][citation needed] During the invasion of Poland, the troops of the division committed war crimes, including reprisal killings, using civilians as human shields, and destroying a medical column.

[1] The 13th Motorized Infantry Division participated in the invasion of Poland, as part of the southern thrust, and the Battle of France, advancing through Belgium towards Calais and on to Lyon.

The 13th Panzer Division was attached to Army Group South Ukraine, which had orders to stop the Soviets from capturing the Romanian oil fields.

The division was reformed in July 1944 and it received modern equipment, including the Panther G tank and the Jagdpanzer IV.

[3] In the Battle of Debrecen, the division helped to annihilate three Soviet corps; however, it was encircled in Budapest at the end of 1944 and destroyed in January 1945.

[5] During the invasion of Poland, the division used civilians as human shields in the battle with the retreating Polish Prusy Army and on September 8, 1939, attacked a medical column marked with the Red Cross signs near Odrzywół.

[1] A day later, soldiers from the division took part in the revenge killing of 11 civilians and two Polish priests including Dean Stanisław Klimecki in the nearby town of Drzewica in retaliation for their own military losses.

Killings have also been reported in nearby settlements of Gielniów, Kamienna Wola, Klwów, Ossa, Przysucha, Potok, Rozwady and Zarzęcin.