Heinz Lammerding (27 August 1905 – 13 January 1971) was a German SS officer convicted of war crimes during the Nazi era. 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 Panzer Division ''Das Reich'' that perpetrated the

Tulle Tulle (; ) is a commune in central France. It is the third-largest town in the former region of Limousin and is the capital of the department of Corrèze, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Tulle is also the episcopal see of the Roman Cat ...

and the

Oradour-sur-Glane massacre On 10 June 1944, four days after D-Day, the village of Oradour-sur-Glane in Haute-Vienne in Nazi-occupied France was destroyed when 643 civilians, including non-combatant women and children, were massacred by a German Waffen-SS company. A ne ...

s in occupied France. After the war, Lammerding was convicted in

absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in abs ...

for having ordered the murder of approximately 750 French civilians, but remained protected by Germany after serving a prison sentence there.

War-crimes trial

In 1953, Lammerding was tried in France for war crimes, for ordering two massacres in 1944: at

and at

Oradour-sur-Glane Oradour-sur-Glane (; oc, Orador de Glana) was a commune in the Haute-Vienne department, New Aquitaine, west central France, as well as the name of the main village within the commune. History The original village was destroyed on 10 June 194 ...

. He was sentenced to death in absentia by the court of Bordeaux, but he was never extradited from

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

nor was he ever sentenced by a German court. According to Danny S. Parker, Lammerding had already been tried in West Germany, convicted of war crimes and had served a prison sentence. He, therefore, was not subject to extradition under the Bonn constitution, much to the consternation of the French. They threatened to send in a commando unit to seize him, as the Israelis did in the case of

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
'' cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

Funeral

His funeral in 1971 turned into a reunion of over 200 former SS personnel.

Awards

German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (german: Der Kriegsorden Deutsches Kreuz), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repe ...

in Gold on 24 April 1943 as SS-''

Standartenführer __NOTOC__ ''Standartenführer'' (short: ''Staf'', , ) was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of ...

'' and commander of SS-Regiment "Thule" *

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 11 April 1944 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 Kampfgruppe "Das Reich"Scherzer 2007, p. 490.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lammerding, Heinz 1905 births 1971 deaths German mass murderers Military personnel from Dortmund People from the Province of Westphalia Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross SS-Brigadeführer Nazis convicted of war crimes Nazis sentenced to death in absentia Waffen-SS personnel Deaths from cancer in Germany