Committed from the opening phases of operation Barbarossa, the 258th division participated in the early encirclement battles at Bialstock, and during the battle of Smolensk was committed to a defensive role, first of the Army Group Center's southern flank, south of Mogilev, and later, after Guderian's wheel to the south, protecting the left flank of his panzer group.

[3] The supply services began to adopt the indigenous 'Panje' carts as the only reliable transport, but their low capacity meant the division received only one fourth of its ammunition requirements.

As replacements arrived its infantry battalions were rebuilt, and the defensive sector it controlled continued to widen until by February 1943 it had grown to over 40 kilometers.

In July 1943 the division attacked the Kursk salient as part of the German summer offensive, that was hoped would wrest the initiative from the Soviet armies and return the wehrmacht to winning ways.

After the collapse of Army groups positions along the Dnieper, the division retreated gradually through Ukraine, finally ending up on the defensive in Romania, where the front temporarily stabilized.