When first formed a total of 6,500 men from the SS-Totenkopfverbände were transferred into the Totenkopf Division.[3] The Totenkopf was initially formed from concentration camp guards of the 1st (Oberbayern), 2nd (Brandenburg) and 3rd (Thüringen) Standarten (regiments) of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, and men from the SS Heimwehr Danzig. Members of other SS militias were also transferred into the division in early 1940; these units had been involved in multiple massacres of Polish civilians, political leaders and prisoners of war.[4] The division had officers from the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), of whom many had already seen action in Poland.