The XI SS Corps (German: ''XI. SS-Armeekorps'' later ''XI. SS-Panzerkorps'') was a

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 ...

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

created on July 24, 1944 in southern Poland on the basis of the remains of the headquarters of the defeated V Army Corps and employed on the Eastern Front in 1944-1945 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 ...

. There were no SS units in the corps, as the SS prefix in the name is explained only by the fact that the commander,

Matthias Kleinheisterkamp Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (22 June 1893 – 29 April 1945) was an SS-''Obergruppenführer'' during World War II. He commanded the SS Division Totenkopf, SS Division Nord, SS Division Das Reich, III SS Panzer Corps, VII SS Panzer Corps, IV S ...

, was not a general of the Wehrmacht, but an SS-''Obergruppenführer''. On February 1, 1945 the corps was transformed to the XI SS Panzer Corps.

History

The corps was formed in August 1944 in Western Galicia as part of the 17th Army, which was subordinate to

Army Group North Ukraine The Army Group North Ukraine (german: Heeresgruppe Nordukraine) was a major formation of the German army in World War II. History It was created on 5 April 1944 by renaming Army Group South under Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model. In April 1944 i ...

(in October renamed

Army Group A Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) was the name of several German Army Groups during World War II. During the Battle of France, the army group named Army Group A was composed of 45½ divisions, including 7 armored panzer divisions. It was responsible ...

). It defended the front between

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarnów ...

and

Pilzno Pilzno is a town in Poland, in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in Dębica County. It has 4,943 inhabitants as of 2018. It is located at the junction of important roads – West-East European E40 Highway, and National Road 73 (''Droga Krajowa nr. 73 ...

until it had to withdraw to the

Western Carpathians The Western Carpathians are a mountain range and geomorphological province that forms the western part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountain belt stretches from the Low Beskids range of the Eastern Carpathians along the border of Poland wi ...

during the Vistula–Oder Offensive (January 1945). It became part of the 9th Army tasked with holding a defensive line on the

Oder River The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...

. On February 1, 1945 the Corps was upgraded to the XI SS Panzer Corps, and was ordered to destroy the Soviet bridgehead near Küstrin and relieve the Fortress, but failed. The corps then fought in the

Battle of the Seelow Heights The Battle of the Seelow Heights (german: Schlacht um die Seelower Höhen) was part of the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation (16 April–2 May 1945). A pitched battle, it was one of the last assaults on large entrenched defensive positions o ...

and the

Battle of Halbe The Battle of Halbe (german: Kesselschlacht von Halbe, russian: Хальбский котёл, Halbe pocket) was a battle lasting from April 24 – May 1, 1945 in which the German Ninth Army—under the command of General Theodor Busse—was dest ...

in late April 1945 and was defeated by Soviet troops. Kleinheisterkamp was among those captured and committed suicide shortly after.

Orders of battle

September 1944: * 78th Sturm-Division Logo

78th Assault Division * 544th Grenadier Division * 545th Grenadier Division March 1945: * Divisionsabzeichen der 25

25th Panzergrenadier Division The 25th Infantry Division was a military unit of the German Wehrmacht. It was later reclassified to 25th Infantry Division (mot.), and in June 1943 to the 25th Panzer Grenadier Division. The 25th Panzergrenadier Division fought in the central s ...

712th Infantry Division *

Panzergrenadier Division Kurmark The Panzergrenadier Division Kurmark, sometimes also referred to as Panzer Division Kurmark, was a armoured formation of the German Army during World War II. It was raised in January 1945 as part of the preparation for the Battle of Berlin. It ...

* Küstrin Fortress

Sources

* ''This is a translation of an article in the

Dutch Wikipedia The Dutch Wikipedia ( nl, Nederlandstalige Wikipedia) is the Dutch-language edition of the free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. It was founded on 19 June 2001. As of , the Dutch Wikipedia is the -largest Wikipedia edition, with articles. It w ...

, XI SS Korps.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:11 Waffen-SS corps Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945