page_title: 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf
section_title: Le Paradis Massacre
hierarchical_section_title: 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf / War crimes / France / Le Paradis Massacre
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. ADN-ZB/Archiv II.Weltkrieg 1939-1945 An der Front in Frankreich, Mai 1940 Nach der Eroberung von Calais durch faschistische deutsche Truppen werden verwundete britische Soldaten mit deutschen Panzern aus der Altstadt herausgebracht. Aufnahme: Horster English: "ADN-ZB/Archive Second World War 1939-1945 At the front in France, May 1940 After the capture of Calais by fascist German troops, wounded British soldiers are brought out from the old town by German tanks. Recording: Horster" Information added by Wikimedia users. English: "Calais, France.- English prisoners of war behind Panzer I" English: (This comes from the archives of Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst-Zentralbild, the photo arm of East Germany's state news service, which is why the original description uses the word "fascist".)
context_page_description: The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" was one of 38 divisions of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. Its name, Totenkopf, is German for "death's head" – the skull and crossbones symbol – and it is thus sometimes referred to as the Death's Head Division.
  The division was formed through the expansion of Kampfgruppe Eicke, a battle group named – in keeping with German military practice – after its commander, Theodor Eicke. Most of the battle group's personnel had been transferred to the Waffen SS from concentration camp guard units, which were known collectively as SS-Totenkopfverbände; others were former members of Selbstschutz: ethnic German militias that had committed war crimes in Poland.
  The division became notorious for its brutality, and committed numerous war crimes, including the Le Paradis massacre.
context_section_description: The Le Paradis massacre was a war crime committed by members of the 14th Company, SS Division Totenkopf, under the command of Hauptsturmführer Fritz Knöchlein. It took place on 27 May 1940, during the Battle of France, at a time when the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was attempting to retreat through the Pas-de-Calais region during the Battle of Dunkirk.
  Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Norfolk Regiment, had become isolated from their regiment. They occupied and defended a farmhouse against an attack by Waffen-SS forces in the village of Le Paradis. After running out of ammunition, the defenders surrendered to the German troops. The Germans machine-gunned the men after surrendering, with survivors killed with bayonets. Two men survived with injuries, and were hidden by locals until they were captured by German forces several days later. After the war, Knöchlein was tried for his part in the massacre and convicted by a war crimes court. He was executed in 1949.
caption: British prisoners of war with a Pz.Kpfw Ib German tank in Calais in May, 1940
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