ϟϟ-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Witt

SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Witt

SS-Sturmmann of Witt's Hitlerjugend

In 1931, Fritz Witt from Nordrhein-Westfalen joined the SS and was one of the original 120 men picked for the special SS guard unit, known as the SS-Stabswache Berlin. This unit was the nucleus of the later Waffen-SS division Leibstandarte SS. He commanded units in both the SS-Standarte Deutschland and the Leibstandarte SS. For his leadership and bravery in a number of actions, both in Greece and in Ukraine, he won the Oakleaves to the Knight's Cross, at the age of 34. Fritz Witt received the award as SS-Standartenführer from Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in the Führerhauptquartier Werwolf north of Vinnytsia in Ukraine on March 1 1943. After the ceremony, he went straight back to the still ongoing battle. Fritz Witt assumed his last command in the summer of 1943, when he was chosen to organize, train and lead the 12.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Hitlerjugend. Shortly before the invasion of Normandy in early June of 1944, he was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer. Fritz Witt was the second youngest German officer to reach a General rank at only 35 years of age. On June 6 1944, the Allied invasion of France began and SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Witt led his new division of old veterans and teenage soldiers into combat for the first time. Led by its aggressive commanders, such as Kurt Meyer and Max Wünsche, the division fought extremely well and bloodied several Allied divisions during the Normandy fighting. Fritz Witt was killed aged 36 when a Royal Navy naval artillery barrage fired by HMS Rodney hit his divisional headquarters on June 14 1944 at Venoix. He was initially buried at Venoix and later reinterred at Champigny-Saint-André-de-l'Eure in France, Plot 8 Grab 1027. His youthful SS-Panzergrenadiers grieved openly when they found out about his death, many in tears at the loss of their beloved and highly esteemed commander. Left image: Knight's Cross with Oakleaves holder SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Fritz Witt in 1944. Credit: Bekors. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Right image: one of the many young SS volunteers of Witts' division somewhere in Normandy in 1944. Credit: Tobias Kurtz. Commons: Bundesarchiv.