Sylvester Stadler

Sylvester Stadler (30 December 1910 – 23 August 1995) was a high-ranking commander of the Waffen-SS (member of the SS since 1933), a commander of the SS Division Das Reich, SS Division Hohenstaufen and a recipient of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.

Sylvester Stadler
Born	30 December 1910
Died	23 August 1995 (aged 84)
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1935–45
Rank	Brigadeführer
Service number	NSDAP #4,159,018 SS #139,495[1]
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

While Stadler was commander of the Panzer-Grenadier regiment Der Führer, part of the SS Division Das Reich, a subordinate unit under his command committed the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre. On 10 June 1944, part of Der Führer regiment, led by SS-Sturmbannführer Adolf Diekmann, killed 642 inhabitants of Oradour-sur-Glane. Stadler later claimed that he ordered a court martial for Diekmann; the latter was killed in action before he could face the allegedly ordered trial.

On 10 July 1944, Stadler was appointed commander of the SS Division Hohenstaufen; it fought on the Eastern Front, in Normandy, at the Falaise pocket, at Arnhem ("Operation Market Garden"), in the Ardennes offensive and in Hungary. He surrendered his division to the U.S. Army in Austria in May 1945.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (25 September 1939) & 1st Class (26 June 1940)[2]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight' Cross on 6 April 1943 as SS-Sturmbannführer and commander of the II./SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Der Führer"[3]
  • 303rd Oak Leaves on 16 September 1943 as SS-Obersturmbannführer and commander of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Der Führer"[3]
  • Swords in 1945 as commander of the SS Division Hohenstaufen (?) No evidence of the award can be found in the German Federal Archives. Stadler claimed that Sepp Dietrich proposed him on 22 March 1945, even though the SS Division Hohenstaufen was not subordinated to the 6th Panzer Army.[4]

References

Citations

1. Westemeier 2013, p. 737.
2. Thomas 1998, p. 338.
3. Scherzer 2007, p. 716.
4. Scherzer 2007, p. 176.

Bibliography

• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Thomas, Franz (1998). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2300-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Westemeier, Jens (2013). Himmlers Krieger: Joachim Peiper und die Waffen-SS in Krieg und Nachkriegszeit [Himmler's Warriors: Joachim Peiper and the Waffen-SS during the War and Post-War Period]. Paderborn, Germany: Ferdinand Schöningh. ISBN 978-3-506-77241-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)