Budapest: The Stalingrad of the Waffen-SS

By Richard Landwehr

Merriam Press Siegrunen Monograph Series. The battle for Budapest was the culmination of three and a half years of bitter, unequal struggle against Soviet Bolshevism and its capitalist allies. The Waffen-SS troops involved constituted the backbone of the defensive effort and took the severest losses. For IX SS Corps and the "Florian Geyer" and "Maria Theresia" Cavalry Divisions, Budapest was another Stalingrad. "Maria Theresia" in particular had the unfortunate distinction of being the only large formation of the Waffen-SS to be almost totally obliterated. This work details the vicious struggle from beginning to end, a struggle in which 40,000 defenders tied up almost half a million Soviet combat and support troops, buying the Germans much needed time. 101 photos, 6 illustrations, 4 maps.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781105422973

Book preview

Budapest: The Stalingrad of the Waffen-SS

Budapest: The Stalingrad of the Waffen-SS

By Richard Landwehr

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Siegrunen Monograph 2

Bennington, Vermont

2012

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First published in 2001 by the Merriam Press

Fifth Edition (2012)

Copyright © 2006 by Richard Landwehr

Book design by Ray Merriam

Additional material copyright of named contributors.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

The views expressed are solely those of the author.

ISBN 978-1-105-42297-3

This work was designed, produced, and published in the United States of America by the Merriam Press, 133 Elm Street Suite 3R, Bennington VT 05201

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On the Cover

Waffen-SS anti-tank gunners in the middle of Budapest.

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The world now holds its breath.

—Budapester Neueste Nachrichten Abenblatt (newspaper for the German troops in Budapest) on the opening phase of the battle for the city

… we are again engaged in heavy fighting, but my soldiers are experienced and in good spirits and I’m sure we’ll pull through. The individual deeds of heroism we are witnessing are too numerous to be related now, or, for that matter, ever.

—SS-Brigadeführer Joachim Rumohr, Commanding General, 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer, in Budapest

As the three groups were about to move off in different directions, Russian rockets began blasting the recently evac­uated buildings. Nevertheless, they surged out of their hiding places armed only with machine pistols and met a withering wall of rocket and artillery fire. Most of them were cut down in the first few minutes. The others kept coming, desperately trying to break through. Those surviving the rockets and artillery were met by such masses of Russian infantrymen that it seemed im­possible for a single man to survive, let alone escape…

—John Toland, The Last 100 Days on the Budapest breakout attempt

Photo 1

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The first Waffen-SS troops entering Budapest for security duties in March 1944.

Photo 2

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They are being greeted by Hungarian policemen and civilians.

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Chapter 1: Budapest: The City of the Unvanquished Heroes

It was high drama and utter agony; bravery without bounds and excruciating misery without equal. The battle for Budapest encompassed all of that and more, if such is possible. For the German side it was the culmination of three and a half years of bitter, un­equal struggle against Soviet Bolshevism and its capitalist allies. The Waffen-SS troops involved constituted the back­bone of the defensive effort and took the severest losses. For IX SS Corps and the Florian Geyer and Maria Theresia Cavalry Divisions, Budapest was another Stalingrad. Maria Theresia in particular had the unfortunate distinction of being the only large formation of the Waffen-SS to be almost totally obliterated. Many of its units did not have any survivors period.

Florian Geyer suffered almost as badly but had more troops outside of the entrapment to begin with. But there are no adjec­tives to describe the job these soldiers did. In a battle that was supposed to last two or three days at most according to the enemy commander, they held out for fifty-one days and then they broke out of the pocket, or tried to. The conditions for the defenders were virtually catastrophic for most of the time; the city was reduced to mounds of rubble and everything broke down except these soldiers.

Who were these soldiers? Actually, they were very ordinary men as a whole, a bunch of farmers, laborers, students and craftsmen, not all of whom spoke the same language or shared the same citizenship. Along with Reich Germans, ethnic-Germans of different derivations, Hungarians, Ukrainians Dutchmen, Danes and assorted other Europeans could be found in the ranks of the SS Cavalry Divisions. They were held together by experienced cadres of superbly trained officers and NCOs, who had long since met the test of fire and proven themselves the absolute best in their profession.

Yet all of these men shared one thing in common: an inner fortitude of inextinguishable dimensions. Time and again throughout World War II, soldiers of other armies when faced with similar situations of usually lesser magnitude, would simply fold their tents and give up. But not these men. It may not have al­ways been expressed openly but among the soldiers of the Waffen-SS there was simply a superior degree of motivation; a transcendent loyalty to one’s comrades beliefs and country.

And along with this went an unshakable confidence. And these factors made all of the difference.

On the surface Budapest was a defeat of tragic dimensions. To the establishment historians it was an enormous triumph for the Soviets who vanquished 180,000 Nazis (rather than the 40,000 or so Germans and Hungarians who were actually there), in the fighting.

Then there is the question of whether or not Budapest could have been relieved from the outside by other German forces. And the answer is yes. The trapped garrison could have been rescued successfully at one point in time in January 1945, but for very sound reasons the German Commander-in-Chief chose not to do so. Had it been relieved the Budapest garrison would have had to have been immediately withdrawn to the west and the divisions involved would no longer be serviceable. It would have taken months to reform them into cohesive fighting ele­ments and there was no time at all to do that.

In the meantime, with Budapest out of the way, a massive Soviet Army entailing almost one-half million combat and sup­port troops would have been free to plunge forward as fast as it could go, and the fate of Europe may have even been worse than it actually was. What the defenders of Budapest bought with their lives was time. Time to set up breakwaters against the communist onslaught and time to allow hundreds of thou­sands of other soldiers and refugees to find safety in the west. Who knows how many people owe their lives today to those few thousand who stuck it out to the last in Budapest? This was their legacy and their ultimate triumph; by staying in the city they were able to remain a fighting force and they saved countless lives that otherwise would have been engulfed in the Red tide.

So the efforts of the Waffen-SS troops and the others that fought in defense of Budapest were really not in vain at all. These soldiers did exactly what they were supposed to do, even though their own lives would be sacrificed for the most part in the process. And because of their actions the world is a little better place today than it would have been had the city been evacuated or surrendered.

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Photo 3

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Florian Geyer assault troop members ready for action.

Photo 4

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The Florian Geyer cuffband in use.

Photo 5

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SS cavalryman with Panzerfaust in Budapest, on his way to the front.

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Chapter 2: The Retreat from Eastern Hungary

At the end of October 1944, the German-Hungarian defensive lines in Hungary ran on a southwest to northeast axis, stretching from Baja on the Danube to Kiskunfelegyhaza, to Szolnok and then