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 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 ...

("Death's Head") following the death of Theodor Eicke in February 1943. On 30 October 1944 he was appointed commander of the

I SS Panzer Corps The I SS Panzer Corps (german: I.SS-Panzerkorps) was a German armoured corps of the Waffen-SS. It saw action on both the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II. Formation and training The corps was raised on 26 July 1943 in Berlin-L ...

and led it during the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, Priess was convicted of war crimes for his involvement in the

Malmedy massacre The Malmedy massacre was a German war crime committed by soldiers of the on 17 December 1944, at the Baugnez crossroads near the city of Malmedy, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945). Soldiers of sum ...

, and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. He was released from the Landsberg Prison in 1954.

Career

Born in 1901, Priess volunteered for military service in the army of the German Empire in January 1919, which was transformed to the Reichsheer in the Weimar Republic. Due to the limitations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, his regiment was disbanded. He then joined the paramilitary group ''Freikorps'' and fought in the Estonian War of Independence. In 1920, he returned to the army and was discharged in June 1931. On 24 October 1944, Priess succeeded

Georg Keppler Georg Keppler (7 May 1894 – 16 June 1966) was a high-ranking Waffen-SS commander during World War II. He commanded the SS Division Das Reich, SS Division Totenkopf, I SS Panzer Corps, III SS Panzer Corps and the XVIII SS Army Corps. Care ...

as commander of

. He led this formation, as part of the

6th Panzer Army The 6th Panzer Army (german: 6. Panzerarmee) was a formation of the German Army, formed in the autumn of 1944. The 6th Panzer Army was first used as an offensive force during the Battle of the Bulge, in which it operated as the northernmost element ...

, in the failed ''Ardennenoffensive'', which was dubbed the Battle of Bulge. The objective of the offensive was to split the British and American line in half, so the Germans could then proceed to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surr ...

with the Axis Powers. Subordinated to I SS Panzer Corps was ''

Kampfgruppe In military history, the German term (pl. ; abbrev. KG, or KGr in usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or "battle group") can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the of Nazi Germa ...

'' "Peiper", led by Joachim Peiper. Peiper's command was responsible for the

, a war crime in which 84 American

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

were murdered by their German captors near Malmedy, Belgium. After the Ardennes offensive, the 6th SS Panzer Army was transferred to Hungary, where it fought against the advancing Soviet Army. The I SS Panzer Corps arrived in Hungary in early February 1945. There, Priess committed his forces in

Operation Southwind Operation Southwind (german: Unternehmen Südwind) was a German offensive operation on the Eastern Front in Hungary, from 17–24 February 1945. The Germans succeeded in eliminating the Soviet bridgehead on the west bank of the river Hron in pre ...

against the Hron Bridgehead, a strong position formed by the Soviets over the Danube near the town of Esztergom, destroying the bridgehead by the end of February. He then commanded I SS Panzer Corps in Operation Spring Awakening, the last major German offensive of World War II. The attack, centered in the Lake Balaton area, began on 6 March 1945 and ended with a German defeat on 16 March 1945.

War crimes trial and conviction

In May 1945, Priess surrendered to the U.S. forces. He started working for the US Army Historical Division at the

Camp King Camp King is a site on the outskirts of Oberursel, Taunus (in Germany), with a long history. It began as a school for agriculture under the auspices of the University of Frankfurt. During World War II, the lower fields became an interrogation center ...

. From May–July 1946, he became one of 73 defendants at the Malmedy massacre trial held in the

Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

internment camp. Along with Sepp Dietrich, Joachim Peiper and others, Priess was charged with the murder of over 300 Allied POWs and 100 Belgian civilians between 16 December 1944 and 13 January 1945. This is a web transcription of microfilmed archives of the original US Army documents. See th
site's introduction
for more information. The URL is to a HTML frame, you must select "US011" in the left pane to get to case "6-24". The direct URL to the case page i

. On 16 July, Priess was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. In October 1954, he was released prior to serving his full sentence from the Landsberg Prison. Priess died in 1985.

Summary of SS career

;Awards * Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (22 September 1939) & 1st Class (15 October 1939) * German Cross in Gold on 6 January 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 the SS-Artillerie-Regiment "Totenkopf" * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords ** Knight's Cross on 28 April 1943 as SS-'' Oberführer'' and commander of ''Artillerie-Regiment of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf'' ** 297th Oak Leaves on 9 September 1943 as SS-'' Brigadeführer'' and ''

Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...

'' of the Waffen-SS and commander of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Totenkopf" ** 65th Swords on 24 April 1944 as SS-''Brigadeführer'' and ''Generalmajor'' of the Waffen-SS and commander of the 3. SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf" * Wound Badge in Black ;Promotions

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Priess, Hermann 1901 births 1985 deaths People from Ludwigslust-Parchim People from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin SS-Gruppenführer Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States People convicted in the Dachau trials Waffen-SS personnel Military personnel from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania