Felix Steiner
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Felix Steiner as an SS-Gruppenführer, Spring 1943. |
Felix Martin Julius Steiner (
May 23 1896â€"
May 12 1966) was a
German Heer and
Waffen-SS officer who served in both
World War I and
World War II.
Steiner ranks as one of the most innovative commanders of the
Waffen-SS. He skillfully commanded the SS-Deutschland Regiment through the invasions of
Poland,
France and the
Low Countries. He was then chosen by
Himmler to oversee the creation of, and then command the volunteer SS Division,
SS-Division Wiking. In
1943, he was promoted to command of a Corps, and by the end of the War he was in command of the
11th SS Panzer-Army. His failure to attack the Russians advancing on
Berlin earned Hitler's contempt in the last weeks of the war and ranked as one of Hitler's most infamous outbursts when he found out about it.
Imprisoned until
1948, he was cleared of all charges of
War Crimes and after writing several apologist works, died on
May 12,
1966.
Felix Martin Julius Steiner was born on
May 23,
1896 in
Stallupönen,
East Prussia.
In
1914, on the eve of war, Steiner joined the
Prussian Officer Corps as a cadet. During the course of the war, he earned the
Iron Cross first and second class and finished the war as an
Oberleutnant.
After the war, Steiner led a unit of
Freikorps in the East Prussian city of
Memel. He rejoined the army in
1922 and by
1933 had attained the rank of Major.
After the
NSDAP (Nazi Party) takeover, Steiner joined the
Reichswehr staff and began work developing new training techniques and tactics.
During this time he was exposed to the training and doctrines of the
Schutzstaffel and
Sturmabteilung. He was intrigued by the training techniques of the
SS-Verfügungstruppen (SS-VT; The precursors of the Waffen-SS), which placed emphasis on unit cohesion and trust, with an informal relationship between the enlisted and commissioned ranks. In 1935, Steiner took command of a Batallion of SS-VT troops, and within a year had been promoted to SS-Standartenführer and was in command of the SS-Deutschland Regiment.
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Felix Steiner, right, with officers of Regiment SS-Deutschland, autumn 1940. |
The outbreak of war saw Steiner as an SS-Oberführer and still in charge of the SS-Deutschland. He led his regiment well through
Fall Weiss and
Fall Gelb, earning the
Knight's Cross on 15 August 1940.
After the early war campaigns, Steiner was chosen by SS-Reichsführer
Heinrich Himmler to oversee the creation of, and then command the new volunteer SS Division, SS-Division
Wiking. The Wiking was made up of Non-German volunteers, and at the time of its creation consisted mostly of
Dutch,
Walloons, and
Scandinavians.
In the Wiking Division, Steiner created a capable formation from disparate elements, and he commanded them competently through the many battles in the east from 1941 until his promotion to command of the
IIIrd SS-Panzerkorps.
While the Wiking's official combat record is clear of any specific
War Crimes prosecutions, there are several incidents documented by historians in which the division engaged in massacres.
Steiner commanded the IIIrd. SS Pz Korps through the setbacks and subsequent retreat in the east, until in 1945 he was given command of the newly formed
paper tiger, the XIth SS Army.
Steiner had always been one of
Hitler's favourite commanders, who admired his 'get the job done' attitude and the fact that he owed his allegiance to the Waffen SS, not the
Prussian Officer Corps. However, when Hitler was besieged in
Berlin, he ordered Steiner's Army to attack and relieve Berlin. With few working tanks and roughly a division's worth of infantry, Steiner chose the life of his men over the life of the Nazi leadership, and declined to attack.
After the surrender, Steiner was incarcerated until 1948. He faced charges at the Nuremberg Trials, but they were all dropped and he was released.
He dedicated the last decades of his life to writing his memoirs and several books about the war. These books have been viewed as
apologist.
Steiner died on
12 May 1966.
*
June 1 1936 Entrance into the
SS-Verfügungstruppe as
SS-Standartenführer* Started World War II as
SS-Oberführer*
November 9,
1940 promoted
SS-Brigadeführer and Major-General of the Waffen-SS
*
January 1,
1942 promoted
SS-Gruppenführer and Leutnant-General of the Waffen-SS
*
July 1,
1943 promoted
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS* Knight's Cross, awarded
August 15,
1940* Oakleaves to Knight's Cross, awarded
December 23,
1942* Swords to Knight's Cross, awarded
August 10,
1944* German Cross in Gold, awarded
April 22,
1942* Commander of the SS-Regiment "Deutschland"
June 1 1936 to
December 1 1940*
December 1 1940 to
January 1 1943 Commander of SS-Germania Division (mot),
* On
December 31 1940 SS-Germania Division renamed SS-Wiking Division
* On
November 9 1942 SS-Wiking redesignated 5.SS-Wiking Panzergrenadier Division (I),
*
May 10 1943 to
November 9 1944 commander of the III (Germanisches) SS Panzer Korps (I)
*
November 26 1944 to
March 5 1945 commander of the XI SS Panzer Army
