Oskar Dirlewanger | |
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![]() Dirlewanger in 1944 | |
Nickname(s) |
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Born | 26 September 1895 Würzburg, Bavaria, German Empire |
Died | c. 7 June 1945 Altshausen, Baden-Württemberg, Allied-occupied Germany | (aged 49)
Allegiance | German Empire Nazi Germany |
Service/ | |
Years of service |
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Rank | SS-Oberführer |
Commands | Dirlewanger Brigade |
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Awards | |
Alma mater | Goethe University Frankfurt |
Signature | ![]() |
Oskar Dirlewanger (26 September 1895 – c. 7 June 1945) was a German SS commander and habitual offender,[1] convicted for rape of children and other crimes.[2] He is known for committing numerous war crimes in German-occupied territories during World War II. Dirlewanger was the founder and commander of the SS penal unit, the Dirlewanger Brigade,[3] considered to be the most brutal and notorious Waffen-SS unit.[4][5] His unit epitomized the expansion of the war of terror in its most brutal form within the SS, and with Dirlewanger himself regarded as perhaps the Nazi regime's "most extreme executioner,"[6] indulging himself in sadistic acts of violence, rape and murder.[7]
While serving in Poland and Belarus, Dirlewanger has been closely linked to many atrocities, and is considered one of the most cruel and depraved individuals in all of history,[8] with his unit being responsible for the deaths of at least "tens of thousands" in Poland and the Soviet Union.[4] His methods included rape and torture,[9] and he personally kept numerous women as his sex slaves.[10] According to historian Christian Ingrao, Dirlewanger's unit committed the worst atrocities of the Second World War.[11] In Belarus alone, he was responsible for up to 200 villages destroyed and over 120,000 people killed.[12][13] His unit is also noted to have committed the worst crimes of the Warsaw Uprising, alongside the notorious and brutal Kaminski Brigade,[14][15] with his unit's behavior and conduct reported as having been far worse.[16][17] Dirlewanger's unit is regarded as the most infamous Waffen-SS unit in both Poland and Belarus.[16]
Dirlewanger had an impressive career as a junior officer during World War I,[18] and further fought in the post-World War I conflicts, and the Spanish Civil War.[19] He reportedly died after World War II while in the custody of the Western Allies.
According to the historian Timothy Snyder, "in all the theaters of the Second World War, few could compete in cruelty with Oskar Dirlewanger."[20] He has also been described as the "most evil man in the SS" and as "perhaps the most sadistic of all commanders of World War II."[5] According to military historian Tim Heath, Dirlewanger was "a living embodiment of evil and depravity and all the proof that anyone could need that monsters do exist".[21] Historian Alexandra Richie stated how the murder "of partisans and civilians was carried out on a grand scale in Byelorussia" but said that "one person who stood out even in that terrible time was Oskar Dirlewanger" and labeled him as "the very face of evil".[22]
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