1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler

1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
1. SS-Panzerdivision Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler — 1. SS-PzDiv LSSAH —
Unit insignia, a skeleton key
Active	9 November 1933 – 8 May 1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Waffen-SS
Type	Panzer
Role	Armoured warfare
Size	Division
Patron	Adolf Hitler
Engagements	Anschluss German occupation of Czechoslovakia World War II Invasion of Poland Battle of the Netherlands Battle of France Battle of Greece Operation Barbarossa Third Battle of Kharkov Western Front 1943 Battle of Kursk Kamenets–Podolsky pocket Western Front 1944 Operation Lüttich Falaise pocket Ardennes Offensive Operation Southwind Operation Spring Awakening Battle of Berlin
Commanders
Notable commanders	Julius Schreck (January – 9 November 1923) Sepp Dietrich (17 March 1933 – 1 August 1944) Paul Hausser (1–28 August 1944)

The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte,^[1] abbreviated as LSSAH (German: 1. SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"), began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding the Führer's person, offices, and residences. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into an elite division-sized unit during World War II.

The LSSAH participated in combat during the invasion of Poland and was amalgamated into the Waffen-SS together with the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) and the combat units of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) prior to Operation Barbarossa in 1941. By mid-1942 it had been increased in size from a regiment to a Panzergrenadier division and was designated SS Panzergrenadier Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler". It received its final form as a Panzer division in October 1943.

Members of the LSSAH perpetrated numerous atrocities and war crimes, including the Malmedy massacre. They killed an estimated 5,000 prisoners of war in the period 1940–1945, mostly on the Eastern Front.^[2]