Emil Wawrzinek
SS officer
Died when: 27 years 204 days (330 months)Star Sign: Virgo
The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH, (German: 1.SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding the Führer's person, offices, and residences.
Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into an elite division-sized unit during World War II.The LSSAH participated in combat during the invasion of Poland, and was amalgamated into the Waffen-SS together with the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) and the combat units of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) prior to Operation Barbarossa in 1941.
By mid-1942 it had been increased in size from a regiment to a Panzergrenadier division and was designated SS Panzergrenadier Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler".
It received its final form as a Panzer division in October 1943.Members of the LSSAH perpetrated numerous atrocities and war crimes, including the Malmedy massacre.
They killed an estimated 5,000 prisoners of war in the period 1940–1945, mostly on the Eastern Front.
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