title: Valencia CF

text: Valencia has won six Spanish League titles, eight Copa del Rey titles, one Supercopa de España, and one Copa Eva Duarte. In European competitions, they have won two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, one UEFA Cup, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, and one UEFA Intertoto Cup. They also reached two UEFA Champions League finals in a row (2000 and 2001). Valencia were also members of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs and since its end has been part of the original members of the European Club Association. In total, Valencia have reached seven major European finals, winning four of them.


title: Valencia CF

text: It is one of the biggest clubs in the world in terms of number of associates (registered paying supporters), with more than 50,000 season ticket holders and another 20,000+ season ticket holders on the waiting list.


title: Valencia CF

text: Over the years, the club has achieved a global reputation for their prolific youth academy, or ""Acadèmia"." Products of their academy include world-class talents such as Raúl Albiol, Andrés Palop, Miguel Ángel Angulo, Javier Farinos, David Albelda, Gaizka Mendieta, and David Silva. Current stars of the game to have graduated in recent years include Isco, Jordi Alba, Juan Bernat, José Gayà, Carlos Soler, Ferran Torres, and Paco Alcácer.


title: Valencia CF

text: The club was established on 5 March 1919 and officially approved on 18 March 1919, with Octavio Augusto Milego Díaz as its first president; incidentally the presidency was decided by a coin toss. The club played its first competitive match away from home on 21 May 1919 against Valencia Gimnástico, and lost the match 1–0.


title: Valencia CF

text: Valencia CF moved into the Mestalla stadium in 1923, having played its home matches at the Algirós ground since 7 December 1919. The first match at Mestalla pitted the home side against Castellón Castalia and ended a 0–0 draw. In another match the day after, Valencia won against the same opposition 1–0. Valencia CF won the Regional Championship in 1923, and was eligible to play in the domestic Copa del Rey cup competition for the first time in its history.


title: Valencia CF

text: The Spanish Civil War halted the progress of the Valencia team until 1941, when it won the Copa del Rey, beating RCD Espanyol in the final. In the 1941–42 season, the club won its first Spanish La Liga championship title, although winning the Copa del Rey was more reputable than the championship at that time. The club maintained its consistency to capture the league title again in the 1943–44 season, as well as the 1946–47 league edition. They would conclude their decade of success by winning the 1949 Copa del Rey, this would mean Valencia would end the decade with a record of three La Liga titles and two Copa del Reys. This would cement their name in Spanish football.


title: Valencia CF

text: In the 1950s, the club failed to emulate the success of the 1940s, even though it grew as a club. A restructuring of Mestalla resulted in an increase in spectator capacity to 45,000, while the club had a number of Spanish and foreign stars. Players such as Spanish international Antonio Puchades and Dutch forward Faas Wilkes graced the pitch at Mestalla. In the 1952–53 season, the club finished as runners-up in the La Liga, and in the following season, the club won the Copa del Rey, then known as the Copa del Generalísimo.


title: Valencia CF

text: While managing indifferent league form in the early 1960s, the club had its first European success in the form of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (the forerunner to the UEFA Cup). In the 1961–62 season, Valencia beat FC Barcelona in the final. The 1962–63 edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final pitted Valencia against Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb, which the Valencians also won. Valencia was again present in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final in the 1963–64 season, but was defeated 2–1 by Real Zaragoza from Spain.


title: Valencia CF

text: Former two-time European Footballer of the Year award winner Alfredo Di Stéfano was hired as coach in 1970, and immediately inspired his new club to their fourth La Liga championship and first since 1947. This secured Valencia its first qualification for the prestigious European Cup, contested by the various European domestic champions. Valencia reached the third round of the 1971–72 competition before losing both legs to Hungarian champions Újpesti Dózsa. In 1972 The club also finished runners up both in La Liga and the domestic cup, losing to Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, respectively. The most notable players of the 1970s era include Austrian midfielder Kurt Jara, forward Johnny Rep of the Netherlands and Argentinian forward Mario Kempes, who became the La Liga topscorer for two consecutive seasons in 1976–77 and 1977–78. Valencia would go on to win the Copa del Rey again in the 1978–79 season, and also capture the European Cup Winners' Cup the next season, after beating English club Arsenal in the final, with Kempes spearheading Valencia's success in Europe.


title: Valencia CF

text: In 1982, the club appointed Miljan Miljanić as coach. After a disappointing season, Valencia was in 17th place and faced relegation with seven games left to play. Koldo Aguirre replaced Miljanić as coach, and Valencia barely avoided relegation that year, relying on favorable results from other teams to ensure their own survival. In the 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons, the club was heavily in debt under the presidency of Vicente Tormo. The club finally hit rock bottom when it was relegated at the end of the 1985–86 season, and riven with internal problems such as unpaid player and staff wages, as well as poor morale. The club was relegated for the first time after 55 years in Spanish top-flight football.


title: Valencia CF

text: Arturo Tuzón was named the new club president, and he helped steer Valencia back to La Liga. Alfredo Di Stéfano returned as coach in 1986 and Valencia won promotion again following the 1986–87 season. Di Stéfano stayed on as coach until the 1987–88 season, when the team finished in 14th position in La Liga. Bulgarian forward Luboslav Penev joined the club in 1989, as Valencia aimed to consolidate their place in La Liga. For the 1988-89 La Liga season Valencia finished third, which would signal their competitiveness going into the 1990s.


title: Valencia CF

text: In the 1989-90 La Liga season Valencia finished runner-up to Real Madrid, and thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup.


title: Valencia CF

text: Guus Hiddink was appointed as head coach in the 1991–92 season, and the club finished fourth in the League and reached the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. In 1992, Valencia CF officially became a Sporting Limited Company, and retained Hiddink as their coach until 1993.


title: Valencia CF

text: Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, fresh from winning the 1994 FIFA World Cup with the Brazilian national team, became manager at Mestalla in 1994. Parreira immediately signed Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta, Russian forward Oleg Salenko, and Predrag Mijatović, but failed to produce results expected of him. He was replaced by new coach José Manuel Rielo. The club's earlier successes continued to elude it, although it was not short of top coaching staff like Luis Aragonés and Jorge Valdano, as well as foreign star forwards like Brazilian Romário, Claudio López, Ariel Ortega from Argentina, and Adrian Ilie from Romania. In the 1995-96 La Liga season, Valencia finished second to Atletico Madrid but were unable to capture the title after a close fought race.


title: Valencia CF

text: Valencia would struggle for the next two seasons but the 1998-99 La Liga season would signal the start of one of Valencia's most successful periods in their history, they won their first trophy in nineteen years by winning the 1998-99 Copa del Rey under Claudio Ranieri and also qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.


title: Valencia CF

text: Valencia started the 1999–00 season by winning another title, the Spanish Super Cup, beating FC Barcelona. Valencia finished third in the league, four points behind the champions Deportivo de La Coruña and level on points with second placed Barça. But the biggest success was in the UEFA Champions League; for the first time in its history, Valencia reached the European Cup final. However, in the final played in Paris on 24 May 2000, Real Madrid beat Valencia 3–0.


title: Valencia CF

text: It was also Claudio López's farewell, as he had agreed to sign for the Italian side Lazio, also leaving was Farinós for Internazionale and Gerard for Barcelona. The notable signings of that summer were John Carew, Rubén Baraja, Roberto Ayala, Vicente Rodríguez, and the Brazilian left back Fábio Aurélio. Also bought that season was Pablo Aimar in January. Baraja, Aimar, Vicente, and Ayala would soon become a staple of Valencia's dominance of the early 2000s in La Liga.


title: Valencia CF

text: Valencia started the championship on the right foot and were top of the league after 10 games. After the Christmas break, however, Valencia started to pay for the top demand that such an absorbing competition like the Champions League requires. After passing the two mini-league phases, Héctor Cúper's team eliminated Arsenal in quarter-finals and Leeds United in the semi-finals, and got ready to face Bayern Munich in the big final; Valencia had reached two European Cup finals in a row. This time, the final was to be played in Milan at the San Siro on 23 May. Gaizka Mendieta gave Valencia the lead by scoring from the penalty spot right at the start of the match. Goalkeeper Santiago Cañizares then stopped a penalty from Mehmet Scholl, but Stefan Effenberg drew level after the break thanks to another penalty. After extra time, it went to penalties, where a Mauricio Pellegrino miss gave Bayern Champions League glory and dealt Valencia a second-straight exit in the finals. Valencia went on to slip to fifth place in La Liga and out of Champions League contestation for the 2001–02 season. The final game of the season meant Valencia only needed a draw at the Camp Nou against Barcelona to seal Champions League qualification. "Los Che" lost to Barcelona 3–2 at the Nou Camp, with a last minute goal from Rivaldo resulting in Barcelona qualifying for the Champions League while Valencia missed out.


title: Valencia CF

text: The president, D. Pedro Cortés, resigned due to personal reasons and left the club in July, with the satisfaction of having won one Copa del Rey, one Spanish Super Cup, and having been runners-up in two successive Champions League finals. D. Jaime Ortí replaced him as president and expressed his intention on maintaining the good form that had made the club so admired on the European circuit. There were also some changes in the team and staff. Rafael Benítez, after helping CD Tenerife to promotion, replaced Héctor Cúper after the latter became the new coach at Internazionale in Italy. Among the playing squad, Gaizka Mendieta, Didier Deschamps, Luis Milla, and Zlatko Zahovič left, while Carlos Marchena, Mista, Curro Torres, Francisco Rufete, Gonzalo de los Santos, and Salva Ballesta all arrived.


title: Valencia CF

text: From 1999 up until the end of the 2004 season, Valencia had one of their most successful periods in the club's history. With a total of two La Liga titles, one UEFA Cup, one Copa del Rey, and one UEFA Super Cup in those six years, no less than five first class titles and two Champions League finals had been achieved.


title: Valencia CF

text: That first game against fellow title rivals Real Madrid produced a significant and important victory. This was followed by a record of 11 games won consecutively, breaking the existing one set in the 1970–71 season, the season they had last won the La Liga title under Alfredo Di Stéfano.


title: Valencia CF

text: After a defeat in A Coruña against Deportivo on 9 December 2001, the team had to win against RCD Espanyol in the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys to prevent falling further behind the league leaders. Valencia were 2–0 down at half time, but a comeback in the second half saw Valencia win 3–2.


title: Valencia CF

text: In the second part of the season, Benítez's team suffered a small setback after losing 1–0 in the Santiago Bernabéu to Real Madrid, but they recovered from this setback and achieved four victories and two draws in the following six games against UD Las Palmas, Athletic Bilbao, Deportivo Alavés, Real Zaragoza, and Barça.


title: Valencia CF

text: In one of those crucial games that they would come up against Espanyol, Valencia were trailing 1–0 half-time and a man down too with the dismissal of Carboni, but after two goals from Rubén Baraja, Valencia achieved a 2–1 victory. Furthermore, Real Madrid's defeat in Anoeta to Real Sociedad left Valencia with a three-point lead at the top of the table.


title: Valencia CF

text: The final game of the season was at La Rosaleda to face Málaga CF, on 5 May 2002, a date that has gone down in Valencia's history. The team shut itself away in Benalmádena, close to the scene of the game, in order to gain focus. An early goal from Roberto Ayala and another close to half-time from Fábio Aurélio assured them their fifth La Liga title, 31 years after their last title win.


title: Valencia CF

text: The 2002–03 season was a disappointing one for Valencia, as they failed in their attempt to retain the La Liga title and ended up outside of the Champions League spots in fifth, behind Celta de Vigo. They were also knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by Internazionale on away goals. The 2003–04 season saw Valencia trailing the longtime leaders Real Madrid. In February, after 26 games played, Real Madrid were eight points clear. However, their form declined in the late season and they lost their last five games of the campaign, allowing Valencia to overtake them and win the title. The club added the UEFA Cup to this success. Valencia had now been La Liga champions twice in three seasons.


title: Valencia CF

text: In the summer of 2004, coach Rafael Benítez decided to leave the club, stating he had had problems with the club president; he would soon become manager of Liverpool. He was replaced by former Valencia coach Claudio Ranieri, who had recently been sacked by Chelsea. His second reign at the club was a disappointment, however, as Valencia harboured realistic hopes of retaining their La Liga crown but, by February, found themselves in seventh place. Valencia had also been knocked out of the Champions League group phase, with Ranieri being sacked promptly in February. The 2004–05 season ended with Valencia outside of the UEFA Cup spots.


title: Valencia CF

text: In the summer of 2005, Getafe CF coach Quique Flores was appointed as the new manager of Valencia and ended the season in third place, which in turn gained Valencia a place in the Champions League after a season away from the competition. The 2006–07 season was a season with many difficulties, a season which started with realistic hopes of challenging for La Liga was disrupted with a huge list of injuries to key players and internal arguments between Flores and new Sporting Director Amedeo Carboni. Valencia ended the season in fourth place and were knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter-finals stage by Chelsea 3–2 on aggregate, after knocking out Italian champions Inter in the second round. In the summer of 2007, the internal fight between Flores and Carboni was settled with Carboni being replaced by Ángel Ruiz as the new Sporting Director of Valencia.


title: Valencia CF

text: On 29 October 2007, the Valencia board of directors fired Flores after a string of disappointing performances and caretaker manager Óscar Rubén Fernández took over on a temporary basis until a full-time manager was found, rumoured to be either Marcello Lippi or José Mourinho. A day later, Dutch manager Ronald Koeman announced he would be leaving PSV to sign for Valencia. But there was still no improvement; in fact, Valencia even went on to drop to the 15th position in the league, just two points above the relegation zone. Although on 16 April 2008, Valencia lifted the Copa del Rey with a 3–1 victory over Getafe at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. This was the club's seventh Copa title. Five days later, one day after a devastating 5–1 league defeat in Bilbao, Valencia fired Ronald Koeman and replaced him with Voro, who would guide Valencia as Caretaker Manager for the rest of the season. He went on to win the first game since the sacking of Koeman, beating CA Osasuna 3–0 in his first game in charge. Voro would eventually drag Valencia from the relegation battle to a safe mid-table finish of 10th place, finally ending a disastrous league campaign for "Los Che".


title: Valencia CF

text: Highly rated Unai Emery was announced as the new manager of Valencia on 22 May 2008. The start of the young manager's career looked to be promising, with the club winning four out of its first five games, a surge that saw the team rise to the top position of the La Liga table. Despite looking impressive in Europe, "Los Che" then hit a poor run of form in the league that saw them dip as low as seventh in the standings. Amid the slump emerged reports of a massive internal debt at the club exceeding 400 million Euros, as well as that the players had been unpaid in weeks. The team's problems were compounded when they were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Dynamo Kyiv on away goals. After a run where Valencia took only five points from ten games in La Liga, an announcement was made that the club had secured a loan that would cover the players' expenses until the end of the year. This announcement coincided with an upturn in form, and the club won six of its next eight games to surge back into the critical fourth place Champions' League spot. However, "Los Che" were then defeated by 4th place rivals Atlético Madrid and Villarreal in two of the last three games of the campaign, and finished sixth in the table, which meant they failed to qualify for a second successive year for the Champions League.


title: Valencia CF

text: No solution had yet been found to address the massive debt Valencia was faced with, and rumors persisted that top talents such as David Villa, Juan Mata, and David Silva could leave the club to help balance the books. In the first season of the new decade, Valencia returned to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2007–08 season, as they finished comfortably in third in the 2009–10 La Liga season. However, in the summer of 2010, due to financial reasons, David Villa and David Silva were sold to Barcelona and Manchester City, respectively, to reduce the club's massive debt. But, despite the loss of two of the club's most important players, the team was able to finish comfortably in third again 2010–11 La Liga for the second season running, although they were eliminated from the Champions League by German side Schalke 04 in the Round of 16. In the summer of 2011, then-current captain Juan Mata was sold to Chelsea to further help Valencia's precarious financial situation. It was announced by President Manuel Llorente that the club's debt had been decreased and that the work on the new stadium will restart as soon as possible, sometime in 2012.


title: Valencia CF

text: During the 2012–13 season, Ernesto Valverde was announced as the new manager but after failing to qualify for the Champions League, he stepped down and was replaced by Miroslav Đukić. On 5 July 2013, Amadeo Salvo was named as the new president of the club. Almost a month after Salvo was named president, on 1 August 2013, Valencia sold star striker Roberto Soldado to English club Tottenham Hotspur for a reported fee of €30 million. Miroslav Đukić was sacked six months into the 2013–14 season after just 6 wins in his first 16 matches, Valencia's worst start in 15 years. He was replaced by Juan Antonio Pizzi on 26 December 2013. Under Pizzi, Valencia reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League, where they lost to eventual winners Sevilla on away goals and finished 8th in La Liga despite a disastrous start to the season.


title: Valencia CF

text: In May 2014, Singaporean businessman Peter Lim was designated by the Fundación Valencia CF as the buyer of 70.4% of the shares owned by the club's foundation. After months of negotiations between Lim and Bankia (the main creditor of the club), an agreement was reached in August 2014. Juan Antonio Pizzi was unexpectedly sacked as head coach and replaced by Nuno Espírito Santo on 2 July 2014. Later, Salvo revealed in an interview that hiring Nuno was one of the conditions Lim had insisted on when buying the club. This raised eyebrows in the media because of Nuno's close relationship with the football agent Jorge Mendes, whose first-ever client was Nuno. Lim and Mendes are also close friends and business partners. Regardless, Nuno's first season was a successful one. Notable signings included Álvaro Negredo, André Gomes and Enzo Pérez, who had just won the LPFP Primeira Liga Player of the Year in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. Valencia finished the 2014–15 season in fourth place for Champions League qualification with 77 points, just one point ahead of Sevilla after a dramatic final week, defeating Granada 4–0.


title: Valencia CF

text: On 2 July 2015, Amadeo Salvo resigned from his post as the executive president of Valencia, citing personal reasons. He was a popular figure among the fans. On 10 August 2015, Nicolás Otamendi was sold to Manchester City for £32 million and Aymen Abdennour was signed from Monaco for £22 million as his replacement. Valencia defeated Monaco in the Champions League playoff round with a 4–3 aggregate victory. However, Valencia had a poor start to the 2015–16 season, winning 5 out of 13 matches and failing to progress from the Champions League group stages. The fans were also increasingly concerned about the growing influence of Jorge Mendes in the club's activities. On 29 November, Nuno resigned as manager and former Manchester United defender Gary Neville was hired as his replacement on 2 December. Valencia went winless for nine matches before earning their first win under Neville in a 2–1 victory at home against Espanyol. On 30 March 2016, Neville was sacked after recording the lowest win percentage in La Liga history for a Valencia manager with minimum of five matches, winning just 3 out of 16 matches. He was replaced by Pako Ayestarán, who was brought in by Neville as the assistant coach just one month prior. Valencia finished the season in 12th position.


title: Valencia CF

text: In the summer of 2016, André Gomes and Paco Alcácer were both sold to Barcelona and Shkodran Mustafi was sold to Arsenal, while Ezequiel Garay and former Manchester United player Nani were brought in. Pako Ayestarán was sacked on 21 September 2016 after four-straight defeats at the beginning of the 2016–17 season. Former Italy national team head coach Cesare Prandelli was hired as his replacement on 28 September. However, he resigned after just three months on 30 December, claiming the club had made him false transfer promises. Days later, on 7 January 2017, Valencia sporting director Jesús García Pitarch also resigned, saying he felt like he was being used as a shield for criticism by the club and that he could not defend something he no longer believed in. Voro was named caretaker manager for the fifth time until the end of season, with Valencia in 17th position and in danger of relegation. However, results improved under Voro and he steered Valencia clear off relegation, ultimately finishing the season in 12th place. On 27 March, Mateu Alemany was named the new director general of Valencia.


title: Valencia CF

text: The club also announced club president Lay Hoon Chan had submitted her resignation and that she would be replaced by Anil Murthy. After rumors arose of Lim's attempts at selling the club, Murthy assured the fans and local media that Valencia was a long-term project for both him and Lim, and they would not consider selling the club. For the following season, former Villarreal coach Marcelino was named the new manager on 12 May.


title: Valencia CF

text: After a successful first season under Marcelino, the club secured 4th position and a return to the Champions League. In his second season, they again finished 4th and also reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League. On 25 May 2019, Valencia won the Copa del Rey, upsetting FC Barcelona in the final as they won their first trophy since 2008.


title: Valencia CF

text: Both Marcelino and sporting director Mateu Alemany, who were credited as the architects of this success, were fired on 11 September 2019 after the former publicly criticized Lim. He was replaced by the ultimately unsuccessful Albert Celades, who was sacked due to poor results, while sporting director César Sanchez resigned that same season, making it six different managers and another six sporting directors by 2020.


title: Valencia CF

text: For the 2020–21 season, manager Javi Gracia was hired. He was put in charge of a team full of prospects and reserves after the club failed to sign any player during the summer transfer window, but sold key players such as captain Dani Parejo. Local wonderkid Ferran Torres was sold to Manchester City for half his market value. Overall, Valencia sold players worth 85 million euros in order to rebalance the club's books. At the beginning of the season, the club was unable to pay the salaries to the remaining players. After six seasons under Peter Lim's ownership, Valencia CF accumulated losses of 323 million euros, while the value of his biggest investment company, Thomson Medical Group, lost 1.7 billion euros during the same six-year period. Following those years of mismanagement, the playing squad was cut significantly in terms of quality and Lim's ownership has faced strong criticism in Valencia.


title: Valencia CF

text: In the 2021–2022 season, José Bordalás was hired after spending 5 seasons at Getafe CF. They reached the Copa del Rey final in his first season in charge, where they lost to Real Betis on penalties after a 1–1 draw.


title: Valencia CF

text: Valencia played its first years at the Algirós stadium, but moved to the Mestalla in 1923. In the 1950s, the Mestalla was restructured, which resulted in a capacity increase to 45,000 spectators. Today it holds 49,500 seats, making it the fifth largest stadium in Spain. It is also renowned for its steep terracing and for being one of the most intimidating atmospheres in Europe.


title: Valencia CF

text: On 20 May 1923, the Mestalla pitch was inaugurated with a friendly match between Valencia and Levante UD.


title: Valencia CF

text: A long history has taken place on the Mestalla field since its very beginning, when the Valencia team was not yet in the Primera División. Back then, this stadium could hold 17,000 spectators, and in that time, the club started to show its potential in regional championships, which led the managers of that time to carry out the first alterations of Mestalla in 1927. The stadium's total capacity increased to 25,000 before it became severely damaged during the Civil War; the Mestalla was used as a concentration camp and a junk warehouse. It would only keep its structure, since the rest was a lonely plot of land with no terraces and a stand broken during the war. Once the Valencian pitch was renovated, the Mestalla saw how the team managed to bring home their first title in 1941.


title: Valencia CF

text: During the 1950s, the Valencia ground experienced the deepest change in its whole history. That project resulted in a stadium with a capacity of 45,500 spectators, that eventually saw destruction by a flood in October 1957 that arose from the overflowing of the Turia River. Nevertheless, the Mestalla not only returned to normality, but also some more improvements were added, like artificial light, which was inaugurated during the 1959 Fallas festivities.


title: Valencia CF

text: During the 1960s, the stadium kept the same appearance, while the urban view around it was quickly being transformed. Moreover, the ground held its first European matches, with Nottingham Forest being the first foreign team to play at the Mestalla, on 15 September 1961.


title: Valencia CF

text: From 1969, the expression ""Anem a Mestalla"" ("Let's go to the Mestalla"), so common among the supporters, began to fall into oblivion. The reason of this was due to a proposed name change of the stadium to honor Luis Casanova Giner, the club's most successful president. Giner admitted he was completely overwhelmed by such honour, but requested in 1994 that the original name of Mestalla remained.


title: Valencia CF

text: In 1972, the head office of the club, located in the back of the numbered terraces, was inaugurated. It consisted of an office of avant-garde style with a trophy hall, which held the founding flag of the club. In the summer of 1973, more goal seats, which meant the elimination of fourteen rows of standing terraces, were added to provide comfort. Club management also considered the possibility of moving the Mestalla from its present location, to land on the outskirts of the town, before deciding against it.


title: Valencia CF

text: Mestalla also hosted the Spain national football team for the first time in 1925. It was chosen as the national team's group venue when Spain staged the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and at the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona. All of Spain's matches up to the final were held at Mestalla, as they won Gold. Mestalla has been the setting for important international matches, has held several Cup finals, and has also been the home of Levante. The ground also provided a temporary home for Castellón and Real Madrid for European games due to stadium development.


title: Valencia CF

text: The 2008–09 season was to have been the last season at the Mestalla, with the club moving to their new 75,000-seater stadium Nou Mestalla in time for the 2009–10 season. However, due to the club being in financial crisis, work on the new stadium has since stopped.


title: Valencia CF

text: Originally, Valencia's kit was composed of white shirts, black shorts and socks of the same colour. Through the years, however, these colours have alternated between white and black. The away kit has been shades of orange in recent years while third alternate kits have featured colors from the club crest—yellow, blood orange and blue.


title: Valencia CF

text: The team have also attracted smaller, local sponsors over the years. One example is Lamiplast, a Valencia-based furniture company.


title: Valencia CF

text: To celebrate the club's 75th anniversary the then president Arturo Tuzón commissioned Pablo Sánchez Torella to compose an anthem for the club. This was a "pasodoble" whose lyrics were later written by Ramón Gimeno Gil in the Valencian language. The anthem had its official presentation on the anniversary of the club on 21 September 1993.


title: Valencia CF

text: Valencia and the Balearic Islands were conquered by King James I of Aragon during the first half of the 13th century. After the conquest, the King gave them the status of independent kingdoms of whom he was also the king (but they were independent of Aragonese laws and institutions). The arms of Valencia show those of James I.


title: Valencia CF

text: The unique crowned letters "L" besides the shield were granted by Peter IV. The reason for the letters was that the city had been loyal twice to the King, hence twice a letter "L" and a crown for the king.


title: Valencia CF

text: There are several possible explanations for the bat; one is that bats are simply quite common in the area. The second theory is that on 9 October 1238, when James I was about to enter the city, re-conquering it from the Moors, a bat landed on the top of his flag, which he interpreted it as a good omen. Following his victory, the bat was added to the coat of arms.


title: Valencia CF

text: In May 2013, it was reported that DC Comics had started a legal case against the club, claiming that the new bat image design was too similar to Batman. The club issued a statement clarifying that it had intended to use a revised version of its bat logo for a line of casual clothing and applied for permission from the Office of Harmonisation of the Internal Market but the application was dropped after DC Comics filed an "objection", not a lawsuit. DC Comics again filed a complaint with the EU's office of IP opposing the trademark application made by Valencia for its centennial logo, claiming there is likely to be confusion with its Batman’s symbol.


title: Valencia CF

text: Since May 2009, Valencia CF has had a training centre, this is the first multidisciplinary training center for a football club in Spain.


title: Valencia CF

text: The Training Centre Foundation Valencia CF "The Academy" offers university education, classroom training, and online training related to sport and football soccer.


title: Valencia CF

text: Valencia CF is one of the few clubs in Spain that organises a Sport Management MBA, the MBA in International Sport Management, currently performs with Valencia Catholic University Saint Vincent Martyr.


title: Valencia CF

text: On the 90th anniversary of Valencia CF, The academy opened with the University of Valencia the first university course that studied the history of a football club, Valencia CF is the first football club in Spain, object of study on college.


title: Valencia CF

text: Valencia CF were also involved in motorsports such as Formula One, Super GT, MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3, 250cc and Formula Nippon. Valencia CF was an official partner of Panasonic Toyota Racing in 2003 until 2008 to commemorate Toyota as their shirt sponsor. Valencia CF also sponsored all Toyota-engined Formula Nippon teams and also Toyota Super GT teams in GT500 and GT300 cars. In 2009, Valencia CF became an official partner of former 250cc team Stop And Go Racing Team and later in 2014 Valencia CF also became official partner of Aspar Team in MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 classes, respectively.


title: Valencia CF

text: In June 2016, Valencia opened an E-Sports division with presences in "Hearthstone", "Rocket League" and "League of Legends" – in the last case, they joined Beşiktaş, Santos, Schalke and PSG in acquiring "League" teams. They announced their "League" roster on 13 July, composed mostly of Spanish players, including some with European League of Legends Championship Series (EU LCS) experience.


title: Valencia CF

text: In November 2020, Valencia CF eSports launched a team on "Arena of Valor" in Thailand"." The team consist of 6 Thai players, competing in the RoV Pro League competitions. They joined the local club Buriram United FC, and after that, French club Paris Saint-Germain FC in acquiring AoV teams.


title: Sinister (film)

text: Sinister is a 2012 supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and written by C. Robert Cargill and Derrickson. It stars Ethan Hawke as a struggling true-crime writer whose discovery of videos depicting grisly murders in his new house puts his family in danger. Juliet Rylance, Fred Thompson, James Ransone, Clare Foley, and Michael Hall D'Addario appear in supporting roles.


title: Sinister (film)

text: "Sinister" was inspired by a nightmare Cargill had after watching the 2002 film "The Ring". Principal photography on "Sinister" began in Autumn of 2011 in Long Island, NY with a production budget of $3 million. To add to the authenticity of old home movies and snuff films, the Super 8 segments were shot on actual Super 8 cameras and film stock. The film was a co-production between the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.


title: Sinister (film)

text: The film premiered at the SXSW festival on March 10, 2012. It was released in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2012, and in the United States on October 12. "Sinister" was praised by critics for its acting, direction, cinematography, and atmosphere, but received criticism for its use of jump scares and other horror clichés. The film was a box office success, grossing $87.7 million against its budget of $3 million. In the years since its release, the film has developed a reputation for its scariness and become a cult classic. A 2020 study by Broadband Choices named "Sinister" the scariest film ever made based on an analysis of viewer heart rates.


title: Sinister (film)

text: True crime writer Ellison Oswalt moves into a home in the fictional town of Chatford, Pennsylvania with his wife Tracy, their 12-year-old boy, Trevor, and their 7-year-old girl, Ashley. Unbeknownst to his wife and children, Ellison has moved them into the home where the Stevenson family were murdered by hanging. He intends to write a biography about the case, to regain the fame he lost after his bestselling book "Kentucky Blood" was followed by two less successful novels. He hopes to learn the fate of 10-year-old Stephanie Stevenson, who disappeared following the killings.


title: Sinister (film)

text: Ellison finds a box in the attic that contains a scorpion, as well as a projector and reels of Super 8 film, each labeled as home movies. The films are footage of different families being killed in various ways, each with a related but innocuous title, such as a mass drowning marked as "Pool Party '66." Each killing is performed by the unseen camera operator. Ellison notes the appearance of a mysterious rune and a strange, eerie figure in the films. Ellison matches footage of a throat-slitting killer to news reports from St. Louis, Missouri in 1998. Three members of the Miller family were killed, while 13-year-old Christopher Miller vanished. One night, Ellison investigates noises in the attic. Inside the film reels' canister lid, he finds a king snake and childlike drawings depicting the killings, with an eerie figure called "Mr. Boogie" also present. At one point, Ellison encounters a Rottweiler in the back garden.


title: Sinister (film)

text: Ellison consults a local deputy and discovers that the filmed murders took place at different times and in different cities across the country dating back to 1966. A kid from each family disappeared following every murder. And before the Stevensons moved to Chatford, they lived in the Miller's former house. The deputy refers Ellison to occult specialist Professor Jonas, to decipher the rune in the films. Jonas relates the symbol to the ancient and obscure pagan god Bughuul, who would murder entire families and take one of their kids to consume their soul slowly. Jonas suspects the killings are part of a cult initiation rite, rather than the work of a single murderer. As Ellison investigates footsteps and noises throughout the home one night, it is revealed that ghost-like kids invisible to Ellison are the cause, with one of them appearing in Ashley's bedroom. Ashley later paints this girl, who she identifies as Stephanie Stevenson, on the wall. Another night, Ellison hears the film projector running and finds the missing kids seated in the attic watching one of the films. Bughuul appears on camera before physically appearing before Ellison. Ellison takes the camera, projector, and films outside and destroys them. He tells Tracy that they are moving back to their old home.


title: Sinister (film)

text: Jonas sends Ellison, now back at his old house, historical images associated with Bughuul, including the mysterious rune and three symbolic creatures that Ellison encountered at the Stevenson house: a scorpion, a snake, and a dog. Early Christians believed that images of Bughuul served as a gateway for the monster to come from the spiritual realm to the mortal world, and Bughuul can possess kids who come into contact with these images. Ellison discovers the unharmed projector and films in his attic, along with a new film labeled "Extended Cut Endings". The deputy calls Ellison and informs him that every deceased family had once lived in the house where the previous killing took place. He also learns from Professor Jonas the pattern: each new killing occurred shortly after the family moved from the crime scene into a new home, traced back to the killing of the Martinez family by arson in 1979 after they moved to Sacramento, California, from the Portland, Oregon, site of the 1966 drownings. By moving away from the Stevenson house, Ellison has marked himself and his family as the next victims. The new footage depicts the missing kids coming onscreen following each killing, revealing themselves to be the murderers under Bughuul's influence.


title: Sinister (film)

text: Ellison becomes lightheaded and notices a green liquid at the bottom of his coffee mug, along with a note from Ashley that says, "Good night, Daddy," before losing consciousness. He awakes to find himself, Tracy, and Trevor bound and gagged on the floor. Ashley, having been influenced by the spirit of Stephanie Stevenson to fall under Bughuul's control, approaches them while filming with the 8 mm camera. She tells her father that she will make him "famous again", and proceeds to kill her family with an axe. She then uses their blood to paint pictures on the walls of the hallway, along with Bughuul's rune on a door. Ashley views the film of her killings while drawing the killing in the lid of the home movies box. The missing kids stare at her through the movie but flee when Bughuul appears. He lifts Ashley into his arms and teleports into the movie. The box of films sits in the Oswalt family's attic, now accompanied by Ashley's reel titled "House Painting '12".


title: Sinister (film)

text: Additionally, Nick King portrays Bughuul / Mr. Boogie. Featured as the children under Bughuul's control are Victoria Leigh as Stephanie, Cameron Ocasio as BBQ Boy, Danielle Kotch as Lawn Girl, Ethan Haberfield as the Pool Party Boy, and Blake Mizrahi as Sleepy Time Boy. An uncredited Vincent D'Onofrio plays Professor Jonas.


title: Sinister (film)

text: Writer C. Robert Cargill says that his inspiration for "Sinister" came from a nightmare he experienced after seeing "The Ring", in which he discovered a film in his attic depicting the hanging of an entire family. This scenario became the setup for the plot of "Sinister". In creating a villain for the film, Cargill conceptualized a new take on the Bogeyman, calling the entity "Mr. Boogie". Cargill's idea was that the creature would be both terrifying and seductive to children, luring them to their dooms as a sinister Willy Wonka-like figure.


title: Sinister (film)

text: Cargill and co-writer Scott Derrickson ultimately decided to downplay the creature's alluring nature, only intimating how it manipulates the children into murder. In further developing Mr. Boogie, the pair had lengthy discussions about its nature, deciding not to make it a demon but rather a pagan deity, in order to place it outside the conceptual scope of any one particular religion. Consequently, the villain was given the proper name "Bughuul", with only the child characters in the film referring to it as Mr. Boogie.


title: Sinister (film)

text: In crafting a look for Bughuul, Cargill initially kept to the idea of a sinister Willy Wonka before realizing that audiences might find it "silly" and kill the potential for the film becoming a series. Looking for inspiration, Derrickson typed the word "horror" into flickr and searched through 500,000 images. He narrowed the images down to 15, including a photograph of a ghoul which was tagged simply "Natalie". Cargill was particularly struck by "Natalie" and decided: "What if it's just this guy?". He and Derrickson contacted the photographer and purchased the rights to use the image for $500. Derrickson explained that the image appealed to him because it reminded him of the makeup and costumes worn by performers in black metal, while remaining unique enough so as not to be directly linked to the genre; Derrickson had previously researched black metal while looking for inspiration for Bughuul's symbol, which is ritualistically painted at the scene of each of the film's murder sequences. Some of the background music for these murder sequences was taken from ambient tracks by bands associated with the Norwegian black metal scene, including Ulver and .


title: Sinister (film)

text: Principal photography for "Sinister" began in autumn of 2011, after Ethan Hawke and Juliet Rylance signed on to star in the film. The Super 8 segments were shot first, using actual Super 8 cameras and film stock, in order to maintain the aesthetic authenticity of home-shot Super 8 footage. Principal photography took place on Long Island. In an interview with "Bleeding Cool", screenwriter Cargill admitted that Hawke's character got his name (Ellison Oswalt) from writer Harlan Ellison and comedian/writer Patton Oswalt. Cargill keeps books by both men on his shelves.


title: Sinister (film)

text: First revealed at the SXSW festival in the United States, "Sinister" premiered in the United Kingdom at the London FrightFest and in Spain at the Sitges Film Festival.


title: Sinister (film)

text: "Sinister" has an approval rating of 63% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 154 reviews, with an average rating of 6.20/10. The critical consensus states "Its plot hinges on typically implausible horror-movie behavior and recycles countless genre cliches, but "Sinister" delivers a surprising number of fresh, diabolical twists." The film also has a score of 53 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.


title: Sinister (film)

text: "Variety" praised the film as "the sort of tale that would paralyze kids' psyches". Film.com stated that "Sinister" was a "deeply frightening horror film that takes its obligation to alarm very seriously". Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars, criticizing a few obvious horror tropes but praising Hawke's performance and calling it "an undeniably scary movie." Peter Paras of E! named it the best horror film of 2012, citing the film's soundtrack and subversion of contemporary horror tropes.


title: Sinister (film)

text: CraveOnline called the film "solid" but remarked that the film "doesn't quite go to the next level that gets me like an "Insidious"", and IGN praised the film's story while criticizing some of "Sinister"s "scream-out-loud moments" as lazy.


title: Sinister (film)

text: Reviewer Garry McConnachie of Scotland's "Daily Record" rated the film four of five stars, saying, "This is how Hollywood horror should be done... "Sinister" covers all its bases with aplomb."


title: Sinister (film)

text: Ryan Lambie of Den of Geek gave the film three out of five stars, and wrote that despite its faults, "there's something undeniably powerful about "Sinister". Hawke's performance holds the screen through its more hackneyed moments, and it's the scenes where it's just him, a projector, and a few feet of hideous 8 mm footage where the movie truly convinces. And while its scares are frequently cheap, it's also difficult to deny that "Sinister" sometimes manages to inspire moments of palpable dread."


title: Sinister (film)

text: Some reviewers have criticized the film's preoccupation with outdated technology. Peter Howell of the "Toronto Star" (who gave the film two out of four stars) argues that the movie tries for "old school shocks" but "can't afford a pre-Internet setting." Rafer Guzman of "Newsday" wrote that "celluloid is such a warm, friendly old format that it seems unlikely to contain the spirit of, say, a child-eating demon." Academic study of the film, however, tends to view "Sinister"s representation of both old and new media formats as a study in transmediation.


title: Sinister (film)

text: A 2020 study conducted by Broadband Choices named "Sinister" the scariest movie ever made. The study sampled 50 of the highest rated horror movies ever made based on reception on sites like IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes and Reddit, and then measured study participants' heart rates while watching the sampled films. The average resting heart beat of the study participants was 65 beats per minute (BPM) but jumped to an average 86 BPM while watching the film, an increase of 32% and the highest among all of the sampled films.


title: Sinister (film)

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on February 11, 2013, in the UK and February 19, 2013, in the US with two commentaries (one with director Scott Derrickson and another with writer C. Robert Cargill). The release also included two new features ("True Crime Criminals" and "Living in a House of Death") as well as a featurette on the Sinister Fear Experiment performed by Thrill Laboratory in celebration of the film's theatrical release.


title: Sinister (film)

text: A sequel was announced to be in the works in March 2013, with Derrickson in talks to co-write the script with Cargill, but not to direct. On April 17, 2014, it was announced that Ciaran Foy would direct the film, and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Charles Layton, Xavier Marchand and Patrice Théroux would executive produce the sequel with eOne Entertainment. The film was released on August 21, 2015.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Don't Breathe is a 2016 American horror-thriller film produced and directed by Fede Álvarez, co-produced by Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert, and co-written by Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues. The film stars Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto and Stephen Lang, and focuses on three friends who get trapped inside a blind man's house while breaking into it. The film was produced by Ghost House Pictures and Good Universe and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.


title: Don't Breathe

text: In contrast to his previous work on "Evil Dead", director Álvarez decided the project would have less blood, an original storyline, more suspense, and no dependence on supernatural elements—which he felt were overused. The project, originally titled "A Man in the Dark", was later announced in early 2014, with Álvarez directing, Sayagues writing, Raimi and Tapert producing, and Levy starring. Principal photography began on June 29, 2015, and wrapped in July 2015 in Detroit.


title: Don't Breathe

text: "Don't Breathe" premiered at South by Southwest on March 12, 2016, and was theatrically released on August 26, 2016, by Screen Gems and Stage 6 Films. The film grossed over $157 million and received largely positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances, direction, screenplay, and tense atmosphere. A sequel was released on August 13, 2021, with Lang reprising his role, to mixed reviews.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Rocky, Alex, and Money are three Detroit delinquents who make a living by breaking into houses and stealing valuables. Rocky longs to move to California with her younger sister, Diddy, and escape from their abusive mother and her alcoholic boyfriend. To the trio's frustration, their fence keeps undervaluing the items they bring. Money receives a tip from their fence that Gulf War veteran Norman Nordstrom has $300,000 in cash in his house in an abandoned Detroit neighborhood. The cash was reportedly a settlement after a wealthy young woman, Cindy Roberts, killed Norman's daughter in a car accident. The three spy on the house and learn that Norman is blind.


title: Don't Breathe

text: At night, the gang approach the house, drug Nordstrom's rottweiler dog, then break in. Money puts a sleeping gas bottle in Nordstrom's bedroom. Seeing a locked basement door, Money assumes the loot is hidden in there and shoots the lock. The noise wakes up Nordstrom, who overpowers Money, takes the gun, and kills him while Rocky silently watches. Rocky witnesses Nordstrom open a hidden safe to check his valuables. After he leaves, she opens the safe and takes the cash. However, Nordstrom finds Rocky and Alex's shoes and realizes there are more intruders, then returns to find the safe empty.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Rocky and Alex evade Nordstrom and enter the basement. There, they find a restrained and gagged pregnant woman who reveals herself to be Cindy Roberts. Rocky and Alex free her and attempt to open the storm cellar door. Nordstrom shoots at them, accidentally killing Cindy. Nordstrom breaks down and cries in distress over her body. He then shuts off the lights, plunging the basement into darkness. After a blind chase and struggle, Alex knocks out Nordstrom and they flee upstairs.


title: Don't Breathe

text: After blocking the basement door, they encounter the dog, who has awakened, and flee into the bedroom. Rocky escapes the room through a ventilation duct. Alex falls out of a window onto a skylight and is knocked out. When Alex awakens, Nordstrom shoots out the skylight and corners him in the utility room, stabbing him with a pair of garden shears. The dog pursues Rocky through the vents before she is captured by Nordstrom.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Rocky wakes up restrained in the basement. Nordstrom reveals that Cindy was pregnant with a "replacement" for his daughter. He then prepares to artificially inseminate Rocky using a turkey baster, promising to let her go after she gives him a child. Alex, who survived by tricking Nordstrom into stabbing Money's corpse, saves Rocky and handcuffs Nordstrom.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Rocky and Alex try to leave through the front door. Nordstrom breaks free and shoots Alex dead. Rocky flees as the dog pursues her. She traps the dog in her car trunk but gets captured again by Nordstrom. After being dragged back inside his house, Rocky disorients him by setting off the alarm system, then hits him repeatedly in the head with a crowbar and pushes him into the basement. The gun fires into his side as he falls. Believing him dead, Rocky escapes before the police arrive.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Later, Rocky and Diddy see a news report about the incident. Nordstrom, who is recovering in a hospital and under stable condition, is reported to have killed two intruders (Alex and Money) in self-defense. He does not mention Rocky, Cindy or the stolen cash. Rocky and Diddy board a train to Los Angeles.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Fede Álvarez noted that making the film was, in some ways, a reaction to his debut film "Evil Dead" (2013), specifically the criticisms that the film had too much blood, focused too much on shocking the audience, and was a remake. In response, Álvarez decided to make "Don't Breathe", an original story that contained less blood and focused more on suspense over shocking audiences. He wanted to avoid making a film dealing with the supernatural, as he felt that was too trendy.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Choosing to make the antagonist blind was a result of deliberately taking abilities away from him; Álvarez explained,


title: Don't Breathe

text: Álvarez has called the movie an "exercise in reversal" noting that the film deliberately subverts tropes such as the fact that the house in question is a "nice house on a scary street" as opposed to the opposite, or that the movie is a home invasion story told from the point of view of the invaders.


title: Don't Breathe

text: On May 1, 2015, Daniel Zovatto joined the cast. On May 22, 2015, Dylan Minnette was cast in the film, and on June 18, 2015, Jane Levy and Stephen Lang joined the cast.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Principal photography began on June 29, 2015. Though the film is set in Detroit, it was primarily shot in Hungary; only a few views of Detroit were actually filmed there. Álvarez estimated that the film cost roughly half as much as "Evil Dead", and welcomed the change, as it allowed for less studio interference.


title: Don't Breathe

text: The film premiered at South by Southwest on March 12, 2016, and was theatrically released on August 26, 2016, by Screen Gems.


title: Don't Breathe

text: On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 241 reviews, with an average rating of 7.30/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Don't Breathe" smartly twists its sturdy premise to offer a satisfyingly tense, chilling addition to the home invasion genre that's all the more effective for its simplicity." Metacritic, which assigns a rating to reviews, gives the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Dennis Harvey of "Variety" called "Don't Breathe" "a muscular exercise in brutal, relentless peril that should please genre fans." Jim Vejvoda of IGN awarded 8.8/10 and wrote, "Director Fede Álvarez delivers a lean, very mean thrill ride with "Don't Breathe", tapping into several primal human fears and further establishing himself as one of the genre filmmakers to keep an eye on in the years ahead." Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing: "This is some weird, twisted shit. Don't groan when I say "Don't Breathe" is a home-invasion thriller. Director Fede Álvarez is as good as it gets when it comes to playing with things that go bump in the night." Kyle Smith of the "New York Post" also gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, saying, "Apart from its thin characters and occasional trite moments, as well as a silly attempt to set up a sequel, "Don't Breathe" is just about perfect."


title: Don't Breathe

text: Amy Nicholson of MTV wrote in a positive review, "Álvarez knows the size of his ambitions. He's written one great ghoul, surrounded him with targets, and simply let him let rip." "The Verge" called it "an impressive script-flip from the 1967 classic "Wait Until Dark"". Álvarez says he wrote the script before watching "Wait Until Dark". Jim Hemphill of "Filmmaker Magazine" called it "the best American horror film in twenty years."


title: Don't Breathe

text: "Don't Breathe" grossed $89.2 million in North America and $67.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $157.1 million, against a production budget of $9.9 million. Due to its low production budget, the film became a sleeper hit and was considered a large financial success, with a net profit of $59.1 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues. For Sony Pictures, it became their second late-summer surprise hit of 2016, following "Sausage Party".


title: Don't Breathe

text: "Don't Breathe" was released in the United States and Canada on August 26, 2016, and was originally projected to gross $11–14 million from 3,051 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $20 million, and many publications noting it could be the first film to dethrone "Suicide Squad" from the top of the box office. It made $1.9 million from Thursday night preview screenings, at 2,500 theaters, and $10 million on its opening day. It fell just 1.5% on Saturday, earning $9.8 million, which is uncommon as R-rated horror films tend to do well on their first day and drop sharply in revenue from their second day onward. Compared to other 2016 horror films, "Lights Out" had a drop of 22%, while "The Conjuring 2" fell by 15%. In total, it grossed $26.4 million in its opening weekend, far above initial projections by 120% and easily displacing "Suicide Squad" to take the top spot at the box office. It was the biggest original horror debut of the year (besting "10 Cloverfield Lane"), the biggest Screen Gems August opening ever (beating "Takers") and the biggest debut for an R-rated original horror film since "The Conjuring" in 2013. Following its first-place finish, the film continued to dominate the box office for the second weekend, earning $15.8 million and an estimated $19.7 million for the four day Labor Day holiday, one of the best numbers ever for the long holiday weekend. As a result, it became only the second horror film to top the weekend box office two weekends in a row since 2014. The second weekend drop was only -40%, a remarkable feat considering the fact that horror films typically tumble at least 60% or more in their second weekend. The gradual drop was due to the holiday. It took only 11 days to surpass Álvarez's previous film, the "Evil Dead" reboot.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Although the film fell to third place in its third weekend as a result of being overtaken by "Sully" and "When the Bough Breaks", it continued to witness strong holds by falling 49% after adding another 333 theaters.


title: Don't Breathe

text: Outside North America, the film's biggest debuts were in the U.K. ($1.3 million), Germany ($1.3 million), Brazil ($1.2 million) Mexico ($1.2 million) and Australia ($1 million). It scored the third biggest opening of the year for a Hollywood film in Korea with $4.5 million. It's on pace to become the highest-grossing horror film in Uruguay.


title: Don't Breathe

text: In November 2016, writer and director Fede Álvarez announced that a sequel was in the works. Producer Sam Raimi commented on the sequel and was quoted saying, "It's only the greatest idea for a sequel I've ever heard. I'm not kidding." In November 2018, Álvarez announced the script for the sequel was completed.


title: Don't Breathe

text: In January 2020, the title was announced as "Don't Breathe 2". The film was to begin principal photography in the April 2020, with a script co-written by Rodo Sayagues and Álvarez, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, Sayagues served as director, while the latter served as a producer. On October 8, 2020, Lang revealed filming had completed. The film was released on August 13, 2021.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's "Schutzstaffel" (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, and served alongside the German Army ("Heer"), "Ordnungspolizei" (uniformed police) and other security units. Originally, it was under the control of the (SS operational command office) beneath Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS. With the start of World War II, tactical control was exercised by the (OKW, "High Command of the Armed Forces"), with some units being subordinated to (Command Staff Reichsführer-SS) directly under Himmler's control.


title: Waffen-SS

text: Initially, in keeping with the racial policy of Nazi Germany, membership was open only to people of Germanic origin (so-called "Aryan ancestry"). The rules were partially relaxed in 1940, and after the Operation Barbarossa invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Nazi propaganda claimed that the war was a "European crusade against Bolshevism" and subsequently units consisting largely or solely of foreign volunteers and conscripts were also raised. These units were made up of men mainly from among the nationals of Nazi-occupied Europe. Despite relaxation of the rules, the was still based on the racist ideology of Nazism, and ethnic Poles (who were viewed as subhumans) were specifically barred from the formations.


title: Waffen-SS

text: Members of the were involved in numerous atrocities. At the post-war Nuremberg Trials, the was judged to be a criminal organisation due to its connection to the Nazi Party and direct involvement in numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity. Former members, with the exception of conscripts, who comprised about one third of the membership, were denied many of the rights afforded to military veterans.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The origins of the Waffen-SS can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men on 17 March 1933 by Sepp Dietrich to form the "Sonderkommando" Berlin. By November 1933 the formation had 800 men, and at a commemorative ceremony in Munich for the tenth anniversary of the failed Munich Putsch the regiment swore allegiance to Adolf Hitler. The oaths pledged were "Pledging loyalty to him alone" and "Obedience unto death". The formation was given the title () "Adolf Hitler" (LAH). On 13 April 1934, by order of Himmler, the regiment became known as the "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" (LSSAH).


title: Waffen-SS

text: The demonstrated their loyalty to Hitler in 1934 during the "Night of the Long Knives", when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political killings and the purge of the (SA). Led by one of Hitler's oldest comrades, Ernst Röhm, the SA was seen as a threat by Hitler to his newly gained political power. Hitler also wanted to appease leaders of the "Reichswehr" (the Republic's army) and conservatives of the country, people whose support Hitler needed to solidify his position. When Hitler decided to act against the SA, the SS was put in charge of eliminating Röhm and the other high-ranking SA officers. The Night of the Long Knives occurred between 30 June and 2 July 1934, claiming up to 200 victims and eliminating almost the entire SA leadership, effectively ending its power. This action was largely carried out by SS personnel (including the ) and the Gestapo.


title: Waffen-SS

text: In September 1934, Hitler authorised the formation of the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party and approved the formation of the (SS-VT), a special service troop under Hitler's overall command. The SS-VT had to depend on the German Army for its supply of weapons and military training, and its local draft boards responsible for assigning conscripts to the different branches of the Wehrmacht to meet quotas set by the German High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW in German); the SS was given the lowest priority for recruits.


title: Waffen-SS

text: Even with the difficulties presented by the quota system, Heinrich Himmler formed two new SS regiments, the and , which together with the and a communications unit made up the SS-VT. At the same time Himmler established two SS-Junker Schools (SS officer training camps) that, under the direction of the former Lieutenant General Paul Hausser, prepared future SS leaders. In addition to military training, the courses aimed to instill a proper ideological worldview, with antisemitism being the main tenet. Instructors such as Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (an army has-been and alcoholic), or future war criminals, such as Franz Magill of the notorious SS Cavalry Brigade were of questionable competence.


title: Waffen-SS

text: In 1934, Himmler set stringent requirements for recruits. They were to be German nationals who could prove their Aryan ancestry back to 1800, unmarried, and without a criminal record. A four-year commitment was required for the SS-VT and LSSAH. Recruits had to be between the ages of 17 and 23, at least tall ( for the LSSAH). Concentration camp guards had to make a one-year commitment, be between the ages of 16 and 23, and at least tall. All recruits were required to have 20/20 eyesight, no dental fillings, and to provide a medical certificate. By 1938, the height restrictions were relaxed, up to six dental fillings were permitted, and eyeglasses for astigmatism and mild vision correction were allowed. Once the war commenced, the physical requirements were no longer strictly enforced, and any recruit who could pass a basic medical exam was considered for service. Members of the SS could be of any religion except Judaism, but atheists were not allowed according to Himmler in 1937. Hitler expounded on the attitude he wanted during a talk in the Wolf's Lair: "I have six divisions of SS composed of men absolutely indifferent in matters of religion. It doesn't prevent them from going to their deaths with serenity in their souls."


title: Waffen-SS

text: Historian Bernd Wegner found in his study of officers that a large majority of the senior officers corps of the were from an upper-middle-class background and would have been considered for commissioning by traditional standards. Among later generals, approximately six out of ten had a "university entrance qualification (Abitur), and no less than one-fifth a university degree".


title: Waffen-SS

text: Hausser became the Inspector of the SS-VT in 1936. In this role, Hausser was in charge of the troops' military and ideological training but did not have command authority. The decision on deployment of the troops remained in Himmler's hands. This aligned with Hitler's intentions to maintain these troops exclusively at his disposal, "neither [a part] of the army, nor of the police", according to Hitler's order of 17 August 1938.


title: Waffen-SS

text: On 17 August 1938, Hitler declared that the SS-VT would have a role in domestic as well as foreign affairs, which transformed this growing armed force into the rival that the army had feared. He decreed that service in the SS-VT qualified to fulfill military service obligations, although service in the (SS-TV) would not. Some units of the SS-TV would, in the case of war, be used as reserves for the SS-VT, which did not have its own reserves. For all its training, the SS-VT was untested in combat. In 1938, a battalion of the was chosen to accompany the army troops in occupying Austria during the "Anschluss", and the three regiments of the SS-VT participated in the occupation of the Sudetenland that October. In both actions no resistance was met.


title: Waffen-SS

text: Recruiting ethnic Germans from other countries began in April 1940, and units consisting of non-Germanic recruits were formed beginning in 1942. Non-Germanic units were not considered to be part of the SS, which still maintained its racial criteria, but rather were considered to be foreign nationals serving under the command of the SS. As a general rule, an "SS Division" was made up of Germans or other Germanic peoples, while a "Division of the SS" was made up of non-Germanic volunteers and conscripts.


title: Waffen-SS

text: Himmler's military formations at the outbreak of the war comprised several subgroups that would become the basis of the Waffen-SS.


title: Waffen-SS

text: In August 1939, Hitler placed the and the SS-VT under the operational control of the Army High Command (OKH). Himmler retained command of the for employment behind the advancing combat units in what were euphemistically called "special tasks of a police nature".


title: Waffen-SS

text: In spite of the swift military victory over Poland in September 1939, the regular army felt that the performance of the SS-VT left much to be desired; its units took unnecessary risks and had a higher casualty rate than the army. They also stated that the SS-VT was poorly trained and its officers unsuitable for combat command. As an example, OKW noted that the had to be rescued by an army regiment after becoming surrounded by the Poles at Pabianice. In its defence, the SS insisted that it had been hampered by having to fight piecemeal instead of as one formation, and was improperly equipped by the army to carry out its objectives. Himmler insisted that the SS-VT should be allowed to fight in its own formations under its own commanders, while the OKW tried to have the SS-VT disbanded altogether. Hitler was unwilling to upset either the army or Himmler, and chose a third path. He ordered that the SS-VT form its own divisions but that the divisions would be under army command. Adolf Hitler resisted integrating the Waffen-SS into the army, as it was intended to remain the armed wing of the Party and to become an elite police force once the war was won.


title: Waffen-SS

text: During the invasion, war crimes were committed against the Polish people. The became notorious for torching villages without military justification. Members of the also committed atrocities in numerous towns, including the murder of 50 Polish Jews in Błonie and the massacre of 200 civilians, including children, who were machine gunned in Złoczew. Shootings also took place in Bolesławiec, Torzeniec, Goworowo, Mława, and Włocławek. Eicke's SS-TV field forces were not military. "Their military capabilities were employed instead in terrorizing the civilian population through acts that included hunting down straggling Polish soldiers, confiscating agricultural produce and livestock, and torturing and murdering large numbers of Polish political leaders, aristocrats, businessmen, priests, intellectuals, and Jews." His troops were called on to carry out "police and security measures" in the rear areas. What these measures involved is demonstrated by the record of "SS Totenkopf Standarte "Brandenburg"". It arrived in Włocławek on 22 September 1939 and embarked on a four-day "Jewish action" that included the burning of synagogues and the execution en-masse of the leaders of the Jewish community. On 29 September the "Standarte" travelled to Bydgoszcz to conduct an "intelligentsia action".


title: Waffen-SS

text: In October 1939, the "Deutschland", "Germania", and "Der Führer" regiments were reorganised into the "SS-Verfügungs-Division". The remained independent and was increased in strength to a reinforced motorised regiment. Hitler authorised the creation of two new divisions: the SS "Totenkopf" Division, formed from militarised "Standarten" of the "SS-Totenkopfverbände", and the Polizei Division, formed from members of the national police force. Almost overnight the force that the OKW had tried to disband had increased from 18,000 to over 100,000 men. Hitler next authorised the creation of four Motorized Artillery battalions in March 1940, one for each division and the . The OKW was supposed to supply these new battalions with artillery, but was reluctant to hand over guns from its own arsenal. The weapons arrived only slowly and, by the time of the Battle of France, only the battalion was up to strength.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The three SS divisions and the spent the winter of 1939 and the spring of 1940 training and preparing for the coming war in the west. In May, they moved to the front, and the was attached to the army's 227th Infantry Division. The "Der Führer" Regiment was detached from the SS-VT Division and attached to the 207th Infantry Division. The SS-VT Division minus "Der Führer" was concentrated near Münster awaiting the invasion of The Netherlands. The SS "Totenkopf" and Polizei Divisions were held in reserve.


title: Waffen-SS

text: On 10 May, the overcame Dutch border guards to spearhead the German advance of X.Corps into the Netherlands, north of the rivers towards the Dutch Grebbe line and subsequently the Amsterdam region. The neighbouring "Der Führer" advanced towards the Grebbeline in the sector of the Grebbeberg with as a follow-up objective the city of Utrecht. The battle of the Grebbeberg lasted three days and took a toll on "Der Führer". On 11 May, the SS-VT Division crossed into the Netherlands south of the rivers and headed towards Breda. It fought a series of skirmishes before "Germania" advanced into the Dutch province of Zeeland on 14 May. The rest of the SS-VT Division joined the northern front against the forces in Antwerp. On the same day, the entered Rotterdam. After the surrender of Rotterdam, the left for The Hague, which they reached on 15 May, capturing 3,500 Dutch as prisoners of war.


title: Waffen-SS

text: In France, the SS "Totenkopf" was involved in the only Allied tank counterattack in the Battle of France. On 21 May, units of the 1st Army Tank Brigade, supported by the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, took part in the Battle of Arras. The SS "Totenkopf", on the southern flank of the 7th Panzer Division, was overrun, finding their standard anti-tank gun, the 3.7 cm PaK 36, was no match for the British Matilda II tank.


title: Waffen-SS

text: After the Dutch surrender, the moved south to France on 24 May. Becoming part of the XIX Panzer Corps under the command of General Heinz Guderian, they took up a position 15 miles south west of Dunkirk along the line of the Aa Canal, facing the Allied defensive line near Watten. A patrol from the SS-VT Division crossed the canal at Saint-Venant, but was destroyed by British armour. A larger force from the SS-VT Division then crossed the canal and formed a bridgehead at Saint-Venant; 30 miles from Dunkirk. That night the OKW ordered the advance to halt, with the British Expeditionary Force trapped. The paused for the night. However, on the following day, in defiance of Hitler's orders, Dietrich ordered his III Battalion to cross the canal and take the heights beyond, where British artillery observers were putting the regiment at risk. They assaulted the heights and drove the observers off. Instead of being censured for his act of defiance, Dietrich was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On that same day, British forces attacked Saint-Venant, forcing the SS-VT Division to retreat.


title: Waffen-SS

text: On 26 May, the German advance resumed. On 27 May, the "Deutschland" regiment of the SS-VT Division reached the allied defensive line on the Leie River at Merville. They forced a bridgehead across the river and waited for the SS "Totenkopf" Division to arrive to cover their flank. What arrived first was a unit of British tanks, which penetrated their position. The SS-VT managed to hold on against the British tank force, which got to within 15 feet of commander Felix Steiner's position. Only the arrival of the "Totenkopf" Panzerjäger platoon saved the "Deutschland" from being destroyed and their bridgehead lost.


title: Waffen-SS

text: That same day, as the SS "Totenkopf" Division advanced near Merville, they encountered stubborn resistance from British Army units, which slowed their advance. The SS "Totenkopf" 4 Company, then committed the Le Paradis massacre, where 97 captured men of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment were machine gunned after surrendering, with survivors finished off with bayonets. Two men survived.


title: Waffen-SS

text: By 28 May, the had taken the village of Wormhout, only ten miles from Dunkirk. After their surrender, soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, along with some other units (including French soldiers), were taken to a barn in "La Plaine au Bois" near Wormhout and Esquelbecq. It was there that troops of the 's 2nd Battalion committed the Wormhoudt massacre, where 80 British and French prisoners of war were killed.


title: Waffen-SS

text: By 30 May, the British were cornered at Dunkirk, and the SS divisions continued the advance into France. The reached Saint-Étienne, 250 miles south of Paris, and had advanced further into France than any other unit. By the next day, the fighting was all but over. German forces arrived in Paris unopposed on 14 June and France formally surrendered on 25 June. Hitler expressed his pleasure with the performance of the in the Netherlands and France, telling them, "Henceforth it will be an honour for you, who bear my name, to lead every German attack."


title: Waffen-SS

text: On 19 July 1940, Hitler gave a speech to the Reichstag, where he gave a summary of the western campaign and praised the German forces involved. He used the term Waffen-SS when describing the units of the LSSAH and SS-VT that took part. From that day forward, the term Waffen-SS became the official designation for the SS combat formations. Himmler gained approval for the Waffen-SS to form its own high command, the "Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS" within the "SS-Führungshauptamt", which was created in August 1940. It received command of the SS-VT (the and the "Verfügungs-Division", renamed "Reich") and the armed SS-TV regiments (the "Totenkopf-Division" together with several independent "Totenkopf-Standarten").


title: Waffen-SS

text: In 1940, SS chief of staff Gottlob Berger approached Himmler with a plan to recruit volunteers in the conquered territories from the ethnic German and Germanic populations. At first, Hitler had doubts about recruiting foreigners, but he was persuaded by Himmler and Berger. He gave approval for a new division to be formed from foreign nationals with German officers. By June 1940, Danish and Norwegian volunteers had formed the SS Regiment "Nordland", with Dutch and Flemish volunteers forming the SS Regiment "Westland". The two regiments, together with "Germania" (transferred from the "Reich" Division), formed the SS Division "Wiking". A sufficient number of volunteers came forward requiring the SS to open a new training camp just for foreign volunteers at Sennheim in Alsace-Lorraine.


title: Waffen-SS

text: At the beginning of the new year, the "Polizei-Division" was brought under FHA administration, although it would not be formally merged into the Waffen-SS until 1942. At the same time, the "Totenkopf-Standarten", aside from the three constituting the TK-Division, lost their Death's Head designation and insignia and were reclassified "SS-Infanterie-" (or "Kavallerie-") "Regimente". The 11th Rgt. was transferred into the "Reich" Division to replace "Germania"; the remainder were grouped into three independent brigades and a battle group in Norway.


title: Waffen-SS

text: By the spring of 1941, the Waffen-SS consisted of the equivalent of six or seven divisions: the "Reich", "Totenkopf", "Polizei", and "Wiking" Divisions and "Kampfgruppe" (later Division) "Nord", and the , 1 SS Infantry, 2 SS Infantry, and SS Cavalry Brigades.


title: Waffen-SS

text: In March 1941, a major Italian counterattack against Greek forces failed, and Germany came to the aid of its ally. Operation Marita began on 6 April 1941, with German troops invading Greece through Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in an effort to secure its southern flank.


title: Waffen-SS

text: "Reich" was ordered to leave France and head for Romania, and the was ordered to Bulgaria. The , attached to the XL Panzer Corps, advanced west then south from Bulgaria into the mountains, and by 9 April had reached Prilep in Yugoslavia, 30 miles from the Greek border. Further north the SS "Reich", with the XLI Panzer Corps, crossed the Romanian border and advanced on Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital. Fritz Klingenberg, a company commander in the "Reich", led his men into Belgrade, where a small group in the vanguard accepted the surrender of the city on 13 April. A few days later the Royal Yugoslav Army surrendered.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The had now crossed into Greece, and on 10 April engaged the 6th Australian Division in the Battle of the Klidi Pass. For 48 hours they fought for control of the heights, often engaging in hand-to-hand combat, eventually gaining control with the capture of Height 997, which opened the pass and allowed the German Army to advance into the Greek interior. This victory gained praise from the OKW: in the order of the day they were commended for their "unshakable offensive spirit" and told that "the present victory signifies for the a new and imperishable page of honour in its history."


title: Waffen-SS

text: The continued the advance on 13 May. When the Reconnaissance Battalion under the command of Kurt Meyer came under heavy fire from the Greek Army defending the Klisura Pass, they broke through the defenders and captured 1,000 prisoners of war at the cost of six dead and nine wounded. The next day, Meyer captured Kastoria and took another 11,000 prisoners of war. By 20 May, the had cut off the retreating Greek Army at Metsovon and accepted the surrender of the Greek Epirus-Macedonian Army. As a reward, the was nominally redesignated as a full motorised division, although few additional elements had been added by the start of the Russian campaign and the "Division" remained effectively a reinforced brigade.


title: Waffen-SS

text: Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, started on 22 June 1941, and all the Waffen-SS formations participated (including the SS "Reich", which was formally renamed to SS "Das Reich" by the Fall of 1941).


title: Waffen-SS

text: SS Division Nord, which was in northern Finland, took part in Operation Arctic Fox with the Finnish Army and fought at the battle of Salla, where against strong Soviet forces they suffered 300 killed and 400 wounded in the first two days of the invasion. Thick forests and heavy smoke from forest fires disoriented the troops and the division's units completely fell apart. By the end of 1941, "Nord" had suffered severe casualties. Over the winter of 1941–42 it received replacements from the general pool of Waffen-SS recruits, who were supposedly younger and better trained than the SS men of the original formation, which had been drawn largely from "Totenkopfstandarten" of Nazi concentration camp guards.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The rest of the Waffen-SS divisions and brigades fared better. The SS "Totenkopf" and Polizei divisions were attached to Army Group North, with the mission to advance through the Baltic states and on to Leningrad. The SS Division "Das Reich" was with Army Group Centre and headed towards Moscow. The SS Division "Wiking" and the were with Army Group South, heading for the Ukraine and the city of Kiev.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The war in the Soviet Union proceeded well at first, but the cost to the Waffen-SS was extreme: by late October, the was at half strength due to enemy action and dysentery that swept through the ranks. "Das Reich" lost 60% of its strength and was still to take part in the Battle of Moscow. The unit was decimated in the following Soviet offensive. The "Der Führer" Regiment was reduced to 35 men out of the 2,000 that had started the campaign in June. Altogether, the Waffen-SS had suffered 43,000 casualties.


title: Waffen-SS

text: While the and the SS divisions were fighting in the front line, behind the lines it was a different story. The 1 SS Infantry and 2 SS Infantry Brigades, which had been formed from surplus concentration camp guards of the SS-TV, and the SS Cavalry Brigade moved into the Soviet Union behind the advancing armies. At first, they fought Soviet partisans and cut off units of the Red Army in the rear of Army Group South, capturing 7,000 prisoners of war, but from mid-August 1941 until late 1942 they were assigned to the Reich Security Main Office headed by Reinhard Heydrich. The brigades were now used for rear area security and policing, and were no longer under army or Waffen-SS command. In the Autumn of 1941, they left the anti-partisan role to other units and actively took part in The Holocaust. While assisting the "Einsatzgruppen", they participated in the extermination of the Jewish population of the Soviet Union, forming firing parties when required. The three brigades were responsible for the murder of tens of thousands by the end of 1941.


title: Waffen-SS

text: Because it was more mobile and better able to carry out large-scale operations, the SS Cavalry Brigade had 2 regiments with a strength of 3500 men and played a pivotal role in the transition to the wholesale extermination of the Jewish population. In the summer of 1941, Himmler assigned Hermann Fegelein to be in charge of both regiments. On 19 July 1941, Himmler assigned Fegelein's regiments to the general command of HSSPF Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski for the "systematic combing" of the Pripyat swamps, an operation designed to round up and exterminate Jews, partisans, and civilians in that area of Byelorussian SSR.


title: Waffen-SS

text: Fegelein split the territory to be covered into two sections divided by the Pripyat River, with the 1st Regiment taking the northern half and the 2nd Regiment the south. The regiments worked their way from east to west through their assigned territory, and filed daily reports on the number of people killed and taken prisoner. By 1 August, SS Cavalry Regiment 1 under the command of Gustav Lombard was responsible for the death of 800 people; by 6 August, this total had reached 3,000 "Jews and partisans". Throughout the following weeks, personnel of SS Cavalry Regiment 1 under Lombard's command murdered an estimated 11,000 Jews and more than 400 dispersed soldiers of the Red Army. Thus Fegelein's units were among the first in the Holocaust to wipe out entire Jewish communities. Fegelein's final operational report dated 18 September 1941, states that they killed 14,178 Jews, 1,001 partisans, 699 Red Army soldiers, with 830 prisoners taken and losses of 17 dead, 36 wounded, and 3 missing. Historian Henning Pieper estimates the actual number of Jews killed was closer to 23,700.


title: Waffen-SS

text: In 1942, the Waffen-SS was further expanded and a new division was entered on the rolls in March. By the second half of 1942, an increasing number of foreigners, many of whom were not volunteers, began entering the ranks. The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen" was recruited from Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) drafted under threat of punishment by the local German leadership from Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, and Romania and used for anti-partisan operations in the Balkans. Himmler approved the introduction of formal compulsory service for the Volksdeutsche in German-occupied Serbia. Another new division was formed at the same time, when the SS Cavalry Brigade was used as the cadre in the formation of the 8th SS Cavalry Division "Florian Geyer".


title: Waffen-SS

text: The front line divisions of the Waffen-SS that had suffered losses through the winter of 1941–1942 and during the Soviet counter-offensive were withdrawn to France to recover and be reformed as Panzergrenadier divisions. Due to the efforts of Himmler and "Obergruppenführer" Paul Hausser, the new commander of the SS Panzer Corps, the three SS Panzergrenadier divisions , "Das Reich", and "Totenkopf" were to be formed with a full regiment of tanks rather than only a battalion. This meant that the SS Panzergrenadier divisions were full-strength Panzer divisions in all but name. They each received nine Tiger tanks, which were formed into the heavy panzer companies.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The Soviet offensive of January 1942 trapped a number of German divisions in the Demyansk Pocket between February and April 1942; the 3rd SS "Totenkopf" was one of the divisions encircled by the Red Army. The Red Army liberated Demyansk on 1 March 1943 with the retreat of the German troops. "For his excellence in command and the particularly fierce fighting of the "Totenkopf"", "Obergruppenführer" Theodor Eicke was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 20 May 1942.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The Waffen-SS expanded further in 1943: in February the 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen" and its sister division, the 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg", were formed in France. They were followed in July by the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division "Nordland" created from Norwegian and Danish volunteers. September saw the formation of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" using volunteers from the Hitler Youth. Himmler and Berger successfully appealed to Hitler to form a Bosnian Muslim division, and the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian), the first non-Germanic division, was formed, to fight Josip Broz Tito's Yugoslav Partisans. This was followed by the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician) formed from volunteers from Galicia in western Ukraine. The 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian) was created in 1943, using compulsory military service in the Ostland. The final new 1943 division was the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Reichsführer-SS", which was created using the "Sturmbrigade Reichsführer SS" as a cadre. By the end of the year, the Waffen-SS had increased in size from eight divisions and some brigades to 16 divisions. By 1943 the Waffen-SS could no longer claim to be an "elite" fighting force. Recruitment and conscription based on "numerical over qualitative expansion" took place, with many of the "foreign" units being good for only rear-guard duty.


title: Waffen-SS

text: On the Eastern Front, the Germans suffered a devastating defeat when the 6th Army was defeated during the Battle of Stalingrad. Hitler ordered the SS Panzer Corps back to the Eastern Front for a counter-attack with the city of Kharkov as its objective. The SS Panzer Corps was in full retreat on 19 February, having been attacked by the Soviet 6th Army, when they received the order to counter-attack. Disobeying Hitler's order to "stand fast and fight to the death", Hausser withdrew in front of the Red Army. During Manstein's counteroffensive, the SS Panzer Corps, without support from the Luftwaffe or neighbouring German formations, broke through the Soviet line and advanced on Kharkov. Despite orders to encircle Kharkov from the north, the SS Panzer Corps directly attacked in the Third Battle of Kharkov on 11 March. This led to four days of house-to-house fighting before Kharkov was recaptured by the SS Division Leibstandarte on 15 March. Two days later, the German forces recaptured Belgorod, creating the salient that, in July 1943, led to the Battle of Kursk. The German offensive cost the Red Army an estimated 70,000 casualties but the house-to-house fighting in Kharkov was particularly bloody for the SS Panzer Corps, which lost approximately 44% of its strength by the time operations ended in late March.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was a Jewish insurgency that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto from 19 April to 16 May, an effort to prevent the transportation of the remaining population of the ghetto to Treblinka extermination camp. Units involved from the Waffen-SS were 821 Waffen-SS Panzergrenadiers from five reserve and training battalions and one cavalry reserve and training battalion.


title: Waffen-SS

text: For the Battle of Kursk, the SS Panzer Corps was renamed the II SS Panzer Corps and was part of the 4th Panzer Army. The II SS Panzer Corps spearheaded the attack through the Soviet defences. The attack penetrated to a depth of and was then stopped by the Soviet 1st Tank Army.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The Soviet reserves had been sent south to defend against a German attack by the III Panzer Corps. With the loss of their reserves, any hope they may have had of dealing a major defeat to the SS Panzer Corps ended. But the German advances now failed – despite appalling losses, the Soviet tank armies held the line and prevented the II SS Panzer Corps from making the expected breakthrough.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The failure to break through the Soviet tactical zone and the need to break off the assault by the German 9th Army on the northern shoulder of the Kursk salient due to Operation Kutuzov contributed to Hitler's decision to halt the offensive. A parallel attack by the Red Army against the new 6th Army on the Mius river south of Kharkov necessitated the withdrawal of reserve forces held to exploit any success on the southern shoulder of Kursk. The OKW also had to draw on some German troops from the Eastern Front to bolster the Mediterranean theatre following the Anglo-American Invasion of Sicily. On 17 July, Hitler called off the operation and ordered a withdrawal. The Soviet Union was not beaten, and the strategic initiative had swung to the Red Army. The Germans were forced onto the defensive as the Red Army began the liberation of Western Russia.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The was thereafter sent to Italy to help stabilise the situation there following the deposal of Benito Mussolini by the Badoglio government and the Allied invasion of Sicily, which was the beginning of the Italian Campaign. The division left behind its armour and equipment, which was given to "Das Reich" and "Totenkopf". After the Italian surrender and collapse of 8 September 1943, the was ordered to begin disarming nearby Italian units. It also had the task of guarding vital road and rail junctions in the north of Italy and was involved in several skirmishes with partisans. This went smoothly, with the exception of a brief skirmish with Italian troops stationed in Parma on 9 September. By 19 September, all Italian forces in the Po River plain had been disarmed, but the OKW received reports that elements of the Italian Fourth Army were regrouping in Piedmont, near the French border. Joachim Peiper's mechanised III Battalion, SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 2, was sent to disarm these units. On arriving in the province of Cuneo, Peiper was met by an Italian officer who warned that his forces would attack unless Peiper's unit vacated the province immediately. After Peiper refused, the Italians attacked. Peiper's battalion defeated the Italians, and subsequently shelled and burnt down the village of Boves, killing at least 34 civilians. Peiper's battalion then disarmed the remaining Italian forces in the area.


title: Waffen-SS

text: While the was operating in the north, the 16 SS "Reichsführer"-SS sent a small battlegroup to contain the Anzio landings in January 1944. In March, the bulk of the 1st Italienische Freiwilligen Sturmbrigade (or "Brigata d'Assalto, Volontari" in Italian) was sent to the Anzio beachhead, where they fought alongside their German allies, receiving favourable reports and taking heavy losses. In recognition of their performance, Himmler declared the unit to be fully integrated into the Waffen-SS.


title: Waffen-SS

text: The Waffen-SS expanded again during 1944. January saw the formation of the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian), formed from the two SS Infantry Brigades as cadre with Latvian conscripts. The 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) was formed via general conscription in February 1944, around a cadre from the 3 Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade. The 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian) was formed in March 1944 from Albanian and Kosovan volunteers, which as with other "eastern formations" were intended for use against "irregular forces". A second Waffen-SS cavalry division followed in April 1944, the 22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Maria Theresia". The bulk of the troops were Hungarian Army Volksdeutsche conscripts transferred to the Waffen-SS following an agreement between Germany and Hungary. The 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division "Nederland" followed, formed from the 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland, but it was never more than a large brigade. The 24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Karstjäger was another division that was never more than brigade size, consisting mainly of ethnic German volunteers from Italy and Yugoslavia, along with volunteers from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Ukraine. They were primarily involved in fighting partisans in the Kras region of the Alps on the frontiers of Slovenia, Italy, and Austria, the mountainous terrain requiring specialised mountain troops and equipment. Two Hungarian divisions followed: the 25th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Hunyadi (1st Hungarian) and the 26th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Hungarian). These were formed under the authority of the Hungarian defence minister, at the request of Himmler. One regiment from the Hungarian Army was ordered to join, but they mostly consisted of Hungarian and Romanian volunteers.