1 SS Infantry Brigade The 1 SS Infantry Brigade ( mot ) was a unit of the German Waffen SS formed from former concentration camp guards for service in the Soviet Union behind the main front line during the Second World War . They conducted anti - partisan operations in the rear of the advancing German army and were involved in the extermination of the Jewish population . They also filled gaps in the front line when called upon in emergencies . In 1944 the Brigade was used as the cadre in the formation of the 18th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division " Horst Wessel " . Formation . The 1 SS Infantry Brigade ( mot ) was formed from concentration camp guards , on 21 April 1941 , from men of the 8 SS " Totenkopf " Standarte and 10 SS " Totenkopf " Standarte of the SS - Totenkopfverbände . The original name for the brigade was going to be SS Brigade ( mot ) but was changed to 1 SS Brigade ( mot ) and the final designation of 1 SS Infantry Brigade ( mot ) on 20 September 1941 . The first commander was posted in on 25 June 1941 when Oberführer Richard Herrmann , was reassigned from the Kampfgruppe " Nord " . Russia . When Germany invaded the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa ) in June 1941 , the brigade was stationed in Kraków Poland awaiting its full complement of men and materials . On 23 July they moved east into the occupied territories and between July and August 1941 , fought Soviet partisans and cut off units of the Red Army in the rear of Army Group South capturing 7 , 000 prisoners of war . On 9 August the Brigade was north of Zhitomir and was asked to cover the northern flank of the 6th Army in the Pinsk Marshes . Fighting to clear the marsh near Uschomir the SS Infantry Regiment 10 captured or killed 800 men . The Brigade next operated behind the XVII Army Corps and on 23 August , crossed the Dnieper River . During the remainder of the year and until late 1942 they were assigned to the Reich Security Head Office , which also had the SS Cavalry Brigade and the 2 SS Infantry Brigade ( mot ) under command . The brigade was now used in a rear area security and policing role and most importantly they were not under Army or Waffen SS command . In the Autumn of 1941 , they left the anti partisan role to other units and units and the brigade actively took part in the Holocaust while assisting Einsatzgruppe C and took part in the liquidation of the Jewish population of the Soviet Union , forming firing parties when required . The three brigades were responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of the population by the end of 1941 , and they destroyed at least one village st Białystok for no apparent reason as they had not been engaged from it . On 12 December 1941 , the Brigade was placed under the command of the 56th Infantry Division on the orders of Army Group Center when a gap appeared in the front line of the 2nd Army in the area of Tula , Yelets Liwny . During the fighting around Lasarewka , the Brigade was assigned to the Gruppe Moser and on 28 December 1941 placed under the command of LV Army Corps . 1942 . The Brigade spent the winter in fighting defensive battles in the front line , then received new orders . They were again to form a rear area security and anti partisan unit . From January to August they took part in security and defensive duties around the area of Kursk and a new commander arrived in July Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld . They remained in the Kursk area until 11 August when they were sent to the Minsk area on anti partisans duties . On 11 October the Brigade was in the Wydriza sector in Central Russia ( where Erich von dem Bach - Zelewsky was the SS and Police Leader ) , It took part in the anti partisan Operation Karlsbad ( 11 September to 23 October ) , also involved were the SS - Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger , SS Schuma Battalion 255 and the 1st Battalion , Légion des Volontaires Français . Operation Karlsbad was an anti partisan sweep with the intention of destroying a group of 6000 partisans led by soviet officers . The operation was deemed a success and by the end of it the Brigade had recorded the killing of 1051 partisans and civilians for the loss of 24 dead and 65 wounded . The Brigade was next involved in Operation Freda ( 5 to 9 November ) , together with the SS - Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger they were tasked with the destruction of a powerful partisan group under General Wiejerew in the swamps and forests south of Borissov . The reported casualties from the operation were light with 2 men killed and 10 missing compared to several hundred dead partisans . The Brigade was next used in another anti partisan operation Operation Nurnberg ( 19 to 25 November ) with Police Kampfgruppe von Gottberg . The operation took place between Gleboki and Wilna . The operation was under the command of Brigadeführer Curt von Gottberg with SS Polizei Regiment 14 , two Schuma battalions and a town Gendarmerie unit in support of the 1 SS Infantry Brigade . The operation resulted in 2984 Russian casualties and the release of some German prisoners . At the end of 1942 they were involved in the Battle of Velikiye Luki when the Soviet forces encircled the town of Velikiye Luki . The 83rd Infantry Division which was trapped in the pocket and was destroyed . The 1 SS Infantry Brigade , along with Frikorps Danmark , who had participated in the attempts to break the encirclement under Kampfgruppe Chevallerie had suffered heavy casualties in the process . 1943 . In 1943 the Brigade came under the command of the LIX Corps in the 3rd Panzer Army . On 4 February they were located at Podluschje . They took part in Operation Kugelblitz ( 22 February to 8 March ) attached to the 201st Sicherungs Division . Operation Kugelblitz was an anti Belarusian partisans sweep in the area of Witebsk Gorodok Gurki and Senniza Lake . They also took part in the followup Operation Donnerkeil ( 31 March to 2 April ) the second operation was ordered by the 3rd Panzer Army . In May 1943 the Brigade formed a cadre for the 3 Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade and on 7 July it was sent to Borrissov on another anti partisan sweep against the many small partisan groups in the area . They participated in Operation Hermann ( 7 July ) with various other units under the command of Generalmajor of Polizei von Gottberg . On 1 August the Brigade took part in the evacuation of the area Jeremicze Starzyna Rudnja Kupinsk . This was an attempt to evacuate and deport the population in the area , so they could not join or assist the local partisan units , the evacuees would also be put to work for the German war industry . They were again moved into the front line in September to reinforce the 25th Panzergrenadier Division , which was fighting in the Smolensk Gomel sector . Smolensk was abandoned on 24 September and the Brigade reported that during the fighting they had lost 215 killed in action , 1172 wounded and 77 missing . They had however proved to be an effective front line unit and were mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 15 October . On 12 November the Brigade units were re designated the former SS Infantry Regiment 8 and SS Infantry Regiment 10 now became known as the SS Grenadier Regiment 39 and SS Grenadier Regiment 40 . To counter the Soviet offensive on 10 November the Brigade formed SS Kampfgruppe Trabandt which came under the command of the 36th Infantry Division . They fought at the Rogatschew bridgehead until they were transferred to the bridgehead at Stassewka on 2 December . In December the Brigade took part in Operation Nikolaus which started on 20 December and formed the 9th Army ' s southern pincer group attacking towards the 2nd Army alongside the 16th Panzer Division , 258th Infantry Division , 134th Infantry Divisions and Cavalry Regiment Mitte . The counterattack filled the gap between the 2nd and 9th Army ' s which had been created by the Soviet push towards Bobruisk in November that year . The attack was succeeded and the gap was closed on 22 December . At the end of December 1943 the Brigade was ordered to move to East Prussia . After they reached the troop training grounds Stablack near Königsberg they were reformed . 1944 . The 1 SS Infantry Brigade ( mot ) was disbanded on 24 January 1944 when it was used to form the 18th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division " Horst Wessel . Casualties . Between formation in 1941 and January 1944 the Brigade reported the following casualties , from an establishment of 6 , 271 officers and men : War crimes . The brigade took an active part in the killing of the Jewish population assisting the Einsatzgruppen , in the town of Ushomir where it took part in the killing of all male Jews . Untersturmführer Max Täubner commanded a workshop detail in the brigade and was tried by an SS court in May 1943 , along with four other Waffen - SS men , for unauthorized and sadistic killings of a large number of Jews in 1941 and for taking photos of the killings showing them to wife and friends . In the indictment the SS court states " The accused allowed his men to act with such vicious brutality that they conducted themselves under his command like a savage horde " . The case was dismissed by the judge Standartenführer Dr . Reinecke . The photos and negatives were later ordered to be destroyed . In another version of this trial cited in Taubner is convicted of disregarding secrecy provisions surrounding the exterminations , expelled from the SS , deprived of his civil rights and sentenced to ten years imprisonment , for behavior that was " unworthy of an honorable and decent German man . " Vasyl Valdeman , a Jewish resident of Ostroh reported : " We knew something would be done to us here . When we saw people hit and driven along here with spades , even small children realised why people were carrying the spades . One of the members of the 1st SS Infantry Brigade at the time was Hans Friedrich . He claims not to recall exactly which actions he took part in that summer , but he does admit to participating in killings like the one in Ostrog . " They were so utterly shocked and timid , you could do with them what you wanted . ' " Vasyl Valdeman : " Kids were crying , the sick were crying , the elderly were praying to God . Not on their knees but seated or lying down . It was very tough to go through it all , hearing all this wailing and crying . Then they had everyone get up and said ' Go ' , and as soon as people started moving , they selected people for shooting , for execution . " The selected Ukrainian Jews were taken out to this spot and a pit was dug . In scenes which were repeated right across the areas of the Soviet Union occupied by the Nazis , men , women and children were ordered to strip and prepare to die . The killings went on into the evening . Vasyl Valdeman and his mother managed to escape and hide in a nearby village . But the SS killed his father , grandfather and two uncles . Vasyl Valdeman : " That ' s how it was — the first execution — the most horrible one . It wasn ' t the last one . There were three more large executions after that with 2000 to 3000 people shot at every one of them . More people were executed afterwards in smaller scale ones and this is how the Jewish community of Ostrog was annihilated . "