The 12th Panzer Division was an armored division of the German Wehrmacht that was active from 10 January 1941 to 8 May 1945 during World War II. The division took part in Operation Barbarossa in the Soviet Union in June 1941, and it suffered heavy losses during a Soviet counteroffensive in the winter of 1941-42, withdrawing to Estonia for a refit. The division remained with Army Group North for most of the war (despite taking part in the Battle of Kursk in 1943), and it was trapped in the Courland Pocket in Latvia in 1944. Its commander Horst von Usedom surrendered to the Soviets in May 1945.