The Nazi SS division made up of murderers and rapists

Members of the 36th Waffen SS Grenadier Division execute Soviet partisans, date unknown. The 36th were a German penal battalion, made up of criminals sent on virtual suicide missions in order to win back their citizenship and being sent to a work camp. But this division were known as the worst of the worst, made up entirely of psychopaths, murderers and rapists and used to wage a campaign of terror against anyone who dared defy the Nazis

Members of the 36th fighting to suppress the Warsaw uprising. The division was initially created to fight against the Polish resistance, but were effectively turned loose on the civilian population wherever they served, allowed to perpetrate war crimes as they pleased. Throughout the war they were implicated in campaign of rape and mass killings against civilians that saw other SS commanders try, and fail, to have the unit disbanded

Members of the 36th Grenadier Division, date and location unknown. Accounts from the war tell of how members of the 36th forced Jews into formation only to inject them with strychnine and then watch as they died in agony, raped women before butchering them with knives, and slaughtered 500 children with rifle butts and bayonets

The division was created on the orders of Heinrich Himmler (left), and led by Oskar Dirlewanger (right), a devoted Nazi who was awarded Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class for his actions during the First World War. He was subsequently convicted of the statutory rape of a 14-year-old girl and sexual assault against another, but used his connections to the Nazi party to secure release before being appointed as head of the 36th

SS troops watch as houses burn during the Warsaw Uprising. Alongside a notorious Russian militia led by Bronislav Kaminski, Dirlewanger’s men were charged with putting down the uprising. While the perpetrated atrocities against civilians, they also suffered heavy losses themselves. During this one conflict alone, Dirlewanger lost 2,733 men of an initial unit strength of just 865 men – a 315% casualty rate

SS troops watch houses burn during the Warsaw Uprising. Dirlewanger’s actions during the conflict saw him nominated for the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, and saw the 36th upgraded from a regiment to a division and then an SS combat brigade. It was then reinforced to its full combat strength of 4,000 men

Not all German penal divisons were as notorious as the 36th, however. The 999th Light Afrika Division (pictured) was another unit in which criminals could attempt to win back their freedom. They largely fought in Tunisia and Greece, though hundreds of men deserted over to the enemy, having been convicted of political crimes and disobeying the Nazi regime

The 500th Infantry Battalion was another made up of criminals, largely conscripts who had broken military rules. In order to avoid prison camps and to win back their rights as civilians, they volunteered to join the unit that was often sent on suicide missions. Members of the unit were forced at gunpoint to clear a minefield by walking over it. But if they survived their time here, then their crimes would be forgotten