SS Cavalry Brigade The SS Cavalry Brigade was a unit of the " Waffen SS " formed from cavalry regiments created for occupation duties in German - occupied Poland . Later , while serving in German - occupied areas of the Soviet Union , the brigade was involved in the genocide of the Jewish population and anti - partisan operations . It also filled gaps in the front line when called upon in emergencies . In 1942 , the brigade was disbanded and became the cadre of the 8th SS Cavalry ( " Florian Geyer " ) Division , during its formation . Formation . The SS Cavalry Brigade can trace its origin to the SS " Totenkopf " Horse Regiment ( ) , which was raised in September 1939 , for internal security duties in Poland , under the command of Hermann Fegelein . By April 1940 , it consisted of 8 Saber Squadrons , 9th Replacement , 10th Heavy and 11th Technical Squadrons and a 12th Horse Battery of four 80mm guns . In May it was divided into two regiments , SS " Totenkopf " Horse Regiments 1 & 2 , each of four squadrons , 5th Heavy and 6th Horse Battery also included were Signals , Engineer and Motorcycle platoons . In March 1941 they were renamed SS Cavalry Regiments ( ) 1 and 2 and reformed again into 1st , 2nd and 3rd Saber Squadrons , 4th ( Machine Gun ) , 5th ( Mortar and Infantry Gun ) , 6th ( Technical ) , 7th ( Bicycle ) and 8th ( Horse Battery ) Squadrons . In early August 1941 , Himmler ordered the SS Cavalry Brigade to be formed under the command of Hermann Fegelein from the 1st and 2nd SS cavalry regiments . Personnel were taken from the saber squadrons to form the brigade ' s Artillery , Engineer and Bicycle ( Reconnaissance ) Squadron ' s . They were also given a Light Anti - Aircraft Battery . The brigade now had a strength of 3 , 500 men 2 , 900 horses and 375 vehicles . Soviet Union . After the German invasion of the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa ) , the SS cavalry regiments , along with the 1 SS Infantry Brigade were assigned to pacify what was seen as the main trouble spots in the occupied territories . On 17 July 1941 , the SS cavalry regiments were transferred to the general command of HSSPF Erich von dem Bach for action in the area of the Pripet marsh , a large area of land that covered parts of Belorussia and the Northern Ukraine . Thereafter the regiments combined to become the SS Cavalry Brigade . They were ordered to perform the " systematic combing of the Pripyat swamps " . The SS Cavalry Brigade was assigned because it was more mobile and better able to carry out large - scale operations ; the brigade played a pivotal role in the transition from " selective mass murder " to the wholesale extermination of the Jewish population of the occupied part of the Soviet Union . By 1 August , the SS Cavalry Regiment was responsible for the death of 800 people ; five days later , on 6 August , this total had reached 3 , 000 " Jews and Partisans " . Also on 1 August , after a meeting between Heinrich Himmler , Erich von Bach - Zelewski and Hinrich Lohse , the Brigade received the following order : Gustav Lombard , on receiving the order , advised his Battalion that " In future not one male Jew is to remain alive not one family in the villages " . Throughout the next weeks , members of the SS Cavalry Regiment 1 , under Lombard ' s command , murdered an estimated 11 , 000 Jews and more than 400 dispersed soldiers of the Red Army . Franz Magill and his men of the SS Cavalry Regiment 2 , assisted in the roundup of all the men aged 18 to 55 in the city of Pinsk , where 5 , 000 to 8 , 000 men were shot and shortly afterwards , another 2 , 000 residents including women , children and older men were executed . General of Infantry Max von Schenckendorff , commander of Army Group Center described their operations the following way : The SS Cavalry Brigade operates as follows : at dawn , without prior reconnaissance , the troop tasked with the inspection of a village rides into it at full speed and out the other end , occupies the outer edges of the village in a trice , in accordance with an agreed plan , and then gathers the whole population together , including women and children , for inspection . In many cases the skill and experience of the commanding officer , and also of the accompanying SD and GFP groups together with their interpreters , will decide upon the composition of the male inhabitants and their occupation , as well as upon their fate , so that the area is cleared of opposition and pacified . After the Soviet counterattack in January 1942 , the only large formation not already committed was the SS Cavalry Brigade . Launching an attack on 7 January , it was also forced back after only one day ' s fighting when it had run out of ammunition . One of its Battalions also reported 75 % casualties when fighting in the woods north of Rzhev . The Brigade was found to be wanting and not equipped or trained to take on the Soviet Armoured units . In March 1942 , the SS Cavalry Brigade was used as the cadre in the formation of the 8th SS Cavalry Division " Florian Geyer " .