The 2. SS-Panzer-Division „Das Reich“ originated in October 1939 when the regiments Deutschland, Germania and Der Führer of the SS-Verfügungstruppe were combined into the SS-Verfügungs-Division under the command of SS-Gruppenführer Paul Hausser. After distinguishing itself in the 1940 Westfeldzug in the Netherlands and France, particularly in the capture of Rotterdam and the clearing of Zeeland, the formation was redesignated SS-Division „Reich“ and later „Das Reich“; the regiment Germania was detached to form the cadre of another division. In April 1941 elements of the division, led by a small detachment under SS-Hauptsturmführer Fritz Klingenberg, accepted the surrender of Belgrade during the Balkan campaign. Assigned to Heeresgruppe Mitte for Operation Barbarossa, it fought in the Battle of Yelnya, the drive on Moscow and the subsequent winter battles, suffering catastrophic losses that reduced some of its regiments to mere handfuls of men. Withdrawn to France in 1942 for conversion into a Panzergrenadier-Division, it returned to the Eastern Front in early 1943, playing a central role in the recapture of Kharkov and in the southern sector of the Kursk salient during Unternehmen Zitadelle. Redesignated 2. SS-Panzer-Division „Das Reich“ in October 1943 to reflect its armoured establishment, the division was transferred to southern France in 1944. Ordered north after the Allied landings in Normandy, it conducted a protracted road march marked by clashes with the French Resistance and by the notorious massacres at Tulle on 9 June and Oradour-sur-Glane on 10 June 1944. In Normandy it fought at Mortain and in the Falaise pocket before withdrawing across the Seine, later participating in the Ardennes offensive and, after transfer eastward, in Operation Spring Awakening in Hungary. Throughout its existence the division was noted both for its combat effectiveness and for repeated war crimes against civilians and prisoners. Remnants of the formation surrendered to American forces in May 1945 near Linz.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
SS-Brigadeführer Otto Kumm (1909-2004) was born on 1 October 1909 in Hamburg as the son of a merchant and trained as a typesetter before joining the SS-Verfügungstruppe on 1 June 1934, initially serving with the SS-Standarte "Germania" and later transferring to the SS-Standarte "Deutschland" and then the SS-Standarte "Der Führer". He took part in the Polish campaign and the Western campaign of 1940, where he earned the Eisernes Kreuz II. and I. Klasse while leading elements of the regiment, and from July 1941 commanded the SS-Regiment "Der Führer" of the SS-Division "Reich" on the Eastern Front. As SS-Obersturmbannführer he distinguished himself during the advance and the destruction of Soviet forces in the Kiev pocket in September 1941 through rapid advances, night reconnaissance and the crushing of enemy columns and the 5th Cavalry Division, capturing thousands of prisoners and much equipment. In January 1942 his regiment held out for four weeks against massive Soviet attacks near Rzhev and Cholm, blocking a key advance road and cutting off breakthroughs despite being reduced from around 2000 men to only 35, actions for which he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 16 February 1942. During the Third Battle of Kharkov in February 1943, still as commander of the now SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Der Führer", he ordered decisive independent attacks without full panzer support south of Merefa and pursued retreating forces toward Jefronowka and Bereka, destroying substantial enemy units and securing key terrain under harsh winter conditions, earning the Eichenlaub on
6 April 1943. After serving as Chef des Stabes of the V. SS-Gebirgskorps he assumed command of the 7. SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen" on 30 January 1944, leading it in anti-partisan operations and the difficult Balkan withdrawal against superior Bulgarian and Soviet forces; he personally held critical positions with tiny ad-hoc groups to cover the evacuation of the Nisch bridgehead and motorized columns in October 1944, for which he was awarded the Schwerter on 17 March 1945 as SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS. In February 1945 he took command of the 1. SS-Panzer-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler", participating in Operation Frühlingserwachen before surrendering to American forces on 8 May 1945. After the war he worked as a production leader in a printing firm, co-founded the HIAG veterans’ organization, and died on 23 March 2004 in Offenburg.
SS-Obergruppenführer Walter Krüger (1890-1945) was born on 27 February 1890 in Straßburg, Alsace-Lorraine, in the German Empire, the son of a Prussian army officer and older brother of the later high-ranking SS leader Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger. He attended the cadet schools at Karlsruhe and Berlin-Lichterfelde before joining the Imperial German Army in 1908 as a Leutnant in the 2. Badisches Grenadier-Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm I. Nr. 110. During the First World War he served in various units including the Alpenkorps, rose to Hauptmann and Bataillonskommandeur, and received both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz as well as the Ritterkreuz des Königlichen Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern. After the armistice he fought with Freikorps units in the Baltikum and the Ruhrgebiet, briefly served in the Reichswehr, and left active service in 1920 to pursue civilian occupations including banking. In 1935 he entered the SS-Verfügungstruppe with the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer, helped form the II. Bataillon of the SS-Standarte „Germania“, and later instructed at the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz. During the Second World War he first served as Ia of the SS-Polizei-Division in the Western campaign, then took command of that division on the Leningrad front in August 1941. For the outstanding achievements of his division in the advance that secured the fall of Luga and Krasnowardeisk he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 13 December 1941 as SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS. After serving as Inspekteur der Infanterie in the SS-Führungshauptamt he assumed command of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division „Das Reich“ in April 1943. During Operation Citadel near Belgorod in July 1943 and the subsequent fighting on the Mius front he led the division with great energy, breaking through fortified Soviet lines, destroying large numbers of tanks, restoring critical situations through personal intervention and counterattacks, and contributing decisively to the destruction of enemy forces and the recapture of the German defensive line; these successes earned him the Eichenlaub on
31 August 1943 as SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS. Later appointed Kommandierender General of the IV. SS-Panzerkorps and then Befehlshaber der Waffen-SS in the Reichskommissariat Ostland, he was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS in June 1944. On 25 July 1944 he took command of the VI. Waffen-Armeekorps der SS (lettisches) within Heeresgruppe Nord. In the Third Battle of Courland in late December 1944, when Soviet forces broke through the front of Gruppe Henze and threatened the northern wing of the 16. Armee, Krüger ruthlessly redistributed his scarce reserves, committed elements of the 93. Infanterie-Division and later a Kampfgruppe of the 4. Panzer-Division in decisive counterattacks against the enemy main effort, relieved encircled units, inflicted heavy losses including more than one hundred tanks, and restored a firm defensive line after eleven days of crisis, thereby preventing an operational breakthrough. For these defensive successes as Kommandierender General of the VI. SS-Freiwilligen-Armee-Korps he received the Schwerter on 11 January 1945. After the German surrender he attempted to break out westward from the Courland Pocket with a small group of soldiers; surprised by a Soviet patrol in a forest near Liepāja on 22 May 1945, he took his own life.
SS-Brigadeführer Heinz Harmel (1906-2000) was born in Metz in the German Empire as the son of a military physician and pursued a career in the armed forces from an early age, volunteering for the SS-Verfügungstruppe in 1935 as an SS-Oberscharführer in the SS-Standarte „Germania“ before becoming a company commander in the SS-Standarte „Der Führer“, with which he fought in the Battle of France in 1940, earning both classes of the Iron Cross; in 1941 he took part in the Balkans Campaign and Operation Barbarossa, assuming command of the SS-Infanterie-Regiment „Deutschland“ of the SS-Division „Das Reich“ in December of that year and receiving the German Cross in Gold on 29 November 1941 for distinguished service. As SS-Obersturmbannführer and commander of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment „Deutschland“, Harmel was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 March 1943 for his outstanding leadership during the fighting south of Kharkov in February 1943, when on his own initiative he personally led a reinforced battalion with a Panzer-Kompanie in a daring night assault through Pereschtschepino, annihilating a surprised Soviet regiment that left some 1500 dead, then expanding the bridgehead by capturing Dimitrijewka-Golubowka after hard combat while directing operations from an armoured radio car under anti-tank fire, actions that halted the enemy advance and enabled the subsequent attack of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division „Das Reich“ on Pawlograd. Promoted to SS-Standartenführer, he received the Eichenlaub on
7 September 1943 for his conduct on 30 July 1943 during the assault against the Soviet Mius bridgehead, where, fighting from the foremost line despite heavy minefields and flanking fire that disabled several Sturmgeschütze, he repeatedly inspired his men to capture Hill 203.9 near Stepanowka and then immediately ordered the I. Bataillon into the heavily defended village itself, continuing the advance on foot after his vehicles struck mines and ensuring a vital penetration that prevented far greater casualties. In April 1944 Harmel took command of the newly formed 10. SS-Panzer-Division „Frundsberg“, becoming one of the youngest divisional commanders in the Waffen-SS; after fighting in Normandy and the Falaise Pocket he led the division in the successful defence against the Allied airborne Operation Market Garden around Nijmegen and Arnhem in September 1944, for which, as SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS, he was awarded the Schwerter on 15 December 1944. Subsequently engaged in Alsace, Pomerania and the Oder front, he was later dismissed from command but formed an ad hoc battle group before surrendering to British forces in Austria in May 1945; after release he lived quietly in Krefeld until his death at the age of 94.
SS-Brigadeführer Sylvester Stadler (1910-1995) was born on 30 December 1910 in Fohnsdorf, Styria, Austria-Hungary, the son of a miner, and trained as an electrical engineer before joining the NSDAP and SS in May 1933 with SS-Nr. 139.495. After attending the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz he rose through the ranks of the SS-Verfügungstruppe, serving as a company commander in the early campaigns in Poland, France—where he was wounded near Arras—and the Balkans, then on the Eastern Front. From March 1942 he commanded the II. Bataillon of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment “Der Führer” in the 2. SS-Panzer-Division “Das Reich”. On 1–2 March 1943 near Jefremowka during the recapture of Kharkov he independently launched a night assault with assault guns, capturing the fortified town, destroying twelve tanks and numerous guns, and enabling the encirclement of Soviet forces; for this he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 6 April 1943 as SS-Sturmbannführer. Appointed Kommandeur of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 4 “Der Führer” in May 1943, he distinguished himself again on 22 August 1943 at Korotitsch during the Fourth Battle of Kharkov by holding a key village against repeated tank and infantry assaults, closing a six-kilometre gap and preventing the encirclement of German divisions around Kharkov, earning the Eichenlaub on
16 September 1943 as SS-Obersturmbannführer (303rd award). He later commanded the 9. SS-Panzer-Division “Hohenstaufen” from July 1944 through Normandy, Arnhem, the Ardennes and Hungary, rising to SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS. Although recommended for the Schwerter and claimed to have received it on 6 May 1945, no formal confirmation of the award has been found. He surrendered in Austria in May 1945, was interned until 1948, and died on 23 August 1995 in Königsbrunn.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Christian Tychsen (1910-1944) was born on 3 December 1910 in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and entered the Allgemeine SS in December 1931 with the 50. SS-Standarte before transferring in October 1934 to the SS-Verfügungstruppe, where he served with the SS-Standarte “Germania.” After attending the SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig he was promoted SS-Untersturmführer on 30 January 1937, SS-Obersturmführer on 1 June 1938 and SS-Hauptsturmführer on 9 November 1939; he later rose to SS-Sturmbannführer on 1 September 1942 and finally to SS-Obersturmbannführer on 30 January 1944, the last rank he held. He received the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse on 30 May 1940, the Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse on 18 July 1940, the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 13 or 30 May 1942, and multiple wound badges culminating in gold, together with the Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen, Nahkampfspange in Silber and several Panzervernichtungsabzeichen. As Kommandeur of the II. Abteilung, SS-Panzer-Regiment 2 of the 2. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division “Das Reich,” Tychsen earned the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 March 1943 for actions during the fighting around Kharkov in February 1943: on 11 February he led a deliberate counter-attack with his remaining sixteen Panzers and a battalion of the 213. Sicherungs-Division that destroyed a strong Soviet battlegroup attempting to break through to the city, conducting the battle from his own command tank in the foremost line until it was knocked out by three anti-tank hits; a week later, on 18 February, he independently decided to risk his Abteilung in urban combat inside the western part of Kharkov, eliminating numerous anti-tank guns and strong enemy columns so that the Division could disengage and withdraw safely through the city, thereby preventing its encirclement. The Eichenlaub (353rd award) followed on
10 December 1943 for further leadership in the Dnieper bend: on 1 November, while his depleted Abteilung was already heavily engaged, he detached a Tiger, three Panzer IVs and a pioneer platoon, personally led them against Hill 188.0 which had been seized by sixteen Soviet tanks and infantry, knocked out two T-34s himself, cleared the position in close combat with his pioneers under covering fire that destroyed six more tanks, and thereby restored the critical flank of the neighbouring formation. In late 1943 he assumed command of SS-Panzer-Regiment 2 and, from 24 to 28 July 1944, temporarily led the entire 2. SS-Panzer-Division “Das Reich” in Normandy until he was mortally wounded by American tank fire while on reconnaissance near Gavray on 28 July 1944.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
SS-Obergruppenführer
Felix Steiner (1896-1966) was born on 23 May 1896 in Stallupönen, East
Prussia, and entered the Preußische Armee in March 1914 as Fahnenjunker
in the Infanterie-Regiment „von Boyen“ (5. Ostpreußisches) Nr. 41 at
Tilsit, serving through the First World War where he was severely
wounded, rose to Oberleutnant, and received the Eisernes Kreuz first and
second class together with the Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz. After
the war he joined an East Prussian Freikorps, was absorbed into the
Reichswehr, and left active service in 1933 as Major before entering the
NSDAP and SA and transferring in 1935 to the SS as Obersturmbannführer,
soon commanding the newly formed SS-Standarte „Deutschland“ of the
SS-Verfügungstruppe. As SS-Oberführer he led this Standarte through the
occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Polish campaign and the Westfeldzug of
1940; for his decisive leadership in the three-day advance that
captured the island group of Zeeland from French forces, the rapid
thrust to Vlissingen, the storming of strong positions at the Beveland
Canal and the causeway to Walcheren Island, and subsequent fighting in
northern France, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on
15 August 1940, becoming the first member of the Waffen-SS to receive
the decoration. Promoted SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der
Waffen-SS, he formed and commanded the SS-Division „Wiking“ from
December 1940, leading it with marked success yet also harsh methods
during the invasion of the Soviet Union; for outstanding performance on
the Eastern Front, particularly the fighting along the Terek river, the
relief of the 13. Panzer-Division near Gisel and the destruction of a
Soviet Guards division that threatened the sole supply road near
Tschikola, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 23 December
1942 while holding the rank of SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der
Waffen-SS. In 1943 he assumed command of the newly created III.
(germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps, organising the Division „Nordland“ and
the Brigade „Nederland“ under its banner, conducting successful
defensive operations against breakout attempts from the Oranienbaum
pocket, and preserving the integrity of his forces during the withdrawal
from Leningrad and their redeployment on the Narva front, achievements
for which he was awarded the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz on 10 August 1944 as SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS. After illness, brief
command of the 11. SS-Panzerarmee and the theoretical Armeegruppe
Steiner in the final defence of Berlin—orders he declined to execute—he
surrendered to American forces in May 1945, was released in 1948, later
helped found HIAG and published apologetic works on the Waffen-SS, dying
in Munich on 12 May 1966.
SS-BrigadeführerFritz Witt (1908-1944) was born on 27 May 1908 in Hohenlimburg as the son of a textile salesman and worked in the textile trade until losing his position in 1931. He joined the NSDAP and the SS in December 1931, entering the SS-Stabswache Berlin in March 1933 as one of its earliest volunteers and later serving as Zugführer before becoming Kompaniechef of the 3. Kompanie in the SS-Standarte „Deutschland“. During the 1939 campaign in Poland he received both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz, and on 19 October 1939 he was appointed Kommandeur of the I. Bataillon of the SS-Infanterie-Regiment „Deutschland“. In the Western campaign of 1940, while holding the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer, his battalion came under attack on the evening of 27 May near Estaires by approximately twenty British tanks advancing without supporting anti-tank weapons available to the defenders; through determined leadership from the front line using only infantry weapons the battalion immobilized nine tanks and repelled the assault, actions for which Witt was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on
4 September 1940. Transferred to the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, he commanded a battalion in the Balkan campaign of 1941, distinguishing himself at the Klidi-Pass and Kleisoura-Pass where his brother Franz was killed, then served on the Eastern Front and received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold in February 1942. As SS-Standartenführer and Kommandeur of the SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 1 of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler he led his regiment with notable success during the defensive fighting east of Kharkov, the recapture of the city in March 1943, and engagements between the Donez and Dnjepr, earning the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz (Nr. 200) on 1 March 1943, which was presented personally by Adolf Hitler. In July 1943, promoted to SS-Oberführer, he assumed command of the newly formed 12. SS-Panzer-Division „Hitlerjugend“, rising to SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS in 1944 and becoming one of the youngest officers of that rank. He led the division during the opening phase of the Normandy fighting in June 1944 until, on 14 June 1944, a heavy naval artillery barrage from British warships struck the divisional headquarters at Venoix near Caen and killed him at the age of thirty-six; he was later reinterred at the German war cemetery Champigny-Saint-André.
SS-Oberstgruppenführer Paul Hausser (1880-1972) was born on 7 October 1880 in Brandenburg an der Havel into a Prussian military family and entered the army as a Kadett in 1892, graduating in 1899 as Leutnant in Infanterie-Regiment 155 before attending the Kriegsakademie and serving in staff roles during the First World War, reaching Major by 1918 and remaining in the Reichswehr to retire as Generalleutnant in 1932. He then led the Stahlhelm in Berlin-Brandenburg, transferred into the SS in 1934 as SS-Standartenführer, and became instrumental in forming the Waffen-SS as Inspekteur of the SS-Verfügungstruppe and commander of the SS-Junkerschule, rising to SS-Gruppenführer. In October 1939 he took command of the SS-Verfügungsdivision, later SS-Division „Reich“, leading it through the French campaign of 1940 and the early stages of Operation Barbarossa; for his outstanding leadership between the Beresina and the Dnieper, where he personally directed attacks that annihilated strong Soviet forces including the 100th Moscow Division, enabling the corps advance across the Dnieper, and for prior decisive actions such as the capture of Walcheren, he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on
8 August 1941 as Kommandeur of SS-Division „Reich“. Severely wounded on 14 October 1941 and losing an eye, he recovered to command the II. SS-Panzer-Korps, directing the recapture of Kharkov in 1943 against orders and the corps’ operations in Operation Zitadelle at Kursk, for which he was awarded the Eichenlaub on 28 July 1943 as Kommandierender General for repeatedly intervening at crisis points, inspiring troops under fire, and achieving breakthroughs against superior forces. In June 1944 he assumed command of the 7. Armee in Normandy; for his determined leadership during the heavy fighting and the breakout from the Falaise pocket, despite being wounded again, he received the Schwerter on 26 August 1944 as Oberbefehlshaber of the 7. Armee and was promoted to SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer und Generaloberst der Waffen-SS. After further commands of Heeresgruppe Oberrhein and Heeresgruppe G he surrendered in 1945, later founding and leading HIAG to advocate for Waffen-SS veterans until his death on 21 December 1972 in Ludwigsburg.
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