Matthias Kleinheisterkamp

Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (22 June 1893 – 29 April 1945) was an SS Obergruppenführer (General) and a Heer (Army) officer who served in both World War I and World War II. During World War II, Kleinheisterkamp commanded the 3. SS-Division Totenkopf, 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord, 2. SS-Division Das Reich, III.(germanische) SS-Panzerkorps, VII. SS-Panzerkops, IV. SS-Panzerkops, XII. SS-Armeekorps and the XI. SS-Armeekorps. He was also a winner of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

Early life
Matthias Kleinheisterkamp was born in Elberfeld (now Wuppertal), Rhine Province. He was a son of railway secretary Matthias Kleinheisterkamp and his wife Anna Rüpper. After passing his Abitur (final exams) in 1914, he decided to join the Army.

Military career
Kleinheisterkamp was assigned first to the 1. Westfälische Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 7 and later to 1. Lothringische Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 130 and finally to Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 219. It was with this regiment Leutnant Kleinheisterkamp saw action in World War I, firstly from 1914 to 1915 on the Western Front, and then from 1915 to 1916 on the Eastern Front. He returned to the West in 1916 where he would serve for the remainder of the war. Before the war's end, Kleinheisterkamp was seriously wounded in the head and spent the rest of 1918 recovering from his injuries. During his service in the war, he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross and a silver grade Wound Badge.

Inter-war Years
Following the Armistice in 1918, Kleinheisterkamp joined the Freikorps and also served in the Reichswehr with various infantry units until he joined the Allgemeine-SS on 1 November 1933, membership number 132,399. He transferred to the SS-Verfügungstruppe on 1 April 1935 and was assigned to the SS-Führerschule Braunschweig, future SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig, as an infantry instructor. He taught there for a year, after which he joined then Brigadeführer (Brigadier General) Paul Hausser's Inspectorate of the SS-VT as a senior staff officer.

On 20 April 1937, Kleinheisterkamp joined the NSDAP, membership number 4,158,838. His career stalled when in June 1938 he experienced serious legal and disciplinary troubles. He was reprimanded by the SS Court Head Office and placed on leave until August 1938. Upon his return to active duty, he was assigned to the SS-Standarte Deutschland in Munich and from 1 December 1938 commanded the Deutschland's III.Sturmbann.

World War II
Kleinheisterkamp remained with the III.Sturmbann during the 1939 operation Fall Weiß (invasion of Poland) when he commanded the Gefechtsgruppe Kleinheisterkamp responsible in part for the evacuation of German citizens and diplomatic personnel from Warsaw. Following his promotion to SS-Standartenführer (Colonel) in May 1940, he was put in charge of Infanterie-Regiment 3 within the SS-Division Totenkopf, despite the fact that he did not get along with the division's commander, Theodor Eicke. After Eicke was injured in July 1941, Kleinheisterkamp was, for a short time, commander of the Totenkopf, before being replaced by Georg Keppler. He remained with the division for the next three months until the continuous friction with Eicke resulted in Kleinheisterkamp’s transfer first to SS-Führungshauptamt (the operational headquarters of the SS) and later to the 2. SS-Division Das Reich.

For his exemplary leadership of Das Reich during the operations on Eastern Front, Kleinheisterkamp was finally awarded the Knight's Cross, after two previous nominations in 1940 and 1941. In January 1942, after four months as a commander of Das Reich, he was re-assigned to the SS-Division Nord, however he did not take over the division until June, succeeding SS-Gruppenführer (Lieutenant General) Karl-Maria Demelhuber. He proved himself to be an excellent divisional leader and was extremely popular with his men and fellow officers, including his superior Eduard Dietl. Kleinheisterkamp remained with Nord until December 1943, when he was transferred to the Waffen-SS reserves at the SS-Führungshauptamt. In January 1944, he was again assigned to the field and commanded the VII. SS-Panzerkorps, III. (germanische) SS-Panzerkorps, IV. SS-Panzerkops and the XI. SS-Armeekorps.

Kleinheisterkamp, by then a SS-Obergruppenführer, was captured by the Soviets on 28 April 1945 near the village of Halbe, south-east of Berlin. He committed suicide a day later while in captivity. Other accounts state he died on 2 May in the Battle of Halbe. Posthumously, Kleinheisterkamp was awarded Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross.

Personal life
Kleinheisterkamp married Ellen Heusing-Esch (4 July 1900 - 14 October 1943) on 27 March 1921. They had three sons; Karl-Ernst, born on 11 April 1922; Hans-Joachim, born on 12 April 1928 and Heinrich, born on 18 September 1937. He also had two daughters; Waltraud, born on 15 September 1923 and Marliese, born on 11 December 1929.

Dates of rank

 * Fahnenjunker: 2 August 1914
 * Leutnant: October, 1914
 * Oberleutnant: 1 February 1928
 * Hauptmann: 1 October 1929
 * SS-Anwärter: 8 January 1934
 * SS-Mann: 24 January 1934
 * SS-Sturmmann: 8 February 1934
 * SS-Scharführer: 10 February 1934
 * SS-Oberscharführer: 12 February 1934
 * SS-Truppführer: 14 February 1934
 * SS-Obertruppführer: 19 March 1934
 * SS-Sturmführer: 12 April 1934
 * SS-Obersturmführer: 17 June 1934
 * SS-Hauptsturmführer: 20 April 1935
 * SS-Sturmbannführer: 1 June 1935
 * SS-Obersturmbannführer: 20 April 1937
 * SS-Standartenführer: 18 May 1940
 * SS-Oberführer: 19 July 1940
 * SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS: 9 November 1941
 * SS-Gruppenführer und Generaleutnant der Waffen-SS: 1 May 1943
 * SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS: 1 August 1944

Notable decorations

 * Eastern Front Medal (1942)
 * Iron Cross Second (?) and First (?) Classes
 * Clasp to the Iron Cross Second (1939) and First (1939) Classes
 * SS-Honour Ring (?)
 * Anschluss Medal (1938)
 * Sudetenland Medal (1939) with Prague Castle Bar (1939)
 * Memel Medal (?)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 31 March 1942 as SS-Brigadeführer, Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS and commander of the SS-Division "Das Reich"
 * 871st Oak Leaves on 9 May 1945 (posthumously) as SS-Obergruppenführer, Generalleutnant of the Waffen-SS and commanding general of the XI. SS-Panzerkorps
 * Wound Badge in Black (1918) and Silver (1918)
 * Cross of Honor (1934)
 * Silesian Eagle Second (?) and First (?) Classes
 * War Merit Cross with Swords Second (1942) and First (1942) Classes
 * Finnish Cross of Liberty First Class (1943)
 * Sword of honor of the Reichsführer-SS