[Note 1] The 32nd Infantry Division was formed on 1 October 1936 in Köslin, in the II Military District under the command of Generalleutnant Nikolaus von Falkenhorst.

At the outbreak of World War II, the division crossed the Polish border on 1 September 1939 and reached the Vistula at Kulm on the third day of operations.

On 6 September the division crossed the Drewenz at Gollup and continued its advance to the Modlin Fortress via Sierpc.

It then relocated to the Cotentin peninsula, in preparation for Operation Sea Lion (Unternehmen Seelöwe), the planned invasion of the United Kingdom which was never carried out.

Following the successful relief of the Demyansk Pocket three of its infantry battalions were disbanded due to heavy casualties.