Editing Hermann Fegelein

{{Villain_Infobox|image = Hermann_Fegelein.jpg|Box title = |fullname = Hermann Fegelein|crimes = [[War crimes]]<br>[[Genocide]]<br>[[Anti-Semitism]]<br>[[Xenophobia]]<br>[[Homophobia]]<br>[[Misogyny]]<br>[[Terrorism]]<br>[[Ableism]]<br>|type of villain=Nazi War Criminal|name = Evil-doer|origin=Germany}}

Fegelein was born in Ansbach, Bavaria, to the retired ''Oberleutnant'' Hans Fegelein. As a boy working at his father's equestrian school in Munich, he became a proficient rider and participated in jumping events. During this period he met Christian Weber, an original member of the [[Nazi Party]]. Weber later sponsored Fegelein's entry into the ''[[Schutzstaffel]]'' (SS). In 1925, after studying for two terms at Munich University, Fegelein joined the ''Reiter-Regiment'' 17 (Cavalry Regiment 17). On 20 April 1927, he joined the Bavarian State Police in Munich as an officer cadet.

In 1929 he left the police service when he was caught stealing examination solutions from a teaching superior's office. The official communication at the time was that he resigned for "family reasons". Fegelein later stated that he had left the police on "his own account" to better serve the Nazi Party and SS. His father had started the ''Reitinstitut Fegelein'' (Riding Institute Fegelein) in 1926. In Munich, Fegelein came into contact with National Socialism and the SS. His father had made the institute available to the SS as a meeting place, and the training facilities and horses were used by equestrian units of the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' (SA) and SS.

In September 1939, Fegelein commanded the SS ''Totenkopf Reiterstandarte'' (Death's-Head Horse Regiment), which arrived in Poland shortly after the end of the Polish Campaign. The unit was placed under the command of the ''[[Ordnungspolizei]]'' (Orpo; order police) and was split into small groups assigned to support police activities at posts throughout the Poznan district. On 15 November, Himmler ordered the expansion of the regiment from four to thirteen squadrons and renamed it as ''1. SS-Totenkopf-Reiterstandarte'' (1st Death's Head Cavalry Regiment). Additional men were recruited from ethnic Germans living in the General Government and further afield. As many of the officers, including Fegelein, had never attended officer training school, much of the training provided to new recruits was rudimentary. However, it was rigorous, and the men developed a strong camaraderie. Fegelein's unit was involved alongside the Orpo in the extermination, ordered by Hitler, of members of the Polish elite such as intellectuals, aristocrats, and clergy, in an action called ''Intelligenzaktion''. On 7 December 1939, Fegelein's unit was involved in the mass shooting of 1,700 such people in the Kampinos Forest.

On 15 December, the unit was split into two ''Standarten'' (regiments), with Fegelein commanding the ''1. Standarte'' under the overall command of ''Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer-Ost'' [[Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger]]. The unit was short of basic supplies such as weapons, food, and uniforms, which led to deteriorating morale and ill health. Incidents of corruption and theft took place, particularly among members of the regimental staff in Warsaw. On 23 April 1941, Fegelein faced court-martial charges for an incident in 1940 where he and his unit had been caught stealing money and luxury goods for transportation back to Germany. Fegelein's court-martial was quashed by direct order of Himmler. The allegations brought forward against Fegelein had included "murder motivated by greed". Apparently he had ordered arrests and executions in the [[Gestapo]] prison in Warsaw. In addition to this, Fegelein was charged with having had an unlawful sexual relationship with a Polish woman. The woman had become pregnant and Fegelein forced her to have an abortion. [[Reinhard Heydrich]] tried several times to investigate the accusations against Fegelein, but each time Himmler quashed the attempt.

On 19 July 1941, Himmler assigned Fegelein's regiments to the general command of HSSPF [[Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski]] for the "systematic combing" of the Pripyat swamps, an operation designed to round up and exterminate Jews, partisans and civilians in that area of Byelorussian SSR. Himmler's orders for the operation were passed to Fegelein via ''SS-Brigadefuhrer'' [[Kurt Knoblauch]] [de], who met with him and Bach-Zelewski on 28 July in their new quarters at Liakhovichi in Byelorussia. General instructions were given to "cleanse" the area of partisans and Jewish collaborators. Jewish women and children were to be driven away. Fegelein interpreted these orders as follows: Enemy soldiers in uniform were to be taken prisoner, and those found out of uniform were to be shot. Jewish males, with the exception of a few skilled workers such as doctors and leather workers, would be shot. Fegelein split the territory to be covered into two sections divided by the Pripyat River, with the 1st Regiment taking the northern half and the 2nd Regiment the south. The regiments worked their way from east to west through their assigned territory, and filed daily reports on the number of people killed and taken prisoner. In a meeting with Bach-Zelewski on 31 July, Himmler announced the amalgamation of the two regiments into the SS Cavalry Brigade. Additional units such as a bicycle reconnaissance detachment were formed and added to the brigade's complement. On 5 August Himmler assigned leadership of the brigade to Fegelein.

Himmler notified Fegelein by telegram on 1 August that the numbers killed were far too low. A few days later, Himmler issued regimental order no. 42, which called for all male Jews over the age of 14 to be killed. The women and children were to be driven into the swamps and drowned. Thus Fegelein's units were among the first in [[the Holocaust]] to wipe out entire Jewish communities. As the water in the swamps was too shallow and some areas had no swamps, it proved impractical to drown the women and children, so they were shot. Fegelein's final report on the operation, dated 18 September 1941, states that they killed 14,178 Jews, 1,001 partisans, 699 Red Army soldiers, with 830 prisoners taken and losses of 17 dead, 36 wounded, and 3 missing. The historian Henning Pieper estimates the actual number of Jews killed was closer to 23,700.

On 1 February 1942, Fegelein was promoted to ''SS-Standartenführer'' in the ''Waffen-SS'' and transferred from the reserve force to active service. Four days later, on 5 February, Fegelein on his own initiative led an attack on a strong enemy group northwest of Chertolino. The attack, carried out in difficult weather conditions, secured an important road junction and the railway station at Chertolino. In a nocturnal attack on 9 February, the brigade encircled and destroyed enemy forces at Chertolino, killing 1,800 Red Army soldiers. Yershovo was captured on 14 February, leading to the annihilation of the enemy units in Rzhevsky District. For his leadership in these battles, Fegelein was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 2 March 1942. Fegelein was then granted home leave and was appointed Inspector of Cavalry and Transportation (''Inspekteur des Reit- und Fahrwesens'') in the ''SS-Führungshauptamt'' on 1 May 1942. In this position he was awarded the Eastern Front Medal and the War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords, both on 1 September 1942. The SS Cavalry Brigade was disbanded in March 1942 and the remaining men and equipment were formed into a battalion-strength unit called ''Kampfgruppe Zehender'', commanded by ''SS-Sturmbannführer'' [[August Zehender]].

[[Category:Evil vs. Evil]]

[[Category:Anti-Semitic]]