It participated in battles on both the Eastern and Western Fronts.[2] The division was activated in December 1942.[3] Many of the men of the division were young German conscripts, with a cadre of NCOs and staff from the SS Division Leibstandarte and other Waffen SS divisions.[4] Hohenstaufen took part in the relief of German forces in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket, the Normandy battles, Operation Market Garden, the Ardennes Offensive and Operation Spring Awakening.[5] The division surrendered to the United States Army on 5 May 1945, at Steyr.[6]