WILHELM BITTRICH

'Wilhelm 'Willi' Bittrich' (February 26, 1894 – April 19, 1979) was a Obergruppenführer (rank equivalent to Lieutenant-General) of the German SS and a Waffen-SS General during World War II.
Born in the town of Wernigerode in the Harz mountains of Germany, Bittrich served as an army officer and as a fighter pilot during World War I. He joined the SS-''Verfügungstruppe'' in 1934, where he served until 1939, whereupon he joined the ''Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler''. He was in command of the ''Deutschland'' Regiment during the fighting in Poland (1939) and France (1940).
He later commanded the 2nd SS Panzer Division ''Das Reich'' and the II. SS-Panzerkorps (''Hohenstaufen'' & ''Frundsberg'' Divisions). He is perhaps now best remembered for his contribution to the defeat of the failed allied airborne offensive Operation Market Garden which took place in the Netherlands in September of 1944.

Contents

Postwar Prosecution

Criticism of the Nazi Party

Summary of his SS career

Dates of rank

Notable decorations

Trivia

References

Notes

Postwar Prosecution

Although Bittrich claimed to have conducted himself with honor throughout his career, after his capture on May 8, 1945, by American troops, he was extradited to France on charges of permitting hangings, pillage, and arson. A French military tribunal at Marseilles found him guilty and sentenced him to five years imprisonment on June 23, 1953. He was put on trial for a second time later in 1953, for war crimes, but was acquitted by the French court in Bordeaux and released in 1954.^[1]

Criticism of the Nazi Party

Following operation Market-Garden in 1944, Albert Speer visited the front and had an opportunity to observe General Bittrich. Speer later wrote:

Other visits (to the front) showed me that efforts were being made on the Western Front to arrive at understandings with the enemy on special problems. At Arnhem, I found General Bittrich of the Waffen-SS in a state of fury. The day before, his Second Tank Corps had virtually wiped out a British airborne division. During the fighting the general had made an arrangement permitting the enemy to run a field hospital situated behind the German lines. But party functionaries had taken it upon themselves to kill British and American pilots, and Bittrich was cast in the role of a liar. His violent denunciation of the party was all the more striking since it came from an SS general.^[2]

According to Hohne, Bittrich pledged his support to at least one plot to topple the Nazi regime, but like many warned that Hitler would have to be disposed of first. This condition was never met. Bittrich is also recorded to have been known as the most sarcastic man in Germany. He is reported (unverifiable) to have been marked for death by Heinrich Himmler in the last year of the war as a result of extremely unflattering comments he made about this superior. Bittrich is said to have avoided the consequences by refusing to leave the front and remaining with his troops, claiming the situation demanded his personal attention.
Bittrich was a source for Cornelius Ryan in researching ''A Bridge Too Far''. During the interview he is reported to have been most concerned with correcting inaccurate reports that he was a skilled concert pianist. He claimed these reports stemmed from confusion with his brother.

Summary of his SS career

Dates of rank

★ SS-Sturmführer: October 31, 1932

★ SS-Obersturmführer: April 12, 1934

★ SS-Hauptsturmführer: June 17, 1934

★ SS-Sturmbannführer: October 01, 1936

★ SS-Obersturmbannführer: January 30, 1938

★ SS-Standartenführer: June 06, 1939

★ SS-Oberführer: September 01, 1940

★ SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS: October 19, 1941

★ SS-Gruppenführer und Generaleutnant der Waffen-SS: May 01, 1943

★ SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS: August 01, 1944

Notable decorations

★ Iron Cross Second (?) and First (?) Classes

★ SS-Honour Ring (?)

★ Clasp to the Iron Cross Second (1939) and First (1940) Classes

★ Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

★
★ Knight's Cross (14 December 1941)

★
★ Oak Leaves (28 August 1944)

★
★ Swords (6 May 1945)

★ Wound Badge in Black (?)

★ Luftwaffe WWI Pilot Badge (?)

★ Cross of Honor (1934)

★ German Cross in Gold (6 March 1943)

Trivia

★ In the 1977 film A Bridge Too Far Brittich was played by Maximilian Schell.

References

★ Berger, Florian, ''Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges''. Selbstverlag Florian Berger, 2006. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.

★ Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. ''Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945''. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.

★ Kershaw, Robert J. (1994): ''It never snows in September''. Ian Allen Ltd. ISBN 0-7818-0287-3.

★ Hohne, Heinz (1966): ''The Order of the Death's Head''. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-139012-3

★ Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. ''Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II''. Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.

★ Ryan, Cornelius (1974): ''A Bridge too Far''. Coronet Books/Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-19941-5

★ Speer, Albert (1970): ''Inside the Third Reich''. Translated by Richard and Clara Winston. Macmillan. Library of Congress #70-119132

Notes

1. ''New York Times'', June 24, 1953:6:6
2. Speer (1970), ''p.'' 399