The author relates the complete history of this armored division, whose core was originally composed of concentration camps guards. This almost exclusively on the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1945. There, it took part in the fiercest battles, like those in Kharkov, Kursk, Warsaw and Vienna, to name the most famous. In may 1945, it surrendered to the Americans, who instantly handed it over to the soviet. A division roused to fanaticism like no other, it left numerous atrocities in its wake, the most famous being maybe the massacre of British prisoners in the "ferme du Paradis" in may 1940_ but other crimes are also related in detail here. The author has notably reconstructed the division's exact itinerary in Fance, and was able to gather previously unpublished testimonies of French people who crossed its way. Besides, veterans from the division have confided in him their actual experience on the Eastern Front. Finally, on top of this historical review, the reader will find in the appendix section an extremely detailed organization chart for the division, including the names of all the majors of regiments, battalions and companies, as well as members of the staff, down to the battalion level, and a near exhaustive list of all the officers from the division who served in concentration camps.
