Walter Krüger was a veteran of the First World War. He was wounded twice and was awarded the Iron Cross, First and Second class. After the war, Krüger served with various units and ended up joining the Austrian SA. He transferred to the SS in 1935 and served as an instructor at Bad Tölz from May to September 1937. In October, he took command of IV/Deutschland until November 1938 when he served as Regimentskommandeur of the Regiment z.b.V. Ellwangen. Krüger was assigned to the Polizei-Division as a Generalstabsoffizier from January 1940 to October 1940, after which he was on the SS-Führungshauptamt as Inspekteur der Infanterie. On August 8th, 1941 Krüger was sent to commander the SS-Polizei Division after the previous commander was killed. Krüger won the Knight's Cross for his leadership of SS-Polizei during the battles around Leningrad. After a brief return to the SS-Führungshauptamt, Krüger replaced the wounded Herbert Vahl as commander of "Das Reich". Krüger commanded the division during the difficult armor battles of Kursk and the summer and fall of 1943. Krüger won his Oakleaves during the Battle of Kursk and left command of the division in March 1944. After holding a number of posts, Krüger took command of the VI. Waffen-Armee Korps der SS (lettisches) which was composed of some of the best "foreign" divisions. He was awarded the swords for his actions during the Kurland Battles. Walter Krüger committed suicide while retreating to avoid capture by the Russians.