Sepp Dietrich: SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer

(28 May 1892 – 21 April 1966)

Josef "Sepp" Dietrich was born on 28 May 1892 in Hawangen, near Memmingen in the Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire.

In 1911 he joined the Bavarian Army with the 4. Bayerische Feldartillerie-Regiment "König" (4th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment "King") in Augsburg. In the First World War he served with the Bavarian field artillery. He was promoted to Gefreiter (Corporal) in 1917 and awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class. In 1918 he was promoted to Unteroffizier (Sergeant). His last Bavarian Army record lists Dietrich as recipient of the Iron Cross 1st class.

Interwar period

After the Great War ended, Dietrich worked at several jobs, including policeman and customs officer. He joined the NSDAP in 1928, then was hired at Eher Verlag, the NSDAP publisher, and became commander of Hitler's Schutzstaffel (SS) bodyguard. His NSDAP number was 89,015 and his SS number was 1,117. Dietrich had been introduced to National Socialism by Christian Weber, who had been his employer at the Tankstelle-Blauer-Bock filling station in Munich. He accompanied Hitler on his tours around Germany. Later Hitler arranged other jobs for him, including various SS posts, and let him live in the Reich Chancellery. At the election of 14 September 1930, he was elected to the Reichstag as a NSDAP deputy. He would remain in the Reichstag until the fall of the National Socialist regime, representing several different electoral districts: Lower Bavaria–Swabia (Wahlkreis #24, to 1933), Upper Bavaria (#25, to 1936) and Frankfurt/Oder (#5, to 1945).

By 1931, Dietrich had been promoted to SS-Gruppenführer. When the NSDAP seized power in 1933, he rose swiftly through the hierarchy. At the end of 1933, Prussian Minister President Hermann Göring appointed Dietrich to the recently reconstituted Prussian State Council, where he would continue to serve until 1945. Responsible for Hitler's personal security detail since February 1932, Dietrich became the commander of the SS–Sonderkommando Berlin (SS–Special Command Unit Berlin) on 2 August 1933. This special bodyguard unit was renamed Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) on 13 April 1934. As one of Hitler's intimates, Dietrich was often able to disregard his SS superior, Heinrich Himmler, at one time even banning Himmler from the Leibstandarte barracks. The LSSAH eventually grew into an elite division of the Waffen-SS. Although the unit was nominally under Himmler, Dietrich was the real commander and handled day-to-day administration.

In the summer of 1934, Dietrich played a key role in the Night of the Long Knives. Hitler, along with Dietrich and a unit from the Leibstandarte, travelled to Bad Wiessee to personally oversee Ernst Röhm's arrest on 30 June. Later, at approximately 17:00 hours, Dietrich received orders from Hitler for the Leibstandarte to form an "execution squad" and go to Stadelheim prison, where certain Sturmabteilung (SA) leaders were being held. There in the prison courtyard, the Leibstandarte firing squad shot six SA officers, including Edmund Heines. Additional SA personnel identified by the regime as traitors were shot in Berlin by a unit of the Leibstandarte after Hitler told him to take six men and go to the Ministry of Justice to shoot certain SA leaders. Shortly thereafter, Dietrich was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer. Dietrich's role later earned him an 18-month sentence from a postwar court.

World War II

After World War II in Europe began, Dietrich led the Leibstandarte during the German advance into Poland and later the Netherlands. After the Dutch surrender, the Leibstandarte moved south to France on 24 May 1940. They took up a position 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk along the line of the Aa Canal, facing the Allied defensive line near Watten. That night the OKW ordered the advance to halt, with the British Expeditionary Force trapped. The Leibstandarte 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. During this campaign members of the Leibstandarte 2nd Battalion were responsible for the murder of 80 British and French POWs, in what became known as the Wormhoudt massacre.

Dietrich remained in command of the Leibstandarte throughout the campaigns in Greece and Yugoslavia before being promoted to command of the 1st SS Panzer Corps, attached to Army Group Center, on the Eastern Front. In 1943, he was sent to Italy to recover Benito Mussolini's mistress Clara Petacci. He received numerous German military medals.

Dietrich commanded the 1st SS Panzer Corps in the Battle of Normandy. He rose to command 5th Panzer Army during the later stages of this campaign. Hitler gave him command of the newly created 6th Panzer Army. Dietrich led it in the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944-January 1945). He had been assigned to that task because, due to the 20 July Plot, Hitler distrusted Wehrmacht officers. On 17 December, Kampfgruppe Peiper—an SS unit under his overall command—murdered 84 U.S. prisoners of war near Malmedy, Belgium, in what is known as the Malmedy massacre.

In March 1945 Dietrich's 6th Panzer Army and the LSSAH spearheaded Operation Spring Awakening, an offensive in Hungary near Lake Balaton aimed at securing the last oil reserves still available to Germany. Despite early gains, the offensive was too ambitious in scope and failed. After that failure, the 6th SS Panzer Army (and LSSAH) retreated to the Vienna area. As a mark of disgrace, the Waffen-SS units involved in the battle were ordered by Hitler to remove their treasured cuff titles bearing his name. Dietrich did not relay the order to his troops. Shortly thereafter, Dietrich's troops were forced to retreat from Vienna by Soviet Red Army forces. Dietrich, accompanied by his wife, surrendered on 9 May 1945 to the U.S. 36th Infantry Division in Austria.