Bernhard Siebken
Bernhard Seibken
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Born | 4 April 1910 Pinneberg |
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Hameln |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ |
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Years of service | 1939–45 |
Rank | Obersturmbannführer |
Unit | 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler 12th SS Panzer Division Hitler Youth |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class Eastern Front Medal War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords |
Bernhard Siebken (4 April 1910 — 20 January 1949) was a SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen-SS, the armed paramilitary branch of the Nazi Party's Schutzstaffel (SS), and a convicted war criminal.
SS career
Siebken was one of the original members of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH).[1] He took part in the Polish campaign of 1939 and went on to serve on the eastern front. In 1944, Seibken commanded the 2nd Battalion, 26th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment and later the 25th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment; both with the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth). On 21 June 1944, he was promoted to the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer. Siebken was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 April 1945.
![](/w/images/thumb/8/8c/HIAG_organisation_laying_a_wreath_at_the_grave_of_Bernhard_Siebken.jpg/300px-HIAG_organisation_laying_a_wreath_at_the_grave_of_Bernhard_Siebken.jpg)
Post-war
After the end of the war, he stood trial for war crimes related to his activities while in command of the 2nd Battalion, 26th Panzer Grenadier Regiment. He was found guilty in the shootings of Canadian prisoners of war and hanged on 20 January 1949.
Following the reburial of executed war criminals in Hamelin in 1954, the cemetery became the focal point for veterans' reunions, with distinct Nazi overtones. In 1959, for example, the convention of the lobby group and revisionist organisation of former Waffen-SS members, HIAG, concluded with "comrades gathering around [Siebken's] tomb" and laying a wreath.[2]
Awards
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 April 1945 as SS-Obersturmbannführer and commander of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2 "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"[3][4]
References
Citations
- ↑ Margolian 1998, p. 76.
- ↑ Ward 2015.
- ↑ Scherzer 2007, p. 704.
- ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 400.
Bibliography
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- 1910 births
- 1949 deaths
- People from Pinneberg
- People from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein
- SS-Obersturmbannführer
- Executed Nazis
- Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
- Nazis convicted of war crimes
- People from Schleswig-Holstein executed by hanging
- Waffen-SS personnel
- German people executed by hanging