Max Simon | |
|---|---|
 Simon in 1940 | |
| Born | (1899-01-16)16 January 1899 Breslau,German Empire |
| Died | 1 February 1961(1961-02-01) (aged 62) Lünen,West Germany |
| Allegiance |
|
| Branch |  Imperial German Army Waffen-SS |
| Rank | SS-Gruppenführer |
| Unit | SS Division Totenkopf SS Division Reichsführer-SS XIII SS Corps |
| Battles / wars | World War I |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves |
Max Simon (6 January 1899 – 1 February 1961) was a GermanSS commander and war criminal duringWorld War II. Simon was one of the first members of the SS in the early 1930s. He rose through the ranks of the SS, and became a corps commander during World War II. After the war, Simon was convicted for his role in theMarzabotto massacre and theSant'Anna di Stazzema massacre.
Simon was born inBreslau. In 1917 he joined the army and served in the11th Division. He served inMacedonia and on theWestern Front, being awarded theIron Cross 2nd class. At the end of the war he joined theFreikorps inSilesia and fought against thePolish forces. His unit was later incorporated into theReichswehr as the 16th Cavalry Regiment and Simon was promoted toUnterfeldwebel.
In May 1933 he joined theSS and theNazi Party, and was assigned to the 47th SS-Standarte inGera and was promoted toUntersturmführer (Second Lieutenant) in November 1934, until ordered to raise a new unit in 1935, 1st SS TotenkopfstandarteOberbayern and given the rank ofStandartenführer (Colonel).[citation needed] In 1934 he was appointed as the commander of theSachsenburg concentration camp.[1] In 1938 he took part in theAnschluss of Austria, the occupation ofBohemia andMoravia and the occupation of theSudetenland.
At the start of World War II, the SS Regiment was renamed in October 1939. The 1st SS TotenkopfstandarteOberbayern, as the 1st Panzer Grenadier RegimentSS Division Totenkopf and was later renamed the 5th Panzer Grenadier regiment in 1943. During theBattle of France, Simon led his regiment in the capture of Pixie,Lyon,Orléans,Tours andBordeaux and then advanced to the border with Spain.
In July 1941, Simon took part in the invasion of Soviet Union,Operation Barbarossa, as part ofArmy Group North, takingKraslava and breaking through theStalin Line, where Simon was wounded. For the fighting in the Battles of theDemyansk Pocket, Simon was awarded the Knight's Cross and promoted toOberführer (Senior Colonel). In December 1942 Simon was promoted again toBrigadeführer (Brigadier General), prior to being given command of theSS Division Reichsführer-SS.
The SS Division Reichsführer-SS was to be formed in Hungary from Simon's old regiment and theSturmbrigade Reichsführer SS.[2] In 1944, the division was moved to Italy, and fought, never complete, at Anzio and later in theArno sector, where it gained a reputation for stability although it suffered heavy losses during the battles in theApennines.[citation needed] The division also fought againstpartisans behind the lines, perpetrating several major atrocities against civilians (Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre andMarzabotto massacre), for which Simon was awarded the Oakleaves for the Knight's Cross and theGerman Cross in Gold, in October 1944.[1]
In November 1944, Simon was promoted and was given command of theXIII SS Corps.[3] The XIII SS Corps deployed to theLorraine region against theUnited States Army, and from December 1944 defended theSiegfried Line.
The XIII SS Army Corps retreated into theSaarland and thePalatinate where it started to destroy theRhine bridges. In April 1945 betweenMain andJagst it came up against the4th US Armored Division and took part in heavy fighting around theTauber – Colombia line and aroundWürzburg andNuremberg. The Corps then fought a withdrawal to theDanube and aroundMunich. On the orders of Simon the bridges over theIsar approaching Austria were not blown up, as he believed there was no need as the end of the war was near.
Brettheim is a village in theSchwäbisch Hall district ofBaden-Württemberg. Simon ordered the execution of Friedrich Hanselmann, Leonhard Gackstatter and Leonhard Wolfmeyer forWehrkraftzersetzung ("undermining military morale") on 10 April 1945. The farmer Hanselmann had taken away the weapons of 15-year-old boys from theHitler Youth and had thrown them into the local pond. The boys reported this to their commanding officer SS-Sturmbannführer Gottschalk, who had Hanselmann arrested. Gottschalk sentenced Hanselmann to death and asked the mayor of Brettheim, Gackstatter, and the teacher Wolfmeyer to confirm the sentence. The two men refused and were subsequently also arrested and sentenced to death. The men were executed by hanging and strung up on a tree at the entrance of the local cemetery. Simon had ordered that the bodies be left hanging for four days. On 17 April 1945 American tanks approached the village. The SS had declared Brettheim a "cornerstone of the German defense" and prevented the hoisting of white flags. The Americans opened fire, and within a short time the village became a burning inferno. 17 civilians were killed.[4]
On 1 May 1945 the Corps surrendered to the American forces.
After the war, Max Simon was sentenced to death by a British court for his part in theMarzabotto massacre. This sentence was later changed to life imprisonment. Simon was released from prison in 1954.
Simon was subsequently tried three times by West German courts for the killings in Brettheim and other crimes, but, "to the horror of the West German public," was found not guilty.[5] Simon died in 1961. Even in death, Simon caused some controversy, asHIAG, an organization of former Waffen-SS members, attempted to place a glorifying obituary for him in the German newspaperFrankfurter Allgemeine. To HIAG's indignation, the newspaper refused to run the obituary.[5]
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