the Waffen-SS during World War II. The unit was led by Oskar Dirlewanger and was composed of violent criminals convicted of major crimes such as premeditated murder, rape, arson and burglary who were expected to die fighting on the front line. Originally formed for counter-insurgency duties against the Polish resistance movement, it was used in the Bandenbekämpfung (“bandit fighting”) actions in German-occupied Europe. During operations, the unit engaged in pillaging and mass murder of civilians.

The unit participated in some of World War II’s most notorious campaigns of terror in Belarus, where it carved out a reputation within the Waffen-SS for committing atrocities. Numerous army and SS commanders attempted to remove Dirlewanger from the SS and disband the unit, although he had patrons within the Nazi apparatus who intervened on his behalf. His unit took part in the destruction of Warsaw, and the massacre of ~100,000 of the city’s population during the Warsaw Uprising; and participated in the brutal suppression of the Slovak National Uprising in 1944. Dirlewanger’s formation generated fear throughout Waffen-SS organizations, including the SS-Führungshauptamt (SS Command Headquarters) and earned notoriety as the most criminal and heinous SS unit in Hitler’s war machine.