1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler

German armored division from 1933 to 1945 June 2020 February 2026 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler de 1. SS-Panzerdivision Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler— 1. SS-PzDiv LSSAH — 1. SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler.svg 150px Unit insignia, a skeleton key 9 November 1933 – 8 May 1945 Nazi Germany Schutzstaffel Waffen-SS Panzer Armoured warfare Division Julius Schreck (January – 9 November 1923) Sepp Dietrich (17 March 1933 – 1 August 1944) Paul Hausser (1–28 August 1944) Adolf Hitler Anschluss German occupation of Czechoslovakia World War II Invasion of Poland Battle of the Netherlands Battle of France Battle of Greece Operation Barbarossa Third Battle of Kharkov Italian Campaign Battle of Kursk Kamenets–Podolsky pocket Western Front 1944 Operation Lüttich Falaise pocket Ardennes Offensive Operation Southwind Operation Spring Awakening Battle of Berlin The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte,Williamson 1994 244 abbreviated as LSSAH (de 1. SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"), was a Waffen-SS Panzer division that served from 1933 until it was disbanded in 1945. It began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding the Führer's person, offices, and residences. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into a division-sized unit during World War II. The LSSAH participated in combat during the invasion of Poland and was amalgamated into the Waffen-SS together with the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) and the combat units of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) prior to Operation Barbarossa in 1941. By mid-1942 it had been increased in size from a regiment to a de Panzergrenadier division and was designated SS de Panzergrenadier no Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler". It received its final form as a Panzer division in October 1943. Members of the LSSAH perpetrated numerous atrocities and war crimes, including the Malmedy massacre. They killed an estimated 5,000 prisoners of war in the period 1940–1945, mostly on the Eastern Front.Margolian 2000 14 Early history (1923–1933) In the early days of the Nazi Party, the leadership realized that a bodyguard unit composed of reliable men was needed. Ernst Röhm formed a guard formation from the 19.Granatwerfer-Kompanie ("19th Grenade Thrower Company"); from this formation the Sturmabteilung (SA) soon evolved. Adolf Hitler in early 1923, ordered the formation of a small separate bodyguard dedicated to his service rather than "a suspect mass", such as the SA.McNab 2009 14, 16 Originally the unit was composed of only eight men, commanded by Julius Schreck and Joseph Berchtold.Weale 2012 16 It was designated the Stabswache (staff guard).Hoffmann 2000 45 The Stabswache were issued unique badges, but at this point was still under SA control. Schreck resurrected the use of the Totenkopf ("death's head") as the unit's insignia, a symbol various elite forces had used in the past, including specialized assault troops of Imperial Germany in World War I who used Hutier infiltration tactics.McNab 2009 16 In May 1923, the unit was renamed Stoßtrupp (Shock Troop)–Hitler.Weale 2012 16 The unit numbered no more than 20 members at that time.McNab 2009 10, 16 On 9 November 1923, the Stoßtrupp, along with the SA and several other Nazi paramilitary units, took part in the abortive Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. In the aftermath, Hitler was imprisoned and his party and all associated formations, including the Stoßtrupp, were disbanded.Wegner 1990 62 thumb|left|upright|The second model of the LSSAH Standard, modelled after the Roman Vexillum In the mid-1920s, violence remained a large part of Bavarian politics.Weale 2012 26 Hitler was a potential target. In 1925, Hitler ordered the formation of a new bodyguard unit, the Schutzkommando (protection command).Weale 2012 26 The unit was renamed the Sturmstaffel (assault squadron) and in November was renamed the Schutzstaffel, abbreviated to SS.Weale 2012 26–29 By 1933 the SS had grown from a small bodyguard unit to a formation of over 50,000 men. The decision was made to form a new bodyguard unit, again called the Stabswache, which was mostly made up of men from the 1st SS-Standarte.Reynolds 1997 3 By 1933 this unit was placed under the command of Sepp Dietrich, who selected 117 men to form the SS-Stabswache Berlin on 17 March 1933.Cook Bender 1994 9 The unit replaced the army guards at the Reich Chancellery.Cook Bender 1994 9 Out of this initial group, three eventually became divisional commanders, at least eight would become regimental commanders, fifteen became battalion commanders, and over thirty became company commanders in the Waffen-SS.Reynolds 1997 1 Eleven men from the first company of 117 went on to win the Knights Cross, and forty of them were awarded the German Cross in gold for bravery.Johnson 1999 15 Later in 1933, two further training units were formed: ''SS-Sonderkommando Zossen on 10 May, and a second unit, designated SS-Sonderkommando Jüterbog on 8 July.Cook Bender 1994 11 These were the only SS units to receive military training at that time. Most of the training staff came from the ranks of the army.Cook Bender 1994 11 On 3 September 1933 the two Sonderkommando merged into the SS-Sonderkommando Berlin under Dietrich's command.Cook Bender 1994 13 Most of their duties involved providing outer security for Hitler at his residences, public appearances and guard duty at the Reich Chancellery.Hoffmann 2000 45 In November 1933, on the 10th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch, the Sonderkommando took part in the rally and memorial service for the Nazi Party members who had been killed during the putsch. During the ceremony, the members of the Sonderkommando swore personal allegiance to Hitler. At the conclusion the unit received the new title, "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" (LAH).Cook Bender 1994 17, 19 The term Leibstandarte was derived partly from Leibgarde – a somewhat archaic German translation of "Guard of Corps" or personal bodyguard of a military leader (de Leib, body, torso) – and Standarte: the Schutzstaffel (SS) or Sturmabteilung (SA) term for a regiment-sized unit, also the German word for a specific type of heraldic flag (Standard). Expansion thumb|December 1935 parade for Adolf Hitler at the LSSAH Barracks in Berlin-Lichterfelde. Sepp Dietrich is on the far right. On 13 April 1934, Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, ordered the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (LAH) to be renamed "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" (LSSAH). Himmler inserted the SS initials into the name to make it clear that the unit was independent from the SA or the army.Cook Bender 1994 17, 19 The LSSAH was designated a "National Socialist" unit, which eventually grew into an elite Panzer Division of the Waffen-SS.Stein 1984 xxv, 12, 18, 58, 202, 203, 285 Although nominally under Himmler, Dietrich was the real commander and handled day-to-day administration.Cook Bender 1994 19, 33 During 1934, Stabschef-SA Ernst Röhm continued to push for greater political influence for his already powerful SA. Hitler decided that the SA had to be eliminated as an independent political force and ordered the LSSAH to prepare for the action. The LSSAH formed two companies under the control of Jürgen Wagner and Otto Reich, these formations were moved to Munich on 30 June.Cook Bender 1994 22, 23 Hitler ordered all SA leaders to attend a meeting at the Hanselbauer Hotel in Bad Wiessee, near Munich. Hitler along with Sepp Dietrich and a unit from the LSSAH travelled to Bad Wiessee to personally oversee Röhm's arrest on 30 June. Later at around 17:00 hours, Dietrich received orders from Hitler for the LSSAH to form an "execution squad" and go to Stadelheim prison where certain SA leaders were being held.Cook Bender 1994 22, 23 There in the prison courtyard, the LSSAH firing squad shot five SA generals and an SA colonel.Cook Bender 1994 23 Additional alleged "traitors" were shot in Berlin by a unit of the Leibstandarte.Cook Bender 1994 24 On 1 July Hitler finally agreed with Göring and Himmler that Röhm should be executed.Kershaw 2008 309–314 In what the Nazis called the Röhm Putsch, but otherwise came to be known as the Night of the Long Knives, companies of the LSSAH, together with the Gestapo and Göring's Landespolizeigruppe, performed Death Squad actions. At least 85, but most likely no less than twice that number of people, were executed without trial over the next few days.Kershaw 2008 309–314Evans 2005 39 This action succeeded in effectively decapitating the SA and removing Röhm's threat to Hitler's leadership. In recognition of their actions, both the LSSAH and the Landespolizeigruppe General Göring were expanded to regimental size and motorized. In addition, the SS became an independent organization, no longer part of the SA.Kershaw 2008 316 thumb|left|The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler barracks in Berlin, 1938 The LSSAH provided the honor guard at many of the Nuremberg Rallies, and in 1935 took part in the reoccupation of the Saarland.Reynolds 1997 2 On 6 June 1935, the LSSAH officially adopted a field-grey uniform to identify itself more with the army, which wore a similar uniform.Cook Bender 1994 44 The LSSAH was later in the vanguard of the march into Austria as part of the Anschluss, and in 1938 the unit took part in the occupation of the Sudetenland.Reynolds 1997 4 By 1939, the LSSAH was a full infantry regiment with three infantry battalions, an artillery battalion, and anti-tank, reconnaissance and engineer sub-units.Reynolds 1997 4 Soon after its involvement in the annexation of Bohemia and Moravia, the LSSAH was redesignated "Infanterie-Regiment Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (mot.)". When Hitler ordered the formation of an SS division in mid-1939, the Leibstandarte was designated to form its own unit, unlike the other Standarten of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) (SS-Standarte Deutschland, SS-Standarte Germania, and SS-Standarte Der Führer).Reynolds 1997 6 The Polish crisis of August 1939 put these plans on hold, and the LSSAH was ordered to join XIII. Armeekorps, a part of Army Group South, which was preparing for the attack on Poland. The Leibstandarte division's symbol was a skeleton key, in honor of its first commander, Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (Dietrich is German for skeleton key or lock pick); it was retained and modified to later serve as the symbol for I SS Panzer Corps.Cook Bender 1994 421 Invasion of Poland During the initial stages of the invasion of Poland, the LSSAH was attached to the 17. Infanterie-DivisionButler 2001 23 and tasked with providing flank protection for the southern pincer. The regiment was involved in several battles against Polish cavalry brigades attempting to hit the flanks of the German advance. At Pabianice, a town near Łódź, the LSSAH fought elements of the Polish 28th Infantry Division and the Wołyńska Cavalry Brigade in close combat.McNab 2013 157 Throughout the campaign, the unit was notorious for burning villages and members of the LSSAH committed atrocities in numerous Polish towns, including the murder of 50 Jews in Błonie and the massacre of 200 civilians, including children, who were machine gunned in Złoczew.Butler 2001 45 Shootings also took place in Bolesławiec, Torzeniec, Goworowo, Mława, and Włocławek.Rossino 2003 114, 159–161 After the success at Pabianice, the LSSAH was sent to the area near Warsaw and attached to the 4. Panzer-Division under then Generalmajor (brigadier general) Georg-Hans Reinhardt. The unit saw action preventing encircled Polish units from escaping and repelling several attempts by other Polish troops to break through. In spite of the swift military victory over Poland, the regular army had reservations about the performance of the LSSAH and SS-VT units due to their higher casualty rate than the army units.Reynolds 1997 5 Invasion of France In early 1940 the LSSAH was expanded into a full independent motorized infantry regiment and a Sturmgeschütz (Assault Gun) battery was added to their establishment.Reynolds 1997 6 The regiment was shifted to the Dutch border for the launch of Fall Gelb. It was to form the vanguard of the ground advance into the Netherlands, tasked with capturing a vital bridge over the IJssel, attacking the main line of defense at the Grebbeberg (the Grebbeline), and linking up with the Fallschirmjäger of Generaloberst Kurt Student's airborne forces, the 7. Flieger-Division and the 22. Luftlande-Infanterie-Division. thumb|Heinrich Himmler inspecting a Sturmgeschütz III, Metz, September 1940 Fall Gelb—the invasion of France and the Low Countries—was launched on 10 May 1940. On that day, the LSSAH crossed the Dutch border,Reynolds 1997 6 covered over 75 km, and secured a crossing over the IJssel near Zutphen after discovering that their target bridge had been destroyed. Over the next four days, the LSSAH covered over 215 km, and upon entering Rotterdam, several of its soldiers accidentally shot at and seriously wounded General Student.McNab 2013 158 After the surrender of Rotterdam, the LSSAH left for The Hague, which they reached on 15 May, after capturing 3,500 Dutch soldiers as prisoners of war.Flaherty 2004 154 After the surrender of the Netherlands on 15 May, the regiment was then moved south to France.Stein 1984 65 After the British counterattack at Arras, the LSSAH, along with the SS-Verfügungs-Division, were moved to hold the perimeter around Dunkirk and reduce the size of the pocket containing the encircled British Expeditionary Force and French forces.Stein 1984 65–69 The LSSAH took up a position 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk along the line of the Aa Canal, facing the Allied defensive line near Watten.Flaherty 2004 154 That night the OKW ordered the advance to halt, with the British Expeditionary Force trapped. The LSSAH paused for the night. However, on the following day of 25 May, in defiance of Hitler's orders, Dietrich ordered his 3rd battalion to cross the canal and take the Wattenberg 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.Flaherty 2004 143, 154 On 26 May the German advance resumed. By 28 May the LSSAH had taken the village of Wormhout, only ten miles from Dunkirk.Flaherty 2004 154 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 LSSAH 2nd battalion, under the command of SS-Hauptsturmführer Wilhelm Mohnke committed the Wormhoudt massacre, where 80 British and French prisoners of war were killed.Butler 2001 81–83Weale 2012 251–253 Although it is unarguable that the massacre occurred, Mohnke's level of involvement is impossible to know; he was never formally charged and brought to trial.Reynolds 1997 6Weale 2012 253 Invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece Battle of Greece After the conclusion of the Western campaign on 22 June 1940, the LSSAH spent six months in Metz (Moselle). It was expanded to brigade size (6,500 men). A 'Flak battalion' and a StuG Batterie were among the units added to the LSSAH. A new flag was presented by Heinrich Himmler in September 1940.Stein 1984 p. 28, n.7: Ansprache des Reichsführers SS aus Anlass der Übergabe der Führer-standarte an die Leibstandarte 'Adolf Hitler', Metz, Fort Alvensleben, am 7. September 1940, RFSS/T-175, 90/2612641 During the later months of 1940, the regiment trained in amphibious assaults on the Moselle River in preparation for Operation Seelöwe, the invasion of England. After the Luftwaffe's failure in the Battle of Britain and the cancellation of the planned invasion, the LSSAH was shifted to Bulgaria in February 1941 in preparation for Operation Marita, part of the planned invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia.Reynolds 1997 7 The operation was launched on 6 April 1941 by aerial bombings of central-southern Yugoslavia, especially over Belgrade, causing enormous destruction and thousands of victims and wounded. After the LSSAH entered on 12 April into the Yugoslavian capital, then to follow the route of the 9. Panzer-Division, part of General der Panzertruppe Georg Stumme's XL Panzer Corps. The LSSAH crossed the border near Bitola and was soon deep in Greek territory. thumb|left|Sd.Kfz. 231 armored cars of the LSSAH advance into the Balkans near Sofia, Bulgaria, with Vitosha Mountain in the background. The LSSAH captured Vevi on 10 April. SS-Sturmbannführer Kurt Meyer's reinforced Aufklärungs-Abteilung (reconnaissance battalion), LSSAH was tasked with clearing resistance from the Kleisoura Pass south-west of Vevi and driving through to the Kastoria area to cut off retreating Greek and British Commonwealth forces.McNab 2013 159 Despite stiff resistance, Meyer's unit captured the pass.McNab 2013 159 The brigade participated in the clearing the Klidi Pass just south of Vevi, which was defended by a "scratch force" of Greek, Australian, British and New Zealand troops. An Australian artillery officer wrote of the Germans' "insolence" in driving "trucks down the main road – to within 3000 yd of our infantry" and there unloading the troops. The Germans were forced off the road by artillery fire and faced fierce resistance for more than two days. On the morning of 12 April the Germans renewed their attack, and by late afternoon the pass was cleared.Australian Veterans Affairs With the fall of the two passes the main line of resistance of the Greek Epirus army was broken, and the campaign became a battle to prevent the escape of the enemy. On 20 April, following a pitched battle in the 5000 ft m mid -high Metsovon Pass in the Pindus Mountains, the commander of the Greek Epirus army surrendered the entire force to Dietrich. British Commonwealth troops were now the only Allied forces remaining in Greece, and they were falling back across the Corinth Canal to the Peloponnesos. By 26 April the LSSAH had reached the Gulf of Patras, and in an effort to cut off the retreating British Commonwealth forces, Dietrich ordered that his regiment cross the Gulf and secure the town of Patras in the Peloponnesus. Since no transport vessels were available, the LSSAH commandeered fishing boats and successfully completed the crossing but were forced to leave much of their heavy equipment behind. By 30 April the last British Commonwealth troops had either been captured or escaped. The LSSAH occupied a position of honor in the victory parade through Athens. After Operation Marita, the LSSAH was ordered north to join the forces of Army Group South massing for the launch of Operation Barbarossa.Reynolds 1997 8 Invasion of the Soviet Union Following LSSAH's outstanding performance during Marita, Himmler ordered that it should be upgraded to divisional status.Reynolds 1997 8 The regiment, already the size of a reinforced brigade, was to be given motorized transport and redesignated "SS-Division (mot.) Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler". It was moved to Czechoslovakia in mid May for reorganization until being ordered to assemble in PolandGerman Captured Documents: NARA Inventory http://www.maparchive.ru/index.php/waffen-ss.html Maparchive.ru American Historical Association. National Archives of the United States live https://web.archive.org/web/20140807225221/http://maparchive.ru/index.php/waffen-ss.html 7 August 2014 for Operation Barbarossa, as part of Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group South. There was not enough time to deliver all its equipment and refit it to full divisional status before the launch of the invasion of the Soviet Union, so the new "division" remained the size of a reinforced brigade, even though its expansion and development was of concern at the very highest ranks of command. Franz Halder, chief of the OKH General Staff noted on 20 June that "SS 'Adolf Hitler' will not be ready in time. Tracked components leave on 22 June, others not before 25 June," then more hopefully the next day; "Materiel position of SS 'Adolf Hitler' has improved, Div. may yet get ready in time."Halder Franz War Diaries Vol 6 21 February 1941 – 31 July 1943 157–158 thumb|left|Wehrmacht horse-drawn artillery and armored cars of the LSSAH pass a burning Soviet village, August 1941. Despite Halder's hopes, LSSAH was held in reserve attached to XIV Panzer Corps as part of Generalfeldmarschall Ewald von Kleist's 1st Panzer Group during the opening stages of the attack. Through July it was attached to III Panzer Corps before finishing August as part of XLVIII Panzer Corps. During this time, the LSSAH was involved in the Battle of Uman and the subsequent capture of Kiev. According to a postwar report by Waffen-SS journalist Erich Kern, the division murdered 4,000 Soviet prisoners in reprisal on 18 August, after finding the mutilated bodies of six dead divisional members who had been executed at Nowo Danzig, north of Kherson. These allegations have been researched using local units' war diaries; no mention of executed German soldiers during those dates has been found. For want of reliable evidence, not even accusations by the Soviet authorities, the allegations remained unproven.Stein 1984 133Lehmann 1980 116 thumb|left|LSSAH enters burning Taganrog, October 1941. In early September, the division was shifted to LIV Army Corps, as part of the 11th Army under Eugen Ritter von Schobert during the advance east after the fall of Kiev. Hoping to capitalize on the collapse of the Red Army defense on the Dnepr River the reconnaissance battalion of LSSAH was tasked with making a speedy advance to capture the strategically vital choke point of the Perekop Isthmus through a "coup de main" but were rebuffed by entrenched defenders at the town of Perekop.Forczyk Robert Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941–44 20 September 2014 Osprey Publishing 9781782006251 44 That same day, 12 September, 11th Army's commander was killed in an aircraft accident, and Hitler appointed Erich von Manstein to command. It took five days for Manstein to take matters in hand, and the operation to clear the Crimean Peninsula was not launched until 17 September. Manstein deployed LSSAH to create diversions while preparing for the main assault, intending to employ it to exploit an eventual breakthrough, but was forced to throw pioneers into the attack on the "Tatar Ditch" in the face of a furious counterattacks and did not break the Soviet defense for ten days.Forczyk Robert Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941–44 20 September 2014 Osprey Publishing 9781782006251 46–56 On 8 October 1941, the LSSAH captured the major coastal city of Mariupol, catching the Soviets off guard.https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/leibstandarte-adolf-hitlers-drive-to-the-don/ Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler's Drive to the Don 2014 Pat McTaggart Warfare History Network In October, the LSSAH was transferred back north to help solidify the Axis line against fresh Soviet attacks against the Romanian 3rd Army and later took part in the heavy fighting for the city of Rostov-on-Don, which was captured in late November; there, the LSSAH took over 10,000 Red Army prisoners. However, by the end of the year, the German advance faltered as Soviet resistance grew stronger.McNab 2013 159 Under pressure from heavy Soviet counterattacks during the winter, the LSSAH and Army Group South retreated from Rostov to defensive lines on the river Mius.McNab 2013 159 After the spring rasputitsa (seasonal mud) had cleared, the division joined in Fall Blau, participating in the fighting to retake Rostov-on-Don, which fell in late July 1942. Severely understrength, the LSSAH was transferred to the Normandy region of occupied France to join the newly formed SS Panzer Corps and to be reformed as a de Panzergrenadier division.Reynolds 1997 9 Kharkov thumb|Sepp Dietrich in a medal ceremony for men of the LSSAH, Soviet Union 1942. Sepp Dietrich with von Westernhagen, Wiesemann, Max Wünsche and Karl Rettlinger. The LSSAH spent the remainder of 1942 refitting as a de panzergrenadier division. Thanks to the efforts of Himmler, along with SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser, the SS Panzer Corps commander, the three SS de Panzergrenadier divisions, LSSAH, Das Reich and Totenkopf, were to be formed with a full regiment of tanks rather than only a battalion. This meant that the SS de Panzergrenadier divisions were full-strength Panzer divisions in all but name. The division also received nine Tiger 1 tanks, and these were formed into the 13th (schwere) Company/1st SS Panzer Regiment.Reynolds 1997 9 The collapse of the front around Stalingrad and the encirclement of the 6th Army created a threat to Field Marshal Erich von Manstein's Army Group Don. Manstein requested reinforcements to halt the Soviet attack near Kharkov. The SS Panzer Corps was then ordered east to join Manstein's forces.Reynolds 1997 9 thumb|Fritz Witt, Kharkov March 1943 Arriving at the front in late January 1943, the LSSAH was engaged in fighting in and around Kharkov as a part of Hausser's SS Panzer Corps.Reynolds 1997 9 In March 1943 the division participated in the recapture of Kharkov. On 12 March 1943, the LSSAH made progress into the city's center by breaking through the Soviet defenses in the northern suburbs. By the end of the day, the division had reached a position just two blocks north of Dzerzhinsky Square.Margry 2001 27 The 2nd de Panzergrenadier no Regiment's 2nd Battalion was able to surround the square, after taking heavy casualties from Soviet snipers and other defenders, by evening. When taken, the square was renamed "Platz der Leibstandarte".Margry 2001 30 Despite the declaration that the city had fallen, fighting continued on 15 and 16 March, as German units cleared the remnants of resistance in the tractor works factory complex, in the southern outskirts of the city. The city was taken on 17 March.Margry 2001 39 While in Kharkov, troops of the LSSAH engaged in the murder of wounded Soviet soldiers that were located in the city's military hospital; several hundred were killed. Additionally, captured Soviet officers and commissars were routinely executed.Ripley 2000 73 The division was pulled back to rest and refit. Division commander Sepp Dietrich was promoted to form a new Corps, the 1st SS Panzer Corps Leibstandarte, and the LSSAH was to supply all the senior officers for the new headquarters. At the same time a new SS division would be formed from members of the Hitler Youth and the LSSAH would supply all of the regimental, battalion and most of the company commanders. This new division would become the 12th SS Panzer Division (Hitlerjugend).Reynolds 1997 10–11 Massacre of civilians on the Eastern Front During the fighting around Kharkov, a unit under the command of Joachim Peiper gained a nickname "Blowtorch Battalion", after the inhabitants of two Soviet villages were shot or burned.Bishop Williams 2003 170Arnold 1990 51Mitcham 2006 33 Ukrainian sources, including surviving witness Ivan Kiselev, who was 14 at the time of the massacre, described the killings at the villages of Yefremovka and Semyonovka on 17 February 1943. On 12 February Waffen-SS troops of the LSSAH occupied the two villages, where retreating Soviet forces had wounded two SS officers. In retaliation, five days later LSSAH troops killed 872 men, women and children. Some 240 of these were burned alive in the church of Yefremovka.Parker 2014 356-357 The reputation of the "Blowtorch Battalion" was confirmed in August 1944, when Sturmbannführer Jacob Hanreich was captured south of Falaise in France and interrogated by the Allies. He stated that Peiper was "particularly eager to execute the order to burn villages". Hanreich had previously served with Leibstandarte but was with SS Division Hitlerjugend at the time of his capture.Parker 2014 354 Additional sources support the division's reputation for brutality. The following statement, taken from the surreptitious recording of POWs' conversations by the Allies, describes the atrocities on the Eastern Front. SS-Untersturmführer Krämer (captured on the Western Front during his service with the SS Division Hitlerjugend) recounted the following from his time with the LSSAH:Neitzel Welzer 2012 309 I have experienced it in Russia at Orel. An MG 42 was set up in the main aisle of a church, [...] and the Russian men, women and children were taken into the church, without knowing at all what was happening. Then they were shot immediately with the MG 42 and petrol was poured on them and the whole place was set on fire. Fabrikaktion Operation Elements of LSSAH took part in Fabrikaktion ("factory action”), also known as the Großaktion Juden ("Major Action [on] Jews”), an operation to capture remaining German Jews working in the arms industry. Men of the LSSAH helped the Gestapo round up Jews in Berlin; people were taken from their jobs and herded into cattle wagons on 27–28 February 1943. Most of the captured perished either in Auschwitz or other camps in the East.Friedman 2004 173Strauss 1999a 127Strauss 1999b 74–119 In May 1943, Hans Frank shipped 500 watches collected from Auschwitz prisoners to soldiers of the 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf.Sydnor 1990 332 Battle of Kursk The spring rasputitsa halted offensive operations, giving the LSSAH time to rest and refit. By early June 1943, the division had been fully refitted and was now under the command of SS-Brigadeführer, Theodor Wisch.Reynolds 1997 14 Its armor strength was 12 Tiger Is, 72 Panzer IVs, 16 Panzer III and Panzer IIs, and 31 StuGs. In late June 1943, the formation of I SS Panzer Corps meant that Hausser's SS Panzer Corps was renamed II SS Panzer Corps.Reynolds 1997 10 upright|thumb|left|Joachim Peiper, commander of the division's 1st SS Panzer Regiment The II SS Panzer Corps was moved north to Belgorod in preparation for the upcoming summer offensive Operation Citadel. The LSSAH, along with the SS Divisions Totenkopf and Das Reich, was to form the spearhead of General Hermann Hoth's 4th Panzer Army, tasked with breaching the southern flank of the Kursk salient. Field Marshal Walter Model's 9th Army was to breach the northern flank, and the two forces were to meet near the city of Kursk, to the east, thereby encircling a large Soviet force. The attack commenced on 5 July. The LSSAH's panzers, advancing in Panzerkeils (wedges), soon ran into the elaborate defenses of the Red Army, which slowed the advance. Untersturmführer Michael Wittmann, a Tiger commander in Leibstandarte's heavy company, destroyed eight enemy tanks and seven anti-tank guns on the first day of battle.Gilbert 2019 226 On 8 July, Unterscharführer Franz Staudegger, another Tiger commander, halted for repairs in the town of Teterevino and became separated from his company. He became aware of a nearby Soviet armored counterattack developing and rushed the repairs on his tank to meet the threat. Staudegger and his crew spotted the enemy vanguard and took out seventeen T-34s in two hours.Gilbert 2019 226 The Russian attack was now faltering, so Staudegger pressed his Tiger forward into the retreating enemy flanks, switching to high-explosive shells after exhausting his armor-piercing ammunition. By day's end, Staudegger's Tiger had destroyed twenty-two T-34s, for which he won the Knight's Cross.Gilbert 2019 226 By 9 July, the II SS Panzer Corps had advanced 48 km on north and were nearing the small town of Prokhorovka. The LSSAH again took the lead; by now its strength was reduced to just 77 armored vehicles. The 2nd SS de Panzergrenadier no Regiment, supported by several tanks, advanced up the road to Prokhorovka against heavy resistance. By midday, the infantry had cleared the Komsomolets State Farm and begun the attack on Hill 241.6, which they secured shortly after nightfall on 10 July. The next day the advance resumed, with the division capturing Oktiabr'skii State Farm and Hill 252.2 in heavy fighting against Soviet paratroopers of the 9th Guards Airborne Division. On 12 July, the Soviets threw the 5th Guards Tank Army into a counterattack near Prokhorovka. Two tank corps faced the LSSAH, hitting the Germans around Oktiabr'skii State Farm and Hill 252.2. In the ensuing fighting, the Germans inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviets. The Soviet counterattack had stalled the German advance, and the division was forced to fall back to Oktiabr'skii. Fighting continued the next day, but the focus of the Soviet attack had then shifted to the Totenkopf, on the left of the LSSAH. With the battle at Prokhorovka still in the balance, Soviet High Command launched an offensive of their own, Operation Kutuzov, near Orel causing Hitler to order the cessation of Citadel. The II SS Panzer Corps was pulled back. The LSSAH was ordered out of the line, having suffered 2,753 casualties including 474 killed.Reynolds 1997 14 Eleven tanks were also lost during Citadel. The division was sent to Italy to help stabilize the situation there caused by the deposal of Benito Mussolini by the Badoglio government and the Allied invasion of Sicily which began on the night of 9–10 July 1943. The division left behind its heavy equipment, which was given to Das Reich and Totenkopf.Reynolds 1997 15 Italy and subsequent operations thumb|upright|LSSAH Panzer IV Ausf. H in Milan, Italy, September 1943 The division, re-equipped with vehicles, arrived on the Po River Plain on 8 August 1943. The LSSAH was given the task of guarding several vital road and rail junctions in the area of Trento-Verona. After several weeks, the division was moved to the Parma-Reggio area. During this period, the Leibstandarte was involved in several skirmishes with partisans. With Italy having announced an armistice with the Allies of 8 September 1943, the division was ordered to begin disarming nearby Royal Italian Army units.Reynolds 1997 15 This went smoothly, with the exception of brief, bloody fights with Italian troops stationed in Parma, Cremona and Piacenza on 9 September. By 19 September, all Italian forces in the Po River Plain had been disarmed.Reynolds 1997 15 While on rear security duties in Italy, LSSAH men murdered 49 Jewish refugees near Lake Maggiore, in the Lake Maggiore massacres, who had fled there after the German takeover.Moseley 2004 42 The murders happened between 15 and 24 September. Some of the victims had their feet and hands tied and were drowned.Zuccotti 2007 123 The LSSAH was sent to the Istria Peninsula and was engaged in several anti-partisan operations as part of Nazi security warfare. During its period in Italy, the LSSAH was reformed as a full panzer division, and redesignated 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.Reynolds 1997 15 In early November, the division was ordered back to the Eastern Front, arriving in the Zhitomir area in mid-November.Reynolds 1997 15 thumb|Adolf Hitler receives 2,475,209.88 marks from the hands of Lieutenant Colonel of the SS Panzer Corps "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" Max Wuensche. April 1944 The division was assigned to XLVIII Panzer Corps, a part of 4th Panzer Army, which was struggling to hold the line near Zhitomir.Reynolds 1997 16 The division was transferred to the Cherkassy area at the end of January, where it was assigned to the III Panzer Corps, part of 1st Panzer Army. As part of the corps, the division took part in the relief attempt of German forces of Army Group South encircled in the Korsun Pocket in January–February 1944. The majority of the LSSAH, which amounted to 41 officers and 1,188 men, were withdrawn to Belgium for rest and refit,Reynolds 1997 16 however a Kampfgruppe was left behind. On 25 March, the 1st Panzer Army was encircled in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket. The battle group took part in the fighting to escape the encirclement, forming a part of the spearhead which linked up with the II SS Panzer Corps near Buczacz on 6 April.Reynolds 1997 16 The LSSAH Division was reformed in Belgium and was at full strength by 25 April 1944.Reynolds 1997 21 Western Front The division was transferred again as part of the I SS Panzer Corps which at this time consisted of the 101 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, SS Division Hitlerjugend, SS Division Götz von Berlichingen and the Panzer Lehr Division.Reynolds 1997 7 The LSSAH had been positioned north of the River Seine to counter any possible landing in the area of the Pas de Calais so the first units did not arrive in Normandy until after the Allied invasion there on 6 June 1944; part of it arrived on the night of 27–28 June with the whole division taking another week.Reynolds 1997 131 By 4 July the I SS Panzer Corps was reformed, and now consisted of the LSSAH and the Hitlerjugend.Reynolds 1997 145 The first action they were involved in was the defense of Carpiquet village and airfield in the Allied Operation Windsor.Reynolds 1997 148 There then followed a number of Allied attacks – Operations Charnwood and Jupiter. On 12 July the LSSAH was holding the Caen south sector from Maltot in the west to the Caen – Falaise road in the east.Reynolds 1997 165 During the night of 14–15 July, LSSAH was relieved by the 272nd Infantry Division and pulled back to an assembly area astride the Caen – Falaise road between Ifs and Cintheaux.Reynolds 1997 166 Operation Goodwood Operation Goodwood thumb|The front line at the beginning of Operation Spring, showing the layout of forces for both sides The British Operation Goodwood took place between 18 and 20 July 1944. British VIII Corps, with three armored divisions, launched the attack aiming to seize the German-held Bourguébus Ridge, along with the area between Bretteville-sur-Laize and Vimont. The operation was preceded by a three-hour bombing by 2,500 aircraft.Reynolds 1997 174 The Division strength prior to Goodwood was reported as 59 Panzer IVs, 46 Panthers and 35 StuG IIIs.Reynolds 1997 172 II/1st SS Panzer Regiment, located near Garcelles, received orders to attack the British at Soliers. While moving its 13 Panthers towards Bourguébus, the unit engaged 60 British tanks, destroying 20 of them and capturing Soliers. Around 12:00, the Panther Battalion, I/1st SS Panzer regiment, was engaged in combat with the British 29th Armoured Brigade of the British 11th Armoured Division. The body of the LSSAH was rushed to the front from Falaise, where it was being held in reserve. It counterattacked at 17:00, together with the 21st Panzer Division, and halted the British offensive on the left front.Reynolds 1997 178 The British resumed their assault at around 13:00 on 19 July, having brought up reinforcements to continue the attack. They overran some of the forward German units and approached Bourguébus Ridge at 16:00. They came under fire from Panthers of the Leibstandarte, who had taken up positions on the ridge. Reinforcements of the 12th SS Panzer Division arrived at the right flank at around 15:00. The Canadians attacked next in the Battle of Verrières Ridge and Operation Spring (see map), where the LSSAH came up against a number of Allied divisions, including the Guards Armoured Division, 7th Armoured, 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisions.Reynolds 1997 192 Operation Lüttich Operation Lüttich On 25 July 1944, US forces under General Omar Bradley succeeded in breaking through the German defenses as part of Operation Cobra and entered Brittany.Van der Vat 2003 163D'Este 1984 410 Hitler forbade any retreat, and ordered a counteroffensive, codenamed Operation Lüttich,Lewin 1978 38 by the XLVII Panzer Corps, consisting of the 2nd Panzer Division, part of the LSSAH, the SS Division Das Reich and the 116th Panzer Division.Van der Vat 2003 164 The plan for the attack was to hit the 30th Infantry Division east of Mortain, then cut through American defenses to reach the coast.Van der Vat 2003 163 The US response was aided by Ultra intelligence, which had revealed the plans for Operation Lüttich by 4 August.D'Este 1984 415 As a result, Bradley was able to obtain air support from both the US 9th Air Force and the RAF.D'Este 1984 416 The LSSAH and other divisions went on the attack on 7 August. The 1st SS Panzer Regiment, along with two battalions of motorized infantry, one combat engineer company, and the division's flak battalion, were used for the attack. The weather was not suitable for flying that morning, which disadvantaged the Allies. The SS Division Das Reich recaptured Mortain, and an armored battle group under Joachim Peiper reached Bourlopin, but had to halt due to US counterattacks and air strikes. The much-reduced division was encircled in the Falaise pocket by US, Canadian, and Polish forces. Some LSSAH units broke out of the pocket on 22 August, leaving behind all their tanks and artillery. The division sustained 5,000 casualties during the Normandy campaign.Reynolds 1997 262–264 During their retreat from France, members of the LSSAH and the SS Division Hitlerjugend division murdered 34 French civilians in the towns of Tavaux and Plomion.Beevor 2010 446 Ardennes Offensive Battle of Elsenborn Ridge Battle of the Bulge thumb|Kampfgruppe Knittel's troops on the road to Stavelot to support Peiper thumb|A preserved Tiger II tank left by Kampfgruppe Peiper at La Gleize in December 1944 The Ardennes Offensive (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive launched through the forested Ardennes Mountains region of Belgium, France and Luxembourg. The offensive was called Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein (Operation "Watch on the Rhine") by the Germans. The "bulge" was the initial incursion the Germans put into the Allies' line of advance, as seen in maps presented in contemporary newspapers.Cole 1965October 2011 Wilhelm Mohnke, now in command of the LSSAH, attached to the I SS Panzer Corps, was the spearhead of the operation. The fuel crisis in Nazi Germany meant that the LSSAH had insufficient amounts of fuel for its vehicles.Evans 2008 657 On 16 December the operation began, with then SS-Obersturmbannführer Joachim Peiper's Kampfgruppe leading the push to the Meuse.Stein 1984 231 Malmedy massacre Malmedy massacre thumb|left|A GI surveys the scene of the Malmedy massacre. The victims' bodies were preserved under the snow until Allied forces recaptured the area in January 1945. Peiper was supposed to reach the Meuse River on the first day of the offensive. Instead, he was delayed by almost an entire day by a recon platoon at Lanzerath Ridge. Then, unable to dislodge the 99th Infantry Division from Elsenborn Ridge, he diverted to an alternative road to the south. At 07:00 on 17 December, the unit seized a US fuel depot at Büllingen, and refueled before continuing westward. At 12:30, near the hamlet of Baugnez, on the height halfway between the town of Malmedy and Ligneuville, Peiper's Kampfgruppe encountered a convoy of the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, US 7th Armored Division.Cole 1965 75MacDonald 1997 216 After a brief battle the Americans surrendered. Along with other Americans captured earlier (127 men total), they were disarmed and sent to stand in a field near the crossroads, where the Germans shot them en masse with machine guns and pistols.Parker 2012 123, 271 Of the 84 men killed, 41 were killed by a pistol shot to the head at close range and six were killed by having their skulls bashed in.Parker 2012 271 After feigning death in the field for several hours while the Germans moved among them shooting survivors, a group of about 30 men escaped.Parker 2012 162, 173 Researcher Danny S. Parker believe that Peiper or one of his subordinates made the decision to kill the prisoners.Parker 2012 278 There is no record of an SS officer giving an execution order.MacDonald 1997 2016 News of the killings raced through the Allied lines.MacDonald 1997 459 Captured SS men who were part of Kampfgruppe Peiper were tried during the Malmedy massacre trial following the war for this massacre and several others in the area. Many of the perpetrators were sentenced to hang, but the sentences were commuted. Peiper himself was imprisoned for eleven years for his role in the killings.Parker 2012 278 Peiper entered Stavelot on 18 December but encountered fierce resistance from the American defenders. Unable to defeat them, he left a smaller support force in town and headed for the bridge at Trois-Ponts with the bulk of his strength, but by the time he reached it, retreating US engineers had already destroyed it. Peiper then headed for the village of La Gleize and from there on to Stoumont. There, as Peiper approached, engineers blew up the bridge. US defenders were entrenched and ready. Peiper's men were cut off from the main German force and supplies when the Americans recaptured the poorly defended Stavelot on 19 December. As their situation in Stoumont was becoming hopeless, Peiper decided to pull back to La Gleize where he set up his defenses, waiting for the German relief force. Since no such force was able to penetrate the US line, Peiper decided to break out back to the German lines on 23 December. The men of the Kampfgruppe abandoned their vehicles and heavy equipment, although most of the men were able to escape. With each passing day, enemy resistance stiffened and the advance was eventually halted on all fronts. The German High Command ordered that a renewed attack begin on 1 January 1945. Yet by this time, the Allies had regrouped their forces and were ready to repulse any attack launched by the Germans. The operation formally ended on 27 January 1945, and three days later Mohnke was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer. LSSAH and the I SS Panzer Corps were then transferred to Hungary to bolster the crumbling situation there. Mohnke was wounded in an air raid.Fischer 2008 41 In his place, SS-Brigadeführer Otto Kumm was appointed the new Division Commander as of 15 February 1945.Fischer 2008 41 Killing of Wereth 11 Wereth 11 Massacre thumb|upright=.5|right|Memorial to the Wereth 11 During the Battle of the Bulge, troops from 3./SS-PzAA1 LSSAH captured eleven African-American soldiers from the 333rd Artillery Battalion in the hamlet of Wereth. Subsequently the prisoners were shot and their remains found by Allied troops two months later. The soldiers had their fingers cut off, legs broken, and at least one was shot while trying to bandage a comrade's wounds.U.S. Wereth Memorial Eastern Front 1945 Operation Spring Awakening Operation Spring Awakening Operation Spring Awakening (6 March 1945 – 16 March 1945) was the last major German offensive launched during World War II. It began in great secrecy on 6 March 1945. The German forces launched attacks in Hungary near Lake Balaton. This area included some of the last oil reserves still available to the Axis. The operation involved many German units withdrawn from the failed Ardennes Offensive on the Western Front, including the 6th SS Panzer Army and the LSSAH. Operation Spring Awakening was a failure for the German side. Within a week, the early gains were halted by massive counter-attacks by Soviet forces. The overwhelming numerical superiority of the Red Army made any defense impossible, yet Hitler somehow had believed victory was attainable.Ziemke 1968 450 After the failure of Operation Spring Awakening, Sepp Dietrich's 6th SS Panzer Army retreated in stages to the Vienna area. The Germans prepared defensive positions in an attempt to hold the city against the fast arriving Red Army, in what become known as the Vienna Offensive. The Germans could not hold Vienna, which fell to the Soviet forces on 13 April.Dollinger 1967 198 This defeat resulted in the Ärmelstreifen (Cuff Titles Order) or "armband order", which was issued by Hitler to the commander of the 6th SS Panzer Army, Sepp Dietrich. Hitler claimed that the troops "did not fight as the situation demanded."Dollinger 1967 198 As a mark of disgrace, Hitler ordered the Waffen-SS units involved to remove their cuff titles (German: Ärmelstreifen). Dietrich refused to carry out the order and did not relay the message to the troops.Stein 1984 238 According to Heinz Guderian, most cuff titles had already been removed; he later wrote that the removal of unit cuffs from the Leibstandarte, Totenkopf, Hohenstaufen, and the Das Reich Divisions was accomplished for security reasons.Guderian 1952 419 Battle of Berlin Battle of Berlin thumb|U.S. flag raised over Berlin at the Leibstandarte barracks on 4 July 1945; Soviet honor guard in foreground Part of the LSSAH ended the war fighting in Berlin. On 23 April 1945, Hitler appointed Brigadeführer Mohnke the commander for the central government district (Zitadelle sector) that included the Reich Chancellery and Führerbunker.Fischer 2008 42 Mohnke's command post was under the Reich Chancellery in the bunkers therein. He formed Kampfgruppe Mohnke which was divided into two weak regiments made up of approximately 2,000 men.Beevor 2002 287 The core group were the 800 of the Leibstandarte Guard Battalion (assigned to guard the Führer).Fischer 2008 42–43 After Hitler's suicide, they received orders to break out. Prior to the attempt, Mohnke briefed all commanders who could be reached within the Zitadelle sector about Hitler's death and the planned break out.Fischer 2008 49 It started at 2300 hours on 1 May. Mohnke led the first of ten small groups.Beevor 2002 382 Several very small groups managed to reach the Americans at the Elbe's west bank, but most, including Mohnke's group, could not get through the Soviet lines. Many were taken prisoner and some committed suicide. On 2 May hostilities officially ended by order of Helmuth Weidling, Commandant of the Berlin Defense Area.Fischer 2008 49–50 After Vienna was captured, the LSSAH had fewer than 1,600 men and 16 tanks.McNab 2013 280 Apart from the remains of Berlin Guard Battalion, the LSSAH surrendered to US forces in the Steyr area on 8 May 1945.McNab 2009 182 On 4 July (Independence Day) 1945, the United States flag was raised over Berlin for the first time at the Leibstandarte barracks.U.S. Flag Raised over Adolph Hitler Barracks in Berlin https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/photograph-records/59-795 2022-07-21 Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum Organisation Structure of the division:German Order of Battle, Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS Division in WWII 67http://niehorster.org/011_germany/41_organ_army/41_div-mot_ss-lah.html Leibstandarte SS-Adolf Hitler, Waffen-SS, 22.06.1941 niehorster.org 2019-01-22 Headquarters 1st SS Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 1st SS Panzer Regiment 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 2nd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 1st SS Panzer Engineer Battalion 1st SS Panzer Artillery Regiment 1st SS Panzer Assault Gun Regiment 1st SS Panzer Tank Destroyer Battalion 1st SS Panzer Anti-Aircraft Battalion 1st SS Rocket Launcher Battalion (added September 1944) 1st SS Panzer Signal Battalion 1st SS Panzer Divisional Supply Group Commanders y y Commander y n n 1 Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J27366, Sepp Dietrich.jpg SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer Sepp Dietrich Dietrich, Sepp 1892 1966 15 August 1938 4 July 1943 1938 08 15 1943 07 04 2 SS-Brigadeführer Theodor Wisch Wisch, Theodor 1907 1995 4 July 1943 20 August 1944 1943 07 04 1944 08 20 3 SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke Mohnke, Wilhelm 1911 2001 20 August 1944 6 February 1945 1944 08 20 1945 02 06 4 Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Zschaeckel-195-21, Otto Kumm.jpg SS-Brigadeführer Otto Kumm Kumm, Otto 1909 2004 6 February 1945 8 May 1945 1945 02 06 1945 05 08 Notable members Otto Beisheim − industrialist Otto Günsche Klaus Havenstein − actor Karl Wilhelm Krause Kurt Meyer Rochus Misch Joachim Peiper Franz Schönhuber − politician Bernhard Siebken Michael Wittmann Max Wünsche See also I SS Panzer Corps "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" 101st Heavy SS Panzer Battalion Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler Order of Battle List of German divisions in World War II List of Waffen-SS divisions List of SS personnel SS Panzer Division order of battle SS Brigade Schuldt Boves massacre References Citations Bibliography 30em Arnold James 1990 Ardennes 1944: Hitler's Last Gamble in the West Osprey Publishing 978-0-85045-959-3 https://archive.org/details/ardennes194400jame Bartmann Erwin 2013 Fur Volk und Fuhrer: The Memoir of a Veteran of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler Helion and Company 978-1-90938-453-8 Berlin: The Downfall 1945 Beevor Antony Antony Beevor 2002 Viking-Penguin Books London 978-0-670-03041-5 Beevor Antony D-Day: The Battle for Normandy 2010 Penguin 978-0-14-311818-3 Gilbert Adrian Waffen-SS: Hitler's Army at War Da Capo Press New York 2019 978-0-306-82466-1 Bishop Chris Williams Michael SS: Hell on the Western Front 2003 MBI Publishing St Paul, Minn 978-0-7603-1402-9 Butler Rupert SS-Leibstandarte: The History of the First SS Division, 1934–45 2001 Spellmount Staplehurst 978-1-86227-117-3 Cole Hugh M. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge 1965 United States Army Center of Military History United States Army in World War II http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_Cont.htm 14 October 2006 569167802 13 November 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081113094810/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_CONT.HTM dead Cook Stan Bender Roger James Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler: Uniforms, Organization, & History 1994 James Bender Publishing San Jose, CA 978-0-912138-55-8 D'Este Carlo Carlo D'Este Decision in Normandy 1984 Konecky & Konecky 1-56852-260-6 Dollinger Hans The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan: A Pictorial History of the Final Days of World War II 1967 1965 Bonanza New York 978-0-517-01313-7 https://archive.org/details/declinefallofnaz0000doll Evans Richard J. Richard J. Evans The Third Reich in Power 2005 Penguin Group New York 978-0-14-303790-3 Evans Richard J. The Third Reich at War 2008 New York Penguin Group 978-0-14-311671-4 Fischer Thomas Soldiers of the Leibstandarte 2008 J.J. Fedorowicz Winnipeg 978-0-921991-91-5 Flaherty T. H. The Third Reich: The SS Time-Life 2004 1988 1-84447-073-3 Friedman Saul S. A History of the Holocaust 2004 Vallentine Mitchell London; Portland, OR 978-0-85303-435-3 A Great Risk: Australia's War 1939–1945 Australian Government Department of Veterans Affairs http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/greatrisk/greatrisk05.html 2011-10-27 Australian Veterans Affairs https://web.archive.org/web/20110602032651/http://www.ww2australia.gov.au///greatrisk/greatrisk05.html 2 June 2011 dead Guderian Heinz Panzer Leader 1952 Michael Joseph Publishing London History: Remembering the invinsible soldiers of the Battle of the Bulge [sic] http://www.wereth.org/index.php/history U.S. Wereth Memorial 2014-03-25 U.S. Wereth Memorial dead https://web.archive.org/web/20131110165454/http://www.wereth.org/index.php/history 10 November 2013 Hoffmann Peter Peter Hoffmann (historian) Hitler's Personal Security: Protecting the Führer 1921–1945 Da Capo New York 2000 978-0-306-80947-7 Johnson Davis Quassowski Hans Twelve Years with Hitler: A history of 1. Kompanie Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 1933–1945 Schiffer 1999 0-7643-0777-0 Kershaw Ian Ian Kershaw Hitler: A Biography W. W. Norton & Company New York 2008 978-0-393-06757-6 Lehmann Rudolf Die Leibstandarte. Tomes I-V Nation Europa Verlag Coburg 1980 3-920677-11-0 Lewin Ronald Ultra Goes to War 1978 McGraw-Hill New York 0-07-037453-8 https://archive.org/details/ultragoestowarfi00lewi MacDonald Charles 1997 A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge William Morrow, 1st Quill Edition 978-0688151577 https://archive.org/details/timefortrumpetst00macd Margolian Howard Conduct Unbecoming: The Story of the Murder of Canadian Prisoners of War in Normandy 2000 University of Toronto Press 978-0-8020-8360-9 Margry Karel The Four Battles for Kharkov Battle of Britain International Ltd 2001 London, United Kingdom McNab Chris The SS: 1923–1945 Amber Books Ltd 2009 978-1-906626-49-5 McNab Chris Hitler's Elite: The SS 1939-45 Osprey Publishing 2013 978-1782000884 Mitcham Samuel W. 2006 Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of the Bulge Greenwood Publishing Group 978-0-313-08346-4 Moseley Ray Mussolini: The Last 600 Days of il Duce 2004 Taylor Trade Pub. Dallas 978-1-58979-095-7 https://archive.org/details/mussolinilast60000mose Neitzel Sönke Sönke Neitzel Welzer Harald Harald Welzer 2012 Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing and Dying Simon and Schuster 978-1-84983-949-5 Parker Danny S. 2012 Fatal Crossroads: The Untold Story of the Malmédy Massacre at the Battle of the Bulge https://archive.org/details/fatalcrossroadsu00park registration Da Capo Cambridge, MA 978-0-306-81193-7 Parker Danny S. 2014 Hitler's Warrior: The Life and Wars of SS Colonel Jochen Peiper http://www.dacapopress.com/book/hardcover/hitlers-warrior/9780306821547 Da Capo Press 978-0306821547 20 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20170629201808/http://www.dacapopress.com/book/hardcover/hitlers-warrior/9780306821547 29 June 2017 dead Reynolds Michael Frank 1997 Steel inferno: I SS Panzer Corps in Normandy: The Story of the 1st and 12th SS Panzer Divisions in the 1944 Normandy Campaign Spellmount Steelhurst 1-873376-90-1 Ripley Tim SS Steel Storm: Waffen-SS Panzer Battles on the Eastern Front 1943–1945 2000 MBI Publishing Osceola, Wis 978-0-7603-0937-7 Rossino Alexander B. Alexander B. Rossino Hitler Strikes Poland: Blitzkrieg, Ideology, and Atrocity University Press of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 2003 0-7006-1234-3 registration https://archive.org/details/hitlerstrikespol0000ross Stein George H. The Waffen SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War, 1939–1945 https://archive.org/details/waffensshitlers00stei registration 1984 Cornell University Press Ithaca, NY 0-8014-9275-0 Strauss Herbert A In the Eye of the Storm: Growing up Jewish in Germany, 1918–1943: A Memoir https://archive.org/details/ineyeofstormgrow0000stra registration 1999a Fordham University Press 978-0-8232-1916-2 Strauss Lotte Over the Green Hill: A German Jewish Memoir, 1913–1943 1999b Fordham University Press 978-0-8232-1919-3 Sydnor Charles Charles W. Sydnor, Jr. Soldiers of Destruction: The SS Death's Head Division, 1933–1945 1990 1977 Princeton University Press Princeton, NJ 0-691-00853-1 Van der Vat Dan D-Day: The Greatest Invasion—A People's History 2003 Maddison Press 1-55192-586-9 Weale Adrian Adrian Weale Army of Evil: A History of the SS 2012 NAL Caliber (Penguin Group) New York; Toronto 978-0-451-23791-0 Wegner Bernd Bernd Wegner The Waffen-SS: Organization, Ideology and Function Blackwell 1990 0-631-14073-5 Williamson Gordon The SS: Hitler's Instrument of Terror 1994 Sidgwick & Jackson London 978-0-283-06280-3 Ziemke Earl F. Earl F. Ziemke Stalingrad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East https://archive.org/details/stalingradtoberl00ziem registration 1968 Office of the Chief of Military History – U.S. Army Washington B002E5VBSE Zuccotti Susan Holocaust Odysseys: The Jews of Saint-Martin-Vesubie and Their Flight through France and Italy 2007 Yale University Press New Haven 978-0-300-12294-7 Further reading Bartmann Erwin Für Volk and Führer: The Memoir of a Veteran of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. 2013 9781911628361 Helion and Company Glantz David M. House Jonathan M. When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler 1995 978-0-7006-0717-4 Parrish Michael The Lesser Terror: Soviet State Security, 1939–1953 Praeger Press 1996 978-0-275-95113-9 y Category:1st SS Division Leibstandarte 0*01 Category:Personal staff of Adolf Hitler 0*01 Category:Military units and formations established in 1933 Leibstandarte Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Category:War crimes of the Waffen-SS