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117-832: The office traces its origins to 1931 when the SS created the SS-Amt to serve as an SS Headquarters staff overseeing the various units of the Allgemeine-SS (General SS). In 1933, after the Nazi Party came to power, the SS-Amt was renamed the SS-Oberführerbereichen and placed in command of all SS units within Nazi Germany . Its leaders were Ernst Bach (December 1932 to June 1933), Siegfried Seidel-Dittmarsch (June 1933 to February 1934) and Curt Wittje (from February 1934). This agency then became

234-697: A "Division of the SS" was made up of non-Germanic volunteers and conscripts. Himmler's military formations at the outbreak of the war comprised several subgroups that would become the basis of the Waffen-SS : In August 1939, Hitler placed the Leibstandarte and the SS-VT under the operational control of the Army High Command ( OKH ). Himmler retained command of the Totenkopfstandarten for employment behind

351-556: A "university entrance qualification (Abitur), and no less than one-fifth a university degree". Hausser became the Inspector of the SS-VT in 1936. In this role, Hausser was in charge of the troops' military and ideological training but did not have command authority. The decision on deployment of the troops remained in Himmler's hands. This aligned with Hitler's intentions to maintain these troops exclusively at his disposal, "neither [a part] of

468-571: A (region), which were subordinate to the SS-HA; SS-Abschnitt (SS-Sector) was the next lower level of command, responsible for administering a (District); Standarten (regiment), which were the basic units of the Allgemeine SS . Before 1934, SS personnel received no pay and their work was completely voluntary. After 1933, the Oberabschnitt commanders and their staff became regarded as "full time" but

585-514: A criminal record. A four-year commitment was required for the SS-VT and LSSAH. Recruits had to be between the ages of 17 and 23, at least 1.74 metres (5 ft 9 in) tall (1.78 metres (5 ft 10 in) for the LSSAH). Concentration camp guards had to make a one-year commitment, be between the ages of 16 and 23, and at least 1.72 metres (5 ft 8 in) tall. All recruits were required to have 20/20 eyesight , no dental fillings, and to provide

702-595: A general purge of SS members who were identified as drunkards, criminals, or otherwise undesirable for service in the SS. Himmler's ultimate aim was to turn the SS into the most powerful organization in Germany and most influential branch of the party. By 1930 Himmler had persuaded Hitler to run the SS as a separate organisation, although it was officially still subordinate to the SA. After the Machtergreifung (seizure of power) by

819-491: A medical certificate. By 1938, the height restrictions were relaxed, up to six dental fillings were permitted, and eyeglasses for astigmatism and mild vision correction were allowed. Once the war commenced, the physical requirements were no longer strictly enforced, and any recruit who could pass a basic medical exam was considered for service. Members of the SS could be of any religion except Judaism , but atheists were not allowed according to Himmler in 1937. Hitler expounded on

936-494: A plan to recruit volunteers in the conquered territories from the ethnic German and Germanic populations. At first, Hitler had doubts about recruiting foreigners, but he was persuaded by Himmler and Berger. He gave approval for a new division to be formed from foreign nationals with German officers. By June 1940, Danish and Norwegian volunteers had formed the SS Regiment Nordland , with Dutch and Flemish volunteers forming

1053-668: Is demonstrated by the record of SS Totenkopf Standarte "Brandenburg" . It arrived in Włocławek on 22 September 1939 and embarked on a four-day "Jewish action" that included the burning of synagogues and the execution en-masse of the leaders of the Jewish community. On 29 September the Standarte travelled to Bydgoszcz to conduct an " intelligentsia action ". In October 1939, the Deutschland , Germania , and Der Führer regiments were reorganised into

1170-479: Is the main argument that nearly the entire SS knew of the concentration camps, and what actions were committed within them, making the entire organization liable for war crimes and crimes against humanity . By late 1940 the Allgemeine SS controlled the Germanic SS ( Germanische SS ), which were collaborationist organizations modeled after the Allgemeine SS in several Western European countries. Their purpose

1287-570: The Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS (Command Staff Reichsführer-SS ) directly under Himmler's control. Initially, in keeping with the racial policy of Nazi Germany , membership was open only to people of Germanic origin (so-called " Aryan ancestry "). The rules were partially relaxed in 1940, and after the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Nazi propaganda claimed that the war

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1404-458: The Leibstandarte battalion was up to strength. The three SS divisions and the Leibstandarte spent the winter of 1939 and the spring of 1940 training and preparing for the coming war in the west. In May, they moved to the front, and the Leibstandarte was attached to the army's 227th Infantry Division . The Der Führer Regiment was detached from the SS-VT Division and attached to

1521-589: The Leibstandarte had taken the village of Wormhout , only ten miles from Dunkirk. After their surrender, soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment , along with some other units (including French soldiers), were taken to a barn in La Plaine au Bois near Wormhout and Esquelbecq . It was there that troops of the Leibstandarte 's 2nd Battalion committed the Wormhoudt massacre , where 81 British and French prisoners of war were murdered. By 30 May,

1638-766: The SS Führungshauptamt (SS Leadership Main Office; SS-FHA) and the main offices of the Allgemeine-SS , such as the Reich Security Main Office . Recruiting members for the Waffen-SS was handled through the SS-HA and its chief, Berger. This caused overlapping jurisdiction and friction with the SS-FHA. Berger's SS-HA had a problematic relationship with the SS-FHA, which was responsible for organising, training and equipping

1755-651: The SS-Verfügungs-Division . The Leibstandarte remained independent and was increased in strength to a reinforced motorised regiment. Hitler authorised the creation of two new divisions: the SS Totenkopf Division , formed from militarised Standarten of the SS-Totenkopfverbände , and the Polizei Division , formed from members of the national police force. Almost overnight the force that

1872-623: The 207th Infantry Division . The SS-VT Division minus Der Führer was concentrated near Münster awaiting the invasion of the Netherlands . The SS Totenkopf and Polizei Divisions were held in reserve. On 10 May, the Leibstandarte overcame Dutch border guards to spearhead the German advance of X Corps into the Netherlands, north of the rivers towards the Dutch Grebbe Line and subsequently

1989-650: The 6th Army was destroyed during the Battle of Stalingrad . Hitler ordered the SS Panzer Corps back to the Eastern Front for a counter-attack with the city of Kharkov as its objective. The SS Panzer Corps was in full retreat on 19 February, having been attacked by the Soviet 6th Army , when they received the order to counter-attack. Disobeying Hitler's order to "stand fast and fight to the death" , Hausser withdrew in front of

2106-513: The Allgemeine SS rank of a Standartenführer (full colonel), yet was only ranked an Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen-SS. If this same SS member were an architectural engineer , then the SS-Hauptamt would issue a third rank of SS-Sonderführer . SS members could also hold reserve commissions in the regular military as well as a Nazi Party political rank . Add to this that many senior SS members were also employees of

2223-563: The Allgemeine SS were raised in occupied countries. From 1940 they were consolidated into the Directorate of the Germanic-SS ( Leitstelle der germanischen SS ). When the war first began, the vast majority of SS members belonged to the Allgemeine SS , but this proportion changed during the later years of the war after the Waffen-SS opened up membership to ethnic Germans and non-Germans. Adolf Hitler in 1925 ordered Julius Schreck to organise

2340-554: The Allgemeine SS ; although many police members were also dual SS members. The death squad units of the Einsatzgruppen were formed under the direction of Heydrich and operated by the SS before and during World War II. In September 1939, they operated in territories occupied by the German armed forces following the invasion of Poland . Men for the units were drawn from the SS, the SD, and

2457-679: The Deutschland Regiment from being destroyed and their bridgehead lost. That same day, as the SS Totenkopf Division advanced near Merville, they encountered stubborn resistance from British Army units, which slowed their advance. The SS Totenkopf 4 Company, then committed the Le Paradis massacre , where 97 captured men of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment were machine gunned after surrendering, with survivors finished off with bayonets . Only two men survived. By 28 May,

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2574-666: The German Army ( Heer ), Ordnungspolizei (Order Police), and other security units. Originally, it was under the control of the SS Führungshauptamt (SS operational command office) beneath Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler , the head of the SS. With the start of World War II, tactical control was exercised by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, "High Command of the Armed Forces"), with some units being subordinated to

2691-693: The Gestapo to Himmler, who was also named chief of all German police forces outside Prussia . Two days later Himmler named Reinhard Heydrich the head of the Gestapo. The SS was further cemented when both it and the Gestapo participated in the destruction of the SA ;leadership during the Night of the Long Knives from 30 June to 2 July 1934. They either killed or arrested every major SA leader, above all Ernst Röhm . Himmler

2808-590: The Leie River at Merville . They forced a bridgehead across the river and waited for the SS Totenkopf Division to arrive to cover their flank. What arrived first was a unit of British tanks, which penetrated their position. The SS-VT managed to hold on against the British tank force, which got to within 15 feet of commander Felix Steiner 's position. Only the arrival of the Totenkopf Panzerjäger platoon saved

2925-590: The Pripyat swamps , an operation designed to round up and exterminate Jews, partisans, and civilians in that area of the Byelorussian SSR . Fegelein split the territory to be covered into two sections divided by the Pripyat River , with the 1st Regiment taking the northern half and the 2nd Regiment the south. The regiments worked their way from east to west through their assigned territory, and filed daily reports on

3042-693: The SS-Wachverbände in 1933, which later became known as the SS- Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV). Thereafter, the SS-TV branch increasingly became divided into the camp service proper and the military Totenkopf formation controlled by the SS-VT (forerunner of the Waffen-SS). As the Nazi regime became more oppressive and World War II escalated, the concentration camp system grew in size, lethal operation, and scope as

3159-662: The Sturmstaffel ("Storm Squadron") and then finally the Schutzstaffel ("Protection Squadron"; SS) on 9 November 1925. The SS was subordinated to the SA and thus a subunit of the SA and the NSDAP. It was considered to be an elite organization by both party members and the general population. The main task of the SS was the personal protection of the Führer of the Nazi Party , Adolf Hitler. In 1925

3276-674: The Totenkopf ", Eicke was awarded Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 20 May 1942. The Waffen-SS expanded further in 1943: in February the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen and its sister division, the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg , were formed in France. They were followed in July by the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland created from Norwegian and Danish volunteers. September saw

3393-485: The Waffen-SS divisions and brigades fared better. The Totenkopf and Polizei divisions were attached to Army Group North , with the mission to advance through the Baltic states and on to Leningrad . The Das Reich Division was with Army Group Centre and headed towards Moscow . The Leibstandarte and Wiking Divisions were with Army Group South , heading for Ukraine and the city of Kiev . The invasion of

3510-633: The Waffen-SS formations participated (including the Reich Division, which was formally renamed to Das Reich by the fall of 1941). SS Division Nord, which was in northern Finland , took part in Operation Arctic Fox with the Finnish Army and fought at the battle of Salla , where against strong Soviet forces they suffered 300 killed and 400 wounded in the first two days of the invasion. Thick forests and heavy smoke from forest fires disoriented

3627-453: The Waffen-SS had increased in size from eight divisions and some brigades to 16 divisions. By 1943 the Waffen-SS could no longer claim to be an "elite" fighting force. Recruitment and conscription based on "numerical over qualitative expansion" took place, with many of the "foreign" units being good for only rear-guard duty. On the Eastern Front, the Germans suffered a devastating defeat when

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3744-586: The Waffen-SS until 1942. At the same time, the Totenkopf-Standarten , aside from the three constituting the TK-Division, lost their Death's Head designation and insignia and were reclassified SS-Infanterie- (or Kavallerie- ) Regimente . The 11th Regiment was transferred into the Reich Division to replace Germania ; the remainder were grouped into three independent brigades and a battle group in Norway. By

3861-512: The heavy panzer companies . The Soviet offensive of January 1942 trapped a number of German divisions in the Demyansk Pocket between February and April 1942; the 3rd SS Totenkopf Division was one of the divisions encircled by the Red Army. The Red Army liberated Demyansk on 1 March 1943 with the retreat of German troops. "For his excellence in command and the particularly fierce fighting of

3978-664: The " Night of the Long Knives ", when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders and the purge of the Sturmabteilung (SA). Led by one of Hitler's oldest comrades, Ernst Röhm , the SA was seen as a threat by Hitler to his newly gained political power. Hitler also wanted to appease leaders of the Reichswehr (the Weimar Republic's armed forces) and conservatives of the country, people whose support Hitler needed to solidify his position. When Hitler decided to act against

4095-401: The 2,000 that had started the campaign in June. Altogether, the Waffen-SS had suffered 43,000 casualties. While the Leibstandarte and the SS divisions were fighting in the front line, behind the lines it was a different story. The 1st SS Infantry and 2nd SS Infantry Brigades, which had been formed from surplus concentration camp guards of the SS-TV, and the SS Cavalry Brigade moved into

4212-402: The Allgemeine SS was administratively divided into several main sections: After World War II began, the lines between the Allgemeine SS and the Waffen-SS became increasingly blurred, due largely to the Allgemeine SS headquarters offices having administrative and supply command over the Waffen-SS. By 1940, all of the Allgemeine SS had been issued grey war-time uniforms. Himmler ordered that

4329-434: The Amsterdam region. The neighbouring Der Führer Regiment advanced towards the Grebbe Line in the sector of the Grebbeberg with as a follow-up objective the city of Utrecht . The Battle of the Grebbeberg lasted three days and took a toll on Der Führer . On 11 May, the SS-VT Division crossed into the Netherlands south of the rivers and headed towards Breda . It fought a series of skirmishes before Germania advanced into

4446-413: The Balkans. Himmler approved the introduction of formal compulsory service for the Volksdeutsche in German-occupied Serbia. Another new division was formed at the same time, when the SS Cavalry Brigade was used as the cadre in the formation of the 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer . The front line divisions of the Waffen-SS that had suffered losses through the winter of 1941–1942 and during

4563-408: The British were cornered at Dunkirk , and the SS divisions continued the advance into France. The Leibstandarte reached Saint-Étienne , 250 miles south of Paris, and had advanced further into France than any other unit. By the next day, the fighting was all but over. German forces arrived in Paris unopposed on 14 June and France formally surrendered on 25 June. Hitler expressed his pleasure with

4680-413: The Dutch province of Zeeland on 14 May. The rest of the SS-VT Division joined the northern front against the forces in Antwerp . On the same day, the Leibstandarte entered Rotterdam . After the surrender of Rotterdam, the Leibstandarte left for The Hague , which they reached on 15 May, capturing 3,500 Dutch soldiers as prisoners of war . In France, the SS Totenkopf Division was involved in

4797-426: The Dutch surrender, the Leibstandarte moved south to France on 24 May. Becoming part of the XIX Panzer Corps under the command of General Heinz Guderian , they took up a position 15 miles south west of Dunkirk along the line of the Aa Canal, facing the Allied defensive line near Watten. A patrol from the SS-VT Division crossed the canal at Saint-Venant , but was destroyed by British armour. A larger force from

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4914-469: The German High Command ( Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW in German); the SS was given the lowest priority for recruits. Even with the difficulties presented by the quota system, Heinrich Himmler formed two new SS regiments, the SS Germania and SS Deutschland , which together with the Leibstandarte and a communications unit made up the SS-VT. At the same time Himmler established two SS-Junker Schools (SS officer training camps) that, under

5031-400: The NSDAP in January 1933, the SS began to expand into a massive organization. By the end of 1932 it included over 52,000 members. By December 1933 the SS increased to 204,000 members and Himmler ordered a temporary freeze on recruitment. On 20 April 1934, Göring and Himmler agreed to put aside their differences, largely because of their mutual hatred of the SA. Göring transferred control of

5148-423: The OKW had tried to disband had increased from 18,000 to over 100,000 men. Hitler next authorised the creation of four motorised artillery battalions in March 1940, one for each division and the Leibstandarte . The OKW was supposed to supply these new battalions with artillery, but was reluctant to hand over guns from its own arsenal. The weapons arrived only slowly and, by the time of the Battle of France , only

5265-434: The OKW noted that the Leibstandarte had to be rescued by an army regiment after becoming surrounded by the Poles at Pabianice . In its defence, the SS insisted that it had been hampered by having to fight piecemeal instead of as one formation, and was improperly equipped by the army to carry out its objectives. Himmler insisted that the SS-VT should be allowed to fight in its own formations under its own commanders, while

5382-403: The OKW tried to have the SS-VT disbanded altogether. Hitler was unwilling to upset either the army or Himmler, and chose a third path. He ordered that the SS-VT form its own divisions but that the divisions would be under army command. Hitler resisted integrating the Waffen-SS into the army, as it was intended to remain the armed wing of the party and to become an elite police force once the war

5499-426: The Red Army. During Field Marshal Erich von Manstein 's counteroffensive, the SS Panzer Corps, without support from the Luftwaffe or neighbouring German formations, broke through the Soviet line and advanced on Kharkov. Despite orders to encircle Kharkov from the north, the SS Panzer Corps directly attacked in the Third Battle of Kharkov on 11 March. This led to four days of house-to-house fighting before Kharkov

5616-532: The Reich government in capacities as ministers, deputies, etc. In 1944, nearly every SS general was granted equivalent Waffen-SS rank, without regard to previous military service. This was ordered so to give SS-generals authority over military units and POW camps and apparently to try to provide potential protection under the Hague Convention rules of warfare. In the event of capture by the Allies , SS-Generals thereby hoped they would be given status as military prisoners rather than captured police officials. In 1944,

5733-410: The SA, the SS was put in charge of killing Röhm and the other high-ranking SA officers. The Night of the Long Knives occurred between 30 June and 2 July 1934, claiming up to 200 victims and murdering almost the entire SA leadership, effectively ending its power. This action was largely carried out by SS personnel (including the Leibstandarte ) and the Gestapo . In September 1934, Hitler authorised

5850-404: The SS (1st Galician) formed from volunteers from Galicia in western Ukraine. The 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian) was created in 1943, using compulsory military service in the Ostland . The final new division of 1943 was the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS , which was created using the Sturmbrigade Reichsführer SS as a cadre. By the end of the year,

5967-412: The SS Cavalry Brigade had 2 regiments with a strength of 3500 men and played a pivotal role in the transition to the wholesale extermination of the Jewish population. In the summer of 1941, Himmler assigned Hermann Fegelein to be in charge of both regiments. On 19 July 1941, Himmler assigned Fegelein's regiments to the general command of HSSPF Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski for the "systematic combing" of

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6084-448: The SS Regiment Westland . The two regiments, together with Germania (transferred from the Reich Division), formed the SS Division Wiking . A sufficient number of volunteers came forward requiring the SS to open a new training camp just for foreign volunteers at Sennheim in Alsace-Lorraine . At the beginning of the new year, the Polizei Division was brought under FHA administration, although it would not be formally merged into

6201-447: The SS and authorized SS and Police Bases ( SS- und Polizeistützpunkte ) to be established in occupied Poland and occupied areas of the Soviet Union. They were to be "armed industrialized agricultural complexes". They would also maintain order in the areas they were established. They did not go beyond the planning stage. Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS ( German: [ˈvafn̩ʔɛsˌʔɛs] ; lit.   ' Armed SS ' )

6318-441: The SS had only 200 active members and in 1926, it ended the year with the same number. There were 280 members in 1928 as the SS continued to struggle under the SA. After Heinrich Himmler took over the SS in January 1929, he worked to separate the SS from the SA. By December 1929, the number of SS members had grown to 1,000. Himmler began to systematically develop and expand the SS with stricter requirements for members as well as

6435-405: The SS had risen again and reached its peak with an estimated 240,000 members. By the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the SS had solidified into its final form. Correspondingly, the term "SS" could be applied to three separate organizations, mainly the Allgemeine SS , SS-Totenkopfverbände and the Waffen-SS, which until July 1940 was officially known as the SS-VT. When the war first began,

6552-423: The SS officer schools ( SS-Junker Schools ), physical training, communication, SS garrisons, logistics and support. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the SS-Verfügungstruppe expanded rapidly becoming the Waffen-SS in 1940. By this time, the office of the SS-Hauptamt could no longer administer the entire SS organization. As a result, the SS-HA was downsized losing much of its pre-war power to

6669-455: The SS, females participated in atrocities against Jews, Poles, and others. In 1942, Himmler set up the Reichsschule für SS Helferinnen (Reich school for SS helpers) in Oberehnheim to train women in communications so that they could free up men for combat roles. Himmler also intended to replace all female civilian employees in his service with SS-Helferinnen members, as they were selected and trained according to NSDAP ideology. The school

6786-547: The SS-HA for both the Waffen-SS and the SS-Totenkopfverbände . The General SS members were especially seen as well suited for duty at the Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps . From 1942, forward, other personnel working for SS organisations were also drafted into the Waffen-SS to meet its manpower needs. In 1940 the SS-Hauptamt remained responsible for SS administrative matters such as manpower allocation, supplies, personnel transfers, and promotions. The SS-HA had 11 departments (Ämter or Amtsgruppen): The SS-HA

6903-402: The SS-HA on January 30, 1935. The organization oversaw the Allgemeine-SS , concentration camps , the SS-Verfügungstruppe (Special-purpose troops), and the Grenzschutz (Border Control regiments). During the late 1930s, the power of the SS-HA continued to grow becoming the largest and most powerful office of the SS, managing nearly all aspects of the paramilitary organization. This included

7020-447: The SS-TV would, in the case of war, be used as reserves for the SS-VT, which did not have its own reserves. For all its training, the SS-VT was untested in combat. In 1938, a battalion of the Leibstandarte was chosen to accompany the army troops in occupying Austria during the Anschluss , and the three regiments of the SS-VT participated in the occupation of the Sudetenland that same year in October. In both actions no resistance

7137-440: The SS-VT Division then crossed the canal and formed a bridgehead at Saint-Venant; 30 miles from Dunkirk. That night the OKW ordered the advance to halt, with the British Expeditionary Force trapped. The Leibstandarte paused for the night. However, on the following day, in defiance of Hitler's orders, Dietrich ordered his 3rd Battalion to cross the canal and take the heights beyond, where British artillery observers were putting

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7254-439: The Soviet Union behind the advancing armies. At first, they fought Soviet partisans and cut off units of the Red Army in the rear of Army Group South, capturing 7,000 prisoners of war, but from mid-August 1941 until late 1942 they were assigned to the Reich Security Main Office headed by Reinhard Heydrich . The brigades were now used for rear area security and policing, and were no longer under army or Waffen-SS command. In

7371-424: The Soviet Union proceeded well at first, but the cost to the Waffen-SS was extreme: by late October, the Leibstandarte was at half strength due to enemy action and dysentery that swept through the ranks. Das Reich lost 60% of its strength and was still to take part in the Battle of Moscow . The unit was later decimated in the following Soviet offensive. The Der Führer Regiment was reduced to 35 men out of

7488-536: The Soviet counter-offensive were withdrawn to France to recover and be reformed as Panzergrenadier divisions. Due to the efforts of Himmler and Hausser, the new commander of the SS Panzer Corps , the three SS Panzergrenadier divisions Leibstandarte , Das Reich , and Totenkopf were to be formed with a full regiment of tanks rather than only a battalion. This meant that the SS Panzergrenadier divisions were full-strength Panzer divisions in all but name. They each received nine Tiger tanks , which were formed into

7605-416: The Waffen-SS. The SS-FHA wanted the Waffen-SS to be a small elite corps, but Berger and Himmler knew that Adolf Hitler needed as many divisions as possible, even if that meant some Waffen-SS formations would be of lesser quality. During the early war years, to meet the high casualty rates and expansion of Waffen-SS field divisions , members of the Allgemeine SS were used for compulsory recruitment drives by

7722-430: The Yugoslav capital. Fritz Klingenberg , a company commander in the Reich , led his men into Belgrade, where a small group in the vanguard accepted the surrender of the city on 13 April. A few days later the Royal Yugoslav Army surrendered. The Leibstandarte had now crossed into Greece, and on 10 April engaged the 6th Australian Division in the Battle of the Klidi Pass . For 48 hours they fought for control of

7839-407: The advance on 13 May. When the Reconnaissance Battalion under the command of Kurt Meyer came under heavy fire from the Greek Army defending the Klisura Pass , they broke through the defenders and captured 1,000 prisoners of war at the cost of only six dead and nine wounded. The next day, Meyer captured Kastoria and took another 11,000 prisoners of war. By 20 May, the Leibstandarte had cut off

7956-448: The advancing combat units in what were euphemistically called "special tasks of a police nature". In spite of the swift military victory over Poland in September 1939, the regular army felt that the performance of the SS-VT left much to be desired; its units took unnecessary risks and had a higher casualty rate than the army. They also stated that the SS-VT was poorly trained and its officers unsuitable for combat command. As an example,

8073-518: 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 . Approximately one third of the Allgemeine SS were considered "full time" meaning that they received a salary as government employees, were employed full-time in an SS office, and performed SS duties as their primary occupation. The vast majority of such full-time SS personnel were assigned to

8190-445: The army, nor of the police", according to Hitler's order of 17 August 1938. On 17 August 1938, Hitler declared that the SS-VT would have a role in domestic as well as foreign affairs, which transformed this growing armed force into the rival that the army had feared. He decreed that service in the SS-VT qualified to fulfill military service obligations, although service in the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) would not. Some units of

8307-551: The attitude he wanted during a talk in the Wolf's Lair : "I have six divisions of SS composed of men absolutely indifferent in matters of religion. It doesn't prevent them from going to their deaths with serenity in their souls." Historian Bernd Wegner found in his study of officers that a large majority of the senior officers corps of the Waffen-SS were from an upper-middle-class background and would have been considered for commissioning by traditional standards. Among later Waffen-SS generals, approximately six out of ten had

8424-499: The autumn of 1941, they left the anti-partisan role to other units and actively took part in the Holocaust . While assisting the Einsatzgruppen , they participated in the extermination of the Jewish population of the Soviet Union, forming firing parties when required. The three brigades were responsible for the murder of tens of thousands by the end of 1941. Because it was more mobile and better able to carry out large-scale operations,

8541-604: The camp operations, the WHVA was the organization responsible for managing the finances, supply systems and business projects for the Allgemeine SS . 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. This rotation of personnel

8658-414: The civilian population through acts that included hunting down straggling Polish soldiers, confiscating agricultural produce and livestock, and torturing and murdering large numbers of Polish political leaders, aristocrats, businessmen, priests, intellectuals, and Jews. His Totenkopfverbände troops were called on to carry out "police and security measures" in the rear areas. What these measures involved

8775-530: The concentration camp at Auschwitz was greatly expanded to include the addition of gas chambers , where victims were killed using the pesticide Zyklon B . After 1942, the entire camp service was placed under the authority of the Waffen-SS for a variety of administrative and logistical reasons. The ultimate command authority for the camp system during World War II was the SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt (WHVA) under Oswald Pohl . Beside

8892-525: The core of the Allgemeine SS , were maintained in their own order of battle, beginning with regiment sized Standarten units and extending upwards to division strength Oberabschnitte commands. Within the Allgemeine SS Standarten there were in turn subordinate battalions of Sturmbann themselves divided into company Sturme . For most rank and file members of the Allgemeine SS , the Sturm level

9009-558: The direction of former Lieutenant General Paul Hausser , prepared future SS leaders. In addition to military training, the courses aimed to instill a proper ideological worldview, with antisemitism being the main tenet. Instructors such as Matthias Kleinheisterkamp , or future war criminals, such as Franz Magill of the notorious SS Cavalry Brigade were of questionable competence. In 1934, Himmler set stringent requirements for recruits. They were to be German nationals who could prove their Aryan ancestry back to 1800, unmarried, and without

9126-671: The draft exemption for the Allgemeine SS main offices was lifted and many junior members were ordered into combat with senior members assuming duties as Waffen-SS generals. The core of the Allgemeine SS was part-time mustering formations spread throughout Germany. Members in these regional units would typically meet once a week in uniform, as well as participate in various Nazi Party functions. Activities including drill and ideological instruction, marching in parades, and providing security at various Nazi party rallies. Regional SS units were organized into commands known as SS-Oberabschnitt meaning "SS-Senior Sector" responsible for commanding

9243-590: The economic ambitions of the SS intensified. Intensification of the killing operations took place in late 1941 when the SS began construction of stationary gassing facilities to replace the use of Einsatzgruppen for mass killings. Victims at these new extermination camps were killed with the use of carbon monoxide gas from automobile engines. During Operation Reinhard , three death camps were built in occupied Poland: Bełżec (operational by March 1942), Sobibór (operational by May 1942), and Treblinka (operational by July 1942). On Himmler's orders, by early 1942

9360-513: The exception of conscripts, who comprised about one-third of the membership, were denied many of the rights afforded to military veterans. The origins of the Waffen-SS can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men on 17 March 1933 by Sepp Dietrich to form the Sonderkommando Berlin. By November 1933 the formation had 800 men, and at a commemorative ceremony in Munich for

9477-450: The first in the Holocaust to wipe out entire Jewish communities. Fegelein's final operational report dated 18 September 1941, states that they killed 14,178 Jews, 1,001 partisans, 699 Red Army soldiers, with 830 prisoners taken and losses of 17 dead, 36 wounded, and 3 missing. Historian Henning Pieper estimates the actual number of Jews killed was closer to 23,700. In 1942, the Waffen-SS

9594-480: The formation of a new bodyguard unit, the Schutzkommando ("Protection Command"). Hitler wanted a small group of tough ex-soldiers like Schreck, who would be loyal to him. The unit included old Stoßtrupp members like Emil Maurice and Erhard Heiden . The unit made its first public appearance on 4 April 1925. That same year, the Schutzkommando was expanded to a national level. It was also successively renamed

9711-585: The formation of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend using volunteers from the Hitler Youth . Himmler and Berger successfully appealed to Hitler to form a Bosnian Muslim division, and the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) , the first non-Germanic division, was formed, to fight Josip Broz Tito 's Yugoslav Partisans . This was followed by the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of

9828-622: The formation of the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party and approved the formation of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), a special service troop under Hitler's overall command. The SS-VT had to depend on the German Army for its supply of weapons and military training, and its local draft boards responsible for assigning conscripts to the different branches of the Wehrmacht to meet quotas set by

9945-659: The formations. The Waffen-SS were involved in numerous atrocities. It was declared a criminal organisation by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg in 1946, due to its involvement in the Holocaust , the Porajmos , and numerous war crimes and crimes against the civilian population, including torture , human experimentation , kidnapping of children , mass rape , child sexual abuse and mass murder . Therefore Waffen-SS members, with

10062-579: The heights, often engaging in hand-to-hand combat, eventually gaining control with the capture of Height 997, which opened the pass and allowed the German Army to advance into the Greek interior. This victory gained praise from the OKW: in the order of the day they were commended for their "unshakable offensive spirit" and told that "the present victory signifies for the Leibstandarte a new and imperishable page of honour in its history." The Leibstandarte continued

10179-563: The main SS offices that were considered part of the Allgemeine SS. By 1942, these main offices managed all activities of the SS and were divided as follows: Main office commanders and staff were exempt from military conscription, although many, such as Heydrich, served as reservists in the regular German military. Main office members did join the Waffen-SS, where they could accept a lower rank and serve in active combat or be listed as inactive reservists. By 1944, with Germany's looming defeat,

10296-435: The number of people killed and taken prisoner. By 1 August, 1st SS Cavalry Regiment under the command of Gustav Lombard was responsible for the death of 800 people; by 6 August, this total had reached 3,000 "Jews and partisans". Throughout the following weeks, the regiment's personnel under Lombard's command murdered an estimated 11,000 Jews and more than 400 dispersed soldiers of the Red Army. Thus Fegelein's units were among

10413-544: The occupied Soviet Union, including mass murder of Jews, communists, prisoners of war, and hostages, and played a key role in the Holocaust . All Concentration Camp staffs were originally part of the Allgemeine SS under the office of the Concentration Camps Inspectorate ( Inspektion der Konzentrationslager or IKL). First headed by Theodor Eicke , the Concentration Camp personnel were formed into

10530-515: The only Allied tank counterattack in the Battle of France. On 21 May, units of the 1st Army Tank Brigade , supported by the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division , took part in the Battle of Arras . The SS Totenkopf , on the southern flank of the 7th Panzer Division , was overrun, finding their standard anti-tank gun , the 3.7 cm PaK 36 , was no match for the British Matilda II tank. After

10647-508: The party Sicherheitsdienst (SD). Later from 27 September 1939 forward, the SD, Gestapo, and Kripo were folded into the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) that was placed under Heydrich's control. As a functioning state agency, the SiPo ceased to exist. The ordinary uniformed German police, known as the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo), were under SS control after 1936 but were never incorporated into

10764-543: The performance of the Leibstandarte in the Netherlands and France, telling them, "Henceforth it will be an honour for you, who bear my name, to lead every German attack." On 19 July 1940, Hitler gave a speech to the Reichstag , where he gave a summary of the western campaign and praised the German forces involved. He used the term " Waffen-SS " when describing the units of the LSSAH and SS-VT that took part. From that day forward,

10881-508: The police. Originally part of the SiPo, in late September 1939 the operational control of the Einsatzgruppen was taken over by the RSHA. When the killing units were re-formed prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the men of the Einsatzgruppen were drawn from the SD, Gestapo, Kripo, Orpo, civilian (SS auxiliary) and Waffen-SS . The Einsatzgruppen units perpetrated atrocities in

10998-507: The rank and file of the Allgemeine SS were still part-time only. Regular Allgemeine SS personnel were also not exempt from conscription and many were called up to serve in the Wehrmacht . In 1936, the state security police forces of the Gestapo and Kripo (Criminal Police) were consolidated. The combined forces were folded into the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo) and placed under the central command of Reinhard Heydrich , already chief of

11115-574: The regiment at risk. They assaulted the heights and drove the observers off. Instead of being censured for his act of defiance, Dietrich was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . On that same day, British forces attacked Saint-Venant, forcing the SS-VT Division to retreat. On 26 May, the German advance resumed. On 27 May, the Deutschland Regiment of the SS-VT Division reached the Allied defensive line on

11232-562: The retreating Greek Army at Metsovo and accepted the surrender of the Greek Epirus-Macedonian Army. As a reward, the Leibstandarte was nominally redesignated as a full motorised division, although few additional elements had been added by the start of the Soviet campaign and the "division" remained effectively a reinforced brigade. Operation Barbarossa , the German invasion of the Soviet Union, started on 22 June 1941, and all

11349-619: The spring of 1941, the Waffen-SS consisted of the equivalent of six or seven divisions: the Reich , Totenkopf , Polizei , and Wiking Divisions and Kampfgruppe (later Division) Nord , and the Leibstandarte , 1st SS Infantry , 2nd SS Infantry , and SS Cavalry Brigades. In March 1941, a major Italian counterattack against Greek forces failed, and Germany came to the aid of its ally. Operation Marita began on 6 April 1941, with German troops invading Greece through Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in an effort to secure its southern flank. Reich

11466-541: The stated membership estimate for the SS was 800,000. The Waffen-SS had approximately 600,000 of those members in their ranks. The Waffen-SS had grown from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, and served alongside the Heer (regular army), but never formally a part of it. In comparison, by the end of the war the Allgemeine SS only had a little over 40,000 men still in its ranks. The mustering formations of part-time SS members, considered before 1938 to be

11583-569: The tenth anniversary of the failed Beer Hall Putsch the regiment swore allegiance to Adolf Hitler . The oaths pledged were "Pledging loyalty to him alone" and "Obedience unto death". The formation was given the title Leibstandarte ( transl.  Bodyguard Regiment ) Adolf Hitler (LAH). On 13 April 1934, by order of Himmler, the regiment became known as the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH). The Leibstandarte demonstrated their loyalty to Hitler in 1934 during

11700-774: The term Waffen-SS became the official designation for the SS combat formations. Himmler gained approval for the Waffen-SS to form its own high command, the Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS within the SS Führungshauptamt , which was created in August 1940. It received command of the SS-VT (the Leibstandarte and the Verfügungs-Division , renamed Reich ) and the armed SS-TV regiments (the Totenkopf Division together with several independent Totenkopf-Standarten ). In 1940, SS chief of staff Gottlob Berger approached Himmler with

11817-414: The troops and the division's units completely fell apart. By the end of 1941, Nord had suffered severe casualties. Over the winter of 1941–42 it received replacements from the general pool of Waffen-SS recruits, who were supposedly younger and better trained than the SS men of the original formation, which had been drawn largely from Totenkopfstandarten of Nazi concentration camp guards. The rest of

11934-505: The vast majority of SS members belonged to the Allgemeine SS , but this statistic changed during the later stages of the war when the Waffen-SS opened up membership for non-Germans. Further, with Himmler as Chief of the German Police, the SS also controlled the uniformed Ordnungspolizei (Order Police). The term Allgemeine-SS referred to the "General SS," meaning those units of the SS considered "main, regular, or standard." By 1938,

12051-490: Was a "European crusade against Bolshevism " and subsequently units consisting largely or solely of foreign volunteers and conscripts were also raised. These Waffen-SS units were made up of men mainly from among the nationals of Nazi-occupied Europe. Despite relaxation of the rules, the Waffen-SS was still based on the racist ideology of Nazism , and ethnic Poles (who were viewed as subhumans ) were specifically barred from

12168-579: Was a paramilitary force, which in war was to be subordinate to the Wehrmacht ("Armed Forces"), but remained under Himmler's control in times of peace and under Hitler's personal control regardless. According to this restructure, the SS now housed three different subordinate commands: Himmler further conducted additional purges of the SS to exclude those deemed to be opportunists, alcoholics , homosexuals , or of uncertain racial status. This "house cleaning" removed some 60,000 SS members by December 1935. By 1939,

12285-399: Was closed on 22 November 1944 due to the Allied advance. The ranks of the Allgemeine SS and the Waffen-SS were based upon those of the SA and used the same titles. However, there was a distinctly separate hierarchical subdivisions of the larger Waffen-SS from its general-SS counterpart and an SS member could in fact hold two separate SS ranks. For instance, in 1940 Hermann Fegelein held

12402-576: Was further expanded and a new division was entered on the rolls in March. By the second half of 1942, an increasing number of foreigners, many of whom were not volunteers, began entering the ranks. The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen was recruited from Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) drafted under threat of punishment by the local German leadership from Croatia , Serbia , Hungary , and Romania and used for anti-partisan operations in

12519-755: Was later named the chief of all German police in June 1936, and the Gestapo was incorporated with the Kripo (Criminal Police) into sub-branches of the SiPo . Heydrich was made head of the SiPo and continued as chief of the SD . In August 1934, Himmler received permission from Hitler to form a new organisation from the SS Sonderkommandos and the Politischen Bereitschaften , the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT). This

12636-492: Was met. Recruiting ethnic Germans from other countries began in April 1940, and units consisting of non-Germanic recruits were formed beginning in 1942. Non-Germanic units were not considered to be part of the SS, which still maintained its racial criteria, but rather were considered to be foreign nationals serving under the command of the SS. As a general rule, an "SS Division" was made up of Germans or other Germanic peoples, while

12753-555: Was officially established in the autumn of 1934 to distinguish its members from the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS Dispositional Troops or SS-VT), which later became the Waffen-SS , and the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS Death's Head Units or SS-TV), which were in charge of the Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps . SS formations committed many war crimes against civilians and allied servicemen. Starting in 1939, foreign units of

12870-645: Was ordered to leave France and head for Romania , and the Leibstandarte was ordered to Bulgaria. The Leibstandarte , attached to the XL Panzer Corps , advanced west then south from Bulgaria into the mountains, and by 9 April had reached Prilep in Yugoslavia, 30 miles from the Greek border. Further north the Reich Division, with the XLI Panzer Corps , crossed the Romanian border and advanced on Belgrade ,

12987-579: Was recaptured by the Leibstandarte Division on 15 March. Two days later, the Germans recaptured Belgorod , creating the salient that, in July 1943, led to the Battle of Kursk . The German offensive cost the Red Army an estimated 70,000 casualties but the house-to-house fighting in Kharkov was particularly bloody for the SS Panzer Corps, which lost approximately 44% of its strength by the time operations ended in late March. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

13104-506: Was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, but received credit for the four years during which he had been in custody awaiting trial. Berger was released from Landsberg prison in 1951. Allgemeine-SS The Allgemeine SS ( [ˌalɡəˈmaɪ̯nə ˈɛs ˈɛs] ; "General SS") was a major branch of the Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany ; it was managed by the SS Main Office ( SS-Hauptamt ). The Allgemeine SS

13221-590: Was technically subordinate to the Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS , but in reality it remained autonomous. After the end of World War II in Europe, members of the SS-HA were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity . Gottlob Berger , its former chief was arrested in May 1945 and tried in 1949. The trial against Berger and his co-defendants commenced on 6 January 1948, and ended on 13 April 1949. Berger

13338-427: Was the combat branch of the Nazi Party 's paramilitary Schutzstaffel (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany , along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. It was disbanded in May 1945. The Waffen-SS grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II . Combining combat and police functions, it served alongside

13455-458: Was the highest which the ordinary SS member would typically associate with. The Sturm itself was further divided into platoon sized Truppen (sometimes known as Zug ) which were in turn divided into squad sized Scharen . For larger Allgemeine SS commands, the Scharen would be further divided into Rotte which were the Allgemeine SS equivalent of a fire team . Himmler had grand visions for

13572-879: Was to enforce Nazi racial doctrine , especially anti-Semitic ideals. They typically served as local security police augmenting German units of the Gestapo, SD, and other main departments of the Reich Main Security Office. The Allgemeine SS also consisted of the SS-Frauenkorps (literally, "Women's Corps") which was an auxiliary reporting and clerical unit, which included the SS-Helferinnenkorps (Women Helper Corps), made up of female volunteers. Members were assigned as administrative staff and supply personnel, and served in command positions and as guards at women's concentration camps in places such as Ravensbrück concentration camp . Like their male equivalents in

13689-821: Was won. During the invasion, numerous war crimes were committed against the Polish people. The Leibstandarte became notorious for torching villages without military justification. Members of the Leibstandarte also committed atrocities in numerous towns, including the murder of 50 Polish Jews in Błonie and the massacre of 200 civilians, including children, who were machine gunned in Złoczew . Shootings also took place in Bolesławiec , Torzeniec , Goworowo , Mława , and Włocławek . Eicke's SS-TV field forces were not military. Their military capabilities were employed instead in terrorizing

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