Operation Barbarossa
Recognizing the LSSAH performance in Greece Himmler – the head of the SS – ordered that the up to then regiment be designated a division and more importantly, that it be fully motorized. Most divisions of the Wehrmacht were not fully motorized and still used horses to draw supplies and even artillery. The upgrade in size and equipment was still incomplete when Operation Barbarossa began on June 22nd 1941.
Wittmann commanded a tank from the opening of the invasion, which by autumn had advanced deeply into the Soviet defenses. By mid-July Wittmann had received a second award of the Iron Cross second class, having already claimed the destruction of six Soviet tanks. Wittmann was twice wounded in the opening weeks of the invasion, neither time severely, and he remained at the front. As the Germans penetrated deeper into Soviet territory they encountered ever stiffening resistance.
During the initial thrust the LSSAH was involved in the murder of four thousand Soviet prisoners of war, as reported by a Waffen SS journalist named Erich Kern. Wittmann was credited with destroying six Soviet tanks in one action near Rostov-on-Don. His leadership was recognized by German commanders and he was promoted to Technical Sergeant. By spring 1942 he was credited by the SS with having destroyed more than sixty enemy tanks.
He was then ordered back to Germany to attend officer training and training to serve as a panzer instructor. Wittmann was commissioned as a second lieutenant and sent to join the LSSAH 1st Waffen SS Motorized Division, then in training in Westphalia and in France. The division was equipped with the Tiger I heavy tank, and transferred to the Eastern Front in early 1943.
Wittmann was assigned to lead a support platoon of assault guns – essentially motorized anti-tank guns – to protect the heavy tanks. When the division arrived at the front, Wittmann transferred to the 13th Heavy Tank Company of Tiger tanks. The Tiger had been developed to counter the formidable Soviet T-34 tank, which had spearheaded the Soviet counterattacks that had stopped the German advance.