Herbert Otto Gille (8 March 1897 – 26 December 1966) was a high-ranking German SS officer, and divisional & corps commander of the Waffen SS. He commanded the

SS Division Wiking The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking (german: 5. SS-Panzerdivision Wiking) or SS Division Wiking was an infantry and later an armoured division among the thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions of Nazi Germany. It was recruited from foreign volunteers ...

during

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 ...

. Gille was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds 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' ...

, making him the most highly decorated

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

member of the war. After the war, Gille opened a book store and became active in

HIAG HIAG (german: Hilfsgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit der Angehörigen der ehemaligen Waffen-SS, lit=Mutual aid association of former Waffen-SS members) was a lobby group and a denialist veterans' organisation founded by former high-ranking Waffen ...

, a

lobby group In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

and a revisionist veteran's organisation founded by former high-ranking Waffen-SS personnel in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in 1951.

Career

Gille served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was awarded the

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 ...

First and Second Classes. Gille joined the Nazi Party and the SS in 1931. In 1934 he joined the SS combat support forces. As the commander of a battalion in an SS-V regiment, Gille participated in the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

and in the western campaign. In 1940 he was appointed a regimental commander in the

, led by

Felix Steiner Felix Martin Julius Steiner (23 May 1896 – 12 May 1966) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he served in the Waffen-SS, the combat branch of the SS, and commanded several SS divisions and corps. He was awarded t ...

. With his regiment, Gille participated in the

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

in 1941 and in advance to Kuban in 1942; he received the Knight's Cross on 8 October 1942. He then took command of the Wiking Division on the Eastern Front. Early in 1944, Gille participated in the breakout of the Group Stemmermann from the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket. Gille received the diamonds to his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on 19 April 1944. In January 1945 Gille, as leader of the

IV SS Panzer Corps The IV SS Panzer Corps was a panzer corps of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany which saw action on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans during World War II. History The Panzerkorps was formed in August 1943 in Poitiers, France. The formation was o ...

, participated in a failed attempt to relieve the encircled German and Hungarian troops in the

Battle of Budapest The Siege of Budapest or Battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the broader Budapest Offensive, the siege began when Budap ...

. In March 1945 he led the IV SS Panzer Corps in the failed

Lake Balaton Offensive Operation Spring Awakening (german: Unternehmen Frühlingserwachen) was the last major German offensive of World War II. The operation was referred to in Germany as the Plattensee offensive and in the Soviet Union as the Balaton defensive operati ...

. He surrendered to the U.S. forces in Austria.

Activities within HIAG

Gille was released in 1948. In the early 1950s, Gille became active in

, a

and a revisionist veteran's organisation founded by former high-ranking Waffen-SS personnel in

to campaign for their legal, economic and historical rehabilitation. Gille, alongside

Otto Kumm Otto Kumm (1 October 1909 – 23 March 2004) commanded two Waffen-SS divisions in the latter stages of World War II and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. At the post-war Nuremberg trials, the Waffe ...

and

Paul Hausser Paul Hausser also known as Paul Falk after taking his maiden name post war (7 October 1880 – 21 December 1972) was a German general and then a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS who played a key role in the post-war efforts by former mem ...

, became an early leading figure within HIAG. In 1951 Gille launched the periodical ''Wiking-Ruf'' ("Viking Call"). Initially it was aimed at the veterans of the SS Division ''Wiking''. Within its first year of existence, in 1952, it became the official publication of HIAG and was eventually renamed to ''Der Freiwillige'' ("The Volunteer"). Gille faced his share of controversy with the organisation. In 1952, HIAG held its first major meeting in Verden. It began respectably, with Gille announcing that the veterans were ready to 'do their duty for the Fatherland' and Steiner declaring support for 'freedom, order and justice'. But the next speaker delivered a different message. Former paratroop general

Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke (24 January 1889 – 4 July 1968) was a German general of paratroop forces during World War II. He led units in Crete, North Africa, Italy, the Soviet Union and France, and was captured by American forces at the concl ...

, who had been invited to demonstrate so-called solidarity with the Wehrmacht, condemned the Western Allies as the 'real war criminals' and insisted that the blacklist on which all former SS members then stood would soon become "a list of honor". The outburst caused a furor within West Germany. Periodicals as far as the U.S. and Canada carried headlines ''Hitler's Guard Cheers Ex-chief'' and ''Rabble-Rousing General Is Worrying the Allies'', with the latter article reporting that Ramcke's speech had been greeted with "roars of approval and cries "

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

, ''Schweinehund''!" ("Eisenhower, pig-dog")". Internal disagreements began to emerge within HIAG in the mid-1950s as to the stance of the organisation: Steiner and Gille favored a more political, outspoken orientation, while the rest of the leadership favored a moderate approach so that not to jeopardize HIAG's goals of legal and economic rehabilitation, which, in their opinion, could only come from the establishment. Gille died in 1966.

Awards

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 28 February 1942 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 ...

'' in SS-Artillerie-Regiment 5 *

** Knight's Cross on 8 October 1942 as commander of SS-Artillerie-Regiment 5 "Wiking" ** 315th Oak Leaves on 1 November 1943 as commander of SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Wiking" ** 47th Swords on 20 February 1944 as commander of SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Wiking" ** 12th Diamonds on 19 April 1944 as commander of 5th SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking"

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gille, Herbert Otto 1897 births 1966 deaths People from Bad Gandersheim German Army personnel of World War I SS-Obergruppenführer Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class Waffen-SS personnel Military personnel from Lower Saxony Members of HIAG