Biographie

28 mai 1892 · Hawangen, Bavaria, Allemagne

21 avril 1966 · Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Allemagne (infarctus)

Joseph Dietrich

1,70 m

Served in the Nazi SS from 1928-45 under SS #1177 and Nazi Party # 89015. One of only four people to ever hold the SS rank of Oberstgruppenfuhrer (Colonel General).

During the Second World War, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. This was the highest decoration for bravery and gallantry in the World War II German military.

On Dec. 17, 1944, an SS unit under his command captured an American army unit during the Battle of the Bulge. The SS unit's commander, Col. Joachim Peiper, ordered them to be executed, and 84 men were shot to death by an SS execution squad. After the war Dietrich was tried for the crime, as he was the overall commander, and in 1946 he was sentenced to life in prison, but that sentence was later reduced to 25 years. He served almost ten years of that sentence and was paroled in 1955.