Gustav Knittel

Gustav Knittel (27 November 1914 – 30 June 1976) was a Sturmbannführer (major) in the SS Division Leibstandarte (LSSAH) who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the illegal executions of 8 American prisoners of war, he was released in 1953.

World War II

Born in 1914, Gustav Knittel volunteered for the SS on 15 April 1933 and the Nazi Party on 1 May 1933. In August 1934, Knittel joined the Nazi Party's paramilitary force, which later became the Waffen-SS. Serving with the Leibstandarte Division, Knittel took part in the Battle of France. He was then posted as commander of the heavy company in the reconnaissance battalion of the LSSAH.

After taking part in the German attack on Yugoslavia and the Battle for Greece he next participated in Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. He led his company during the drive of the Leibstandarte on Zhytomyr; he was wounded on 11 July 1941. After recovery, he was posted to the SS Training camp Dachau. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st class and returned to his company in November.

Kharkov battles In March 1942 he was appointed as the company commander of the armored halftrack company in the Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH. Wawrzinek had led the battalion since its return from France and had rebuilt it during the past months. But the next day Mohnke insisted that Knittel lead the reinforced battalion that would become Schnelle Gruppe (fast group) Knittel. During this briefing Otto Skorzeny was introduced and the details of Operation Greif were revealed. Knittel later claimed that he was physically abused by his guards, which Thomas denied. Following his self-incriminating confession, (and despite "fully expecting and accepting that he would shortly be executed"), he was sentenced to life imprisonment on 16 July 1946 during the Malmedy massacre trial.

Knittel and his lawyers immediately filed a request with the War Crimes Board of Review to have his case reopened. He retracted his confession and, like other defendants, complained that the interrogations included psychological torture. Knittel claimed to have been threatened with being handed over to the Belgians and that his interrogators suggested that signing a confession or not was the choice between fair American justice and Belgian revenge. Knittel complained that his defence lawyers had not been allowed to use the war diaries of the American units which had opposed his Schnelle Gruppe during the Battle of the Bulge to prove that no Americans were murdered at the date and location he gave in his confession. However, the war diary of the 82nd Airborne Division shows that on 21 December 1944, during the battle between elements of Schnelle Gruppe Knittel and the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment between Trois-Ponts and Petit-Spay, an eight-man strong bazooka team was captured by the Germans less than a mile away from the command post described by Knittel in his confession.

Unaware of the contents of the war diary of the 82nd Airborne Division, in March 1948 the reviewing authority reduced his sentence to 15 years imprisonment. In May 1948 the War Crimes Review Board Nr. 4 rejected the claim that irregularities had occurred during the trial against Knittel but following the Simpson Report and the findings of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services his sentence was further reduced to 12 years imprisonment. Knittel was released from Landsberg Prison on 7 December 1953 following a Christmas amnesty.

Knittel later worked as a car salesman for Opel in Ulm until health problems, including several cardiac arrests, forced him to retire in 1970. Knittel died on 30 June 1976 in Ulm hospital.

Summary of SS career Dates of rank Adjutant SS-Kradschützen-Reserve Battalion "Ellwangen": 26 August 1939 – May 1940 Platoon Commander 15 Company/LSSAH, 15 May – 19 August 1940 Commander 4th Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH, 19 August 1940 – March 1942 Commander 3rd Company 1st Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH, March 1942 – April 1943 Commander 1st SS Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH, 22 April 1943 – August 1944 Commander SS Field Reserve Battalion LSSAH, November 1944 – 12 December 1944 Commander 1st SS Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH, 14 December 1944 – 31 December 1944 (wounded)

Awards

German Cross in Gold on 23 January 1944 as SS-Sturmbannführer in the SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 1 "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 June 1944 as SS-Sturmbannführer and commander of SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 1 "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler".