Oskar Dirlewanger as an SS-Oberführer, 1944.

Oskar Dirlewanger (September 26, 1895-June 7, 1945) was a World War II officer with the Schutzstaffel (SS). He commanded the SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger unit. Dr. Oskar Dirlewanger was an infantry soldier in World War I and won both the Iron Cross 2nd Class and the Iron Cross 1st Class. He was a member of several Freikorps after the war. He attempted to join the Schutzstaffel three times, finally becoming a full-fledged member of the National Socialist German Workers Party in 1932. Image File history File links Oskar_Dirlewanger. ... Image File history File links Oskar_Dirlewanger. ... September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 96 days remaining. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... This article is becoming very long. ... The infamous double-sig rune SS insignia. ... Wilddiebkommando Oranienburg Sonderkommando SS-Sonderbataillon Dirlewanger SS-Sonderregiment Dirlewanger SS-Sonderbrigade Dirlewanger 2. ... Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom France Italy Russia United States Serbia Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Nicholas II Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Reinhard Scheer Franz Josef I Conrad von Hötzendorf İsmail Enver Ferdinand I Casualties... A stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the German Armed Forces The Iron Cross (German: Eisernes Kreuz) is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later of Germany, which was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on 10 March 1813. ... The designation of Freikorps (German for Free Corps, i. ... The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; NSDAP), generally known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. ...

He served in the Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War. Hermann Göring delivering an honour (likely to be the Spanienkreuz, Spanish Cross) to a member of the Legion Condor (April 1939) The Condor Legion was a unit of Nazi Germanys air force which was sent as volunteers to support the right wing Nationalists (i. ... Combatants Spanish Republic CNT-FAI UGT POUM Soviet Union International Brigades Spanish State Falangists Carlists Fascist Italy Nazi Germany Commanders Manuel Azaña Francisco Largo Caballero Juan Negrín Francisco Franco The Spanish Civil War, which lasted from July 17, 1936 to April 1, 1939, was a conflict in which...

A convicted rapist, himself interned at a concentration camp before the SS believed it necessary to form a brigade solely of ex-convicts for use on the Eastern Front, he was for his experience selected by Heinrich Himmler to lead it. His unit were employed in the fight against Partisans in the occupied Soviet Union, where they earned a reputation for savagery. Later the same unit was used in the suppression of the Warsaw uprising, where they committed even worse attrocities, for which they were never punished by the Nazi authorities. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... The Eastern Front of World War II was the theatre of war covering the conflict in central and eastern Europe from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945. ...   (October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... Partisan may refer to: A member of a lightly-equipped irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation. ... Combatants Poland Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, Bronislav Kaminski Strength 50,000 troops 25,000 troops Casualties 18,000 killed, 12,000 wounded, 15,000 taken prisoner 250,000 civilians killed 10,000 killed...

Death

Dirlewanger was sentenced for war crimes and, according to one version, was beaten to death by a fellow inmates at Altshausen, a French prison camp. Between 3 and 5 million Soviet POWs died in the Nazi camps, most of them by hunger. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Gate building of Altshausen Palace Altshausen is a small Swabian town (c. ... Prisoner of War camps Contents // Categories: Substubs | Prisons and detention centres ...

Author French McLean gives a different version of his death stating that Polish soldiers, charged with guarding Dirlewanger, fatally beat him, possibly as revenge for his actions in Warsaw.

Other rumors, including one story of Dirlewanger serving in the French Foreign Legion, and later defecting to Egypt to accept a commission in Gamal Abdel Nasser's army were proven false. The French Foreign Legion (French: Légion Étrangère) is a unique unit within the French Army established in 1831. ... Gamal Abdel Nasser (January 15, 1918 – September 28, 1970; Arabic: جمال عبد الناصر name also transliterated as Jamal Abd al-Naser , Jamal Abd An-Nasser, and other variants) was the leader of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. ...

A book about Dirlewangers brigade was written, by german writer Will Berthold. Though for the most part fictive, it accurately presents Dirlewanger as a paranoid, brute man, who had no problems hanging his own men to strike fear in the others.

This book was published in 1989, and the original title was Brigade Dirlewanger. In the Netherlands this book has the following titles: "Moordbrigade Dirlewanger", "Aan het Front", and "Dirlewanger".

References

• MacLean, French L. - The Cruel Hunters: SS-Sonder-Kommando Dirlewanger Hitler's Most Notorious Anti-Partisan Unit