8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer

Formed in 1942 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer was soon deployed to the Eastern Front where Hitler’s ambition to conquer Russia was stalling badly. In common with other SS units the Division was responsible for razing towns and villages, poisoning wells and genocide often against unarmed civilians. This scorched earth policy was aimed at hindering the Red Army’s advance.

After moving South, the Division took part in the retreat from the Dnieper River before operating in Hungary and Croatia.

The end came when trapped in Budapest by Soviet and Romanian forces, the Division was destroyed in December 1944. By the end of the siege only 800 of the 30,000 men in the SS Corps reached German lines.

Using many startling contemporary images, this latest book in the Author’s Images of War series vividly illustrates the horror of warfare on the Eastern Front.