While in Greece, the division committed war crimes and atrocities against the civilian population under the guise of "anti-partisan" warfare. In particular they were responsible for the Kleisoura massacre and the Distomo massacre; the latter being one of the worst atrocities committed by the Waffen-SS during World War II. On June 10, 1944, for over two hours, troops of the division under the command of Fritz Lautenbach went door to door and massacred Greek civilians as part of a "retaliation measure" for a Greek Resistance attack upon the unit. A total of 214 men, women and children were killed in Distomo, a small village near Delphi. According to survivors, SS men "bayoneted babies in their cribs, stabbed pregnant women, and beheaded the village priest."