page_title: 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
section_title: Battle of Kursk
hierarchical_section_title: 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler / Battle of Kursk
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Joachim Peiper 377. Eichenlaubträger SS-Obsturmbfhr. Joachim Peiper, Kdr. der Pz.-Rgts.-SS-Pz. Div. Lbstd. "Adolf Hitler", erhielt das Eichenlaub am 3.2.44 PK Alber/Scherl [SS-Sturmbannführer Joachim Peiper mit Ritterkreuz (verliehen am 9. März 1943; Porträt)] Abgebildete Personen: Peiper, Joachim: SS-Obersturmbannführer, Ritterkreuz (RK), Waffen-SS, Deutschland (GND 118592424)
context_page_description: The 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler", short LSSAH, began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard, responsible for guarding the Führer's person, offices, and residences. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into an elite division-sized unit during World War II.
  The LSSAH participated in combat during the invasion of Poland, and was amalgamated into the Waffen-SS together with the SS-Verfügungstruppe and the combat units of the SS-Totenkopfverbände prior to Operation Barbarossa in 1941. By mid-1942 it had been increased in size from a regiment to a Panzergrenadier division and was designated SS Panzergrenadier Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler". It received its final form as a Panzer division in October 1943.
  Members of the LSSAH perpetrated numerous atrocities and war crimes, including the Malmedy massacre. They killed an estimated 5,000 prisoners of war in the period 1940–1945, mostly on the Eastern Front.
context_section_description: The spring rasputitsa halted offensive operations, giving the LSSAH time to rest and refit. By early June 1943, the division had been fully refitted and was now under the command of SS-Brigadeführer, Theodor Wisch. Its armor strength was 12 Tiger Is, 72 Panzer IVs, 16 Panzer III and Panzer IIs, and 31 StuGs. In late June 1943, the formation of I SS Panzer Corps meant that Hausser's SS Panzer Corps was renamed II SS Panzer Corps.
  The II SS Panzer Corps was moved north to Belgorod in preparation for the upcoming summer offensive Operation Citadel. The LSSAH, along with the SS Divisions Totenkopf and Das Reich, was to form the spearhead of General Hermann Hoth's 4th Panzer Army, tasked with breaching the southern flank of the Kursk salient. Field Marshal Walter Model's 9th Army was to breach the northern flank, and the two forces were to meet near the city of Kursk, to the east, thereby encircling a large Soviet force.
  The attack commenced on 5 July. The LSSAH's panzers, advancing in Panzerkeils (wedges), soon ran into the elaborate defenses of the Red Army, which slowed the advance. By 9 July, the II SS Panzer Corps had advanced 48 km (30 mi) north, and were nearing the small town of Prokhorovka. The LSSAH again took the lead; by now its strength was reduced to just 77 armored vehicles. The 2nd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, supported by several tanks, advanced up the road to Prokhorovka against heavy resistance. By midday, the infantry had cleared the Komsomolets State Farm and begun the attack on Hill 241.6, which they secured shortly after nightfall on 10 July.
  The next day the advance resumed, with the division capturing Oktiabr'skii State Farm and Hill 252.2 in heavy fighting against Soviet Paratroops of the 9th Guards Airborne Division. On 12 July, the Soviets threw the 5th Guards Tank Army into a counterattack near Prokhorovka. Two tank corps faced the LSSAH, hitting the Germans around Oktiabr'skii State Farm and Hill 252.2. In the ensuing fighting, the Germans inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviets. The Soviet counterattack had stalled the German advance, and the division was forced to fall back to Oktiabr'skii. The Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army lost 300 tanks destroyed and further 300 damaged on 12 July. Fighting continued the next day, but the focus of the Soviet attack had then shifted to the Totenkopf, on the left of the LSSAH.
  With the battle at Prokhorovka still in the balance, Soviet High Command launched an offensive of their own, Operation Kutuzov, near Orel causing Hitler to order the cessation of Citadel. The II SS Panzer Corps was pulled back. The LSSAH was ordered out of the line, having suffered 2,753 casualties including 474 killed. Eleven tanks were also lost during Citadel. The division was sent to Italy to help stabilize the situation there caused by the deposal of Benito Mussolini by the Badoglio government and the Allied invasion of Sicily which began on the night of 9–10 July 1943. The division left behind its heavy equipment, which was given to Das Reich and Totenkopf.
caption: Joachim Peiper, commander of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment LSSAH.
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