197th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

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197. Infanterie-Division German 197th Infantry Division
Active	1 December 1939 – 22 July 1944
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Infantry
Size	Division
Engagements	World War II
Commanders
Notable commanders	Ehrenfried-Oskar Böge

The 197th Infantry Division (German: 197. Infanterie-Division) was a German division in World War II. It was formed on 1 December 1939. The division was destroyed near Vitebsk during the Soviet Vitebsk–Orsha Offensive of Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944.

War crimes[]

According to the testimony of a German prisoner of war, non-commissioned officer of the 10th company of the 332nd Infantry Regiment of the 197th Division, Karl Beierlein, the regiment was involved in the torture and death of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. Stalin ordered that the soldiers and officers of the Division, which participated in the execution, should not be taken prisoner.

Commanding officers[]

• Generalleutnant Hermann Meyer-Rabingen, 1 December 1939 – 1 April 1942
• General der Infanterie Ehrenfried-Oskar Böge, 1 April 1942 – 5 November 1943
• Generalleutnant , 5 November 1943 – 14 March 1944
• Generalmajor Hans Hahne, 14 March 1944 – 24 June 1944, KIA