Paul Hausser

Paul Hausser
Hausser in 1941
Other name(s)	Paul Falk
Born	(1880-10-07)7 October 1880 Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg, German Empire
Died	21 December 1972(1972-12-21) (aged 92) Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Buried	Munich Waldfriedhof
Allegiance	German Empire  Weimar Republic  Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Imperial German Army  Prussian Army  Reichsheer Waffen-SS
Years of service	1892–1932 1934–1945
Rank	SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer und Generaloberst der Waffen-SS
Service number	NSDAP #4,138,779[1] SS #239,795[1]
Commands	SS Division Das Reich II SS Panzer Corps Seventh Army
Battles / wars	World War I Eastern Front World War II Invasion of Poland Battle of France Balkans Campaign Invasion of Yugoslavia Eastern Front Third Battle of Kharkov Battle of Kursk Battle of Normandy Falaise Pocket
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
Spouse(s)	Elisabeth Gerard ​ ​ (m. 1912⁠–⁠1972)​
Children	1
Other work	Founder of HIAG, Waffen-SS lobby group

Paul Hausser, also known as Paul Falk after taking his birth name post war (7 October 1880 – 21 December 1972), was a German general and then a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS who played a key role in the post-war efforts by former members of the Waffen-SS to achieve historical and legal rehabilitation.

Hausser served as an officer in the Prussian Army during World War I and attained the rank of general in the inter-war Reichsheer. After retirement, he joined the SS and was instrumental in forming the Waffen-SS. During World War II, he rose to the level of army group commander. He led Waffen-SS troops in the Third Battle of Kharkov, the Battle of Kursk and the Normandy Campaign. Hausser was the highest-ranking officer in the Waffen-SS alongside Sepp Dietrich. Unlike Dietrich, Hausser was a trained staff officer before joining the SS.

After the war he became a founding member and the first spokesperson of HIAG, a lobby group and a revisionist veterans' organisation, founded by former high-ranking Waffen-SS personnel in West Germany in 1951. It campaigned for the restoration of legal and economic rights of the Waffen-SS employing a multi-prong propaganda campaign to achieve its aims.

Hausser wrote two books, arguing the purely military role of the Waffen-SS and advancing the notion that its troops were "soldiers like any other", according to the title of the second book. Under Hausser's leadership, HIAG reshaped the image of the Waffen-SS as a so-called pan-European force that fought honorably and had no part in war crimes or Nazi atrocities. These notions have since been challenged by mainstream historians.