On
this date, April 4, 1925, the Schutzstaffel, abbreviation, SS was formed on
April 4, 1925. I will post information about this Nazi Paramilitary
organization from Wikipedia.
Schutzstaffel (SS)
Emblem
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Flag of the
Schutzstaffel (SS)
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Adolf Hitler inspects the Leibstandarte
SS Adolf Hitler on arrival at Klagenfurt in April 1938. Heinrich Himmler is standing slightly
behind Hitler's right side.
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Agency overview
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Formed
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April 4, 1925
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Preceding agencies
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Sturmabteilung
Stabswache |
Dissolved
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May 8, 1945
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Superseding agency
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Sturmabteilung (formerly)
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Jurisdiction
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Nazi Germany
German-occupied Europe |
Headquarters
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SS-Hauptamt,
Prinz-Albrecht-Straße, Berlin
52°30′26″N 13°22′57″E |
Employees
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1,250,000 (c. February 1945)
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Ministers responsible
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Agency executives
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Julius
Schreck, Reichsführer-SS
(Reich Leader of the SS) (1925–26) Joseph Berchtold, Reichsführer-SS (1926–27) Erhard Heiden, Reichsführer-SS (1927–29) Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer-SS (1929–45) Karl Hanke, Reichsführer-SS (April–May 1945) |
Parent agency
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Child agencies
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Allgemeine
SS
Waffen-SS (SS-Verfügungstruppe) SS-Totenkopfverbände RSHA – Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo) and Sicherheitsdienst (SD) Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) |
The
Schutzstaffel (translated to Protection Squadron or defence
corps, abbreviated SS with stylized "Armanen" sig
runes) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi
Party (NSDAP). It began at the end of 1920 as a small, permanent guard unit
known as the "Saal-Schutz" (Hall-Protection) made up of NSDAP
volunteers to provide security for Nazi Party meetings in Munich. Later, in
1925, Heinrich Himmler joined the unit, which had by then been reformed and
renamed the "Schutz-Staffel". Under Himmler's leadership (1929–45),
it grew from a small paramilitary formation to one of the largest and most
powerful organizations in the Third Reich. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS
under Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity
during World War II (1939–45). The SS, along with the Nazi Party, was
declared a criminal organization by the International Military Tribunal, and
banned in Germany after 1945.
Finnish SS volunteers
in Gross Born Truppenlager, 1941.
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Background
The
SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the Führer's
bodyguard, the Nazi Party's "Protection Squadron" and a force that,
fielding almost a million men (both on the front lines and as political
police), managed to exert as much political influence in the Third Reich as the
Wehrmacht, Germany's regular armed forces.
According
to the Nuremberg Trials, as well as many war crimes investigations and trials
conducted since then, the SS was responsible for the vast majority of Nazi war
crimes. In particular, it was the primary organization which carried out the
Holocaust. As a part of its race-centric functions, the SS oversaw the
isolation and displacement of Jews from the populations of the conquered
territories, seizing their assets and transporting them to concentration camps
and ghettos where they would be used as slave labour (pending extermination) or
immediately killed.
Initially
a small branch of the Sturmabteilung ("Brownshirts" or
stormtroopers, abbreviated as SA), the SS grew in size and power due to
its exclusive loyalty to Adolf Hitler, as opposed to the SA, which was seen as
semi-independent and a threat to Adolf Hitler's hegemony over the party. Under
Himmler, the SS selected its members according to the Nazi ideology. Creating
elite police and military units such as the Waffen-SS, Adolf Hitler used
the SS to form an order of men claimed to be superior in racial purity and
ability to other Germans and national groups, a model for the Nazi vision of a
master race. During World War II, SS units operated alongside the regular
Heer (German Army). However, by the final stages of the war, the SS came to
dominate the Wehrmacht in order to eliminate perceived threats to Adolf
Hitler's power while implementing his strategies, despite the increasingly
futile German war effort.
Chosen
to implement the Nazi "Final
Solution" for the Jews and other groups deemed inferior (and/or
enemies of the state), the SS was the lead branch in carrying out the killing,
torture and enslavement of approximately 12 million people. Most victims were
Jews or of Polish or other Slavic extraction. However, other racial/ethnic
groups such as the Roma made up a significant number of victims, as well.
Furthermore, the SS purge was extended to those viewed as threats to "race
hygiene" or Nazi ideology—including the mentally or physically
handicapped, homosexuals and political dissidents. Members of trades unions and
those perceived to be affiliated with groups (religious, political, social, and
otherwise) that opposed the regime, or were seen to have views contradictory to
the goals of the Nazi government, were rounded up in large numbers; these
included clergy of all faiths, Jehovah's Witnesses, Freemasons, Communists and
Rotary Club members.
Foreseeing
defeat, a significant number of SS personnel organised their escape to South
American nations. These escapes are said to have been assisted by an
organisation known as ODESSA, an acronym of the German phrase Organisation
der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen, which translates
as the Organisation of Former Members of the SS. Many others were
captured and prosecuted by Allied authorities at the Nuremberg Trials for war
crimes, and absconding SS criminals were the targets of police forces in
various Allied nations, post-war West and East Germany, Austria and Israel.
The
Nazis regarded the SS as an elite unit, the party's "Praetorian
Guard", with all SS personnel (originally) selected on the principles of
racial purity and loyalty to the Nazi Party and Germany. The SS was restricted
to people who were only of "pure Aryan German" ancestry, requiring
proof of racial purity, in the early days of the SS, it was required that
officer candidates had to trace and prove their family had no Jewish ancestors
and were only of German "Aryan" ancestry back to 1750 and for other
ranks to 1800. Later, when the requirements of the war made it impossible to
confirm the ancestry of officer candidates, the proof of ancestry regulation
was dropped to just proving their grandparents were "Aryan", which
was the requirement of the Nuremberg Laws.
In
contrast to the black-uniformed Allgemeine SS (the political wing of the
SS), the Waffen-SS (the military wing) evolved into a second German army
aside the Wehrmacht (the regular national armed forces) and operating in
tandem with them; especially with the Heer (German Army).
Special
ranks and uniforms
Main
article: Uniforms and insignia of the
Schutzstaffel
The
SS had its own rank structure, unit insignia, and uniforms, which distinguished
it from other branches of the German military and from German state officials,
as well as from the rest of the Nazi Party. The all-black SS uniform was designed
by SS-Oberführer Prof. Karl Diebitsch and graphic designer SS-Sturmhauptführer
Walter Heck. These uniforms were rarely worn after the war began, however, as
Himmler ordered that the all-black uniforms be turned in for use by others.
They were sent east where they were used by auxiliary police units and west to
be used by Germanic-SS units such as the ones in the Netherlands and Denmark.
In place of the black uniform, SS men wore uniforms of earth-grey (Erdgrau)
or Army field-grey (grey-green) with distinctive insignia. The uniforms were
made by hundreds of clothing factories licensed by the RZM, including Hugo
Boss, with some workers being prisoners of war forced into labour work. Many
were made in concentration camps. The SS also developed its own field uniforms.
Initially these were similar to standard Wehrmacht wool uniforms but they also
included reversible smocks and helmet covers printed with camouflage patterns
with a brown–green "spring" side and a brown–brown "autumn"
side. In 1944 the Waffen-SS began using a universal camouflage uniform
intended to replace the wool field uniform.
Ideology
Main
article: Ideology of the SS
In
contrast to the Imperial military tradition, the nature of the SS was based on
an ideology where commitment, effectiveness and political reliability—not class
or education—would determine how far they succeeded in the organisation. The SS
also stressed total loyalty and obedience to orders unto death. It became a
powerful tool used by Hitler and the Nazi state for political ends. The SS
ideology and values of the organisation were one of the main reasons why the SS
was entrusted with the execution of many Nazi atrocities and war crimes of the
Nazi state.
A
main ideology of the SS was to fight against "sub-humans" (Untermenschen).
As illustrated in the pamphlet The SS as an Anti-Bolshevist Fighting
Organization of 1936, Heinrich Himmler wrote:
We shall take care that never again in Germany, the heart of Europe, will the Jewish-Bolshevistic revolution of subhumans be able to be kindled either from within or through emissaries from without.
Merger
with police forces
Main
article: Ordnungspolizei
As
the Nazi Party monopolized political power in Germany, key government functions
such as law enforcement were absorbed by the SS, while many SS organizations
became de facto government agencies. To maintain the political power and
security of the Nazi party (and later the nation), the SS established and ran
the SD (Security service) and took over the administration of Gestapo
(Secret state police), Kripo (criminal investigative police), and the Orpo
(regular uniformed police). Moreover, legal jurisdiction over the SS and its
members was taken away from the civilian courts and given to courts run by the
SS itself. These actions effectively put the SS above the law.
Protective
Custody Camp Dachau -- Inspection by the Nazi party and Himmler
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Personal
control by Himmler
Himmler,
the leader of the SS, was a chief architect of the Final
Solution. The SS Einsatzgruppen death
squads, formed by his deputy, Heydrich, murdered many civilian
non-combatants, primarily Jews, in the countries occupied by Germany during
World War II. Himmler was responsible for establishing and operating
concentration camps and extermination camps in which millions of inmates died
of systematic mass gassing, shooting, hanging, inhumane treatment, overwork,
malnutrition or medical experiments. After the war, the judges of the Nuremberg
Trials declared the SS and its sub-parts criminal organizations responsible for
the implementation of racial policies of genocide and committing war crimes and
crimes against humanity.
History
The
history of the SS may be grouped into several key periods of the organization's
existence. The first group associated with SS (but not known as such) existed
briefly in 1923, before being disbanded and re-founded in 1925. This second
version of the SS, sometimes known as the "Pre-Himmler SS", existed
from 1925 to 1929; then the more recognizable SS under Heinrich Himmler came
into being. Himmler's SS existed from 1929 to 1945, and may itself be divided
into a peacetime SS until 1939, replaced by a wartime SS lasting until the end
of World War II. The group was formally disbanded upon the defeat of Nazi
Germany.
Origins
The
group was first formed in 1923, as a company of the SA who were given the task
of protecting senior leaders of the Nazi Party at rallies, speeches, and other
public events. Commanded by Emil Maurice, and known as the Stabswache (Staff
Guard), the original group consisted of eight men and was modeled after the
Erhardt Naval Brigade, a violent Freikorps of the time.
After
the failed 1923 Putsch by the Nazi Party, the SA and the Stabswache
were abolished, yet they returned in 1925. At that time, the Stabswache
was reestablished as the 30-man "Stosstrupp Adolf Hitler",
given the task of providing personal protection for Hitler at Nazi Party
functions and events. That same year, the Stosstrupp was expanded to a
national level, and renamed successively the Sturmstaffel (storm
squadron), then the Schutzkommando (protection command), and finally the
Schutzstaffel (SS). The new SS was delegated to be a protection company
of various Nazi Party leaders throughout Germany. Hitler's personal SS
protection unit was later enlarged to include combat units and after April 13,
1934, was known as the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH). After
Germany mobilized in 1939, the combat units in the LSSAH were mobilized as
well, leaving behind an honour guard battalion to protect Hitler. It is these
SS troops that are seen at the Reich Chancellery and Hitler's Obersalzberg
estate in his personal 8 mm movies.
Badge
"SS-Totenkop", on SS-offizer´s cap (1934-1945).
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Development
Between
1925 and 1929, the SS was considered merely a small Gruppe (battalion)
of the SA and numbered no more than 1,000 personnel; by 1929 that number was
down to 280. After SS commander Erhard Heiden resigned, Hitler appointed
Himmler to the position of Reichsführer-SS in January 1929. Himmler
rapidly expanded the SS and by the end of 1932 it had 52,000 members. By the
end of the following year, it had over 209,000 members. Himmler's expansion of
the SS was based on models from other groups, such as the Knights Templar and
the Italian Blackshirts. According to SS-Obergruppenführer and General
of the Waffen-SS, Karl Wolff, it was also based on the model from the
Society of Jesus of absolute obedience to the Pope. A motto of the SS was "Treu,
Tapfer, Gehorsam" ("loyal, valiant, obedient").
Before
1929, the SS wore the same brown uniform as the SA, with the exception of a
black tie and a black cap with a Totenkopf ("death's head")
skull and bones symbol on it. In that year Himmler extended the black colour to
include breeches, boots, belts, and armband edges; and in 1932 they adopted the
all-black uniform, designed by Prof. Diebitsch and Walter Heck. In 1936 an
"earth-grey" uniform was issued. The Waffen
("armed") SS wore a field-grey (feldgrau) uniform similar to
the regular army, or Heer. During the war, Waffen-SS units wore a
wide range of items printed with camouflage patterns (such as Platanenmuster,
Erbsenmuster, captured Italian Telo Mimetico, etc.), while their feldgrau
uniforms became largely indistinguishable from those of the Heer, save
for the insignia. In 1945, the SS adopted the Leibermuster disruptive
camouflage pattern that inspired many forms of modern battle dress, although it
was not widely issued before the end of the war.
Their
official motto was "Meine Ehre heißt Treue" ("My Honour
is Loyalty"). The SS rank system was unique in that it did not copy the
terms and ranks used by the Wehrmacht's branches (Heer
("army"), Luftwaffe ("air force"), and Kriegsmarine
("navy")), but instead used the ranks established by the post-World
War I Freikorps and taken over by the SA. This was mainly done to
establish the SS as being independent from the Wehrmacht, although SS
ranks did generally have equivalents in the other services.
Himmler,
together with his right-hand man, Reinhard Heydrich, consolidated the power of
the organization. In 1931 Himmler gave Heydrich the assignment to build an
intelligence and security service inside the SS, which became the Sicherheitsdienst
(SD). By the time the war began, the number of members rose to 250,000, and the
Waffen-SS was formed in August 1940, expanding the earlier armed SS
troops who had fought in Poland and France in 1939–40, to serve alongside the Wehrmacht,
Germany's regular armed forces. Himmler also received control of the Gestapo in
1934, and, that same year, Hitler had given the SS jurisdiction over all
concentration camps. In the wake of the plot against Hitler's life by a group
of regular military generals in July 1944, the Führer came to distrust
his regular military, putting ever more trust in the SS, particularly Himmler,
who had acted against the plotters and their families. This attitude of
Hitler's was further shown at the very end of the war, when he refused to
station himself in the OKW bunker in Berlin, claiming that he did not
"trust the strength of army concrete", however the true reason was
probably that he feared another generals' plot and so chose to stay in his own
headquarters, surrounded by an apparently more loyal SS retinue.
Early
SS disunity
In
its first years of existence, the SS was characterized by significant disunity
both geographically within Germany as well as within the structure of the SS as
a whole. In addition, prior to April 1934, the Gestapo was a civilian state
police agency outside the control of SS leadership. In some cases, it came into
direct conflict with the SS and even attempted to arrest some of its members.
The
first major division in the early SS was between SS units in northern Germany,
situated around Berlin, and SS units in southern Germany headquartered around
Munich. The "Northern-SS" was under the command of Kurt Daluege who
had close ties to Hermann Göring and enjoyed his position in Berlin where most
of the Nazi government offices were located. This in contrast to the SS in
southern Germany, commanded unquestionably by Heinrich Himmler and located
mostly in Munich which was the location of the major Nazi political offices.
Within
the SS, early divisions also developed between the "General SS" and
the SS under the command of Sepp Dietrich which would eventually become the Waffen-SS.
The early military SS was kept quite separate from the regular SS and Dietrich
introduced early regulations that the military SS answered directly to Hitler,
and not Himmler, and for several months even ordered his troops to wear the
black SS uniform without a swastika armband to separate the soldiers from other
SS units once the black uniform had become common throughout Germany.
The
division between the military and general SS never entirely disappeared even in
the last days of World War II. Senior Waffen-SS commanders had
little respect for Himmler and he was scornfully nicknamed
"Reichsheini" by the Waffen-SS rank and file. Himmler worsened
his own position when he attempted to hold a military command during the last
months of the war and proved totally incompetent as a field commander.
The
Gestapo, which would eventually become a semi-integrated part of the SS
security forces, was at first a large "thorn in the side" to Himmler
as the group was originally the Prussian state political police under the
control of Hermann Göring and commanded by his protege Rudolf Diels. Early
Gestapo activities came into direct conflict with the SS and it was not until
the SA became a common enemy that Göring turned over control of the Gestapo to
Himmler and Heydrich (the three then worked together to destroy the greater
threat of the SA leadership). Even so, Göring was reported to have disliked
Himmler to the last days of the war and even turned down honorary SS rank since
he did not want to be subordinate to Himmler in any way.
Before
1933
Main
article: Units and Commands of the
Schutzstaffel
1925–28
In
early 1925, the future SS was a single, 30-man company that was Hitler's
personal bodyguard. In September, all local NSDAP offices were ordered to
create body guard units of no more than ten men apiece. By 1926, six SS-Gaus
were established, supervising all such units in Germany. In turn, the SS-Gaus
answered to the SS-Oberleitung, the headquarters unit. The SS-Oberleitung
answered to the office of the Supreme SA Leader (Oberste SA-Führer),
Franz Pfeffer von Salomon, clearly establishing the SS as a subordinate unit of
the Sturmabteilung.
Between
1926 and 1928, the SS command Gaus were as follows:
- SS-Gau Berlin Brandenburg
- SS-Gau Franken
- SS-Gau Niederbayern
- SS-Gau Rheinland-Süd
- SS-Gau Sachsen
1929–31
In 1929
the SS-Oberleitung was expanded and reorganized into the SS-Oberstab
with five main offices:
- Abteilung I: Administration
- Abteilung II: Personnel
- Abteilung III: Finance
- Abteilung IV: Security
- Abteilung V: Race
At the
same time, the SS-Gaus were expanded into three SS-Oberführerbereiche:
- SS-Oberführerbereiche Ost
- SS-Oberführerbereiche West
- SS-Oberführerbereiche Süd
Each SS-Oberführerbereiche
contained several SS-Brigaden, which in turn were divided into
regiment-sized SS-Standarten.
1931–33
In
1931 as the SS began to increase its membership to over 100,000, the
organization was again restructured beginning with the SS-Oberleitung,
which was replaced by the SS-Amt, divided into five sections:
- Section I: Headquarters Staff
- Section II: Personnel Office
- Section III: Administration Office
- Section IV: SS Reserves
- Section V: SS Medical Corps
In
addition to the SS-Amt, the SS-Rasseamt (Race Office) and Sicherheitsdienst
Amt (Office of the SD) were established as two separate offices on an equal
footing with the Headquarters Office.
At
the same time that the SS Headquarters was being reorganized, the SS-Oberführerbereichen
were replaced with five SS-Gruppen:
- SS-Gruppe Nord
- SS-Gruppe Ost
- SS-Gruppe Süd
- SS-Gruppe Südost
- SS-Gruppe West
The
lower levels of the SS remained unchanged between 1931 and 1933. However, it
was during this time that the SS began to establish its independence from the Sturmabteilung
(SA), although officially the SS was still considered a sub-organization of the
SA and answerable to the SA Chief of Staff.
After
the Nazi seizure of power
After
the Nazi seizure of power, the mission of the SS expanded from the protection
of the person of Adolf Hitler to the internal security of the Nazi regime. In
1936 Himmler described this new mission of the SS in his pamphlet, "The SS
as an Anti-Bolshevist Fighting Organization".
We shall unremittingly fulfill our task, the guaranty of the security of Germany from the interior, just as the Wehr-macht guarantees the safety, the honor, the greatness, and the peace of the Reich from the exterior. We shall take care that never again in Germany, the heart of Europe, will the Jewish-Bolshevistic revolution of subhumans be able to be kindled either from within or through emissaries from without. Without pity we shall be a merciless sword of justice for all those forces whose existence and activity we know, on the day of the slightest attempt, may it be today, may it be in decades or may it be in centuries.
Following
Hitler's assumption of power in Germany, the SS became regarded as a state
organization and a branch of the established government. The Headquarters
Staff, SD, and Race Office became full-time paid employees, as did the leaders
of the SS-Gruppen and some of their command staffs. The rest of the SS
were considered part-time volunteers, and in this concept the Allgemeine-SS
came into being.
By
the autumn of 1933, Hitler's personal bodyguard (previously the 1st SS
Standarte located in Munich) had been called to Berlin to replace the Army
Chancellery Guard as protectors of the Chancellor of Germany. In November 1933,
the SS guard in Berlin became known as the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler.
In April 1934, Himmler modified the name to Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
(LSSAH). The LSSAH would later become the first division in the Order of Battle
of the Waffen-SS.
1934–36
On
April 20, 1934, Göring transferred the Gestapo to Himmler, who was also named
chief of all German police forces outside Prussia; two days later Himmler named
Heydrich the head of the Gestapo.
The
Gestapo's transfer to Himmler was a prelude to the Night of the Long Knives. The SS played a
prominent role in the slaughter, carrying out dozens of killings. On July 20,
as a token of gratitude for its role, the SS was detached from the SA and became
an independent elite corps of the Nazi Party answerable only to Hitler.
Himmler's title of Reichsführer now became an actual rank (his formal
rank had previously been Obergruppenführer), equivalent to the rank of
field marshal in the army.
During
that time, the SS again underwent a massive reorganization. The SS-Gruppen
were renamed as SS-Oberabschnitt, and the former SS Headquarters and
command offices were reorganized into three and then eight SS-Hauptämter.
The SS-Hauptamt offices would eventually grow in number to twelve main
offices by 1944. These offices remained unchanged in their names until the end
of World War II and the fall of the SS.
By
mid-1934, the SS had taken control of all concentration camps from the SA, and
a new organization, the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) had been
established as the SS Concentration Camp Service. The original SS-TV was
organized into six Wachtruppen at each of Germany's major concentration
camps. The Wachtruppen were expanded in 1935 into Wachsturmbanne
and again in 1937 into three main SS-Totenkopfstandarten. This structure
would remain unchanged until 1941, when a massive labor and death camp system
in the occupied territories necessitated the concentration camps to be placed
under the Wirtschafts und Verwaltungshauptamt (SS-WVHA) in three main
divisions of labor camps, concentration camps, and death camps.
The
early Waffen-SS can trace its origins to 1934 in the SS-Verfügungstruppe:
two Standarten (regiments) under retired general Paul Hausser armed and
trained to Army standards, and held ready at the personal disposal of the Führer
in peace or war. Hausser also established two Junkerschule for the
training of SS officers.
Organization Chart
from party handbook
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1936–39
Himmler
was named the chief of all German police on June 17, 1936. He thereby assumed
control of all of the German states' regular police forces and, nationalizing
them, formed the Ordnungspolizei and the Kriminalpolizei. The
Orpo, uniformed police, were placed under the command of SS-Obergruppenführer
Kurt Daluege. Further, the Gestapo and the Kripo or Kriminalpolizei
(Criminal Police) were incorporated into the SiPo or Sicherheitspolizei
(Security Police) and considered a complementary organisation to the SD or Sicherheitsdienst
(Security Service). Reinhard Heydrich was head of the SiPo (made up of the
Gestapo and Kripo) and SD. Heinrich Müller, was chief of operations of the
Gestapo. As chief of police, Himmler was nominally subordinate to Interior
Minister Wilhelm Frick. However, from 1936 onward, the police were effectively
under SS command, and thus independent of Frick's control. In September 1939,
the security and police agencies of Nazi Germany (with the exception of the
Orpo) were consolidated into the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA), headed by
Heydrich.
In
1939 from the existing Totenkopfverbände was formed the SS Division Totenkopf
composed of members of the concentration camp service together with support
units transferred from the army. The Totenkopf or "Death's
Head" division would later become a division of the Waffen-SS.
Troops of the SS
Leibstandarte at a Nazi procession in 1939.
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During
World War II
By
the outbreak of World War II, the SS had solidified into its final form.
By this point, the term "SS" could be applied to two completely
separate organizations, mainly the Allgemeine-SS and the Waffen-SS. The
Allgemeine-SS also had control over a third SS branch, known as the
Germanic-SS, which was composed of SS groups formed in occupied territories and
allied countries. In the last months of World War II, a fourth branch of
the SS known as the "Auxiliary-SS" was formed from non-SS members
conscripted to serve in Germany's concentration camps.
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising - Photo from Jürgen
Stroop Report to Heinrich Himmler from May 1943. The original
German caption reads: "Forcibly pulled out of dug-outs". One of the
most famous pictures of World War II.
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SS
and police leaders
During
World War II, the most powerful men in the SS were the SS and Police Leaders, divided into three
levels: regular leaders, higher leaders, and supreme leaders. Such persons
normally held the rank of SS-Gruppenführer or above and answered
directly to Himmler in all matters pertaining to the SS in their area of
responsibility. Thus, SS and Police Leaders bypassed all other chains of
command.
SS
offices
By
1942 all activities of the SS were managed through twelve main offices of the Allgemeine-SS.
- Hauptamt Persönlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS, Personal Staff of the Reich Leader SS (i.e., Himmler)
- SS-Hauptamt, SS-HA, Main Administrative Office
- SS Führungshauptamt, SS-FHA, SS Main Operational Office (military command for the Waffen-SS)
- Hauptamt SS-Gericht, Main Office of SS Legal Matters
- SS-Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt, RuSHA, SS Office of Race and Settlement
- SS Personalhauptamt, SS Personnel Main Office
- SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt, RSHA, Reich Main Security Office
- Hauptamt Ordnungspolizei, Main Office of the Order Police
- Wirtschafts und Verwaltungshauptamt, SS-WVHA, Economic and Administration Main Office (which administered the concentration camp system)
- Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle, VOMI, Racial German Assistance Main Office
- Hauptamt Dienststelle Heissmeyer, SS Education Office
- Hauptamt Reichskommissar für die Festigung Deutschen Volkstums, RKFVD, Main Office of the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood
Allgemeine-SS
Main
article: Allgemeine-SS
The
Allgemeine-SS (the "General SS") refers to a non-combat branch
of the SS. The Allgemeine-SS formations were divided into Standarten,
organized into larger formations known as Abschnitte and Oberabschnitte.
Many personnel served in other branches of the state government, Nazi Party,
and certain departments within the RSHA (e.g., the SD, Gestapo and Kripo).
Members of the Allgemeine-SS were considered more or less reservists
with many serving the German military or the Waffen-SS. For those who
served in the Waffen-SS, it was a standard practice to hold separate SS
ranks for both the Allgemeine-SS and the Waffen-SS.
Polish civilians
murdered by Waffen-SS troops (SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger) in
Warsaw Uprising, August 1944.
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Waffen-SS
Main
article: Waffen-SS
The
Waffen-SS were frontline combat troops trained to fight in Germany's
battles during World War II. During the early campaigns against
Czechoslovakia and Poland, military SS units were of regiment size and drawn
from existing armed SS formations:
- Leibstandarte, Hitler's personal bodyguard
- Death's-Head Battalions (German: Totenkopfverbände), which administered the concentration camps
- Dispositional Troops, (German: Verfügungstruppe)
For
the invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940 (Fall Gelb)
the three SS-VT and three of the SS-TV regiments were each organized into
divisions (the future 2nd "Das Reich" and 3rd
"Totenkopf"), and another division was raised from the Ordnungspolizei
(later the 4th "Polizei"). Following the
campaign, these units together with the Leibstandarte and additional
SS-TV Standarten were amalgamated into the newly formed Kommandoamt
der Waffen-SS within the SS Führungshauptamt.
In
1941 Himmler announced that additional Waffen-SS Freiwilligen
units would be raised from non-German foreign nationals. His goal was to
acquire additional manpower from occupied nations or prisoners of war. These
foreign legions eventually included volunteers from Belgium, Britain and its Dominions, Denmark, Finland,
France, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
While
the Waffen-SS remained officially outside the armed forces (Wehrmacht)
and under Himmler's authority, they were placed under the operational command
of the Armed Forces High Command (OKW) or Army High Command (OKH), and were largely
funded by the Wehrmacht. During the war, the Waffen-SS grew to 38
divisions. The most famous are the 1st SS Division
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich,
3rd SS Division Totenkopf, 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking,
and the 12th SS Panzer Division
Hitlerjugend.
The
Waffen-SS maintained several "Foreign Legions" of personnel from
conquered territories and countries allied to Germany. The majority wore a
distinctive national collar patch and preceded their SS rank titles
with the prefix Waffen instead of SS. Volunteers from Scandinavian
countries filled the ranks of two divisions, the 5th "Wiking" and 11th
"Nordland." Belgian Flemings joined Dutchmen to form the "Nederland"
Legion, their Walloon compatriots joined the Sturmbrigade
"Wallonien". There was also a French volunteer division, 33rd
Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French).
Although
initially the SS was restricted to people that were classified as of only
"pure German Aryan" descent, during the war the racial restrictions
were relaxed to the extent that Ukrainian Slavs,
Albanians
from Kosovo, Arabs,
Turkic
Tatars,
and even Asians from Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) units were
recruited. The Ukrainians and the Tatars had both suffered persecution under Joseph
Stalin and they were likely motivated primarily by opposition to the Soviet
government rather than genuine ideological agreement with the SS. The exiled
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husayni, used anti-Semitism and
anti-Serb racism to recruit an entire Waffen-SS division of Bosnian Muslims,
the 13th
SS Division "Handschar" (Scimitar). The year-long Soviet occupation of the Baltic states
at the beginning of World War II produced volunteers for Latvian and Estonian Waffen-SS
units. The Estonian Legion, for example, had 1,280 volunteers
under training by the end of 1942. However, by February 1, 1944 the German
military situation on the Eastern front had worsened. As the result, another
10,000 Estonia men were conscripted into the Waffen-SS. Approximately
25,000 men served in the Estonian SS division (with thousands more conscripted
into the "Police Front" battalions and border guard units). After
1943 most men from the east were conscripts. However, some other occupied
countries such as Greece, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, and Poland never formed
formal Waffen-SS legions. Nevertheless, some citizens of those countries
were in the service of the Waffen-SS. In Greece, the fascist
organisation ESPO tried to create a
Greek SS division, but the attempt was abandoned when its leader was
assassinated.
The
Indische Freiwilligen Infanterie Regiment 950 (also known at various
stages as the Indische Freiwilligen-Legion der Waffen-SS, the Legion
Freies Indien, and Azad Hind Fauj) was created in August 1942,
chiefly from disaffected Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army, captured
by the Axis in North Africa. Many, if not most, of the Indian volunteers who
switched sides to fight with the German Army and against the British were
strongly nationalistic supporters of the exiled, anti-British, former president
of the Indian National Congress, Netaji (the Leader) Subhas Chandra
Bose. See also the Tiger Legion and the Indian National Army.
Grand Mufti of
Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini
greeting Bosniak SS volunteers in November 1943.
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Germanic-SS
The
Germanic-SS
was an SS-modeled structure formed in occupied territories and allied
countries. The main purpose of the Germanic-SS was enforcement of Nazi racial
doctrine and antisemitic policies. Denmark and Belgium were the two largest
participants in the Germanic-SS programme. Germanic-SS members wore the
all-black SS uniforms favoured by the pre-war German SS. After the war began,
Himmler ordered the uniforms to be turned in and many were then sent west to be
used by Germanic-SS units such as the ones in the Netherlands and Denmark.
These groups had their own uniforms with a modification of SS rank titles and
insignia. All Germanic-SS units answered to the SS headquarters in Germany.
Auxiliary SS Patch
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Auxiliary-SS
The
Auxiliary-SS (SS mannschaft) was an organization that arose in 1945 as a
last-ditch effort to keep concentration camps running. Auxiliary-SS members
were not considered regular SS personnel, but were conscripted members from
other branches of the German military, the Nazi Party, and the Volkssturm.
Such personnel wore a distinctive twin swastika collar patch and served as camp
guard and administrative personnel until the surrender of Germany.
Auxiliary
SS members had the distinct disadvantage of being the "last ones in the
camp" as the major concentration camps were liberated by allied forces. As
a result, many auxiliary SS members, in particular those captured by Russian
forces, faced swift and fierce retaliation and were often held personally
responsible for the carnage of the camps to which some had only been assigned
for a few weeks or even days.
There
also exist very few records of the Auxiliary SS since, at the time of this
group's creation, it was a foregone conclusion that Germany had lost the Second
World War and the entire purpose of the Auxiliary SS was to serve in support
roles while members of the SS proper escaped from allied forces. Thus, there
was never a serious effort to properly train, equip, or maintain records on the
Auxiliary SS.
SS
units and branches
Within
the two main branches of the Allgemeine-SS and Waffen-SS, there
further existed several branches and sub-branches some with overlapping duties
while other SS commands had little to no contact with each other. In addition,
by 1939 the SS had complete control over the German Police, with many police
members serving as dual SS members. Most of these branches committed war crimes
and crimes against humanity, and many individuals were tried for these offences
after the war.
Concentration
camps
Main
article: SS-Totenkopfverbände
The
SS is closely associated with Nazi Germany's concentration camp system. After
1934, the running of Germany's concentration camps was placed under the total
authority of the SS and an SS formation known as the SS-Totenkopfverbände
(SS-TV), under the command of Theodor
Eicke. Known as the "Death's Head Units", the SS-TV was first
organized as several battalions, each based at one of Germany's major
concentration camps, the oldest of which was at Dachau. In 1939, the Totenkopfverbände
expanded into a military division with the establishment of the Totenkopf
division, which in 1940 would become a full division within the Waffen-SS.
With
the start of World War II, the Totenkopfverbände began a large
expansion that eventually would develop into three branches covering each type
of concentration camp the SS operated. By 1944, there existed three divisions
of the SS-TV, those being the staffs of the concentration camps proper in
Germany and Austria, the labor camp system in occupied territories, and the
guards and staffs of the extermination camps in Poland that were involved in the
Holocaust.
In
1942, for administrative reasons, the guard and administrative staff of all the
concentration camps became full members of the Waffen-SS. In addition,
to oversee the large administrative burden of an extensive labor camp system,
the concentration camps were placed under the command of the SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt
(WVHA). Oswald Pohl commanded the WVHA, while Richard Glücks served as the
Inspector of Concentration Camps.
By
1944, with the concentration camps fully integrated with the Waffen-SS
and under the control of the WVHA, a standard practice developed to rotate SS
members in and out of the camps, based on manpower needs and also to give
assignments to wounded Waffen-SS officers and soldiers who could no
longer serve in front-line combat duties. This rotation of personnel is the
main argument that nearly the entire SS knew of the concentration camps, and
what actions were committed within, making the entire organization liable for
war crimes and crimes against humanity.
SS collar patches of
the Second World War
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Security services
Main
article: Sicherheitspolizei
In
addition to running Germany's concentration camps, the SS is well known for
establishing the police state of Nazi Germany and suppressing all resistance to
Adolf Hitler through the use of security forces, such as, the Gestapo.
The
RSHA was the main office in charge of SS security services and had under its
command the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), Kriminalpolizei
(Kripo), and the Gestapo as well as several additional offices to handle
finance, administration, and supply. The term Sicherheitspolizei
referred to the combined forces of the Kriminalpolizei, and the Gestapo,
police and security offices.
Reinhard
Heydrich is viewed as the mastermind behind the SS security forces and held the
title of Chef des Sicherheitspolizei und SD until September 27, 1939
when he became the overall supreme commander of the Reich Main Security Office.
Heinrich Müller became Gestapo Chief, Arthur Nebe, chief of the Criminal Police
(Kripo), and the two branches of SD were commanded by various SS officers such
as Otto Ohlendorf and Walter Schellenberg. Heydrich was assassinated in 1942.
His positions were taken over by Ernst Kaltenbrunner in January 1943, following
a few short months of Heinrich Himmler personally running the RSHA while
searching for Heydrich's replacement.
A Jewish woman
protects a child with her body as Einsatzgruppen soldiers aim their rifles in Ivangorod,
Ukraine, 1942.
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Death squads
Main
article: Einsatzgruppen
The
Einsatzgruppen were special units of the SS that were formed on an
"as-needed" basis under the authority of the Sicherheitspolizei
and later the RSHA, whose commander was Heydrich. The first Einsatzgruppen
were created in 1938 for use during the Anschluss of Austria and again
in 1939 for the annexation of Czechoslovakia. The original purpose of the Einsatzgruppen
was to "enter occupied areas, seize vital records, and neutralize
potential threats". In Austria and Czechoslovakia, the activities of the Einsatzgruppen
were mainly limited to Nazification of local governments and assistance with
the establishment of new concentration camps.
In
1939 the Einsatzgruppen were reactivated and sent into Poland to
exterminate the Polish elite (Operation Tannenberg, AB-Aktion), so that there would be no
leadership to form a resistance to German occupation. In 1941 the Einsatzgruppen
reached their height when they were sent into Russia to begin large-scale
extermination and genocide of "undesirables" such as Jews, gypsies,
and communists. The Einsatzgruppen were responsible for the murders of
more than one million people. The most notorious massacre of Jews in the Soviet
Union was at a ravine called Babi Yar outside Kiev, where 33,771 Jews were
killed in a single operation on September 29–30, 1941.
The
last Einsatzgruppen were disbanded in mid-1944 (although on paper some
continued to exist until 1945) due to the retreating German forces on both
fronts and the inability to carry on with further "in-the-field"
extermination activities. Former Einsatzgruppen members were either
folded into the Waffen-SS or took up roles in the more established
Concentration Camps such as Auschwitz.
Special
action units
Beginning
in 1938, the SS enacted a procedure where offices and units of the SS could
form smaller sub-units, known as Sonderkommandos, to carry out special
tasks and actions which might involve sending agents or troops into the field.
The use of Sonderkommandos was very widespread, and according to former
SS Sturmbannführer (Major) Wilhelm
Höttl, not even the SS leadership knew how many Sonderkommandos were
constantly being formed, disbanded, and reformed for various tasks.
The
best-known Sonderkommandos were formed from the SS
Economic-Administrative Head Office, the SS Head Office, and also
Department VII of the Reich Main Security Office (Science and Research)
whose duties were to confiscate valuable items from Jewish libraries.
The
Eichmann Sonderkommando was attached to the Security Police and the SD
in terms of provisioning and manpower, but maintained a special position in the
SS due to its direct role in the deportation of Jews to the death camps as part
of the Final Solution.
The
term "Sonderkommando" was also used to describe the
teams of Jewish prisoners who were forced to work in gas chambers and
crematoria, receiving special privileges and above-average treatment, before
then being murdered themselves. The distinction was that these Jewish
"special-action units" were not SS Sonderkommandos; the term
was simply applied to these obviously non-SS personnel due to the nature of the
tasks which they performed.
Crematorium operation
being demonstrated at Dachau, the first concentration camp
established in 1933
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SS
and police courts
Main
article: SS and Police Courts
SS
and police courts were special tribunals which were the only authority
authorized to try SS personnel for crimes. The different SS and Police Courts
were:
- SS- und Polizeigericht: Standard SS and Police Court for trial of SS officers and enlisted men accused of minor and somewhat serious crimes
- Feldgerichte: Waffen-SS Court for court martial of Waffen-SS military personnel accused of violating the military penal code of the German Armed Forces.
- Oberstes SS- und Polizeigericht: The Supreme SS and Police Court for trial of serious crimes and also any infraction committed by SS Generals.
- SS- und Polizeigericht z.b. V.: The Extraordinary SS and Police Court was a secret tribunal that was assembled to deal with highly sensitive issues which were desired to be kept secret even from the SS itself.
The
one exception to the SS and Police Courts jurisdiction involved members of the Allgemeine-SS
who were serving on active duty in the regular Wehrmacht. In such cases,
the SS member in question was subject to regular Wehrmacht military law
and could face charges before a standard military tribunal.
Special
protection units
The
original purpose of the SS, that of safeguarding the leadership of the Nazi
Party (Adolf Hitler) continued until the very end of the group's existence.
Hitler had used bodyguards for protection since the 1920s, and as the SS grew
in size and importance, so too did Hitler's personnel protection unit. In all,
there were two main SS groups most closely associated with protecting the life
of Adolf Hitler.
- Leibstandarte: The Leibstandarte was the end product of several previous groups which had protected Hitler while he was living in Munich, before he became Chancellor of Germany. By the start of World War II, the Leibstandarte itself had become four distinct entities mainly the Waffen-SS division (unconnected to Hitler's personal protection but a key formation of the Waffen-SS), the Berlin Chancellory Guard, the SS security regiment assigned to the Obersalzberg in Berchtesgaden, and an original remnant of the Munich based bodyguard unit which protected Hitler when he visited his personal apartment and the Brown House Nazi Party headquarters in Munich.
- RSD: The RSD, or Reichssicherheitsdienst was a special corps of personal bodyguards who protected Hitler from physical attack. While the Leibstandarte was concerned with security in and around Hitler, the RSD was trained to protect Hitler's actual person and to give their lives in order to prevent harm or death to the Führer.
Hitler
also made use of regular military protection, especially when travelling into
the field or to operational headquarters (such as the Wolf's Lair). Hitler
always maintained an SS escort, however, and his security was mainly handled by
the Leibstandarte and the RSD.
SS
special purpose corps
Another
section of the SS consisted of special purpose units which assisted the main SS
with a variety of tasks. The first such units were SS cavalry formations formed
in the 1930s as part of the Allgemeine-SS (these units were entirely
separate from the later Waffen-SS mounted commands).
One
of the more infamous SS special purpose corps were the SS medical units,
composed mostly of doctors who became involved in both euthanasia and human
experimentation. The SS also formed a unit to conduct historical research into
Nordic-Germanic origins.
SS
Cavalry Corps
The
SS Cavalry Corps (German: Reiter-SS) comprised several Reiterstandarten
and Reiterabschnitte, which were really equestrian clubs to attract the
German upper class and nobility into the SS. In the 1930s, the Reiter-SS
was considered as a nucleus for a military branch of the SS, but this idea was
phased out with the rise of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (later the Waffen-SS).
By
1941 the Reiter-SS was little more than a social club. Most of the
serious cavalry officers transferred to combat units in the Waffen-SS
and the SS Cavalry Brigade. Between 1942 and 1945, the Reiter-SS
effectively ceased to exist except on paper, with only a handful of members.
During the Nuremberg Trials, when the Tribunal declared the SS to be a criminal
organization, the Reiter-SS was expressly excluded, due to its insignificant
involvement in other SS activities.
A destroyed
Magirus-Deutz van found in 1945 in Kolno, Poland, not far from the Kulmhof
(Chelmno) extermination camp. The same type of van was used by the Nazis for
suffocation, with the exhaust fumes diverted into the sealed rear compartment
where the victims were locked in. This particular van has not been modified
yet, as explained by World War II Today (read) sourced to Office
of the United States Chief Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality
publication Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression – Washington, U.S Govt.
Print. Office, 1946, Vol III, p. 418; nevertheless it gives a good idea about
the whole process.
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SS
Medical Corps
Main
article: SS Medical Corps
The
SS Medical Corps first appeared in the 1930s as small companies of SS personnel
known as the Sanitätsstaffel. After 1931, the SS formed a headquarters
office known as Amt V, which was the central office for SS medical
units.
In
1945, after the surrender of Germany, the SS was declared an illegal criminal
organization by the Allies. SS doctors, in particular, were marked as war
criminals due to the wide range of human medical experimentation which had been
conducted during World War II as well as the role SS doctors had played in
the gas chamber selections of the Holocaust. The most infamous member, Doctor
Josef Mengele, served as a medical officer at Auschwitz under the command of
Eduard Wirth of the Auschwitz medical corps. Eduard Wirth was
"organizer-in-chief" of selections, which he often attended himself.
Josef Mengele also made the daily gas chamber selections of people as well as
conducting many experiments at the camp. After the trial of members as to
crimes against humanity, it was determined that in the territory of the
Krasnodar Territory of the USSR about 7,000 civilians were killed by gas
poisoning.
Jews from Carpathian
Ruthenia arrive at Auschwitz,
offloaded onto the ramp at Birkenau in close proximity to the gas chambers. The
chimneys in the background belong to Crematoria II and III on the left and
right respectively, whose structures house subterranean undressing and gassing
rooms.
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SS
Women's Corps
The
SS-Helferinnenkorps ("Women Helper Corps") comprised women
volunteers who joined the SS as auxiliary personnel. The Helferin Corps
maintained a simple system of ranks, mainly SS-Helfer, SS-Oberhelfer,
and SS-Haupthelfer. Members of the Helferin Corps were assigned to a
wide variety of activities such as administrative staff, supply support
personnel, and female guards at concentration camps.
Himmler
set up the Reichsschule für SS Helferinnen at Oberenheim in 1942 to
train a corps of women who, amongst other things, were taught Nazi ideology,
specialist communications, "mother schooling", and fitness. The
intention was that in addition to facilitating the transfer of men from
communications into combat roles, the SS-Helferinnen women would
eventually replace all female civilian employees in the service of the Reichsführer.
It was postulated that the SS-Helferinnen would be more suitable and
reliable because they were to be trained and selected according to NSDAP racist
ideology. The designation SS-Helferin was used only for those who had
been trained at the Reichsschule-SS at Oberehnheim in Elsass, although
whether this made them officially accepted SS members has been debated. In her
review of Jutta Muhlenberg's book, Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung,
Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949,
Rachel Century writes:
Mühlenberg is very careful not to generalise and tar all the SS-Helferinnen with the same brush. Although all these women were a part of the bureaucratic staff, and were 'Mittäterinnen, Zuschauerinnen und zum Teil – auch Zeuginnen von Gewalttätigkeiten' [accomplices, spectators and sometimes even witnesses of violence] (p. 416), she notes that each woman still had individual responsibility over what she did, saw and knew, and it would be very difficult to identify the individual responsibilities of each SS-Helferin. Mühlenberg focuses on de-Nazification in the American sector, although the British zone is also discussed. A detailed report was drawn up by the Americans about the school, indicating how the women of the school should be dealt with; they were to be automatically detained. Although many were arrested and held in prison camps, it is not possible to give exact figures. Mühlenberg states that, for example, 700 women (out of a total of 9000 people) were interned in one particular British Civil Internment camp in December 1945, it is unknown how many of these were SS-Helferinnen. In later years, the SS-Helferinnen had to go through the de-Nazification process. Within each tribunal it was disputed whether these women were members of the criminal SS organization. As a consequence, there were many different and conflicting decisions in individual proceedings. Despite her acknowledgement of the varying degrees of individual responsibility, Mühlenberg concludes that the guilt of the former SS-Helferinnen lies in their voluntary participation in the bureaucratic apparatus of the SS.— Rachel Century, review of Das SS-Helferinnenkorps: Ausbildung, Einsatz und Entnazifizierung der weiblichen Angehörigen der Waffen-SS 1942–1949, (IHR review no. 1183).
The
Reichsschule was closed in 1944 due to the advance of the Allies.
SS
Scientific Corps
Main
article: Ahnenerbe
The
Scientific Branch of the SS that was used to provide scientific and
archeological proof of Aryan supremacy. Formed in 1935 by Himmler and Herman
Wirth, the society did not become part of the SS until 1939.
Ernst Kaltenbrunner,
Heinrich Himmler, August Eigruber, and other SS officials visiting
Mauthausen concentration camp in 1941.
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Other
SS groups
Austrian-SS
Main
article: Austrian
SS
The
term "Austrian-SS" was never a recognized branch of the SS, but is
often used to describe that portion of the SS membership from Austria. Both
Germany and Austria contributed to a single SS and Austrian SS members were
seen as regular SS personnel, in contrast to SS members from other countries
which were grouped into either the Germanic-SS or the Foreign Legions of the Waffen-SS.
The
Austrian branch of the SS first developed in 1932 and, by 1934, was acting as a
covert force to influence the Anschluss with Germany which would
eventually occur in 1938. The early Austrian SS was led by Ernst Kaltenbrunner and Arthur Seyss-Inquart and was technically under
the command of the SS in Germany, but often acted independently concerning
Austrian affairs. In 1936 the Austrian-SS was declared illegal by the Austrian
government.
After
1938, when Austria was annexed by Germany, the Austrian SS was folded into SS-Oberabschnitt
Donau with the 3rd regiment of the SS-Verfugungstruppe, Der
Führer, and the fourth Totenkopf regiment, Ostmark, recruited
in Austria shortly thereafter. A new concentration camp at Mauthausen also
opened under the authority of the SS Death's Head units.
Austrian
SS members served in every branch of the SS, including Concentration Camps,
Einsatzgruppen, and the Security Services. One notable Austrian-SS member was
Amon Göth, immortalized in the film Schindler's List. The fictional
character of Hans Landa in the film Inglourious Basterds was also
depicted as a member of the Austrian-SS.
According
to political science academic David Art:
Austrians also played a central role in Nazi crimes. Although Austrians comprised only 8 percent of the Third Reich's population, over 13 percent of the SS were Austrian. Many of the key figures in the extermination project of the Third Reich (Hitler, Eichmann, Kaltenbrunner, Globocnik, to name a few) were Austrian, as were over 75 percent of commanders and 40 percent of the staff at Nazi death camps. Simon Wiesenthal estimates that Austrians were directly responsible for the deaths of 3 million Jews.
Contract
workers
To
conduct upkeep, house-keeping, and the general maintenance of its many
headquarters buildings both in Germany and in other occupied countries, the SS
frequently hired civilian contract workers to perform such duties as maids,
maintenance workers, and general laborers. The SS also occasionally employed
civilian secretaries, but more often used the female SS corps for these duties.
Within
the concentration camps, the SS used a different method to gain such work
skills, mainly through the use of slave labor by "assigning"
concentration camp inmates to work in certain jobs. This included doctors, such
as Miklós Nyiszli who, while a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz, served as Chief
Pathologist and personal assistant to Josef Mengele.
In
occupied countries, especially France and the Low Countries, various resistance
groups made use of the SS need for low-level workers by planting resistance
members in certain jobs within SS headquarters buildings. This allowed for
intelligence gathering which assisted resistance attacks against German forces;
resistance groups in the conquered eastern lands also used this method, with
less success, although groups in Norway conducted several assassinations of SS
officers through the use of intelligence plants within SS offices. The SS was
often aware of such "moles" and actively attempted to locate such persons
and, on occasion, even used the resistance plants to German advantage by
supplying bad information in an attempt to bring resistance groups out into the
open and destroy them.
The
French Resistance was by far the most successful in using SS contracted
civilian workers to achieve intelligence gathering and conduct partisan
operations. At the end of World War II, resistance groups also rounded up
local civilians who had worked for the SS, subjecting them to humiliating
ordeals; such as, the shaving of heads in public squares.
Several
motion pictures have been the subject of local civilians working for the SS,
such as A Woman at War, starring Martha Plimpton, and Black Book,
starring Christian Berkel.
ODESSA
and postwar activity
According
to Simon Wiesenthal, toward the end of World
War II, a group of former SS officers went to Argentina and set up a Nazi
fugitive network code-named ODESSA, (an acronym for Organisation der
ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen, "Organization of the former SS
members"), with ties in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, operating out of
Buenos Aires, Argentina. ODESSA allegedly helped Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele,
Erich Priebke, and many other war criminals find postwar refuge in Latin
America.
It
is estimated that out of roughly 70,000 members of the SS involved in crimes in
German concentration camps, only about 1,650 to 1,700 were tried after the war.
However,
SS members who escaped judicial punishment were often subject to summary
execution, torture and beatings at the hands of freed prisoners, displaced
persons or Allied soldiers. Waffen SS soldiers were executed by U.S.
soldiers during the liberation of Dachau concentration camp, and SS
officer Oskar Dirlewanger was beaten and tortured to death at the end of the
war. In addition at least some members of the U.S Army Counter Intelligence
Corps (CIC) delivered captured SS camp guards to displaced persons camps with
the intention of them being extrajudicially executed.
Argentinian
citizen and water company worker Ricardo Klement was discovered to be Adolf
Eichmann in the 1950s, by former Jewish Dachau worker Lothar Hermann, whose daughter,
Sylvia, became romantically involved with Klaus Klement (born Klaus Eichmann in
1936 in Berlin). He was captured by Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, in
a suburb of Buenos Aires on May 11, 1960, and tried in Jerusalem on April 11,
1961, where he explicitly declared that he had abdicated his conscience in
order to follow the Führerprinzip (the "leader principle", or
superior orders). Eichmann was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.
Approaching the end of the war Eichmann was quoted saying "I will jump
into my grave with joy knowing that I am taking 10,000 jews with me".
Josef
Mengele, disguised as a member of the regular German infantry, was captured and
released by the Allies, oblivious of who he was. He was able to go and work in
Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1949 and to Altos, Paraguay, in 1959 where he was
discovered by Nazi hunters. From the late 1960s on, he exercised his medical
practice in Embu, a small city near São Paulo, Brazil, under the identity of
Wolfgang Gerhard, where in 1979, he suffered a stroke while swimming and
drowned.
The
British writer Gitta Sereny (born in 1921 in Hungary), who conducted interviews
with SS men, considers the story about ODESSA untrue and attributes the escape
of notorious SS members to postwar chaos, an individual bishop in the Vatican,
and the Vatican's inability to investigate the stories of those people who came
requesting help.
The
Argentine author and journalist Uki Goñi's book, The Real Odessa, claims
that such a network in fact existed, and in Argentina was largely run by
Argentine President Juan Domingo Perón, a Nazi sympathiser who had been
impressed by Benito Mussolini's reign in Italy during a military tour of duty
in that country which also took him to Nazi Germany. More recently researched
(2002) than Sereny's interviews, counterclaimants point out that it is at a far
greater chronological remove—multiple decades, not simply a year or two—from
the actual point(s) in time he asserts such events occurred, a remove material
enough that it could call into question the veracity of a number of his claims.
In
the modern age, several neo-Nazi groups claim to be successor organizations to
the SS. There is no single group, however, that is recognized as a continuation
of the SS, and most such present-day organizations are loosely organized with
separate agendas.
Oath
of the SS
The
full Eidformel der Schutzstaffel (Oath of the SS)
consisted of three questions and answers. The following text is cited from a
primary source written by Heinrich Himmler.
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