In mid-1944 , during the German rout from Belarus , Dirlewanger 's unit suffered heavy losses during fighting against Soviet regulars . It was then hastily rebuilt and reformed into a " storm brigade " and used in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising . Historian Martin Windrow wrote that in summer of 1944 Dirlewanger led his " butchers , rapists and looters into action against the Warsaw Uprising , and quickly committed ... unspeakable crimes . " In Warsaw , '' Dirlewanger '' participated in the Wola massacre , together with police units rounding up and shooting some 40,000 civilians , most of them in just two days . In the same Wola district , Dirlewanger burned three hospitals with patients inside , while the nurses were " whipped , gang-raped and finally hanged naked , together with the doctors " to the accompaniment of the popular song " In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus " . Later , " they drank , raped and murdered their way through the Old Town , slaughtering civilians and fighters alike without distinction of age or sex . " In the Old Town – where about 30,000 civilians were killed – several thousand wounded in field hospitals overrun by the Germans were shot and set on fire with flamethrowers . Reportedly , " the Dirlewanger brigade burned prisoners alive with gasoline , impaled babies on bayonets and stuck them out of windows and hanged women upside down from balconies . " SS-Obergruppenführer Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski , overall commander of the forces pacifying Warsaw – and Dirlewanger 's former superior officer in Belarus – described Dirlewanger as having " a typical mercenary nature " ; von dem Bach 's staff officer sent to summon Dirlewanger before him was driven off at gunpoint . The unit earned the dubious distinction of suffering extremely severe casualties in Warsaw , losing a total of of its personnel ( including reinforcements and replacements ) in just two months of fighting . Nevertheless , in recognition of his work to crush the uprising and intimidate the population of the city , Dirlewanger received his final promotion , to the rank of SS-Oberführer , on 15 August 1944 . In October , he was awarded the Knight 's Cross of the Iron Cross , recommended for it by his superior officer in Warsaw , SS-Gruppenführer Heinz Reinefarth ( after the war , Reinefarth lied about his role in Warsaw , even denying Dirlewanger had been under his command )
Wola massacre
Wola massacre
Oskar Dirlewanger