12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" (Ger. 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitler Youth" ) was formed in June 1943 in Antwerp, based on youth from the Hitler Youth organization (hence the name of the division) and officers from the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler and the Wehrmacht. The officer cadre of the unit was largely composed of veterans of the Eastern Front. The unit also received very good equipment during the process of formation, including a relatively large number of armored personnel carriers and Panther tanks. It began its combat route during the fighting in Normandy in June-August 1944, where it operated in the Caen region. She also fought at Falaise, but despite a good start, she managed to get out of the encirclement near this city. After rebuilding its personnel, it took part in the offensive in the Ardennes at the turn of 1944-1945, and later also fought in Hungary in 1945. In March this year, the division participated in the offensive on Lake Balaton (Operation Frühlingserwachen). The unit capitulated in Austria. The soldiers of the 12th SS Panzer Division committed many war crimes and crimes against the civilian population.
The first paramilitary unit to have the abbreviation SS (German: Schutz Staffel) in its name was the personal protection of the dictator of the Third Reich called Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, which was officially formed in 1933. From 1934, the SS was an independent formation headed by Heinrich Himmler. With time, further SS units were formed, including the SS-Totenkopfverbände and the SS-Verfügungstruppe. It is worth adding that the latter was trained similarly to regular Wehrmacht infantry units. On a relatively small scale, SS units were used in combat during the fighting in Poland in 1939 and in the French campaign in 1940. The first units intended from the beginning to fight at the front were created in mid-1940, giving them the name of the Waffen SS. Initially, they were recruited on a voluntary basis, also among non-German people, but over time, compulsory recruitment began to apply. Within the Waffen-SS, many divisions of different combat value were formed. Nevertheless, a few of them (e.g. the 1st SS LAH Panzer Division, the 2nd SS Das Reich Panzer Division or the 12th SS Hitlerjugend Panzer Division) can be considered elite units, with very high combat value and often equipped with the best available equipment. They demonstrated their considerable advantages not only on the Eastern Front (1941-1945), especially during the battles near Kharkiv in 1943, but also during the battles in France in 1944. Another thing is that the quality of the commanding staff of these units was in many cases debatable, and many Waffen-SS soldiers committed war crimes during World War II.