Fritz Witt - Early Life - Pre-war SS Service

Pre-war SS Service

Fritz Witt was born on 27 May 1908 in Hohenlimburg, a suburb of the city of Hagen. Witt's family was middle class, his father being employed as a textiles salesman. After attending school Witt followed his father's trade, working as a textiles salesman from 1925 until 1931. During this period of time, he witnessed the rise of Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP, becoming a strong supporter. Witt saw the Nazis as the answer to the chaos and poverty of the Weimar Republic. On 1 December 1931, Witt applied to join both the NSDAP (Nr. 816.769) and the SS (Nr. 21.518). On 17 March 1933, Witt was admitted to the SS-Stabswache Berlin, an élite guard formation of only 117 men. On 1 October 1933, Witt received his commission as an SS-Untersturmführer.

In On 9 May 1934, Witt was promoted to SS-Obersturmführer, and soon after took command of the third company of SS-Standartenführer Felix Steiner's SS-Standarte Deutschland, one of the then-three Standarten which comprised the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT). The other Standarten were the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, SS-Standarte Germania and (from 1938) SS-Standarte Der Führer). In October 1938, the SS-VT was subordinated to Heer command, stepping closer to its future combat role.

While commanding the 3./SS-Standarte Deutschland, Witt was involved in the march into Austria as part of the Anschluß in 1938. After this, the Standarte was motorised. The Deutschland now took part in the occupation of the Sudetenland. In March 1939, Witt served with the Standarte during the bloodless annexation of Bohemia and Moravia. Hitler ordered the formation of an SS-Verfügungs-Division, comprising all three SS-VT Standarten (The Leibstandarte was to form its own unit). The Polish crisis put these plans on hold, and the SS-Standarten were deployed for action during the upcoming offensive, Fall Weiß. Witt's SS-Standarte (mot) Deutschland was subordinated to Panzer-Verband Kempf, based in East Prussia.