Hausser eventually served as chief of staff for
Military Area II. He retired as a lieutenant gen-
eral in January 1932, a stiff-necked, efficient
Prussian officer.
The interwar years occasioned the rise of
Adolf Hitlerand Nazism, which many disaf-
fected army veterans found appealing. In
1933, the year Hitler became chancellor,
Hausser joined the ranks of the Strum-
abteilung(storm troopers), who were em-
ployed by the party as street thugs. However,
one year later he enrolled in a new formation,
the SS (Schutzstaffeln,or protection squads),
which functioned as a distinctive military
bodyguard for Hitler. As the decade pro-
gressed, the SS was expanded to the point
where it formed a military force quite inde-
pendent of the regular Wehrmacht. As such it
was characterized by extreme discipline, ro-
botlike obedience, and utter ruthlessness to-
ward opponents. After a tour with special-
duty units, Hausser was tasked in 1935 with
establishing officer cadet schools of the SS.
Here he combined the regular discipline of
the Wehrmacht with the ideological fanati-
cism of Nazism. To further promote unit es-
prit de corps, SS troops were clad in black
uniforms and received priority in procuring
equipment. Hitler was pleased and promoted
Hausser to major general and commander of
all SS troops. By 1939, this comprised only
two infantry divisions, but Hausser began
pressing Hitler to supply tanks and other
heavy ordnance.
When World War II commenced in Septem-
ber 1939, Hitler initially balked at employing
his SS units alongside regular troops in Poland.
But at Hausser’s urging, the two infantry divi-
sions were released for service against France,
where they fought with skill and fanatical
courage. This success prompted the Führer to
expand their ranks into an army—the Waffen
SS. Within a year, Hausser received command
of the Second SS Motorized Division, the for-
midable Das Reich. He fought furiously during
the initial phases of the Russian invasion, win-
ning high praise for tactical skill but also losing
an eye in combat. However, his SS troops
fought so ferociously that Hitler determined to
supply them with all the tanks and offensive
weapons of a regular army. Naturally, this pref-
erential treatment incurred considerable re-
sentment from the regular Wehrmacht, but by
now the SS had become a permanent fixture of
the Third Reich—and an essential part of
Hitler’s security apparatus. Hausser, mean-
while, had acquired the nickname “Papa” on
account of his age (he was 61), as well as his
fatherly demeanor.
In 1942, Hausser received command of the
II SS Corps, which consisted of the First Leib-
standarte, Second Das Reich, and Third
Totenkopf Divisions. Attached to Army Group
B, he was surrounded at Kharkov in January
1943 and was ordered by Hitler to fight to the
death. Rather than sacrifice his men capri-
ciously, Hausser disregarded instructions and
fought a skillful fighting withdrawal, escaping
intact. This enraged the Führer, but his dis-
pleasure was mitigated the following February
when Hausser counterattacked, driving the
Russians out of Kharkov with heavy losses.
This marked the last offensive victory by Ger-
man arms in the East. In July 1943, the II SS
Panzer Corps figured prominently in the deci-
sive Battle of Kursk. Hausser, outfitted with
new Tiger and Panther tanks, was arrayed
against several belts of Soviet defenses. He at-
tacked with gusto, as usual, but the sheer
depth of Russian defenses overwhelmed him,
as did seemingly endless numbers of Russian
T-34 tanks. The climax of the struggle oc-
curred on July 5, 1943, when the II SS Panzer
Corps blundered headlong into the Soviet
Fifth Guards Army at Prokhorovka in a dense
fog. Hausser’s veteran tankers flailed away at
point-blank range for several hours, inflict-
ing—and suffering—heavy losses. In the end
Kursk was a strategic defeat for Germany, and
Soviet armies passed over to the offensive for
the rest of the war. But Hitler remained duly
impressed by the performance of his SS
Panzer Corps and ordered a second formation
raised. “Papa” had fulfilled his duties well.
The II SS Panzer Corps was sent off to
France to rest and refit, but by the spring ofHAUSSER, PAUL