August Heissmeyer August Heißmeyer ( or Heissmeyer – born 11 January 1897 in Gellersen , nowadays part of Aerzen ; died 16 January 1979 in Schwäbisch Hall ) , was a leading member of the SS . After World War II , Heissmeyer was sentenced to a prison term as a war criminal . His nephew , Kurt Heissmeyer , an SS physician , was as well . Life . After finishing school , Heissmeyer joined the Prussia n military . In World War I , he was a lieutenant and was decorated with , among other things , the Iron Cross , First Class . Previously married with six children in his custody , Heissmeyer married Gertrud Scholtz - Klink – the " Reich Women ' s Leader " ( " Reichsfrauenführerin " ) – who had two previous marriages herself . After giving up his studies , he busied himself as a driving teacher . In 1923 he first came into contact with the Nazi Party , which he joined in 1925 . In early 1926 , Heissmeyer also joined the SA in which he participated actively , was responsible for building up the " SA - Gausturm Hannover - Süd " , and was for a time the acting Gauleiter . In January 1930 , Heissmeyer applied to join the SS and was accepted as the 4370th member . From 1932 , Heissmeyer was an associate at the SS main office and was promoted many times . From 1935 , he was " Head of the SS Main Office " , thus reaching a key position in the SS hierarchy and relieving Heinrich Himmler from that specific position . On 9 November 1936 , Heissmeyer was appointed SS - Obergruppenführer and Inspector of the National Political Institutes of Education ( NPEA ) . In April 1939 , Richard Schulze served as an adjutant to Heissmeyer until his transfer on June 8 . Furthermore , in 1939 , Heissmeyer was appointed SS Oberabschnittsleiter " East " and in 1940 " Higher SS and Police Leader Spree " . He thereby oversaw the Berlin - Brandenburg area . With the outbreak of the Second World War , Heissmeyer now saw fit to set up the " " Dienststelle SS - Obergruppenführer Heissmeyer " " – his own bureau – and was thereby responsible for NPEA students ' military training . August Heissmeyer took over the General Inspection of the Strengthened SS Totenkopf Standard in 1940 from the outgoing Theodor Eicke , who in 1939 had begun commanding a front line division and therefore gave his supervision over the concentration camp s back to the SS Main Leadership Office ( " SS - Führungshauptamt " ) . Heissmeyer was provisionally in charge of this bureau until May 1942 . Then , he left the position to the new " concentration camp inspector " SS - Gruppenführer Richard Glücks . On 14 November 1944 , Heissmeyer was given the right to bear the title " General of the Waffen - SS " along with his regular SS rank , thereby affording him a prestigious position in the Waffen - SS . In April 1945 , he was given command of " Battle Group Heissmeyer " , a collection of Volkssturm and Hitlerjugend tasked with protecting the Spandau airfield outside Berlin . Post - war . On 29 February 1948 , Heissmeyer was captured by French authorities near Tübingen , and held for trial the following month . He served 18 months in prison before being released in 1949 . The following year he was sentenced by the de - Nazification appeals court to 3 years imprisonment and forfeiture of property as a " major Nazi offender " . After his release , Heissmeyer went to live in Schwäbisch Hall . He became the director of the West German Coca - Cola bottling plant . He died on 16 January 1979 , five days after his 82nd birthday .