Josef Dietrich - 1930s and World War II

1930s and World War II

On 5 January 1930, Dietrich was elected to the Reichstag as a delegate for Lower Bavaria. By 1931, he had become SS-Gruppenführer. When the NSDAP took over in 1933 ("Machtergreifung"), Dietrich rose swiftly through the Nazi hierarchy. He became the commander of Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, General of the Waffen-SS and member of the Prussian state council. 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.

In summer 1934, Dietrich played an active role in the Night of the Long Knives. Hitler told him to take six men and go to the Ministry of Justice to kill a number of Sturmabteilung (SA) leaders. Shortly thereafter, he was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer. Dietrich's role earned him a nineteen-month sentence from a postwar court.

When World War II began, Dietrich led the Leibstandarte in attacks on Paris and Dunkirk during the Westfeldzug (May/June 1940). 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 but also became notorious for his mistreatment of prisoners of war.

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. Because of his success, Hitler gave him the command of the newly created 6th Panzer Army. Dietrich commanded 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 killed between 77 and 82 U.S. prisoners of war near Malmedy, Belgium, in what is known as the Malmedy massacre. Interestingly, Dietrich was already becoming disillusioned with Hitler's war leadership and is said to have told Field Marshal Erwin Rommel that if he sought a separate peace on the Western Front, he (Dietrich) would support him.

At this point, Dietrich began to protest Hitler's unwillingness to let officers act upon their own initiative. In March 1945, Hitler planned Spring Awakening Offensive. Sepp Dietrich's 6th Panzer Army and the LSSAH spearheaded the offensive. The Germans launched attacks in Hungary near the Lake Balaton area. This area included some of the last oil reserves still available to the Germans. Despite early gains, the offensive was too ambitious in scope and failed. After the failure of the operation the 6th SS Panzer Army (and LSSAH) retreated to the Vienna area. A frustrated Hitler ordered Dietrich to tell members of the LSSAH to give up their cuff titles. Dietrich was disgusted by Hitler's order. Dietrich told SS-Obersturmbannführer Maier that the armbands "...would stay on." Further that the telegram was not to be passed on to the troops. A myth arose that Dietrich ripped off his own cuff titles and those along with a pile of medals were returned in a chamber pot to Hitler; in the same manner as found in the Goethe play Götz von Berlichingen.

The 6th SS Panzer Army desperately prepared defensive positions in Vienna, Austria. The Germans wanted to hold the city against the fast approaching Soviet Red Army in what become known as the Vienna Offensive. The fighting began on 2 April. Vienna finally fell when the last defenders in the city surrendered on 13 April 1945. Thereafter, accompanied by his wife, Dietrich surrendered on 9 May 1945 to Master-Sergeant Herbert Kraus of the U.S. 36th Infantry Division at Krems an der Donau north of St. Pölten in Austria.

Dietrich's formal military education was sparse and many critics have said command of an army was beyond his competence. Many of the German army generals looked down upon him in this regard, especially members of the General Staff. However, Dietrich was an acknowledged expert small-unit tactician and no one questioned his personal bravery since he was a lead-from-the-front type of commander. The troops that he led appreciated his rough humor and identification with the soldiers on the front lines. Dietrich was also smart enough to appoint highly capable officers to his staff to handle the technical aspects of higher command, leaving him free to exercise overall command.