The Devil's Cavalry: How 30,000 SS Horsemen Died Trying to Escape Budapest
7.6K views · Sep 30, 2026 · Education
Comments · 3
@ww2.cauldron · 1 day ago · pinned
QUICK FACTS - Budapest Breakout<br><br>Trapped: the IX SS Mountain Corps, including the 8th SS Cavalry Florian Geyer and 22nd SS Cavalry Maria Theresia, plus Hungarian troops, sealed in Buda from 26 December 1944. (Wikipedia, Siege of Budapest)<br>The breakout: about 28,000 tried to break out northwest from Castle Hill on the night of 11 February 1945; only about 700 to 785 reached German lines near Bicske. (HistoryNet; Wikipedia, Siege of Budapest)<br>The odds: roughly a 1 in 100 chance of reaching safety; the Soviets had pre-ranged the escape routes with artillery and rockets. (HistoryNet)<br>Commanders: Rumohr of Florian Geyer and Zehender of Maria Theresia both took their own lives on 11 February; corps commander Pfeffer-Wildenbruch fled through a sewer and was captured. (Wikipedia, Joachim Rumohr)<br>The units' record: Florian Geyer grew from the SS Cavalry Brigade responsible for the 1941 Pripyat Marshes atrocities; Fegelein's 18 September 1941 report listed over 14,000 dead. (Wikipedia, SS Cavalry Brigade)<br>Siege toll: about 38,000 Axis military and 38,000 civilians died, and roughly 800,000 civilians were never evacuated; often called the Stalingrad of the Waffen-SS. (Wikipedia, Siege of Budapest)<br>Relief failed: Operation Konrad III stalled about 25 kilometers short in late January; the Buda garrison surrendered 13 February 1945. (Wikipedia, Operation Konrad III)
@NickVivi12 · 7 hours ago
Just brutal! And we think we have it tuff in 2026 😂. Good work great video
@gertvanderstraaten6352 · 5 hours ago
I don't give a fork about those criminals getting killed, but so many civilians...
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