Johann Siegfried Drechsler (aka Panzer), born December 18, 1917 in Nurnburg, Bavaria, Germany is a Hauptscharführer in the Allgemeine SS, or as he describes himself, a desk jockey. Suffering from Multiple Sclerosis since childhood (pediatric onset type) has caused Panzer to be a generally gruff fellow who likes to stay out of people's ways and he wants people to stay out of his. Though he suffers from rampant depression, as well as the side effects of his MS, he does what he can to hide all of his symptoms from the world lest he be shot on site.

Johann also keeps his personal life under close raps as he is not only chronically ill, but is also homosexual. He and his beloved, General der Flieger Korbinian Jaeger, have been together since early childhood; very close friends in early life, lovers when they were old enough to realize what their true feelings were. The mass secrecy causes many to view Panzer as grumpy and stand-offish, and just one of those people who is generally unpleasant to be around. To those who know him best, however, he is passionate, loyal, and loving, all to fierce degrees.

In his mind Panzer doesn't think of himself as much more than a worthless waste of space, or on a good day, a housewife. He has no interest in the politics of his country, and wishes little more than for the war to end so that he and Jaeger can live out what he has left of his life together (due to MS being poorly understood at the time his life expectancy was drastically shorter than modern MS patients). Panzer enjoys cooking, reading, and polishing his collection of ceramic birds. He works to meticulously memorize every detail of his home and office space as he has been slowly going blind for years. This is one area where his photographic memory has come in handy. Originally wanting to be a mechanical engineer like his father, he figured this trait would serve him in different ways than it does now.

Panzer's most used expression is 'no.'