Paul Hausser
Paul Hausser (7 October 1880 – 21 December 1972) was an officer in the German Army, achieving the rank of lieutenant-general in the inter-war Reichswehr. After retirement from the regular Army he became a leading commander in the Waffen-SS. A popular commanding officer, he led Waffen-SS troops both on the Eastern and Western Fronts of World War II. After the war he became a founding member and the first spokesperson of HIAG, an organisation of former Waffen-SS members, which sought to rehabilitate the reputation and legal status of the Waffen-SS.
Early life and career
Hausser was born in Brandenburg an der Havel to a Prussian military family; his father Kurt Hausser was a major in the Imperial German Army. Hausser entered the army in 1892. In 1899, he graduated from the cadet academy Berlin-Lichterfelde and was commissioned as a lieutenant. Hausser graduated from the Prussian Military Academy in Berlin in 1911. He served in staff roles during the First World War and in the postwar German army (Reichswehr), reaching the rank of colonel.