3rd Panzer-Grenadier-Division

Author: Carlo Gentile

After its near destruction at Stalingrad, the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division was newly organized in France in 1943. Starting in July of that year, it was deployed to Italy, where it participated in the occupation of Rome following the Italian armistice, among other operations. In the war’s further course, the division was active at the Volturno Front, in defence of the “Arno-Line”, and in Central Italy. During these operations, the division repeatedly targeted and killed civilians, most notably in the Caiazzo Massacre. Grenadier Regiment (motorized) 29 was particularly notorious for such atrocities. Even after the division’s transfer to the Western Front in 1944, these violent practices persisted. Only a few of the division’s members were prosecuted for these actions after the war. The actions in this unit point to the Wehrmacht’s role in war crimes perpetrated during the Second World War.

Back to overview of perpetrators

Nationality: German
Arny Branch: Panzergrenadier Division
Armed Force: Wehrmacht
Commanders: Generalmajor/Generalleutnant Fritz-Hubert Graeser 6 March 1943-28 April 1944
Oberst Hans Hecker 28 April-1 June 1944
Generalleutnant Hans-Günther von Rost 1 June-25 June 1944
Generalmajor Hans Hecker 25 June-5 Oct.1944
Years of Service: 1943-1945
Campaign: Occupation of Italy (1943-August 1944)
Western Front (August 1944-Mai 1945); Ardennes Offensive
Confirmed Massacres: Ponticelli (Naples) 29 September 1943
Mugnano (Naples) 1 Oct. 1943
Fornelli, Sannio (Isernia) 4 Oct.1943
Caiazzo (Caserta) 13 Oct. 1943
Empoli (Florence) 24 July 1944
San Piero a Ponti (Florence) 13 Aug.1944
Vallée de la Saulx, Robert-Espagne, Couvonges, Mamey, Martincourt (France) Aug.-September 1944

Origins and war experience

After the Battle of Stalingrad

The 3rd Panzergrenadier Division was almost destroyed at the Battle of Stalingrad in January 1943. In the spring of 1943, it was newly organized in France, with use of personnel from the 386^th Infantry Division (motorized) organized in November 1942 in Frankfurt an der Oder. An originally planned transfer of this formation to the Eastern Front was not implemented; instead, in January 1943 the troops were moved to the west. On 1 March 1943, the unit was renamed the 3^rd Infantry Division (motorized); this new division was supplemented by personnel from the original 3^rd Division who had escaped from the Soviet encirclement. Finally, in late June 1943, the division was reorganized again into the 3^rd Panzergrenadier Division.

On the Italian Front

Advance into Italy and Securing Central Positions

In mid-July 1943, the division was transferred to Italy and stationed north of Viterbo. Following the announcement of the Italian armistice on 9 September, it advanced towards Rome, defeating Italian forces near Oriolo and Monterosi before reaching Littoria on 11 September. While the Reconnaissance battalion occupied Civitavecchia, other units moved into towns around Lake Bolsena and advanced towards Chiusi, Montepulciano, Pienza, Perugia, Castiglione del Lago, and Arezzo. Meanwhile, Army Antiaircraft Battalion 312 secured key locations, including Viterbo, Montefiascone, Orte, Orvieto, and Terni.

In a second phase of operations, the division took over coastal defence between Nettunia and Gaeta. In addition, some of its units were deployed to guard the communication lines between Arezzo and Rome.

It is highly probable that this battle group participated in several executions of civilians carried out in the Naples suburb of Ponticelli and the vicinity of the town of Mugnano.

Deployment at Salerno and Atrocities Around Naples

In September 1943, the 3^rd Panzergrenadier Division had to transfer some of its units to the XIV Panzer Corps, to be deployed on the Salerno Front; these included the reconnaissance battalion under the leadership of Rittmeister Hans-Joachim von Zieten. The “battle group von Zieten” was under the command of the “Hermann Göring” Panzer-Division and took part in the heavy fighting near Salerno. In late September, it withdrew through the eastern part of Naples, reaching the area north of the Campanian capital. It is highly probable that this battle group participated in several executions of civilians carried out in the Naples suburb of Ponticelli and the vicinity of the town of Mugnano.
The Volturno Front and the Massacre of Caiazzo

In early October 1943, parts of the 3^rd Panzergrenadier Division were withdrawn from their position at the coastal defence in Latium and deployed at the Volturno Front near Caiazzo. On 13 October, a massacre of civilians took place there.

In November, the division became engaged in heavy fighting on the Bernhard Line in the Mignano area. The 8^th Grenadier Regiment (motorized) defended the choke point at Mignano, which was flanked by the Sammucro and Cesima mountains, as well as Monte la Difensa and Monte Camino. On the left flank, the 29^th Grenadier Regiment (motorized) held positions on Monte Corno and Monte Croce. The fighting resulted in heavy casualties, and the division remained at the front until mid-November.
Between Anzio and the “Arno-Line”

After a pause on the Tyrrhenian coast for recovery, the 3^rd Panzergrenadier Division was divided in two. One portion was transferred to the Adriatic sector, another south of Cassino. After the Allied landing in Anzio in January 1944, the entire division was transferred to the area around Aprilia, Campoleone, and Carroceto. There, one of the division’s battalions defended the town of Aprilia; it was one of the first German formations to encounter American forces. The 29^th Grenadier Regiment (motorized) defended the Campoleone railway station.

In May 1944, with the resumption of the Allied offensive, the division fought in Artena, Genzano, Lanuvio, Valmontone, and Velletri. It then withdrew through Rome along the Via Cassia, a main traffic route, toward Lake Bolsena and Acquapendente.

In mid-June, the division was placed under the command of the XIV Panzer Corps. While marching into Tuscany, it engaged in heavy fighting in Roccastrada and the Colline Metallifere, the hills south of Volterra. After heavy losses, in late June, the division briefly withdrew before again taking its position at the front north of Volterra on 10 July. The division’s final deployments in Italy involved fighting on the Arno Front near San Miniato and Empoli.
Transfer to the Western Front and retreat to Germany

In August 1944, the unit was transferred to the Western Front together with the 15^th Panzergrenadier Division. There, it fought southeast of Paris and retreated through the Aube and Haute-Marne départements. In the closing months of 1944, it operated near Metz and in the Ardennes, then continuing its retreat. Before the surrender in May 1945, the unit reached Germany and took up positions on the Rhine and in Westphalia.

The 3^rd Panzergrenadier Division was one of the Wehrmacht formations that engaged with special frequency in atrocities against Italy’s civilian population. The reasons for this development are unclear.

A unit of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division evacuates a village in Abruzzi near the front line © Collezione privata
In the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division’s rear area at the Nettuno-Front, two signs refer to the collection point for prisoners and spoils. © Bild 101I/474/1854/16A, Gerhard Rauchwetter

From Italy to France: A path of violence

The 3^rd Panzergrenadier Division was one of the Wehrmacht formations that frequently committed atrocities against Italy’s civilian population. The reasons for this development are unclear. Neither the division’s personnel nor its deployment conditions suggest a tendency for such violence. It is in any event striking that the 29^th Grenadier Regiment (motorized) is considered responsible for most of the crimes.

The reconnaissance battalion is considered responsible for the massacres at Ponticelli and Mugnano, committed during the division’s retreat through Naples. On 4 October 1943, an engineer battalion hanged five hostages in Fornelli as retaliation for an attack by unknown persons. On 13 October, a patrol of the 29^th Grenadier Regiment (motorized), under the command of Leutnant Wolfgang Lehnigk-Emden, murdered 22 civilians in Caiazzo, including many women and children. On 7 November 1943, the Ia, the division’s first general staff officer, Major Albert Jaster, issued a command to “ruthlessly shoot and kill all Italians in and behind the main battle line.”

In the spring of 1944, during a rest period away from the front, a second wave of violence erupted. The reconnaissance battalion carried out several round-ups in Umbria and Latium. On 27 March, it operated alongside parachute units in the regions of Calzolaro, Umbertide, Scheggia, and Pascelupo. Between 29 March and 7 April, another major operation took place, involving coordination between the Wehrmacht, the police, and Italian fascist forces in the areas around Norcia, Leonessa, Poggio Bustone, and Morro Reatino, near the Latium-Umbria border. During the operation, numerous partisans, deserters, and civilians were killed.

In the summer of 1944, the 29^th Grenadier Regiment (motorized) played a central role in several grave crimes. On 22 July 1944, the division command reported the shooting of 26 civilians on the front line. Two days later, the regiment in Empoli killed 29 civilians following a firefight with partisans. On 27 July, nine partisans were shot and killed during a razzia on Monte Albano; five additional persons were killed three days later. Shortly before withdrawing from Italy, on 13 August 1944, the regiment killed 13 civilians in San Piero a Ponti near Campi di Bisenzio.

Violence against civilians continued after the division’s transfer to the Western Front. Again, special emphasis must be placed on the activities of the 29^th Grenadier Regiment (motorized); it is considered responsible for several massacres in France. On 29 August 1944, its soldiers shot to death 51 persons in Robert-Espagne, Couvonges, and Barney in the Saulx Valley in the Meuse département. On 2 September, there were additional massacres in Martincourt and Saint-Léger.

The postwar period

Investigations of the Bonn prosecutor’s office

In West Germany, criminal investigations into the murder of civilians in Italy were rare. One of the few known examples is the case opened by the Bonn prosecutor’s office in 1971 against a former company commander of Engineer Battalion 3 for the hanging of five men in Fornelli near Forli del Sannio. In 1973, the case was closed, on grounds that the crimes involved were classifiable as homicide, hence no longer prosecutable.
Proceedings tied to the Caiazzo massacre

The Caiazzo massacre is the only such atrocity by the 3^rd Panzergrenadier Division that was brought to trial after the war. After decades of impunity, new evidence in 1988 led to proceedings against Wolfgang Lehnigk-Emden, who stood trial in 1994 in Koblenz. The massacre, in which 22 civilians were killed, was classified as murder in Germany; however, proceedings were discontinued due to the statute of limitations. At the same time, a court in Santa Maria di Capua Vetere, southern Italy, sentenced Lehnigk-Emden and another accused in absentia to life imprisonment.

After 2000 the German judicial authorities opened scattered new proceedings, none of which led to a trial.

Sources

Documentation of the 3^rd Panzergrenadier Division’s operations is fragmentary. The German Federal Military Archives in Freiburg hold original documents up to early 1944, including the division’s war diary from 16 July to 31 December 1944, with appendices (RH 26-3). Of particular interest is file RH 46/63, containing the diary of an engineering company from 1 January until 10 August 1944. Additional relevant documents are found in the holdings of the XIV Panzer Corps (RH 24-14) and the 14^th Army (RH 20-14). Beyond this, documents of the XIV Panzer Corps kept in Moscow (CAMO, inventory 500, search-aid 12475) have been recently digitised and are available online.

Documentation of the Allied investigations of the Fornelli and Caiazzo massacres are kept in different archives: the U.S. National Archives in College Park, Maryland; the German Federal Archives in Ludwigsburg; and the archives of military justice in Rome and Naples.

Literature

Gerhard Dieckhoff, 3. Infanterie-Division (mot.), 3. Panzergrenadier-Division 1939-1945, Göttingen, E. Börries Druck und Verlag, 1960.

Gerhard Dieckhoff/M. Holzmann, 3. Infanteriedivision (3. InfDiv (mot), 3. PzGrenDiv 1920-1945), Jägerbataillon 41 (GrenBtl 41 - GrenBtl 12 - PzGrenBtl (mot) 41 - 1957-1978), Bad Nauheim, Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, 1978.

Carlo Gentile, Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Partisanenkrieg: Italien 1943-1945, Padeborn, Schöningh, 2012, pp. 109, 156, 351f.

Translation

Translated from German by: Joel Golb

2025

Text: CC BY NC SA 4.0

3rd Panzer-Grenadier-Division

Origins and war experience

After the Battle of Stalingrad

On the Italian Front

Advance into Italy and Securing Central Positions

It is highly probable that this battle group participated in several executions of civilians carried out in the Naples suburb of Ponticelli and the vicinity of the town of Mugnano.

Deployment at Salerno and Atrocities Around Naples

The Volturno Front and the Massacre of Caiazzo

Between Anzio and the “Arno-Line”

Transfer to the Western Front and retreat to Germany

The 3rd Panzergrenadier Division was one of the Wehrmacht formations that engaged with special frequency in atrocities against Italy’s civilian population. The reasons for this development are unclear.

From Italy to France: A path of violence

The postwar period

Investigations of the Bonn prosecutor’s office

Proceedings tied to the Caiazzo massacre

Information on data protection

Necessary cookies

External services

The 3^rd Panzergrenadier Division was one of the Wehrmacht formations that engaged with special frequency in atrocities against Italy’s civilian population. The reasons for this development are unclear.