Full name: Josef "Sepp" Dietrich
Date of Birth: 28.05.1892 - Hawangen, Kingdom of Bavaria (German Empire)
Date of Death: 21.04.1966 - Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg (West Germany)
Battles and Operations: World War I (Bavarian artillery and tank units), Silesian Uprisings (Freikorps), Polish Campaign 1939, Western Campaign 1940 (Netherlands and Dunkirk area), Balkans Campaign 1941 (Yugoslavia and Greece), Operation Barbarossa 1941 (Eastern Front, Sea of Azov, Rostov), Kharkov offensive and recapture 1943, Normandy defensive battles 1944, Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge) 1944-1945, Operation Spring Awakening (Hungary) 1945
NSDAP-Number: 89015 (joined 1928)
SS-Number: 1117 (joined 1928)
Religion : No information
Parents: Kreszentia Dietrich (mother, birth illegitimate), father unknown, stepfather Pelagius Milz
Siblings: No information
Spouse: Barbra Betti Seidl (married 17.02.1921, divorced April 1937), Ursula Moninger-Brenner (married 19.01.1942)
Children: Wolf-Dieter Dietrich (born 1939), Lutz Dietrich (born 20.03.1943), Götz-Hubertus Dietrich (born 23.11.1944)
Promotions:
1917 Gefreiter (Bavarian Army)
1918 Vizewachtmeister / Unteroffizier (Bavarian Army)
01.06.1928 SS-Sturmführer
01.08.1928 SS-Sturmbannführer
18.09.1929 SS-Standartenführer
10.10.1930 SS-Oberführer
18.12.1931 SS-Gruppenführer
01.07.1934 SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS
19.11.1940 General der Waffen-SS
20.04.1942 SS-Oberstgruppenführer und Panzer-Generaloberst der Waffen-SS
Career:
00.00.1892-1911 primary school and apprentice butcher in Hawangen area
10.1911-1918 enlisted in 4. Bayerisches Feldartillerie-Regiment "König", Augsburg, served as gunner in World War I, transferred to bayerische Sturmpanzerwagen-Abteilung 13 (tank unit) in 1918
1919 demobilized, joined Freikorps and fought in Silesian Uprisings against Polish forces
00.00.1920-1927 Bavarian State Police (Polizei-Wachtmeister), lost position due to suspected involvement in 1923 Beer Hall Putsch
01.05.1928 joined NSDAP
05.05.1928 joined SS
00.00.1928-00.00.1929 commander 1. Sturm (later enlarged to Standarte), Munich
28.09.1929-11.06.1930 SS-Gauführer Oberbayern and commander SS-Brigade Bayern
11.06.1930-10.10.1930 SS-Oberführer in various staff roles
00.00.1930-1932 Hitler's personal driver, bodyguard and chauffeur during election tours and travels
02.08.1933 commander SS-Sonderkommando Berlin (Hitler's personal guard detail)
13.04.1934 unit renamed Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), Dietrich as effective commander (nominal oversight by Himmler)
00.00.1934-1943 commander LSSAH (motorized regiment, then division)
04.07.1943-09.08.1944 commander I. SS-Panzerkorps "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"
09.08.1944-09.09.1944 commander 5. Panzerarmee (Western Front, Normandy retreat)
26.10.1944-08.05.1945 commander 6. Panzerarmee (Ardennes Offensive, Hungary)
09.05.1945 surrendered with wife to U.S. forces in Austria
00.00.1945-1955 prisoner of war and convicted war criminal, held at Dachau, Landsberg and other camps
16.07.1946 sentenced to life imprisonment (Malmedy massacre trial, commuted to 25 years)
22.10.1955 released on parole
07.08.1958-06.02.1959 re-imprisoned at Landsberg (18-month sentence for accessory to manslaughter in 1934 Night of the Long Knives)
00.00.1955-1966 active member of HIAG (Mutual Aid Association of Former Waffen-SS Members), advocated for rehabilitation of Waffen-SS veterans
Awards and Decorations:
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse 1914 (14.11.1917)
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse 1914 (06.1918)
Bayerischer Militär-Verdienstorden 3. Klasse mit Schwertern und Krone (1918)
Bronzene Tapferkeitsmedaille (Austria-Hungary, World War I)
Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber 1918 (World War I)
Schlesisches Bewährungsabzeichen 2. Stufe (1921)
Schlesisches Bewährungsabzeichen 1. Stufe (1921)
Kampfwagen-Erinnerungsabzeichen (1921)
Ehrenzeichen des 9. November 1923 (Blutorden, Nr. 10, 09.11.1933)
Goldenes Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP (1933)
Ehrenwinkel der Alten Kämpfer (02.1934)
Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer (1934)
SS-Ehrendegen des Reichsführers-SS (1935)
SS-Ehrenring (Totenkopfring, 1935)
Goldenes SA-Sportabzeichen
DRL-Sportabzeichen in Gold
Deutsches Olympia-Ehrenzeichen 1. Klasse (1936)
Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP in Silber (15 Jahre, 01.04.1939)
Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938 (Anschlussmedaille, 1939)
Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938 mit Spange "Prager Burg" (1939)
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 2. Klasse (25.09.1939)
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 1. Klasse (27.10.1939)
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Silber (1942)
Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42" (Ostmedaille, 1942)
Krimschild (1943)
Flugzeugführerabzeichen (ehrenhalber, 1943)
Gemeinsames Flugzeugführer- und Beobachter-Abzeichen mit Brillanten (1943)
Panzerkampfabzeichen in Silber (no specific date)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (04.07.1940, as SS-Obergruppenführer und Kommandeur Infanterie-Regiment (mot.) Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler)
Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (31.12.1941 / 41. Verleihung, as SS-Obergruppenführer und Kommandeur SS-Division (mot.) Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler)
Schwerter zum Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub (14.03.1943 / 26. Verleihung, as SS-Oberstgruppenführer und Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler)
Brillanten zum Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern (06.08.1944 / 16. Verleihung, as SS-Oberstgruppenführer und Kommandierender General I. SS-Panzerkorps Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler)
Mentioned in Wehrmachtbericht (multiple times 1943-1945)
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Sepp Dietrich, a butcher's apprentice with minimal formal education who rose to command army-sized formations through unwavering personal loyalty to Adolf Hitler, served as Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard in the late 1920s before creating and leading the elite Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler from its inception as a 120-man guard unit to a full armored division. He personally participated in the 1934 Night of the Long Knives, arresting Ernst Röhm and commanding firing squads that executed several SA leaders. His units were involved in multiple documented war crimes, including the Wormhoudt massacre of British POWs in 1940, mass shootings of Soviet prisoners during Barbarossa, and the Malmedy massacre of American POWs in December 1944 (though Dietrich denied direct orders for the latter). Despite lacking staff training and often defying higher command with impulsive advances (such as the unauthorized push toward Rostov), his battlefield intuition and Hitler's favoritism earned him the rare Diamonds to the Knight's Cross, making him one of only 27 recipients. Postwar he was convicted in the Malmedy trial and for his role in the 1934 purge but served only about ten years total before early releases for health reasons. He remained a prominent figure in HIAG until his death from a heart attack in 1966, with his funeral drawing thousands of former SS comrades.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepp_Dietrich
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/213/Dietrich-Josef-Sepp-Waffen-SS.htm
https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Josef_Dietrich
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/ (related entries on Waffen-SS commanders)
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://www.geni.com/ (family tree entries)
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
http://de.metapedia.org/
Cook, Stan and Bender, Roger James - "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" series (multiple volumes)
Messenger, Charles - "Hitler's Gladiator: The Life and Times of Oberstgruppenführer Sepp Dietrich"
Snyder, Louis L. - "Encyclopedia of the Third Reich"
Zentner, Christian and Bedürftig, Friedemann - "The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich"
Weale, Adrian - "Army of Evil: A History of the SS"
Stein, George H. - "The Waffen-SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War 1939-1945"
Miller, Michael D. - "Leaders of the SS and German Police" (Vol. 1)
Additional cross-referenced entries from Bundesarchiv personnel files and contemporary NSDAP/SS records.
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