LAH254 Obergruppenfuhrer ‘Sepp’ Dietrich

Josef ‘Sepp’ Dietrich (1892-1966) joined the Nazi Party in 1928 and was originally Hitler’s driver and personal bodyguard. He won rapid promotion in the SS especially after his participation in ‘The Night of the Long Knives’ in 1934. He played a key role in the formation of the “Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler”, the premier armed bodyguard regiment of the Schutz Staffel and was its first and most famous commander. Dietrich oversaw its expansion from a single battalion to an entire regiment and finally into the most elite division-sized unit of the Waffen SS. The K&C figure shows him in the black, prewar SS parade uniform which went into permanent storage after the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939.