Hans Jüttner

Hans Jüttner
Hans Jüttner
Born	2 March 1894 Schmiegel (Śmigiel), Province of Posen
Died	24 May 1965 (1965-05-25) (aged 71) Bad Tölz, Bavaria
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Schutzstaffel
Years of service	1914–1918 1933-1945
Rank	SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Waffen-SS
Battles / wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross in Silver with Swords War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords

Hans Jüttner (2 March 1894 – 24 May 1965) was head of the SS's Main Leadership Office and also an SS-Obergruppenführer.

Early life and career

Jüttner was born in Schmiegel (Śmigiel) in the Province of Posen. After finishing Gymnasium, Jüttner joined the army as a volunteer and took part in World War I. By 1915 he had been promoted to lieutenant, and he was discharged from the army in 1920 with the rank of first lieutenant. To keep his head above water financially, he worked as a salesman, from 1928 as a freelancer.

Career in the Nazi party

In 1933 Jüttner became a university sport teacher in Breslau (Wrocław). At this time he also joined the SA and was installed in the SA Collegiate Office. In 1934, Jüttner became the leader of the SA training body in Munich. In May 1935, he switched to the SS combat support force (SS-Verfügungstruppe or SS-VT), which later became the Waffen-SS. Jüttner was promoted on 1 September 1936 to SS-Sturmbannführer and appointed to the SS-VT inspection department in Berlin. By 1939, he had become the Inspector of Reserve Troops of the SS-VT-Division. From early 1940, Jüttner lead the SS-VT command office.

Chief of Staff for the Waffen-SS

In the summer of the same year, Jüttner was promoted to chief of staff of the newly created SS Leadership Main Office (SS-Führungshauptamt), which was responsible for the Waffen-SS's organizational and administrative leadership. This was separate from the administration of Nazi concentration camps, the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office (SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt), and from the SS Reich Main Security Office (SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt) which administered the Gestapo, Kripo and SD. Shortly after taking office, Jüttner was instrumental in wresting control of the militarized Death's-Head regiments (Totenkopfstandarten) from Concentration Camps Inspectorate chief Theodor Eicke and amalgamating them into the Waffen-SS. In June 1942, after having been promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer, Jüttner was also given the military rank of General der Waffen-SS.

High command within SS

On 30 January 1943, Jüttner reached the high point of his career when he became Leader of the SS Main Leadership Office. Heinrich Himmler appointed Jüttner Chief of "Army Armament and Commander of the Reserve Army". Hereafter, Jüttner was Himmler's deputy in this area of command. Jüttner was one of those responsible for building the many prisoner of war camps in which Soviet prisoners of war were held.

Post war years

On May 17, 1945, Jüttner was taken prisoner by British forces. In 1948 he was condemned to 10 years service in a labour camp. In appeal proceedings 1949 the punishment was lowered to 4 years. In 1961 Jüttner testified for the prosecution in the trial of Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann. Later Jüttner was the proprietor of a sanatorium in Bad Tölz, where he died.

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross of 1914, 1st and 2nd class
• Iron Cross of 1939, 1st and 2nd class
• Sword of honour of the Reichsführer-SS
• SS Honour Ring ("Totenkopfring")
• War Merit Cross, 1st and 2nd class with Swords
• German Cross in Silver
• Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords (30 October 1944)