Dietrich commanded the 1st SS Panzer Corps in the Battle of Normandy . He rose to command 5th Panzer Army during the later stages of this campaign . Hitler gave him command of the newly created 6th Panzer Army . Dietrich led it in the Battle of the Bulge ( December 1944-January 1945 ) . He had been assigned to that task because , due to the 20 July Plot , Hitler distrusted Wehrmacht officers . On 17 December , '' Kampfgruppe Peiper '' — an SS unit under his overall command — murdered 84 U.S. prisoners of war near Malmedy , Belgium , in what is known as the Malmedy massacre . In March 1945 Dietrich 's 6th Panzer Army and the LSSAH spearheaded Operation Spring Awakening , an offensive in Hungary near Lake Balaton aimed at securing the last oil reserves still available to Germany . Despite early gains , the offensive was too ambitious in scope and failed . After that failure , the 6th SS Panzer Army ( and LSSAH ) retreated to the Vienna area . As a mark of disgrace , the Waffen-SS units involved in the battle were ordered by Hitler to remove their treasured cuff titles . Dietrich did not relay the order to his troops . Shortly thereafter , Dietrich 's troops were forced to retreat from Vienna by Soviet Army forces . Dietrich , accompanied by his wife , surrendered on 9 May 1945 to the U.S. 36th Infantry Division in Austria
Malmedy massacre
Malmedy massacre
Sepp Dietrich