Question: When did the earliest Knight 's Cross with Oak Leaves award winner join the Nazi party ?

text: List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords or Diamonds recipients of the Waffen-SS
Recipients -- Knight 's Cross with Oak Leaves

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German language: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest award in the military of the Third Reich. During or shortly after World War II, 457 German servicemen of the Waffen-SS, including volunteers from Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Hungary, Latvia, Netherlands and Norway, received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Of these, 411 presentations were formally made and evidence of the award is still available in the German Federal Archives. One recipient, Hermann Fegelein, was court-martialed and executed on 29 April 1945. According to German law he was deprived of rank and all awards previously. Fegelein must therefore be considered a de facto but not de jure recipient. A further 46 Knight's Cross, nine Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and four Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords recipients are either lacking the evidence to sustain their listings or received the award under questionable legal terms. However, all of them were accepted by the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (Ordensgemeinschaft der Ritterkreuzträger des Eisernen Kreuzes e.V.) as legitimate recipients.
Number Name Rank Unit Date of award Notes
41 Josef Dietrich SS- Obergruppenführer SS-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ( mot . ) 31 December 1941 Awarded 26th Swords 14 March 1943 16th Diamonds 6 August 1944
88 Theodor Eicke SS- Obergruppenführer SS-Division Totenkopf 20 April 1942 Killed in action 26 February 1943
91 Alfred Wünnenberg SS- Brigadeführer SS-Polizei-Division 23 April 1942
157 Hermann Fegelein ? SS- Oberführer SS- Kampfgruppe Fegelein 22 December 1942 Awarded 83rd Swords 30 July 1944
159 Felix Steiner SS- Gruppenführer 5 . SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 23 December 1942 Awarded 86th Swords 10 August 1944
195 Kurt Meyer SS- Obersturmbannführer SS-Aufklärungs-Abteilung Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler 23 February 1943 Awarded 91st Swords 27 August 1944
200 Fritz Witt SS- Standartenführer SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 1 Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler 1 March 1943 Killed in action 14 June 1944
220 Hinrich Schuldt SS- Standartenführer SS Brigade Schuldt 2 April 1943 Awarded 56th Swords 25 March 1944
221 Otto Kumm SS- Obersturmbannführer SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Der Führer 6 April 1943 Awarded 138th Swords 17 March 1945
233 August Dieckmann SS- Sturmbannführer I./SS-Regiment Germania 16 April 1943 Awarded 39th Swords 10 October 1943
246 Georg Bochmann SS- Sturmbannführer II./SS-Kradschützen-Regiment Thule 17 May 1943 Awarded 140th Swords 26 March 1945
261 Paul Hausser SS- Obergruppenführer II . SS-Panzerkorps 28 July 1943 Awarded 90th Swords 26 August 1944
277 Otto Baum SS- Obersturmbannführer SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Totenkopf 22 August 1943 Awarded 95th Swords 2 September 1944
286 Walter Krüger SS- Gruppenführer SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich 31 August 1943 Awarded 120th Swords 11 January 1945
296 Heinz Harmel SS- Standartenführer SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 3 7 September 1943 Awarded 116th Swords 15 December 1944
297 Hermann Prieß SS- Brigadeführer 3 . SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf 9 September 1943 Awarded 65th Swords 24 April 1944
303 Sylvester Stadler SS- Obersturmbannführer SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Der Führer 16 September 1943 Awarded 152nd Swords 6 May 1945
310 Hubert-Erwin Meierdress SS- Hauptsturmführer I./SS-Panzer-Regiment 3 5 October 1943 Killed in action 4 January 1945
315 Herbert-Otto Gille SS- Brigadeführer SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Wiking 1 November 1943 Awarded 47th Swords 20 February 1944 12th Diamonds 19 April 1944
327 Hans Dorr SS- Hauptsturmführer I./SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Germania 13 November 1943 Awarded 77th Swords 9 July 1944