36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS The 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS , also known as the SS - Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger ( 1944 ) , or simply the Dirlewanger Brigade , was a military unit of the " Waffen - SS " during World War II , and was led by convicted child rapist Oskar Dirlewanger . Originally formed for anti - partisan duties against the Polish resistance the unit eventually saw action against the Soviet Red Army near the end of the war . During its operations it engaged in the rape , pillaging and mass murder of civilians . One of Dirlwangers most personal atrocious public acts , was during the Warsaw Uprising . When one of his SS units marched a group of Polish civilians past him , he walked up to a family and then ripped a newborn infant from a mothers arms . He than swung the baby by one arm into a burning pile of debris from the fighting , as he made the parents and crowd watch the infant be burnt alive . He ordered the unit to murder the civilians on site . The unit participated in some of World War II ' s most notorious campaigns of terror in the east . During the organization ' s time in Russia , Dirlewanger burned women and children alive and let the starved packs of dogs feed on them . He was known to hold large formations with the sole purpose of injecting Jews with strychnine . Dirlewanger ' s unit took part in the occupation of Belarus , where it carved out a reputation within the Waffen - SS as an atrocious unit . Numerous Heer and SS commanders attempted to remove Dirlewanger from the SS and disband the unit , although he had patrons within the Nazi apparatus who intervened on his behalf . His unit was most notably credited with the destruction of Warsaw and its population during the Warsaw and Slovak uprisings in 1944 . Dirlewanger ' s unit earned notoriety as the most criminal and heinous SS unit in Hitler ' s war machine . Oskar Dirlewanger . The history of the Dirlewanger Brigade is inextricably linked to the life of its commander , Oskar Dirlewanger , a known sadist , often called the most evil man in the SS . After receiving the Iron Cross first and second class while serving in the Imperial German Army during World War I , Dirlewanger joined the " Freikorps " and took part in the crushing of German Revolution of 1918 – 19 . He joined the Nazi Party in 1923 . After graduation from Citizens ' University , Dirlewanger worked at a bank and a knit - wear factory . He became a violent alcoholic and in 1934 , was convicted of raping a 14 - year - old girl and stealing government property . He was expelled from the Nazi Party and forced later to reapply . After serving a two - year jail sentence , Dirlewanger was released . Soon after , he was arrested again for sexual assault . He was interned in a concentration camp . Desperate , Dirlewanger contacted Gottlob Berger , an old " Freikorps " comrade who was working closely with Heinrich Himmler , the " Reichsführer - SS " . Berger secured his friend ' s release and an appointment to the " Legión Cóndor " , a German volunteer unit which fought in the Spanish Civil War for Franco ' s " Falange Española " . After returning to Germany in 1939 , he enlisted with the " Allgemeine SS " ( General - SS ) with the rank of SS - " Untersturmführer " . In mid - 1940 , following the invasion of Poland Berger arranged for Dirlewanger to train a partisan - hunting military unit under his own control , composed of men convicted of poaching . Composition . On 14 June 1940 , the " Wilddiebkommando Oranienburg " ( Oranienburg Poacher ' s Unit ) , a part of the " Waffen - SS " was formed . Himmler made Dirlewanger its commander . Within a couple of years , the unit grew into a band of common criminals . In contrast to those who served in the German penal battalions for committing minor offences , the recruits sent into Dirlewanger ' s band were convicted of major crimes , i . e . premeditated murder , rape , arson , burglary , etc . Dirlewanger provided them with an opportunity to committ atrocities on such a scale that even the SS executioners complained . Martin Windrow , the British historian , described them as a " terrifying rabble " of " cut - throats , renegades , sadistic morons , and cashiered rejects from other units . " Some Nazi officials romanticized the unit , viewing the men as " pure primitive German men " who were " resisting the law " . By September 1940 , the formation numbered over 300 men . Dirlewanger was appointed an SS - " Obersturmführer " by Himmler . With the influx of criminals , the emphasis on poachers was now lost , and those convicted of other more severe crimes , including criminally insane , joined the unit . Accordingly , the unit name was changed to " Sonderkommando Dirlewanger " ( Special Unit " Dirlewanger " ) . As the unit strength grew , it was placed under the command of the " SS - Totenkopfverbände " ( the same formation was responsible for the administration of the concentration camps ) and redesignated as the " SS - Sonderbataillon Dirlewanger " . In January 1942 , to re - build its strength , the unit was authorised to recruit Russia n and Ukrainian volunteers . By February 1943 the number of men in the battalion doubled to 700 ( half of them " Volksdeutsche " ) . It became a " Waffen - SS " unit again in late 1944 . Operational history . Invasion of Poland . On 1 August 1940 , the " " Dirlewanger " " unit strengthened by German criminals and madmen was assigned to guard duties in the region of Lublin ( see Nisko Plan and the Majdanek concentration camp ) in the General Government territory of occupied Poland . According to journalist and author , Matthew Cooper , " wherever the Dirlewanger unit operated , corruption and rape formed an every - day part of life and indiscriminate slaughter , beatings and looting were rife . " The General Government ' s " Höherer SS - und Polizeiführer " Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger was disturbed by the brutality of the " " Dirlewanger " " . His complaints resulted in its transfer to Belarus in February 1942 . Belarus . In Belarus ( i . e . " Reichskommissariat Ostland " ) , the unit came under the command of " Höherer SS - und - Polizeiführer " , Erich von dem Bach . The " " Dirlewanger " " resumed anti - partisan activities in this area , working in cooperation with the Kaminski Brigade . Dirlewanger ' s preferred method of operation was to gather civilians in a barn , set it on fire and shoot with machine guns anyone who tried to escape ; the victims of his unit numbered about 30 , 000 . According to Timothy Snyder , a Yale historian , In September 1942 , the unit murdered 8 , 350 Jews in Baranovichi ghetto and then a further 389 people labeled " bandits " and 1 , 274 " bandit suspects " . According to the British - Canadian historian , Martin Kitchen , the unit , On 17 August 1942 , the expansion of the " " Dirlewanger " " to regiment al size was authorized . Recruits were to come from criminals , Eastern volunteers ( " Osttruppen " ) and military delinquents . The second battalion occurred in February 1943 when the regiment ' s strength reached 700 men . 300 men were anti - communists from Soviet territory . The unit was redesignated as the " SS - Sonderregiment Dirlewanger " . In May 1943 , the ability to volunteer for service in the regiment was extended to all criminals . 500 men convicted of the most severe crimes were absorbed into the regiment . May and June saw the unit taking part in Operation Cottbus , an anti - partisan operation . In August 1943 , the creation of a third battalion was authorised . With its expansion , the " " Dirlewanger " " was allowed to display rank insignia and a unique collar patch ( at first crossed rifles , later crossed stick grenades ) . During this period , the regiment saw heavy fighting ; Dirlewanger himself led many assaults . In November 1943 , the regiment was committed to front - line action with the Army Group Centre in an attempt to halt the Soviet advance , and suffered extreme casualties due to ineptitude . Dirlewanger received the German Gold Cross on December 5 , 1943 in recognition of his earnestness , but by December 30 , 1943 , the unit consisted of only 259 men . Large numbers of amnestied criminals were sent to rebuild the regiment and by late February 1944 , the regiment was back up to full strength . It was decided that Eastern volunteers would no longer be admitted to the unit , as the Russians had proved to be particularly unreliable in combat . Anti - partisan operations continued until June 1944 , when the Soviets launched Operation Bagration , which was aimed at the destruction of Army Group Centre . The " " Dirlewanger " " was caught up in the retreat and began falling back to Poland . The regiment performed several rear guard actions and reached Poland , decimated , but in good order . Return to Poland . When the " Armia Krajowa " began the Warsaw Uprising on 1 August 1944 , " " Dirlewanger " " was sent into action as part of the " Kampfgruppe " formation led by SS - " Gruppenführer " Heinz Reinfarth ; again , alongside Kaminski ' s Russian " SS Sturmbrigade " ( of 1 , 700 men ) . Acting on orders that came directly from " Reichfuhrer - SS " Heinrich Himmler , Kaminsky ' s and Dirlewanger ' s henchmen were given a free hand to rape , loot , torture and butcher . Over the following days , the troops indiscriminately massacred Polish combatants along with civilian men , women and children in the Wola District of Warsaw . While some of the regiment ' s actions were criticized by von dem Bach ( who after the war described them as " a herd of pigs " ) and the sector commander , " Generalmajor " Günter Rohr ; Dirlewanger was recommended by Reinefarth for the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross and promotion to " SS - Oberführer der Reserve " . The Dirlewanger ' s brigade fought against the insurgents in Warsaw while suffering extremely high losses . Although the regiment arrived in the city numbering only 865 soldiers and 16 officers ; soon , received reinforcements of 2 , 500 men , ( including 1 , 900 German convicts from the SS military camp at Danzig - Matzkau ) . During the course of the two - month urban warfare " " Dirlewanger " " lost 2 , 733 men . Thus , total casualties numbered 315 % of the unit ' s initial strength . Thanks to Mathias Schenck from Belgium , many previously unknown episodes of the carnage had been revealed . The brutal murder of 500 small children was committed by " " Dirlewanger " " during the 1944 Wola massacre . " After the door of the building was blown off – Schenck testified – we saw a daycare - full of small children , around 500 ; all with small hands in the air . Even Dirlewanger ' s own people called him a butcher ; he ordered to kill them all . The shots were fired , but he requested his men to save the ammo and finish them off by rifle - butts and bayonet s . Blood and brain matter flowed in streams down the stairs . " Schenk ( a sapper from Wehrmacht ) testified seeing a " Dirlewanger " man raping a girl while wielding a knife , and than cutting her wide open along the entire length of her torso after ejaculation . Up to 40 , 000 civilians were murdered in Praga in less than two weeks of July including all hospital patients and staff . < ref name = " Nowak / Kuźniak " > < / ref > Between August and October 1944 , the Dirlewanger Brigade ( recruited from criminals and the mentally ill throughout Germany ) and the Waffen - Sturm - Brigade RONA were sent to Warsaw to put down the uprising . During the battle , the Dirlewanger behaved atrociously , raping , looting , and killing citizens of Warsaw regardless of whether they belonged to the Polish resistance or not ; the unit commander SS - Oberführer Oskar Dirlewanger encouraged their excesses . The unit ' s behavior was reportedly so bestial and indiscriminate that Himmler was forced to send a battalion of SS military police to ensure the Dirlewanger convicts did not turn their aggressions against the leadership of the brigade or other nearby German units . [ 81 ] At the same time they were encouraged by Himmler to terrorize freely , take no prisoners , and generally indulge their perverse tendencies . Favoured tactics of the Dirlewanger men during the siege reportedly included the ubiquitous gang rape of female Poles , both women and children ; playing " bayonet catch " with live babies ; and torturing captives to death by hacking off their arms , dousing them with gasoline , and setting them alight to run armless and flaming down the street . [ 82 ] [ 81 ] The Dirlewanger brigade committed almost non - stop atrocities during this period , in particular the four - day Wola massacre . By 3 October 1944 , the Poles had surrendered and the depleted regiment spent the next month guarding the Vistula line . During this time , the regiment was upgraded to brigade status , and named " SS - Sonderbrigade Dirlewanger " ( SS Special Brigade Dirlewanger ) . In early October , it was decided to upgrade the " " Dirlewanger " " again , this time to a " Waffen - SS " combat brigade . Accordingly , it was redesignated as the " 2 . SS - Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger " in December 1944 , and soon reached its complement of 4 , 000 men . Slovakia and Hungary . When the Slovak National Uprising began in late August 1944 , the newly formed brigade was committed to action . The conduct of the brigade played a large part in putting down the rebellion , and by 30 October the crisis was averted . With the outcome of the war no longer in doubt , large numbers of communist and socialist political prisoners began applying for the " " Dirlewanger " " in the hope of defecting to the Soviets . " SS - Brigadeführer " Fritz Schmedes , disgraced former commander of the 4th SS Polizei Division , was assigned to the " " Dirlewanger " " by Himmler as punishment for refusing to carry out orders . With his extensive combat experience , Schmedes became the unofficial advisor to Dirlewanger on front line combat . In December , the brigade was sent to the front in Hungary . While several newly formed battalions made up of communist and socialist volunteers fell apart , several other battalions fought well . During a month ' s fighting , the brigade suffered heavy casualties and was pulled back to Slovakia to refit and reorganize . Germany . In February 1945 , orders were given to expand the brigade to a division ; however , before this could begin it was sent north to the Oder - Neisse line in an attempt to halt the Soviet advance . On 14 February 1945 , the brigade was redesignated as the " 36 . Waffen - Grenadier - Division der SS " . With its expansion to a division of 4 , 000 men , the " " Dirlewanger " " had regular " Heer " units attached to the formation : a Grenadier regiment , a " Pionier " brigade and a " Panzerjäger " battalion . Individual " Sturmpionier " demolition engineers had already been attached to the force during the fighting in Warsaw . When the final Soviet offensive began on 16 April 1945 , the division was pushed back to the northeast . The next day , Oskar Dirlewanger was seriously wounded in combat for the twelfth time . He was sent to the rear and Schmedes immediately assumed command . Dirlewanger would not return to the division . Desertion became more and more common . When Schmedes attempted to reorganize his division on April 25 , he found it had virtually ceased to exist . The situation was highly fluid , with men of the 73rd Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS lynching their commanding officer Ewald Ehlers ( the former commandant of Dachau concentration camp , he had been convicted of corruption ) . On 1 May 1945 , the Soviets wiped out all that was left of the " 36 . Waffen - Grenadier - Division " in the Halbe Pocket . The small remnant of the division that managed to escape attempted to reach the U . S . Army lines on the Elbe river . Schmedes and his staff managed to reach the Americans and surrendered on 3 May . Only about 700 men of the division survived the war . In June 1945 , Dirlewanger was captured by the Free French forces in Germany and allegedly killed by Polish soldiers in Altshausen . In 2009 , Polish authorities claimed to have identified three surviving members of " " Dirlewanger " " living in Germany and announced their intent to prosecute them .