Indeed, in view of the massive, and by now almost continuous, Allied air onslaught, the general state of the German war economy and not least, the appalling casualty rate sustained in five and a half years of war, it is astounding that Dietrich’s formation was made ready for an offensive action at all in such a short time, actually less than a month. It proved impossible to fully refit Dietrich’s divisions by January 30 personnel and material replacements continued to arrive during the loading for the move to the east, during the move itself, and even after arrival in Hungary.

Dietrich and the trusted divisions of the Waffen SS were to be given responsibility for Spring Awakening. Without this crude oil the war could not be continued. The only natural oil deposits in German-controlled territory were those around Nagykanizsa in southern Hungary and, with Allied air attacks disrupting and often neutralizing the synthetic gasoline production sites for long periods, it was essential to protect them. Both Dietrich and General Heinz Guderian, the Army chief of staff, had wanted the Sixth Panzer Army deployed behind the Oder River to protect Berlin and northern Germany, but Hitler would have none of it. Spring Awakening was designed to secure the vital oil deposits in southern Hungary and perhaps even regain the oil fields of Romania. (Read more about these and other infamous military operations of Nazi Germany inside WWII History magazine.) The Role of Dietrich’s Sixth Panzer Army with Operation Spring Awakening General Sepp Dietrich. Hitler viewed the threat from the East as far more serious than that posed by the Western Allies, and he was determined to protect his Greater German Reich from Stalin’s “sub-humans.” The fact that the Battle of the Bulge had frittered away many of the men and much of the equipment needed to throw back and destroy the Soviet armies now threatening Germany was of no consequence, and he sent his personal adjutant, SS Major Otto Günsche, to the commander of the Sixth Panzer Army, General Sepp Dietrich, to tell him that within four weeks his army, comprising I and II SS Panzer Corps, would be moved to the Eastern Front to launch a new offensive, code-named Operation Spring Awakening. Reinforcements will be provided under the authority of the SS Supreme Operations Office.” These elite formations were to be reinforced and reequipped to lead another great offensive-this time on the Eastern Front. Within four days Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, commander in chief West, received the following order: “CinC West is to withdraw the following formations from operations immediately and refit them: I SS Panzer Corps with 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte and 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend II SS Panzer Corps with 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich and 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen. In January 12, 1945, Adolf Hitler received the news he had been dreading-the Soviet Red Army had launched its winter offensive.

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