The 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) was officially founded in November 1933 as Adolf Hitler's personal Bodyguard Regiment. During the 1930s, the LSSAH was a separate unit from the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) and the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT).
The LSSAH participated in combat during the Invasion of Poland (1939). The LSSAH later joined with the SS-VT to take part in the Battle of France in 1940 and Operation Barbarossa in 1941. By the end of World War II they had been increased in size from a Regiment to a Panzer Division of the Waffen-SS, with a number of the Division's members were awarded the Knight's Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grades were based on four separate enactments. The first enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of September 1, 1939 instituted the Iron Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. As the war progressed some of the recipients distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of June 3, 1940. In 1941 two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of September 28, 1941 introduced the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. At the end of 1944 the last and final grade, the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 of December 29, 1944 concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.
To qualify for the Knight's Cross, a soldier had to already hold the 1939 Iron Cross First Class, though the Iron Cross I Class was awarded concurrently with the Knight's Cross in rare cases. Unit commanders could also be awarded the medal for exemplary conduct by the unit as a whole.
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was divided into five grades, excluding the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross:
Knights Cross
Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and swords
Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
Knights Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
Josef Dietrich 06.08.1944 SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer and Panzer-Generaloberst of the Waffen-SS and commanding general of the I. SS-Panzerkorps "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"
Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
Josef Dietrich 14.03.1943 Obergruppenführer and General of W-SS, Commander SS Panzer Gren Division LSSAH
Joachim Peiper 11.01.1945 Obersturmbannführer Commander 1st SS Panzer Rgt
Theodor Wisch 30.08.1944 Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of W-SS, Commander 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH
Michael Wittmann 22.06.1944 Obersturmführer and Chief of the 2./schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101
Josef Dietrich 31.12.1941 Obergruppenführer and General of W-SS
Albert Frey 20.12.1943 Obersturmbannführer Commander 1st SS Pz.Gren Rgt
Max Hansen 17.04.1945 Standartenführer Commander 1st SS Pz.Gren Rgt
Hugo Kraas 24.01.1944 Obersturmbannführer Commander 2nd SS Pz.Gren Rgt
Kurt Meyer 23.02.1943 Obersturmbannführer Commander Reconnaissance Battalion
Joachim Peiper 27.01.1944 Sturmbannführer Commander 1st SS Panzer Rgt
Werner Pötschke 15.03.1945 Sturmbannführer Commander I/1st SS Panzer Rgt
Theodor Wisch 12.02.1944 Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of W-SS Commander 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH
Fritz Witt 01.03.1943 Standartenführer Commander 1st SS Panzer Gren Rgt
Michael Wittmann 30.01.1944 Untersturmführer platoon commander 13(s)/1st SS Panzer Rgt
SS Division (mot) and SS Infantry Regiment (mot) LSSAH
Josef Dietrich 04.07.1940 Obergruppenführer and General of W-SS Commanding Officer SS Infantry Regiment(mot) LSSAH
Gerhad Pleiß 20.04.1941 Obersturmführer 1/LSSAH (mot)
Heinrich Springer 12.01.1942 Hauptsturmführer 3/LSSAH (mot)
Theodor Wisch 15.09.1941 Sturmbannführer III/SS Infantry Rgt (mot) LSSAH
Rudolf Lehmann 23.02.1944 Obersturmbannführer IA 1st SS -Panzer Div LSSAH
Josef Armberger 31.10.1944 Obersturmführer 8/SS Panzer Regiment 1
Wilhelm Beck 28.03.1943 Obersturmführer II/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Hans Dauser 04.06.1944 Oberscharführer platoon commander II/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Martin Groß 22.07.1943 Sturmbannführer II/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Konrad Heubeck 17.04.1945 Untersturmführer 1/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Heinrich Kling 23.02.1944 Hauptsturmführer 13(s)/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Herbert Kuhlmann 13.02.1944 Sturmbannführer I/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Hans Malkomes 30.10.1944 Obersturmführer 2/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Werner Pötschke 04.06.1944 Hauptsturmführer 1/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Hans Reimling 28.02.1943 Oberscharführer platoon commander 2/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Rudolf von Ribbentrop 15.07.1943 Obersturmführer 6/SS Panzer Rgt 1, (son of Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop)
Georg Schönberger 20.12.1943 Obersturmbannführer SS Panzer Rgt 1
Franz Staudegger 10.07.1943 Unterscharführer Panzer commander 13(s)/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Michael Wittmann 14.01.1944 Untersturmführer platoon commander 13(s)/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Balthasar Woll 16.01.1944 Rottenführer tank gunner 13(s)/SS Panzer Rgt 1 (crew gunner for Michael Wittmann)
Max Wünsche 28.02.1943 Sturmbannführer I/SS Panzer Rgt 1
Herman Dahlke 03.03.1943 Oberscharführer 3/1st SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Albert Frey 03.03.1943 Sturmbannführer I/1st SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Erich Göstl 31.10.1944 Panzergrenadier MG-Gunner 6./1st SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Erich Grätz 14.05.1944 Hauptsturmführer 18./1st SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Max Hansen 28.03.1943 Sturmbannführer II/1st SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Frank Hasse 06.08.1944 Obersturmführer 11./1st SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Heinz Nowotnik 14.05.1944 Untersturmführer 14./1st SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Alfred Schneidereit 20.12.1943 Rottenführer Anti-tank rifleman 8./1st SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Hans Becker 28.03.1943 Hauptsturmführer 2./2nd SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Josef Diefenthal 05.02.1945 Hauptsturmführer III/2nd SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Gerhard Grebarsche 24.01.1944 Hauptscharführer platoon commander 3./2nd SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Paul Guhl 04.06.1944 Hauptsturmführer III/2nd SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Georg Karck 03.08.1943 Obersturmführer 9./2nd SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Hugo Kraas 28.03.1943 Sturmbannführer I/2nd SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Joachim Peiper 09.03.1943 Sturmbannführer III/2nd SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Georg Preuß 05.02.1945 Obersturmführer 10./2nd SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Rudolf Sandig 05.05.1943 Sturmbannführer II/2nd SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Bernhard Siebken 17.04.1945 Obersturmbannführer 2nd SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Werner Wolff 07.08.1943 Untersturmführer Adjutant III/2nd SS Pz.Gren.Rgt
Alfred Günther 03.03.1943 Oberscharführer platoon commander 1./1st Stug Btn
Heinrich Heimann 23.02.1944 Hauptsturmführer 1st SS Stug Btn
Fritz Henke 12.02.1944 Oberscharführer platoon commander 3./1st SS Stug Btn
Karl Rettlinger 20.12.1943 Hauptsturmführer 3./1st SS Stug Btn
Emil Wiesemann 20.12.1943 Hauptsturmführer 2./1st SS Stug Btn
Kurt Sametreiter 31.07.1943 Oberscharführer platoon commander 3.(s.)/1st SS Pz Jag Btn
Gerhard Bremer 30.10.1941 Obersturmführer 1./1st SS Aufkl Btn
Gustav Knittel 04.06.1944 Sturmbannführer 1st SS Pz Aufkl Btn
Kurt Meyer 18.05.1941 Sturmbannführer SS Aufkl Btn
Hermann Weiser 28.03.1943 Obersturmführer 2./1st SS Aufkl Btn
Walter Pitsch 06.05.1945 Hauptscharführer 4./1st SS Flak Bt*
SS Training and Reserve Battalion 1 LSSAH
Friedrich Blond 28.04.1945 Obersturmführer, 12th Company.
