Otto Weidinger
Encyclopedia
Otto Weidinger was a member of the German
Waffen-SS
and a commander of SS-PzGrenRgt 4 "Der Führer" (2nd SS Division Das Reich
) during World War II
and was involved in the massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane
in France in June 1944. He held the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer
(Lieutenant Colonel). He was also a recipient of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern
(Knight's Cross
).
) in April 1934. His first duty assignment was as a concentration camp guard at SS-Wachsturmbann (camp guard detachment) Dachau. He volunteered for officer training and entered the SS-Junkerschule
in Braunschweig
in May 1935. After graduating from Junkerschule, he completed platoon leader training back in Dachau and was commissioned as an SS-Untersturmführer
(Second Lieutenant) in April 1936.
Weidinger's first command was the 3. Kompanie of the SS-Standarte "Deutschland" (2nd SS Division Das Reich
) in Ellwangen
. Shortly after he underwent training as a combat engineer with the SS-Pioniere Battalion, as well as attending the Kampfschule (combat school) in Munich
.
Promoted to SS-Obersturmführer
(Platoon Commander) in 1938, Weidinger first saw combat in the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, earning an Iron Cross 2nd Class. After subjugating Poland, his unit then participated in the Battle of the Netherlands
, where Weidinger continued to distinguish himself, earning a Iron Cross 1st Class and a promotion to Division Adjutant.
At the end of 1940, Weidinger was promoted to SS-Captain and his unit was sent to subdue insurgents in Lithuania. Weidinger commanded a heavy (anti-tank) company of the motorcycle rifle battalion of the SS-Reconnaissance-Detachment until the onset of Operation Barbarossa
. He was subsequently promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer
and transferred to the Divisional Staff of the SS-Division "Das Reich". Following a tour of duty in Russia, Weidinger returned to the Braunschweig Junkerschule as a tactics instructor for officer candidates until 1943.
In June 1943, Weidinger was again ordered to the Russian front and assumed command of the First Battalion of the SS Regiment "Germany", with the rank of SS major. This battalion saw significant combat action at the Battle of Kursk
. In the battle, Weidinger received a serious head wound. In November 1943 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold award. By the end of 1943 he commanded at the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich", an armored infantry regiment.
In the spring of 1944, his SS Panzer Division received orders to move to France. On 21 April 1944, Weidinger was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Shortly thereafter, was promoted to the SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer (Lieutenant Colonel) and the assumption of command of the 4th SS Panzer-Grenadier Regiment "Der Führer", which had the responsibility for defending the Normandy coastline. Command of "Der Führer" passed from SS-Standartenführer (Colonel) Sylvester Stadler
to Weidinger on 14 June. Until then Weidinger had been with the regiment for familiarisation purposes.
After two months of heavy fighting following the Normandy D-Day invasion, Weidinger's unit, along with 50,000 other German troops, were surrounded by British and Polish forces led by General Bernard Montgomery in what would be known as the battle of Falaise pocket
. Faced with the prospect of surrender or annihilation, Weidinger had his unit constantly probe the enemy line for weaknesses. They discovered a very small gap in the Polish lines, which Weidinger then exploited by using the massed firepower of his remaining tanks to enlarge. Ten thousand German troops were able to escape the collapsing pocket. For his heroic actions in the face of near-certain defeat, Weidinger was awarded Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross in December 1944.
After 6 and 1/2 years in prison, he was finally put on trial as a war criminal, along with 50 other SS soldiers. All were charged with a war crime for being volunteers in the Waffen-SS. He was acquitted by a military court in Bordeaux on 19 June 1951 and released on 23 June 1951. At the trial of the perpetrators of the massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane in Bordeaux in January 1953, Weidinger was a witness for the defense.
Upon his release from prison, Weidinger trained as a pharmacist, working in a pharmacy until his retirement in 1982.
From 1967 to 1982, Weidinger wrote the history of Regiment "Der Führer" (he was its last commander) titled "Comrades to the End," as well as a 6 volume history of "Das Reich" consisting of five text volumes and a photo compilation published by Munin Verlag in Germany. Most of the "Das Reich" volumes have been translated into English as well as the regimental history.
In 1984, Weidinger self-published a controversial revisionist account of the Tulle massacre, Tulle and Oradour. A German-French tragedy. This booklet was published after his death by extreme right-wing publisher Nation und Europa and was immediately banned in France.
He died 11 January 1990, aged 75.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
and a commander of SS-PzGrenRgt 4 "Der Führer" (2nd SS Division Das Reich
2nd SS Division Das Reich
The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich was a Waffen-SS division during World War II. It is considered to be an elite formation amongst the thirty-eight divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS....
) during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was involved in the massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane
Oradour-sur-Glane
Oradour-sur-Glane is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Limousin region in west-central France.The original village was destroyed on 10 June 1944, when 642 of its inhabitants, including women and children, were massacred by a German Waffen-SS company...
in France in June 1944. He held the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
(Lieutenant Colonel). He was also a recipient of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
(Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield....
).
SS career
Otto Weidinger enlisted in the SS-Verfügungstruppe SS-VT (precursor to the Waffen-SSWaffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
) in April 1934. His first duty assignment was as a concentration camp guard at SS-Wachsturmbann (camp guard detachment) Dachau. He volunteered for officer training and entered the SS-Junkerschule
Junker (SS rank)
Junker was a paramilitary Nazi rank that was used by the Schutzstaffel between the years of 1933 and 1945. The rank was a special position held by those aspiring for officer commissions in the armed wing of the SS, first known as the SS-Verfügungstruppe and later as the Waffen-SS.The SS rank of...
in Braunschweig
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
in May 1935. After graduating from Junkerschule, he completed platoon leader training back in Dachau and was commissioned as an SS-Untersturmführer
Untersturmführer
Untersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the German Schutzstaffel first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of Sturmführer which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921...
(Second Lieutenant) in April 1936.
Weidinger's first command was the 3. Kompanie of the SS-Standarte "Deutschland" (2nd SS Division Das Reich
2nd SS Division Das Reich
The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich was a Waffen-SS division during World War II. It is considered to be an elite formation amongst the thirty-eight divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS....
) in Ellwangen
Ellwangen
Ellwangen an der Jagst, officially Ellwangen , in common use simply Ellwangen is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in the east of Baden-Württemberg in Germany...
. Shortly after he underwent training as a combat engineer with the SS-Pioniere Battalion, as well as attending the Kampfschule (combat school) in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
Promoted to SS-Obersturmführer
Obersturmführer
Obersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
(Platoon Commander) in 1938, Weidinger first saw combat in the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, earning an Iron Cross 2nd Class. After subjugating Poland, his unit then participated in the Battle of the Netherlands
Battle of the Netherlands
The Battle of the Netherlands was part of Case Yellow , the German invasion of the Low Countries and France during World War II. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until 14 May 1940 when the main Dutch forces surrendered...
, where Weidinger continued to distinguish himself, earning a Iron Cross 1st Class and a promotion to Division Adjutant.
At the end of 1940, Weidinger was promoted to SS-Captain and his unit was sent to subdue insurgents in Lithuania. Weidinger commanded a heavy (anti-tank) company of the motorcycle rifle battalion of the SS-Reconnaissance-Detachment until the onset of Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
. He was subsequently promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
and transferred to the Divisional Staff of the SS-Division "Das Reich". Following a tour of duty in Russia, Weidinger returned to the Braunschweig Junkerschule as a tactics instructor for officer candidates until 1943.
In June 1943, Weidinger was again ordered to the Russian front and assumed command of the First Battalion of the SS Regiment "Germany", with the rank of SS major. This battalion saw significant combat action at the Battle of Kursk
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk took place when German and Soviet forces confronted each other on the Eastern Front during World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk, in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armored clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka,...
. In the battle, Weidinger received a serious head wound. In November 1943 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold award. By the end of 1943 he commanded at the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich", an armored infantry regiment.
In the spring of 1944, his SS Panzer Division received orders to move to France. On 21 April 1944, Weidinger was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Shortly thereafter, was promoted to the SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer (Lieutenant Colonel) and the assumption of command of the 4th SS Panzer-Grenadier Regiment "Der Führer", which had the responsibility for defending the Normandy coastline. Command of "Der Führer" passed from SS-Standartenführer (Colonel) Sylvester Stadler
Sylvester Stadler
Sylvester Stadler was a SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS, a commander of the 2nd SS Division Das Reich, 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen and a winner of the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords...
to Weidinger on 14 June. Until then Weidinger had been with the regiment for familiarisation purposes.
After two months of heavy fighting following the Normandy D-Day invasion, Weidinger's unit, along with 50,000 other German troops, were surrounded by British and Polish forces led by General Bernard Montgomery in what would be known as the battle of Falaise pocket
Falaise pocket
The battle of the Falaise Pocket, fought during the Second World War from 12 to 21 August 1944, was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy...
. Faced with the prospect of surrender or annihilation, Weidinger had his unit constantly probe the enemy line for weaknesses. They discovered a very small gap in the Polish lines, which Weidinger then exploited by using the massed firepower of his remaining tanks to enlarge. Ten thousand German troops were able to escape the collapsing pocket. For his heroic actions in the face of near-certain defeat, Weidinger was awarded Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross in December 1944.
Post war
When World War II ended, Weidinger was imprisoned by the American military in the former Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, along with thousands of other SS men who were automatically considered to be war criminals by virtue of having served in the Waffen-SS, which was designated as a criminal organization by the Allies. In August 1947, he was transferred to French custody, where he remained a prisoner until June 1951.After 6 and 1/2 years in prison, he was finally put on trial as a war criminal, along with 50 other SS soldiers. All were charged with a war crime for being volunteers in the Waffen-SS. He was acquitted by a military court in Bordeaux on 19 June 1951 and released on 23 June 1951. At the trial of the perpetrators of the massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane in Bordeaux in January 1953, Weidinger was a witness for the defense.
Upon his release from prison, Weidinger trained as a pharmacist, working in a pharmacy until his retirement in 1982.
From 1967 to 1982, Weidinger wrote the history of Regiment "Der Führer" (he was its last commander) titled "Comrades to the End," as well as a 6 volume history of "Das Reich" consisting of five text volumes and a photo compilation published by Munin Verlag in Germany. Most of the "Das Reich" volumes have been translated into English as well as the regimental history.
In 1984, Weidinger self-published a controversial revisionist account of the Tulle massacre, Tulle and Oradour. A German-French tragedy. This booklet was published after his death by extreme right-wing publisher Nation und Europa and was immediately banned in France.
He died 11 January 1990, aged 75.
Awards
- Infantry Assault BadgeInfantry Assault BadgeThe Infantry Assault Badge was a German war badge awarded to Waffen SS and Wehrmacht Heer soldiers during WWII. This decoration was instituted on December 20th 1939 by the Oberstbefehlshaber des Heeres, Generalfeldmarschall von Brauchitsch...
in Silver - Wound BadgeWound BadgeWound Badge was a German military award for wounded or frost-bitten soldiers of Imperial German Army in World War I, the Reichswehr between the wars, and the Wehrmacht, SS and the auxiliary service organizations during the Second World War. After March 1943, due to the increasing number of Allied...
in Silver - German CrossGerman CrossThe German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
in Gold (26 November 1943) - Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
(1939) 2nd and 1st Class - Close Combat ClaspClose Combat ClaspThe Close Combat Clasp is a German military award instituted on 25 November 1942 for achievement in hand to hand fighting in close quarters. The Close Combat Clasp was worn above the upper left uniform pocket...
in Bronze - Tank Destruction BadgeTank Destruction BadgeThe Tank Destruction Badge was an award given to individuals of the Wehrmacht who destroyed an enemy tank single-handedly by an hand-held weapon. Anti-tank units were not eligible for this award...
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and SwordsKnight's Cross of the Iron CrossThe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
- Knight's Cross on 21 April 1944 as SturmbannführerSturmbannführerSturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
and commander of the SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 2 "Das Reich" - 688th Oak Leaves on 26 December 1944 and as ObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
and commander of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 4 "Der Führer" - 150th Swords on 6 May 1945 as Obersturmbannführer and commander of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 4 "Der Führer"
- Knight's Cross on 21 April 1944 as Sturmbannführer