Georg Keppler (7 May 1894 – 16 June 1966) was a high-ranking

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from th ...

commander during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He commanded the

SS Division Das Reich The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich (german: 2. SS-Panzerdivision "Das Reich") or SS Division Das Reich was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the regiments of the ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT ...

SS Division Totenkopf The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (german: 3. SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, ''Totenkopf'', is German for " ...

I SS Panzer Corps The I SS Panzer Corps (german: I.SS-Panzerkorps) was a German armoured corps of the Waffen-SS. It saw action on both the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II. Formation and training The corps was raised on 26 July 1943 in Berlin- ...

III SS Panzer Corps The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of its designation was granted ...

and the

XVIII SS Army Corps XVIII SS Army Corps was formed in December 1944 on the Upper Rhine from the remnants of 3 Wehrmacht Infantry Divisions. In January 1945, the Corps joined the 19th Army until the end of the War. It fought on the upper reaches of the Rhine betwee ...

Career

Georg Keppler joined the army in 1913 and took part in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Between 1920 and 1934, Keppler was a police officer commanding city and state police units. In 1935, he joined the paramilitary force of the Nazi Party, ''

SS-Verfügungstruppe ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT or V-Truppe) (lit. "SS Dispositional Troops") was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the Nazi Party (NSDAP). On 17 August 1938 Adolf Hitler decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the '' Ordnungspolizei'' ...

'', eventually leading a battalion in the ”Deutschland” regiment. In September 1938, after the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the Nazi Germany, German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Ger ...

, Keppler was promoted to command the newly raised “Der Führer” regiment, becoming a component of the

SS-Verfügungs Division The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich (german: 2. SS-Panzerdivision "Das Reich") or SS Division Das Reich was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the regiments of the ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT ...

. Keppler served as Der Führer‘s regimental commander throughout the invasion of France, Balkans Campaign and in

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

. In August 1940, Keppler was awarded the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

. On 15 July 1941, he took over for injured

Theodor Eicke Theodor Eicke (17 October 1892 – 26 February 1943) was a senior SS functionary and Waffen SS divisional commander during the Nazi era. He was one of the key figures in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the sec ...

as a commander of the

. He went on to command the

SS Division Nord The 6th SS Mountain Division "Nord" (german: 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord") was a German unit of the Waffen-SS during World War II, formed in February 1941 as ''SS Kampfgruppe Nord'' (SS Battle Group North). The division was the only Waffen-S ...

and the

. From February 1943, Keppler held a number of administrative positions within the

. In August 1944, he was given a field assignment as commander of the

, which he led until October 1944, during the later stages of the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

. He then returned to the Eastern Front, where he took over the

III Panzer Corps III Army Corps was a corps level formation of the German Army during World War II. III Army Corps The III Corps was formed in October 1934 as III. Armeekorps. The corps took part in Fall Weiss, the 1939 invasion of Poland as a part of Army G ...

. He remained with this unit until 2 April 1945 when he became the last commander of the

, surrendering the unit to the U.S. Army on 2 May 1945. After the war Keppler was interned; he was released in 1948. Keppler died in 1966.

Decorations

on 15 August 1940 as SS-''

Oberführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberführer'' (short: ''Oberf'', , ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dating back to 1921. An ''Oberführer'' was typically a NSDAP member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographic ...

'' and commander of SS-Standarte "Der Führer".

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keppler, Georg 1894 births 1966 deaths Military personnel from Mainz People from Rhenish Hesse German Army personnel of World War I SS-Obergruppenführer Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Prussian Army personnel Waffen-SS personnel German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States