Hellmuth Becker (12 August 1902, Alt Ruppin, Neuruppin – 28 February 1953) was a German SS commander during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he led the

SS Division Totenkopf The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (german: 3. SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, ''Totenkopf'', is German for "de ...

and was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

. Post-war, Becker was tried by Soviet authorities twice, for war crimes and sabotage and was executed in 1953, after the second trial.

Career

Born in 1902, Becker joined the army in 1920 and left it in 1932 with the rank of Sergeant major (''Wachtmeister''). In 1933, he joined the SS and met

Wilhelm Bittrich Wilhelm Bittrich (26 February 1894 – 19 April 1979) was a high-ranking Waffen-SS commander of Nazi Germany. Between August 1942 and February 1943, Bittrich commanded the SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer, in rear security operations (''Banden ...

and

Hermann Priess Hermann August Fredrich Priess (24 May 1901 – 2 February 1985) was a German general in the Waffen-SS and a war criminal during World War II. He commanded the SS Division Totenkopf ("Death's Head") following the death of Theodor Eicke in Februa ...

. In 1935, Becker was transferred to the ''SS Totenkopf'' Standarte "Oberbayern", stationed at the ''SS-Übungslager'' Dachau, which later became part of the

. On 9 November 1940, Becker was promoted to ''SS-Obersturmbannführer'' and commander of the ''SS-Totenkopf-Regiment''. From 1942 to 1944 he held the rank of an ''SS-Standartenführer'' and saw active duty in the ''Totenkopf-Division.'' Early in 1944, he was transferred to SS-Führungshauptamt and in March, he assumed command of the 36th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment, SS Division Reichsführer-SS in Italy. On 21 June, he is promoted to ''SS-Oberführer'' and in July, commander of the ''3rd SS-Panzerdivision Totenkopf.'' The 1 October 1944 he is promoted to SS-Brigadeführer. In December 1944, the division was moved to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

for the battles around

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. The division crossed the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

River to Vienna, attempting to surrender to the U.S. forces. Under the terms of Germany's capitulation, the surrender was refused and the unit was handed over to the Soviet Red Army. Becker proved himself a brutal, ruthless and debauched man, even by SS standards according to official Waffen-SS inquiries: "On the Eastern Front, Becker has raped Russian women in public and has appeared completely drunk on several occasions in the frontlines as regimental commander. In Spring 1943, he had organised prostitutes to come to his command centre and on the 20th April 1943, he had all the artillery sent a ten-minute salute salvo to celebrate the Führer’s birthday. Even on the Western front on Christmas 1942, he had organised an orgy for his regiment in the officers' casino. He had destroyed furniture, broken windows and had a horse rode to death by his fellow officers."

Trials, convictions and execution

In November 1947, he was put on trial before a Soviet military court in

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...

and sentenced to 25 years in prison with hard labour for war crimes. While serving his sentence, Becker "tried his jailers' patience" by attempting to manufacture explosives, leading to his retrial. "The personification of the brutal

Landsknecht The (singular: , ), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were Germanic mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period. Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line wa ...

s who formed the high-ranking officers of the Waffen-SS", he was convicted and executed in February 1953.

Awards

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

(1939) 2nd Class (24 May 1940) & 1st Class (26 June 1940)Thomas 1997, p. 31. *

German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (german: Der Kriegsorden Deutsches Kreuz), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repe ...

in Gold on 26 September 1942 as SS-''

Standartenführer __NOTOC__ ''Standartenführer'' (short: ''Staf'', , ) was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of ...

'' in SS-Totenkopf Regiment 3Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 31. *

** Knight's Cross on 7 September 1943 as SS-''Standartenführer'' and commander of the SS Regiment Theodor Eicke.Scherzer 2007, p. 209. ** Oak Leaves on 21 September 1944 as SS-''

Oberführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberführer'' (short: ''Oberf'', , ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dating back to 1921. An ''Oberführer'' was typically a NSDAP member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographic ...

'' and commander of the SS Division Totenkopf

References

Citations

Bibliography