HISTORY. 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 (later commander of Dachua Concentration Camp and executed for war crimes).  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 during the invasion of France and on Eastern Front. 

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