totenkopf3

The "SS Totenkopf Infanterie Ersatz Bataillon 1" was founded on 27.10.1939 in Radolfzell at the Bodensee in Germany.

Early 1942 the "SS Totenkopf Infanterie Ersatz Bataillon 1" was transfered to Warschau in Poland. The Bataillon had 4. Kompanies which were located in the "Staufer Kaserne" and the "Praga Kaserne".

In April 1943, when the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS had their infantry units transfered into motorized "Panzer Grenadier" units, the "SS Totenkopf Infanterie Ersatz Bataillon 1" was renamed into "SS Panzer Grenadier Ausbildungs- und Ersatz-Bataillon 3".

As a consequence of the German retreat on the Eastern Front, the "SS Panzer Grenadier Ausbildungs- und Ersatz-Bataillon 3" was evacuated to the SS Truppenübungsplatz Kurmark in Guben near Brandenburg during the summer of 1944 and later in February 1945, the unit was withdrawn to Ellwangen in South Germany.

The majority of the volunteers from Nordschleswig, who served in the Waffen SS, seem to have been trained in the "SS Totenkopf Infanterie Ersatz Bataillon 1" and the "SS Panzer Grenadier Ausbildungs- und Ersatz-Bataillon 3" in Warschau before being sent to a frontline unit.