Horst Petri was born on the 18th of March 1913 in Pfuhlsborn then part of the German Empire. After graduating from high school, Horst trained as a farmer and received a graduate degree in farming in 1935.
On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg. Horst joined the Nazi Party in 1932 and in 1934 he became a member of the SS. In 1936 he met the 16-year-old Erna and despite her father's objections, they quickly began a relationship. A year later, Erna became pregnant and the two got married in 1938. The child was a boy and several years later they had one more child, a daughter, who was born in January 1943.
In 1939, Horst received SS training at the Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps and was promoted to Second Lieutenant.
The Second World War began on 1 September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland.
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