Wilhelm Bittrich Wilhelm Bittrich ( February 26 , 1894 – April 19 , 1979 ) was an SS - Obergruppenführer and Waffen - SS General during World War II . Overview . Born in Wernigerode in the Harz mountains of Germany , Bittrich served as an army officer and fighter pilot during World War I and was also a member of the Freikorps . He joined the SS - " Verfügungstruppe " in 1934 and the " Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler " in 1939 . He was in command of the " Deutschland " Regiment during the fighting in Poland ( 1939 ) and France ( 1940 ) . Later he assumed command over the 2nd SS Panzer Division " Das Reich " and the II . SS - Panzerkorps ( " Hohenstaufen " & " Frundsberg " Divisions ) . He is perhaps now best remembered for his contribution to the defeat of the failed allied airborne offensive Operation Market Garden which took place in the Netherlands in September 1944 . Bittrich also commanded a corps in the German defense against the Vienna Offensive from April 2 to April 13 , 1945 . However , he led the 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer , involved in war crimes in the USSR ( August 1942 - 15 February 1943 ) . Bittrich survived the War and died in a local hospital in Wolfratshausen , Bavaria on April 19 , 1979 . Bittrich was a source for Cornelius Ryan in researching " A Bridge Too Far " . During the interview he is reported to have been most concerned with correcting inaccurate reports that he was a skilled concert pianist . He claimed these reports stemmed from confusion with his brother . Postwar Prosecution . After his arrest on May 8 , 1945 he was extradited to France on charges of having ordered the execution of 17 members of the Resistance in Nîmes . The trial revealed that Bittrich had not given such an order and had even opened procedures against the responsible officers . As the commander in charge of the culprits , he was held responsible for the misconduct of his subordinate troops and sentenced to five years in prison . The sentence was considered as served after a long pretrial detention . He was put on trial for a second time in 1953 and sentenced to five years in prison for countenancing hangings , pillage and arson , but was acquitted by the French court in Bordeaux again and released in 1954 . Opposition of the Nazi Party . General Bittrich was among a circle of young Reichswehr officers who appreciated the SS ' s military doctrine and took the opportunity to form the new service . He always described himself as convinced of large parts of the Nazi ideology , but felt disdain for his " incompetent " leaders and thought the regime ' s crimes would violate an officer ' s sense of honour . According to German historian Heinz Höhne , Bittrich vowed to support a plot against the Nazi regime on July 15 , 1944 when he met Erwin Rommel and promised that he and his troops were at Rommel ' s disposal if the Field Marshal so requested , but like many he warned that Hitler had to be removed from power first . This condition was never met . Bittrich is also reported to have been the most sarcastic man in Germany . He was allegedly marked for death by Heinrich Himmler in 1945 as a result of the extremely unflattering comments he made about the Nazi leadership . In any case it is known that his superiors tried to replace him by force several times ; during Operation Market Garden in 1944 , Himmler had sent " Reichsarzt - SS " Karl Gebhardt to relieve Bittrich from his command and bring him back to Berlin . Following operation Market - Garden in 1944 , Albert Speer visited the frontlines and had an opportunity to meet General Bittrich . Speer later wrote : Other visits ( to the front ) showed me that efforts were being made on the Western Front to arrange agreements with the enemy upon special problems . At Arnhem , I found General Bittrich of the Waffen - SS in a state of fury . The day before , his Second Tank Corps had virtually wiped out a British airborne division . During the fighting the general had made an arrangement permitting the enemy to run a field hospital behind the German lines . But party functionaries had taken it upon themselves to kill captured British and American pilots , and Bittrich looked like a liar . His violent denunciation of the party was all the more striking since it came from an SS general . After his unit had been tasked with the defense of Vienna in spring 1945 , Bittrich immediately pulled his troops out of the city to save it from destruction despite the order to hold Vienna " to the last breath " . Notes . NSDAP # : 829 700 - He joined the NSDAP on December 1 , 1932 < br > SS # : 39 177 - He joined the SS on July 1 , 1932