Sylvester Stadler

Sylvester Stadler (30 December 1910 – 23 August 1995) was a SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS, a commander of the 2nd SS Division Das Reich, 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen and a winner of the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords. He was one of the youngest German generals during World War II, being only 34 years old when the war ended in 1945.

Early life
Stadler was born in Fohnsdorf, Austria, on 30 December 1910 and trained to become an electrician before joining the Schutzstaffel (SS) in 1933. In 1935 and 1936 he attended officer's school at the SS-Junkerschule at Bad Tölz, Bavaria. He became a company commander in June 1939, and a battalion commander in March 1942.

Der Führer and Oradour-sur-Glane massacre
In May 1943, Stadler was made commander of the Panzer-Grenadier regiment Der Führer (part of the elite 2nd SS Division Das Reich). On 10 June 1944, part of Der Führer regiment, led by SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Diekmann, undertook a massacre in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane in France, in which 642 villagers were killed. Although Stadler ordered a court martial for Diekmann, the SS officer responsible, his reputation was tarnished. Diekmann himself was killed in combat before he could face trial. Command of Der Führer passed to SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Weidinger on 14 June, who had been with the regiment for familiarisation purposes, as Stadler prepared to become commander of the 9. SS-Panzer division "Hohenstaufen".

The Hohenstaufen
On 10 July 1944, Stadler was made commander of the elite 9. SS-Panzer division "Hohenstaufen". Along with Kurt Meyer ("Panzermeyer") Stadler was among the youngest divisional commanders in the German armed forces. The Hohenstaufen fought in Poland, France, at the Eastern Front, in Normandy (at the defense of the infamous Hill 112 and at the Falaise pocket), at Arnhem ("Operation Market Garden"), in the Ardennes offensive and in Hungary. He surrendered his division to the United States Army in Austria in May 1945.

Military decorations
Stadler was wounded severely several times. His personal bravery won him the Close Combat Clasp in Gold as a divisional commander in 1944. In 1943, Stadler was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross after the German recapture of Kharkov – a strategically located city south of Kursk in the Soviet Union – during Spring 1943. The Knight's Cross was upgraded with Oak Leaves following the Battle of Kursk (the Eichenlaub – Nr. 303 – was presented to Stadler personally by Adolf Hitler). The award was upgraded once more just before the end of the war with Swords (Schwertern – Nr. 152), presented to him by Sepp Dietrich.


 * Eastern Front Medal (1942)
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (25 September1939)
 * 1st Class (26 June 1940)
 * Close Combat Clasp in Gold (12 December 1943)
 * 2 Tank Destruction Badges for Individual Combatants
 * 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-Panzergreandier-Regiment "Der Führer"
 * 303rd Oak Leaves on 16 September 1943 as SS-Obersturmbannführer and commander of the SS-Panzergreandier-Regiment "Der Führer"
 * 152nd Swords on 6 May 1945 as SS-Oberführer and commander of the 9. SS-Panzer-Division "Hohenstafen"
 * Waffen-SS Long Service Award (?)
 * Wound Badge in Black (?), Silver (?) and Gold (?)
 * Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht

Personal life and death
Stadler married in 1936 and had three sons. He died on 23 August 1995 in Augsburg-Haunstetten, Bavaria.