Wietersheim was appointed commander of a rifle regiment of the 1st Panzer-Division on 20 July 1941, with which he took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. The 1st Panzer Division was subordinated to Panzer Group 4 under the command of General Erich Hoepner operating on the northern sector of the Eastern Front. In late 1944, Wietersheim was in the south of France, commanding the 11th Panzer Division as it faced Allied amphibious landings near Toulon and Nice. Wietersheim surrendered to the US 90th Infantry Division in May 1945, in Czechoslovakia near the border with Bavaria.