- 6 days ago
For educational purposes
"HITLER'S BODYGUARD"
Caesar had his Pretorian Guard, and Napoleon, the Old Guard. Hitler's equivalent was the Leibstandarte.
They grew from a small hand picked battalion, to a complete Panzer Division twenty thousand strong.
Naturally, the Leibstandarte received the best and most modern equipment, but they needed it.
As the situation deteriorated, the division became a mobile fire brigade, deployed wherever the fighting was fiercest in Russia and France.
Even the end of the war brought no respite, as the survivors marched into captivity from which few returned.
"HITLER'S BODYGUARD"
Caesar had his Pretorian Guard, and Napoleon, the Old Guard. Hitler's equivalent was the Leibstandarte.
They grew from a small hand picked battalion, to a complete Panzer Division twenty thousand strong.
Naturally, the Leibstandarte received the best and most modern equipment, but they needed it.
As the situation deteriorated, the division became a mobile fire brigade, deployed wherever the fighting was fiercest in Russia and France.
Even the end of the war brought no respite, as the survivors marched into captivity from which few returned.
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LearningTranscript
00:03It is impossible to address the role of the SS-Leibstandarte division without descending into some murky corners of history.
00:12And surely there is none more murky than the origins of the National Socialist Party of Germany.
00:20In the difficult political world of the Weimar Republic, the fierce competition between the various political factions competing for power
00:28in the troubled arena of post-war.
00:30German politics frequently descended into physical violence.
00:47Adolf Hitler raised a group of 200 men who were known as the Adolf Hitler Storstruppen.
00:54These fanatics were brought together by a Nazi thug who was also a trusted friend of Hitler's, named Sepp Dietrich.
01:01He and the men of the bodyguard pledged themselves to preserving the life of the man whose name was to
01:07be embroidered upon the sleeves of the uniforms they wore so proudly.
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04:08rambling speech which he made in 1940.
04:13In 1923 I took the decision to create the Adolf Hitler Shock Troops.
04:18It was to be composed entirely of men who were ready for a revolution
04:22and who knew that someday things would come to hard knocks.
04:28Even Adolf Hitler could surely not have envisaged the real nature of the hard knocks
04:32which the Leipstandarte would receive in Russia and France.
05:05The Leipstandarte
05:20From the outset, the Leibstandarte was composed entirely of volunteers.
05:24The selection criteria was set very high, and only the fittest and most politically committed recruits were permitted into the
05:31ranks of what was already regarded as one of the most prestigious formations in Germany.
05:55For Hitler, it was very important in the murky political world in which he operated to have clear-cut support
06:07from the people
06:08who were around him.
06:09He never felt secure in his political power, and for that reason, he wanted the men of the Leibstandarte to
06:17be the most committed and the most fanatical national and socialists around.
06:23It wasn't enough to have people who had simply sworn an oath to Hitler.
06:27They had to be dedicated Nazis, and that's what he found.
06:34Attracted to join the ranks were a number of outstanding warriors who would leave their mark on the history of
06:39the Second World War.
06:41Among them were Michael Wittmann, Hans Piper, Max Funch, and Kurt Meyer.
06:47But despite their undoubted fighting skill, courage, and even heroism, their reputation was to be sullied by outbursts of brutality
06:55and callousness.
07:09It was no accident that men such as these were in the ranks of the Leibstandarte.
07:15They were loyal to the National Socialist cause and were committed Nazis,
07:19and they carried the principles of that vicious creed onto the battlefield.
07:26After the war, many of these men would find themselves accused of war crimes.
07:43During the heady years of peace in the 30s,
07:46when the brutal battles of the Russian front still lay a long way in the future,
07:49the Leibstandarte was used exclusively for ceremonial purposes.
07:55But even in peacetime, as Hitler grew more settled at the head of the German state,
07:59under the watchful gaze of Sepp Dietrich,
08:02the numbers of the Leibstandarte continued to rise.
08:09With ranks swollen by new recruits, they marched proudly at the head of the army when Germany reoccupied the Sudetenland
08:16and led the march into Czechoslovakia in early 1939.
08:21By this stage, the numbers of men in the ranks had risen to 3,700,
08:26and they were now organized into four infantry battalions.
08:39Throughout the years in which he held power, Adolf Hitler employed a deliberate policy of creating a labyrinthine bureaucracy,
08:46which was purposefully designed to create as much duplication and confusion as possible.
08:53The resulting tensions between the various branches of the government could then be exploited by Hitler,
08:59as he was the only one with an overview of the entire confused situation.
09:07Beneath the surface air of calm was a seething mass of disorder.
09:11But it worked for Hitler,
09:13and this policy of deliberate duplication was extended to the armed forces with the creation of the Waffen SS.
09:26The existence of what was effectively an army within an army was a typical maneuver on the part of Hitler,
09:32who mistrusted the officer corps to whom he felt inferior.
09:36He was, after all, only a corporal who now rubbed shoulders with the men who had once occupied an impossibly
09:42lofty position.
09:44He was well aware of the sneers of many of the generals.
09:47By developing his own miniature army, composed entirely of party members,
09:52Hitler had a measure of protection against a possible coup d'etat.
09:59In the person of Adolf Hitler, we see a picture of disturbed paranoia.
10:06Hitler constantly duplicated the instruments of government.
10:12It led to tremendous confusion and conflict within the ordinary departments of government.
10:19But he also did this within the army.
10:22The SS was a kind of army within an army.
10:25And he was constantly setting out to cause as much duplicity and confusion almost as he could,
10:34because at the centre of it, he was the only person who had his finger on all of the pulses.
10:40Adolf Hitler believed in struggle, that the strongest man, the strongest beast,
10:47would emerge from a natural process of struggle.
10:50And he organised the Nazi state that way,
10:53so that the German command structure is not set up to cooperate with itself.
10:58It is set up as a series of competing structures which are meant to fight each other.
11:04And they did this so well that they defeated themselves as well as the Allies defeating them.
11:10To ensure that he enjoyed the maximum possible loyalty from his own force,
11:14Hitler filled the ranks of the SS with a number of cronies from the early days of the struggle for
11:19the cause.
11:22At the head of the Waffen SS was the notorious Heinrich Himmler,
11:26a fanatical Nazi with his own warped vision for the creation of a national socialist super-state.
11:34The argument he used with Hitler was that this would be a very politically reliable force,
11:42that the German army was, after all, average Germans who were averagely indoctrinated,
11:49reasonably loyal, but not necessarily very strongly Nazi political animals,
11:55whereas Himmler believed he could guarantee that the SS would be a profoundly loyal political force.
12:05The man chosen to lead the armed forces of the party, as represented by the Leibstandarte division,
12:11was Sepp Dietrich, the old and trusted friend of Adolf Hitler, who had formed the original group.
12:19He was to lead the Leibstandarte until 1944,
12:22when he was promoted to the position of the commander of the 1st SS Panzer Corps.
12:28In common with many of the Nazi hierarchy, Dietrich was a man of little intelligence,
12:34but he was to prove himself to be a natural soldier and an inspired commander.
12:41Dietrich was an effective leader.
12:44He inspired loyalty, he inspired levels of high performance.
12:48He was also a good technician and a very good fighting divisional commander.
12:54There might be a comparison with Erwin Rommel here, for example.
12:59Indeed, both of them, of course, were very loyal Nazis.
13:02Both of them were promoted very early on under Hitler.
13:07The men of the Leibstandarte soon grew to respect their charismatic leader.
13:11They knew he was a survivor from rough days of political fistfights,
13:15and in the tough world of the SS, that only served to increase his standing.
13:21The officers of the regular army had a great deal less respect for Dietrich.
13:26Von Rundstedt dismissed Dietrich as decent but stupid.
13:30And General Bittrich famously recalled how he spent an hour and a half
13:34trying to explain a simple military situation to Sepp Dietrich with the aid of a map.
13:40Dietrich came to the conclusion that it was quite useless,
13:44as Dietrich was plainly so stupid that he understood nothing at all.
13:49Hitler's own description of Dietrich was rather more sinister.
13:54Hitler referred to him as cunning, energetic and brutal.
13:59These few short words could almost be used to sum up the career of the Leibstandarte itself.
14:08Sepp Dietrich is almost a caricature Nazi figure.
14:14He's so dim that despite being a divisional commander,
14:19and later a panzer corps commander,
14:21he can't actually do the basic thing
14:24and understand the position of his troops on a map.
14:28Throughout his career, he had tremendous problem communicating,
14:33and especially in writing.
14:35And time and time again,
14:38soldiers describe him as having a strange charisma,
14:42which I suspect comes from the fact he was a very physical man
14:47and a very active man.
14:48But certainly nobody, not even within the Leibstandarte,
14:52has ever claimed that he was anything other than very, very dim.
14:59The division was to receive its baptism of fire
15:02in the Polish campaign of 1939.
15:05The Leibstandarte was attached to von Rundstedt's 10th Army,
15:08which was itself part of Army Group South.
15:15The first battle honor to be won by the Leibstandarte
15:18was gained when they stormed the positions
15:20of the Polish 10th Infantry Division.
15:23The fierce fighting which accompanied that action
15:26was repeated as the division fought its way towards Warsaw.
15:42The Führer was delighted with the performance
15:45of his own personal division,
15:47but we have no record of his reaction to the news
15:49of the first atrocity committed by the men
15:51of the Leibstandarte Artillery Company.
15:56Right from the outset of this,
15:58their first campaign,
16:00the military reputation of the SS was to be tarnished
16:02by the first report of what was to become
16:04a regular series of incidents.
16:08This first outrage occurred
16:10when some men of the artillery company
16:12took part in the massacre of 50 Jews,
16:15who were rounded up, taken into a synagogue,
16:18then murdered in cold blood.
16:21The men of the regular army professed outrage
16:24at such unbridled savagery,
16:26and von Rundstedt insisted that the men
16:28responsible should face a court-martial.
16:31However, Heinrich Himmler was able to prevail upon Hitler
16:34to prevent the culprits from having to face
16:36the uncertain justice of the regular army.
16:41Although the men escaped army jurisdiction,
16:44the incident served to foster the suspicion
16:46which would always exist between them and the SS.
16:51It was widely believed, with good reason,
16:53that the Leibstandarte enjoyed a privileged position
16:56with a direct link to the Führer.
16:58And their relationship with the generals,
17:00who in theory at least were in overall command
17:02of the division,
17:03was always an uneasy one.
17:13Prior to the invasion of France,
17:16the Leibstandarte was again expanded.
17:18It was now equipped as a fully motorized infantry regiment.
17:21But there were suspicions amongst the ranks
17:24of the regular army
17:25that the Leibstandarte was receiving favorable treatment
17:28when it came to the issue of equipment.
17:33They were favored to a considerable degree.
17:36They had Himmler, after all,
17:38as their boss and their patron.
17:41And Himmler, after Göring,
17:44is probably the most important man in the Reich.
17:46Hitler trusted Himmler.
17:49And Himmler was the man responsible for security.
17:52He was a very powerful person.
17:55And so when it came to organizing supplies
17:57for his forces, he was in a very good position to do so.
18:01He would naturally want the very best equipment
18:04for his forces and was able to do so.
18:07I think it's true to say
18:09that the support of Adolf Hitler and Himmler,
18:11the Reichsführer SS,
18:13meant that the Waffen SS Panzer Divisions
18:15received preferential treatment
18:17in terms of heavy equipment,
18:19tanks, artillery, and so forth.
18:21And in the last two years of the war,
18:23the SS Panzer Divisions, on an average,
18:26tended to be rather better equipped
18:28than their army counterparts.
18:33Despite the fact that it was
18:34a motorized infantry regiment
18:36and not a panzer grenadier formation,
18:38the Leibstandarte had their own contingent
18:40of Panzer IV tanks
18:41and a further detachment
18:43of the very latest addition to German weaponry
18:45in the form of a section of
18:47Sturmgeschütz self-propelled assault guns.
18:52This powerful force
18:53took part in the invasion of Holland
18:55where they encountered only
18:56relatively minor resistance
18:58from the stunned Dutch defenders,
19:00still shocked by the surprise intervention
19:02of the German paratroop division.
19:28After Holland, the regiment moved southwards
19:31to take part in the battle for France
19:33and by the 24th of May,
19:35the Leibstandarte had fought its way
19:36to the southeastern flank
19:38of the beleaguered town of Dunkirk
19:40where the British expeditionary force
19:42was trapped by the advancing German army.
19:45But it was now that Hitler
19:47issued his extraordinary order
19:49to hold any further advance
19:51against the British forces
19:52trapped inside Dunkirk.
20:00This decision was taken by Hitler
20:03mainly because of the fright
20:06given to Rommel's 7th Panzer Division
20:08on the 21st of May
20:10by a British counterattack at ARA.
20:13Combined with that fact,
20:15or with that rather frightening episode
20:18for the Germans,
20:19was the fact that Hitler
20:21did not want to waste his panzer divisions
20:24in heavy street fighting
20:25which was already beginning
20:27to develop around Calais.
20:29And thus, in some ways,
20:30the decision was rational
20:32to allow the air force
20:34to bomb the BEF into submission.
20:38Regardless of the dubious wisdom
20:40of the order,
20:41Hitler was not someone to be disobeyed.
20:42and the German army
20:44dutifully held its positions
20:46despite the fact
20:47that a glittering prize
20:48was there for the taking.
20:58The delay outside Dunkirk
21:00allowed the British expeditionary force
21:02to escape back to England.
21:04The only exception
21:06to the frustrating pause
21:07which formed over the battlefield
21:08was the Leipstandarte.
21:12Sepp Dietrich was not prepared
21:14to follow orders
21:15which made such little military sense
21:17and as a confidant of Hitler's,
21:19he was less fearful
21:21of the consequences of disobedience.
21:23As a result,
21:24the Leipstandarte continued
21:26to attack the British expeditionary force
21:28and seized the Wadden Heights
21:30outside the town
21:31in a fiercely contested action
21:33which demonstrated
21:34just how precarious
21:35the real position
21:36of the BEF
21:37actually was.
21:38Once again
21:39in the French campaign
21:41we meet our old friend
21:42Sepp Dietrich.
21:44He receives a direct order
21:46from Hitler
21:47not to advance
21:48against the British forces
21:50and there can't be
21:52that many people
21:53I know that Dietrich
21:54was familiar with Hitler
21:56and went back
21:57a long way with him.
21:58There can't be
21:58that many people
21:59who were prepared
22:00deliberately
22:01to cross Hitler
22:03and possibly
22:04that's another
22:05slight indication
22:06of the fact
22:08that Dietrich himself
22:10wasn't all that bright.
22:14By the time
22:15Hitler rescinded
22:16his no advance order
22:17the British
22:18had managed to escape.
22:22Once again however
22:23their undoubted
22:24outstanding military prowess
22:25was tarnished
22:26by another
22:26in the long litany
22:27of war crimes
22:28which was to dog
22:29the footsteps
22:30of the Leipstandarte.
22:34This time
22:35it was to be
22:36the murder
22:36of 80 defenceless
22:37British prisoners
22:38many of whom
22:39were wounded.
22:40This new outrage
22:41was committed
22:42by the 7th Company
22:43of the Leipstandarte
22:442nd Battalion.
22:46The defenceless
22:47British prisoners
22:48were murdered
22:49by hand grenades
22:50and machine gun fire
22:51directed into the barn
22:52where the men
22:53were packed together.
22:57The incident
22:57was reported
22:58after the war
22:58by survivors
22:59who were left for dead
23:00by the Germans.
23:02It is to them
23:03that we owe our knowledge
23:04of this particular crime
23:06but the doubt remains
23:07that there may have been others
23:08in which no survivors
23:10remain to tell the tale.
23:15this nagging suspicion
23:16hangs like a dark cloud
23:18over any discussion
23:19of the Leipstandarte
23:20in action
23:20and overshadows
23:21all their later acts
23:22of courage,
23:23endurance
23:23and military skill.
23:28The next demonstration
23:29of those military skills
23:30by the Leipstandarte
23:31came in the short campaign
23:33in the Balkans
23:33and Greece.
23:35The Leipstandarte
23:36achieved a remarkable success
23:38on only the third day
23:39of their campaign
23:40when it captured
23:41the heavily defended
23:42Greek stronghold
23:43at Monastir.
23:45From there
23:46they moved to capture
23:47the Cliddy Pass
23:48which was stubbornly defended
23:49by Australian
23:50and New Zealand troops.
23:54Despite the resistance
23:55offered by the British forces
23:57the Leipstandarte
23:58succeeded in capturing
24:00the Pass
24:00but at a very high cost
24:02of over 50 dead
24:04and 115 wounded.
24:07It was here
24:08that one of the most
24:10famous incidents
24:10in the history
24:11of the division
24:11took place
24:12and it perfectly captured
24:14the fighting ethos
24:15which the Leipstandarte
24:16demanded of its men.
24:19Finding his troops
24:20pinned down
24:20by fierce enemy fire
24:22and reluctant
24:23to move any further forward
24:24the battalion commander
24:25Kurt Meyer
24:26calmly drew the pin
24:28from a hand grenade
24:29and tossed the device
24:30on the ground
24:31behind his own last man.
24:34This unusual incentive
24:36spurred the section
24:37onto the attack
24:38and the Pass
24:39was taken.
24:42In later years
24:43Meyer liked to recall
24:44how after the battle
24:45the men laughed heartily
24:47at his unorthodox
24:48leadership technique.
24:49In the face of a stunt
24:51like that
24:51it must have been
24:52rather nervous laughter.
24:56With Greece secure
24:57the Leipstandarte
24:59was ready for its
24:59greatest trial
25:00the invasion of Russia.
25:02It was here
25:03that the division
25:04was to gain
25:05lasting fame
25:05and infamy
25:06in almost equal measure.
25:13For the coming campaign
25:14the Leipstandarte
25:15was enlarged
25:16to the size
25:16of a fully motorized
25:17infantry division
25:18and attached
25:19to Army Group South
25:20under Field Marshal
25:21von Wunstädt.
25:26At the start
25:27of the campaign
25:27the Leipstandarte
25:28was 11,000 strong
25:30but in due course
25:31it would be upgraded
25:32to a full panzer division
25:34with its own motorized
25:35artillery
25:36and tank regiments.
25:38As a panzer division
25:39the Leipstandarte's
25:41strength rose
25:41to around 20,000 men
25:43but the enormous
25:44casualty rates
25:45which were suffered
25:46by an elite division
25:47which spent four years
25:48at the forefront
25:49of Hitler's war
25:50meant that some 60,000 men
25:52eventually served
25:53in the Leipstandarte
25:55at some stage.
25:57As the war went on
25:59Himmler was able
26:00to persuade Hitler
26:01to increase the number
26:03of SS divisions.
26:05In order to achieve
26:06the numbers of manpower
26:07that Himmler wanted
26:09he was forced
26:09to cast the net
26:10wider than Germans
26:13to provide the soldiers
26:14and so he recruited
26:16in France
26:16in Holland
26:17Norway
26:19Hungary
26:20even sometimes
26:21in Poland
26:22and elsewhere
26:24recruiting different
26:26nationalities
26:27into the SS
26:29partly under pressure
26:30of numbers
26:31but partly justified
26:33too
26:34by his belief
26:35that the Aryan race
26:37had after all
26:37been scattered
26:38through Europe
26:39and that its representatives
26:41were not merely
26:42to be found in Germany
26:43but that there were
26:44blond-haired people
26:45in Norway
26:47and in Holland
26:48etc.
26:49etc.
26:49And so he
26:51recruited widely
26:53partly
26:54in the belief
26:56that he was still
26:56getting his Aryans
26:58but also
26:59with some kind
27:01of cloudy vision
27:02that he was creating
27:04a new kind
27:04of European army.
27:06the fact that
27:07these were
27:08men from European nations
27:11other European nations
27:13joining the German crusade
27:15to some degree
27:17persuaded him
27:18that the war
27:19was a pan-European crusade
27:22against Bolshevism
27:24and Jews
27:25and so it was
27:26very satisfactory
27:27for him
27:28to achieve this.
27:30One should remember
27:30too that he
27:31did see the SS
27:32as an elite
27:33there's no reason
27:34why the elite
27:35should be restricted
27:36solely to Germans
27:37you could get
27:38members of the elite
27:40elsewhere
27:40and in one speech
27:42he even astonishingly
27:43referred to
27:44ultimately
27:45at some point
27:46recruiting SS
27:48members in America.
27:50The division
27:51was destroyed
27:52and rebuilt
27:53at least three times
27:54during its brief career
27:55and there was
27:56an almost daily
27:57requirement
27:57for fresh reinforcements
27:59to replace
27:59the constant stream
28:00of dead and wounded
28:01the casualties
28:03of some of the most
28:03bitterly contested actions
28:05in military history.
28:22The war
28:23in Russia
28:23was unforgiving
28:24was unforgiving
28:25harsh
28:25and brutal
28:26in the extreme.
28:28Despite everything
28:29the Germans
28:29could throw at them
28:30the Russians
28:31stubbornly
28:32continued to resist.
28:34With two sides
28:35who were so
28:35ideologically opposed
28:37it was no surprise
28:38that the
28:39Leipstandarte
28:39was again accused
28:40of war crimes.
28:42Sef Dietrich
28:43had ordered
28:44that for a period
28:45of three days
28:45all prisoners
28:47taken in battle
28:47were to be shot
28:48in retaliation
28:50for the torture
28:50and murder
28:51of six German soldiers
28:52who would be murdered
28:54by the Red Army.
28:56By this standard
28:57of horrendous events
28:58in Russia
28:58the shooting of prisoners
29:00over a short period
29:01was almost a minor incident.
29:03The entire German army
29:05was responsible
29:06for thousands
29:06of war crimes
29:07and a series
29:08of ghastly reprisals
29:10against the civilian population.
29:11In Russia
29:13brutality and barbarism
29:14were not restricted
29:15to the men of the SS
29:16and the ordinary German army
29:18played its part
29:19in the massacre
29:20of innocents
29:21and was at least
29:22in part
29:22responsible for the deaths
29:24of hundreds of thousands
29:25of Russian prisoners.
29:31The role of the
29:32Leipstandarte Division
29:33in Russia
29:33was probably twofold.
29:35One in fighting
29:36against the regular
29:37Russian forces
29:38where it took part
29:39in the 1941 and the 1943 campaigns
29:42was involved
29:43in very heavy fighting
29:44and was decimated
29:45ultimately
29:46by this experience.
29:48It also took part
29:50in operations
29:52against partisans,
29:53against Jews
29:54and against Russians.
29:56It took part
29:57in other words
29:57in the murder campaigns
29:59that were waged
30:01behind the lines
30:02to clean out communism,
30:04to reduce the number
30:05of Russians,
30:06to collect
30:07and kill Jews.
30:09It was therefore
30:10taking a major role
30:12in the ideological war
30:14that the Nazis
30:14were waging on Russia.
30:17For their part,
30:18the Russians
30:19did not come to the table
30:20with clean hands either
30:21and there were thousands
30:23of incidents
30:23where German soldiers
30:24were tortured
30:25and murdered
30:25by both the Red Army
30:26and more frequently
30:28the partisan forces
30:29operating unchecked
30:31behind the German lines.
30:34In a war
30:35in which neither side
30:36observed the Geneva Convention,
30:38the effect was a descent
30:39into barbarism
30:40on a scale
30:40which can hardly
30:41be comprehended.
31:09it was against this terrible
31:12backdrop
31:12that the Leipstandarte
31:14continued to fight
31:15its way
31:15through the southern
31:16part of Russia.
31:17They made huge gains
31:18of territory,
31:20captured thousands
31:20of prisoners
31:21and destroyed hundreds
31:22of tanks.
31:26During the bitter fighting
31:27which marked
31:28the advance
31:28into Russia,
31:29the Leipstandarte
31:31were always
31:31at the forefront
31:32of the army
31:32in a campaign
31:34which saw them
31:34cover 1,600 kilometers
31:36in just over four months.
31:39in August 1942
31:41after two years
31:43of uninterrupted success
31:44the Leipstandarte
31:46finally met
31:47its first defeat.
31:49It came
31:50at the city
31:51of Rostov-on-Dom.
31:52After eight days
31:53of bitter street fighting
31:54the inexorable advance
31:56of the division
31:56was halted at last.
32:00The battered survivors
32:01were utterly exhausted
32:03and the Leipstandarte
32:04was forced
32:05onto the defensive.
32:06It held out
32:07near Rostov-on-Dom
32:08for that terrible
32:09first winter of the war
32:10and in the early summer
32:12of 1942
32:13the remnants
32:13of the division
32:14were ordered
32:15to return to France
32:16where between August
32:17and the 19th of November
32:191942
32:19it was re-equipped
32:21as a fully-fledged
32:22panzer-grenadier division.
32:31This well-earned respite
32:34was over all too soon
32:35and the Leipstandarte
32:36returned to Russia
32:37just in time
32:38to take part
32:38in the terrible fighting
32:39of the winter
32:40of 1942 to 1943.
32:45They were fortunate
32:46to have avoided
32:46joining the 6th Army
32:48in the disaster
32:49at Stalingrad
32:50but they were to gain
32:51a measure of revenge
32:52by achieving
32:53one of the last
32:54great victories
32:55of the war
32:55for Germany.
32:57Ironically
32:57it started
32:58with another defeat.
32:59In the wake
33:00of the debacle
33:01at Stalingrad
33:02the Russian forces
33:03surged on
33:04to threaten Kharkov.
33:08At this
33:09desperate juncture
33:10the newly formed
33:11SS Panzer Corps
33:12took the field
33:13for the first time.
33:15Hitler ordered
33:16that the Corps
33:16should be rushed
33:17to the Eastern Front
33:18with all possible speed.
33:21This new Corps
33:22comprised of three
33:23SS divisions
33:24the Leipstandarte Division
33:25the Das Reich Division
33:27and the Totenkopf Division.
33:29All three of these
33:31elite formations
33:32had been reinforced
33:33and were lavishly equipped
33:35with the very best
33:35of the new heavy weapons
33:37including
33:37in the case
33:38of the Leipstandarte Division
33:39an entire battalion
33:41of the formidable
33:41Tiger tanks
33:42which were still
33:43in desperately
33:44short supply.
33:50They were also given
33:51top priority
33:52for movement
33:53across the crowded
33:54Russian rail network.
33:55This was a vital
33:57consideration
33:57which was necessary
33:59to overcome
33:59the severe congestion
34:00which characterized
34:01the overstretched
34:02German transport system
34:04as it tried
34:04to meet the
34:05ceaseless demands
34:06of the Eastern Front.
34:11The forceful contribution
34:13of the SS Panzer Corps
34:14was felt immediately
34:16as almost
34:17from the railhead
34:18a strong attack
34:19was mounted
34:20on the Russian salient
34:21in the Kharkov area.
34:23The Leipstandarte Division
34:24was in action
34:25almost as soon
34:26as it had formed up
34:27for battle.
34:28However,
34:29even the presence
34:30of the SS Panzer Corps
34:31was not enough
34:32to guarantee
34:32the beleaguered city
34:33of Kharkov
34:34would remain
34:35in German hands.
34:38Although the initial actions
34:39by the SS Panzer Corps
34:40had met with success,
34:42by the 15th of February
34:431943
34:44it was obvious
34:45that the new
34:46SS Panzer Corps
34:47was about to be surrounded
34:49in Kharkov.
34:53Hitler now issued
34:54one of his infamous
34:55hold firm orders.
34:58Had the defenders
34:59of Kharkov carried out
35:00their orders
35:01it is likely
35:02that their fate
35:03would have mirrored
35:03that of the defenders
35:04of Stalingrad.
35:07The first SS Panzer Corps
35:08were fortunate
35:09in their commander
35:10Paul Hauser
35:11who was prepared
35:13to disobey Hitler
35:14in order to save his corps
35:15from certain destruction.
35:18Against the express order
35:19of the Fuhrer
35:20he withdrew
35:21his men from the city
35:22and Kharkov
35:23was reoccupied
35:24amid great rejoicing
35:26by Soviet troops
35:27on the 16th of February
35:281943.
35:31Hitler
35:32was incandescent
35:33with rage
35:34and he personally
35:35flew to the headquarters
35:36of Army Group South
35:37in order to extract
35:38an explanation
35:39from Field Marshal
35:40von Manstein.
35:42The decision
35:43to withdraw
35:45the Liebstandarte
35:46and the other
35:47SS units
35:48from Kharkov
35:50must rank
35:51as one of the
35:52more courageous decisions.
35:54The commander
35:55Paul Hauser
35:57was absolutely correct
35:59that to leave
36:00the army
36:01encircled in Kharkov
36:03would have led
36:04to their destruction.
36:06Again,
36:07he was one of the few commanders
36:08who was prepared
36:09to defy Hitler
36:10and despite the fact
36:12that Hitler himself
36:13flew into a rage
36:15and personally
36:16got on an aircraft
36:16to go and see
36:17von Manstein,
36:18Hauser
36:19without doubt
36:20did the right thing
36:21by his men.
36:24The reputation
36:25of his own
36:26personal favourite formation
36:27had been tarnished
36:28and during a long
36:29furious rant
36:31Hitler demanded
36:32the immediate recapture
36:33of Kharkov.
36:35It was now
36:36a matter of honour.
36:37The city
36:38had to be retaken
36:39in order to restore
36:40the reputation
36:41of the SS.
36:44Despite the prevailing
36:45operational situation
36:47which was rapidly
36:48moving against
36:49the increasingly hard
36:50pressed German forces,
36:51the first SS Panzer Corps
36:53was able to execute
36:54an audacious
36:55counter-offensive
36:56involving a three-pronged
36:57offensive by each
36:58of the divisions
36:59in the Corps
36:59which saw Kharkov
37:01firmly back
37:02in German hands
37:03by March 16th, 1943.
37:08The fighting
37:09which led
37:10to the capture
37:10of Kharkov
37:11saw some of the most
37:12bitterly contested
37:13actions which
37:14the Livestandarte
37:15was to encounter
37:16in a career
37:17marked by extraordinarily
37:18bitter and vicious
37:19fighting.
37:22With the Soviet troops
37:23still elated
37:24from their capture
37:25of the city
37:25it proved to be
37:26a difficult task
37:27to drive the
37:28determined defenders
37:29from the ready-made
37:30defensive positions
37:31amidst the rubble
37:32of the city
37:32which had now
37:33changed hands twice
37:34in the space
37:35of as many months.
37:37The fierce battles
37:38which took place
37:39often at suicidally
37:41short ranges
37:42re-established
37:43the reputation
37:44of the SS Panzer Corps
37:45in their Führer's eyes.
37:49The recapture
37:49of Kharkov
37:50was to prove
37:51to be the last
37:51real success
37:52for the German army
37:53on the Eastern Front.
37:54At the same time
37:55the SS Panzer Corps
37:57had proved beyond doubt
37:58that it was a capable
37:59and potent
38:00battlefield formation.
38:02But the success
38:03at Kharkov
38:04also served to create
38:05a dangerous precedent.
38:07Hitler now became
38:09convinced
38:09that his Waffen-SS
38:10formations
38:11were capable
38:12of achieving
38:12almost any task
38:13assigned to them.
38:14In the coming months
38:16and years
38:16these already difficult
38:18tasks would become
38:20increasingly impossible.
38:24as the thinly stretched
38:26resources
38:26were called upon
38:27to rescue situations
38:28which would have been
38:30beyond the ability
38:30of far larger formations.
38:33In the coming months
38:34and years
38:35the SS Panzer Corps
38:37would continue
38:37to fight with bravery
38:38but the road ahead
38:40now lay only downwards
38:41into defeat.
38:46After the Battle of Kharkov
38:48there was a rare lull
38:49in the fighting
38:50and the German forces
38:51in Russia
38:52gathered their strength
38:53for the battle
38:54which even Hitler knew
38:55would be his last chance
38:57to win the war
38:57in Russia.
38:58This was Operation Citadel
39:01one of the biggest battles
39:02of the entire war.
39:16Fighting under General Hoth
39:18the Leipstein data
39:19managed to drive
39:20some 25 kilometers
39:21into the Soviet defenses
39:23in the southern sector
39:24of the Kursk salient
39:26and extra Russian reinforcements
39:28had to be hurriedly thrown
39:30into position.
39:31It was this sector
39:33of the front
39:33that saw the great tank battle
39:35of Prokhorovka
39:36a gigantic clash
39:37of Russian and German armor
39:39which involved
39:39a huge swirling melee
39:41as the Tigers
39:42and Panthers
39:42clashed with the T-34s.
39:45Prokhorovka
39:46like many of the actions
39:48in Operation Citadel
39:49proved bloody
39:50but indecisive.
39:52The sides were so finely balanced
39:54that neither could gain
39:55the decisive edge
39:56at the tactical level
39:57on the battlefield
39:58but strategically
40:00the losses suffered
40:01by the Leipstein data
40:02could never be made good
40:03and every German tank destroyed
40:06brought the Russians
40:07closer to victory.
40:12The inability to achieve
40:14the decisive breakthrough
40:15and encircle the Russian forces
40:16was tantamount
40:17to a defeat
40:18for the Germans.
40:19The tenacity
40:20of the Russian resistance
40:21finally won the day
40:23and Hitler was forced
40:24to abandon
40:25the Battle of Kursk
40:26on the 22nd of July.
40:35In the wake
40:36of the failure
40:37of Operation Citadel
40:38the Leipstein data
40:39was withdrawn
40:40for a well-earned rest
40:42and refit
40:42in Italy.
40:46Even in the relative
40:47civilization of Italy
40:48there was a series
40:49of war crimes
40:50involving Hans Piper
40:51who was accused
40:52of causing
40:53the unnecessary deaths
40:54of civilians.
40:55Other members
40:56of the Leipstein data
40:57were accused
40:58of the murder
40:58of local Jews
41:00but the ominous presence
41:02of the Russian front
41:02was never far
41:03from German mines.
41:06in the autumn
41:07of 1943
41:08the situation
41:09had begun
41:10to deteriorate
41:11on an almost daily basis
41:12and the division
41:13was urgently embarked
41:14on trains
41:15and dispatched
41:16to Russia
41:16for the beginning
41:17of what was to be
41:18its third winter
41:19of that terrible war.
41:34By this stage
41:35the German army
41:36in Russia
41:36was in such disarray
41:37that the Leipstein data
41:39had to fight
41:39its way out
41:40of the railway station.
41:41There was even worse
41:43to come.
41:44The weakened division
41:45was encircled
41:46by superior Russian forces
41:47and trapped in a pocket
41:49together
41:49with two other
41:51panzer divisions.
41:52It was symbolic
41:54of just how far
41:55the star
41:55of the premier
41:56fighting formation
41:57of the Third Reich
41:58had fallen
41:58that the division
42:00had to be rescued
42:01by two of the new
42:02panzer divisions
42:02created to bolster
42:04the crumbling front lines.
42:07In the wake
42:08of this new setback
42:10the Leipstein data
42:11was again recalled
42:12to France
42:12to be brought back
42:14up to strength.
42:15It proved
42:16to be a timely move
42:17because in June 1944
42:19they were in the right
42:20place to be pitched
42:21against the might
42:22of the Allies
42:23in the battle
42:24for Normandy.
42:27Despite the massive
42:28disparity
42:29in the relative strength
42:30between the two sides
42:31the Leipstein data
42:32now fighting
42:33as part of the first
42:34SS Panzer Corps
42:35under the direction
42:36of their old commander
42:37Sepp Dietrich
42:38performed with almost
42:39superhuman courage
42:41to resist
42:42the Allied invasion.
42:49At that time
42:50the British and Americans
42:52enjoyed complete
42:53air superiority
42:54and the ability
42:55to call down
42:56massive naval artillery
42:57barrages
42:58which were so powerful
42:59they could flip
43:00a 50 ton tiger tank
43:01onto its back
43:02like a child's toy.
43:05Despite the many
43:07disadvantages
43:07Michael Wittmann
43:08in particular
43:09won lasting fame
43:11by his incredible victories
43:12over numerically
43:13superior British tanks
43:15in the battle
43:16of Villers-Bocage.
43:18The time was now
43:19running out for Germany
43:20and the battle
43:21for Normandy
43:22was lost
43:22in the cauldron
43:23at Falaise
43:24where 60,000
43:26German troops
43:27were surrounded
43:27and pounded
43:29into submission
43:29by the Allied air forces.
43:32Almost all
43:33of the remaining
43:33tanks in the
43:34Leipstein data
43:35were destroyed
43:36in the action
43:37at Falaise.
43:47Once again
43:48the division
43:49was rebuilt
43:49from the shattered
43:50remnants
43:51which survived
43:52from Normandy
43:52but incredibly
43:54Hitler chose
43:55to go over
43:56to the offensive.
43:58With the launch
43:59of the ill-fated
43:59Ardennes offensive
44:00the men of the
44:01Leipstein data
44:02once more
44:02rolled forward
44:03to the attack.
44:08The situation
44:09was now very different
44:10from the glory days
44:10of 1940.
44:12Devastated at home
44:13by Allied bombing raids
44:15and terrorized
44:16at the front
44:16by Allied fighter bombers
44:18the forces assembled
44:19for the Ardennes offensive
44:20were so short of fuel
44:22that they had to rely
44:23on the slim prospect
44:24of capturing
44:25Allied fuel stocks.
44:27This simply
44:28did not happen
44:29and despite
44:30some early successes
44:31the offensive ground
44:33to a halt
44:33as the tanks
44:35ran out of fuel.
44:37The air filled
44:39with Allied fighter bombers
44:40and the tank crews
44:41were forced
44:42to blow up
44:42the surviving vehicles
44:43and escape on foot
44:44as best they could.
44:48By any sensible reckoning
44:50the war should now
44:52have been over
44:52for the men
44:53of the Leipstein data.
44:54They had fought well
44:55in some of the most
44:56bitterly contested battles
44:57of the war
44:58but Hitler
44:59had one last job.
45:07They were hurriedly
45:08reinforced
45:09and sent to take part
45:10in Operation Spring Awakening
45:12a forlorn attempt
45:13to prevent the Red Army
45:14from capturing Budapest
45:16in March 1945.
45:18But it was here
45:19that the Leipstein data
45:20took part
45:21in its last offensive.
45:23But once more
45:24they were unable
45:25to stem the red tide
45:27now moving inexorably
45:29against Germany.
45:33Faced with the prospect
45:34of certain destruction
45:35the division began
45:36to withdraw.
45:38This sent Hitler
45:39into a towering rage.
45:42In a fit of pique
45:43he ordered that the
45:44Leipstein data
45:45should remove the
45:46armbands which bore
45:47his name.
45:49Outraged by this
45:50ingratitude
45:51the senior officers
45:52of the Leipstein data
45:53are said to have sent
45:54all of their own medals
45:55and decorations
45:56back to Hitler
45:57in a chamber pot
45:58with the message
45:59that's all the thanks
46:01we get.
46:03The story may be
46:04apocryphal
46:05but it certainly
46:06summed up
46:06the declining spirit
46:07of the forces
46:08still fighting
46:09in the closing days
46:09of the war.
46:11The division
46:12retreated into Austria
46:13and with the war lost
46:15they surrendered
46:16to the Americans.
46:17But a single battalion
46:19chosen from the ranks
46:20of the Leipstein data
46:21as Hitler's
46:22personal bodyguard
46:23died
46:24defending the bunker
46:26in Berlin.
46:31After the war
46:32the entire SS
46:34was outlawed
46:35as a criminal
46:35organization
46:36and with the
46:37dubious service records
46:38of many of its members
46:39that should come
46:40as no surprise.
46:42Although many face
46:43trial after the war
46:44most of the perpetrators
46:45of the crimes
46:46committed during their
46:47course of the war
46:48were able to escape
46:49the death penalty
46:50which they could have
46:51expected in retribution
46:52for their role
46:53in the fierce outrages
46:54they had committed.
46:58The German civil courts
46:59proved to be
47:00predictably sympathetic
47:02and many death sentences
47:04imposed by court marshals
47:05were commuted
47:06to life in prison
47:07which
47:08after a decent interval
47:09were in turn
47:11quietly reduced
47:12to a term
47:12of a few years.
47:15Those unfortunate enough
47:17to fall into the hands
47:18of the Russians
47:19experienced much
47:20harsher treatment.
47:22Many were held in captivity
47:24for ten years
47:25after the war.
47:27A surprisingly high number
47:29of senior figures
47:30in the story
47:31of the Leipstandarte
47:31survived the war.
47:34Michael Wittmann
47:35was killed in Normandy
47:36but the release
47:37of Hans-Joachim Peiper
47:39in 1955
47:40was celebrated
47:41by Kurt Meyer
47:42Peiper himself
47:43Max Wunsch
47:45and that former friend
47:46of Adolf Hitler
47:47Sepp Dietrich
47:49founder and leader
47:51of the Leipstandarte.
47:53of the Leipstandarte.
48:23of the Leipstandarte.
48:27of the Leipstandarte.
48:28of the Leipstandarte.
48:30of the Leipstandarte.
48:35of the Leipstandarte.
48:37of the Leipstandarte.
48:38of the Leipstandarte.
48:39of the Leipstandarte.
48:40of the Leipstandarte.
48:40of the Leipstandarte.
48:41of the Leipstandarte.
48:41of the Leipstandarte.
48:41of the Leipstandarte.
48:42of the Leipstandarte.
48:43of the Leipstandarte.
48:44of the Leipstandarte.
48:44of the Leipstandarte.
48:44of the Leipstandarte.
48:45of the Leipstandarte.
48:45of the Leipstandarte.
48:46of the Leipstandarte.
48:46You
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