What did the SS troops do in Hitler's army and how did they differ from the Wehrmacht?
- The SS troops and the SS organization itself are not the same thing. The SS organization, so to speak, is the combat unit of the Nazi party, a public organization and members of this organization are engaged in SS activities in parallel with their main work (shopkeeper, worker, civil servant, etc.). They have the right to wear a black uniform and have SS ranks. The SS troops are recruited from members of the SS, but they are already the armed forces of this organization and those who are part of the SS troops are military personnel.
The ranks of SS members differ only by their buttonholes. There is only one shoulder strap on the black uniform on the right shoulder and by it you can only distinguish the category of SS member (private and non-commissioned officers, junior officers, senior officers, generals). SS troops who are members of the SS organization can wear the same black uniform and have the same rank insignia. However, SS troops also wear field uniforms similar to those of the Wehrmacht. Here on this uniform there are shoulder straps on both shoulders, outwardly similar to those of the Wehrmacht and the rank insignia is the same. That is, the ranks of SS military personnel differ in both buttonholes and shoulder straps at the same time.
In addition to the SS divisions, the SS troops had so-called “divisions under the SS” (Division der SS). Usually these were formations of people of other nationalities (Russians, Ukrainians, Magyars, Croats, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, French, etc.). The military personnel of these formations wore SS uniforms and SS insignia with some differences. However, they did not have the rights of members of the SS organization and were not allowed to wear black uniforms.
Services of the SS troops corresponding to the army
1 - cavalry.
2 - technical services.
3 - radio communication units and subdivisions.
4 - supply services.
5 - veterinary service.
6 - medical service.
7 - pharmaceutical service.
8 - orchestras.
9 - judicial investigative bodies.
10-administrative service.
11-artillery service.
12-security service.
They were extremely rare, and in front-line SS units they were not encountered at all:
13 - assigned to the Hitler Youth organization.
14 - seconded to the police.
15 - seconded to the SA organization.
16 - seconded to the NSDAP party organizations.SS divisions took a wide part in all military operations of the Second World War. However, and Hitler also admitted this, the SS troops did not produce a single noticeably outstanding military leader. None of the SS generals became famous as commanders, including Himmler.
Where Wehrmacht generals achieved victories through tactical and operational thinking, through the training of their soldiers and officers, SS generals achieved success through the blood of their soldiers, through their ideological obsession. And the SS troops were not created for victories on the battlefields, but for completely different terrible purposes. There they really had no equal.
- WLAD has a pretty cool answer, it’ll just be easier for you like this: If you take the SS troops (Wafen SS), then they fought in exactly the same way as the Wehrmacht, although they were distinguished by their tenacity and fanaticism (this was also recognized by our sources), and all other SS military units had security and punitive functions, it is on their conscience that concentration camps, cleansing operations, punitive operations against partisans, etc.
- During the war, these were selected units, famous for their particular cruelty. Their uniform was black, and their emblems featured a skull and crossbones. In short, professional thugs.
- Wehrmacht - army. SS - counterintelligence.
- The fewer moral standards, the better the intelligence officer (This is why the SS troops were distinguished by special animal characteristics). If you don’t believe me, ask your scout friends. It’s true that scouts don’t give away secrets. So you'll have to take my word for it.
- SS (German: Schutzstaffel, security detachments) armed formations of the National Socialist German Workers' Party in 1923-1945. The first military unit of the SS was the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, under the command of Joseph Sepp Dietrich, originally intended to guard Hitler.
On March 16, 1935, Hitler announced the introduction of universal conscription. On the same day, he announced that “political platoons” would unite under a new formation called “SS - Verfugungstruppe” (“Special Purpose Troops”).Wehrmacht (German: Wehrmacht, literally defense force) is the name of the armed forces of Nazi Germany in 1935-1946. The Law on the Creation of the Armed Forces (German: Gesetz #252;ber den Aufbau der Wehrmacht) was passed two years after Hitler came to power, on March 16, 1935, the armed forces consist of the army, navy and Luftwaffe (Air Force), The corresponding control bodies of the high commands are created: OKH for the army, OKM for the fleet and OKL for the Luftwaffe.
- During the war, these were selected units, famous for their particular cruelty. Their uniform was black, and their emblems featured a skull and crossbones. In short, they are professionals.
- On Wikipedia and Chrono. ru everything is well and detailed :)
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffen-SS
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht
http://www.hrono.ru/organ/waffen_ss.html - It was they who had the fucking elite.
- The purpose is dual - the fight against opponents in the second echelons, the punitive function, the fight against riots, partly guard duty at important facilities, the fight against saboteurs. In essence, this is a punitive unit, guard troops and units for fighting saboteurs. Subsequently, attempts were made to create elite troops on a political basis, but they were not successful. In addition, they were used in dirty deeds: death camps, etc. Intelligence and counterintelligence of the Reich - Abwehr, Gestapo, but not the SS and SD. The Wehrmacht for the most part consisted of Sochnik soldiers and career officers; there were professional special forces soldiers, although there were many more of them in the Abwehr and the same SD.
In practice, the Wehrmacht is at war, the SD finishes off the survivors, the Wehrmacht deploys a garrison, policemen maintain order, and SS units fight the dissatisfied, they also guard the camps
Waffen-SS and attitude towards them in the Wehrmacht and in German society
“Eventually efficiency as such should not be a dominant norm in any kind of enterprise.”
(E. Fromm)
“People often make the mistake of confusing a bad deed with doing it well.”
(A.V. Belinkov)
In the 20s English General John Fuller gained fame as one of the creators of the theory of war with “small professional armies” equipped with the latest technology - this theory was adhered to: in England by Liddell Hart, in Germany by General von Seeckt, in France by General de Gaulle (528). In many respects, the Waffen-SS became such an elite army, but it had a strict ideological background, since they were a party formation. However, it is doubtful that elite military formations can be built taking into account pluralism, tolerance or liberalism - this generally contradicts military discipline and hierarchy... It is obvious that among the American “leatherbacks”, or the French para, or the Russian special forces, or whatever -In a military collective of this kind, a feeling of chosenness, exclusivity, and superiority is formed, without which these collectives are impossible. In such troops, the ideals of loyalty, obedience, honor and comradeship were and are especially important, which, of course, were not a monopoly of the Waffen-SS.
The first paramilitary formations that became the basis of the SS arose in 1923, when, under the leadership of Josef Berchtolds, the “Adolf Hitler Shock Troop” was created. (Sto ? trupp Adolf Hitler), after the suppression of the Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923, it was banned along with the SA and the NSDAP. At the beginning of 1925, when the party was refounded, a headquarters guard was again created, this time led by Julius Schreck. The small detachment of eight (later legendary for the SS) men gradually expanded, and new units of “defensive detachments” were created. (Schutzstaffel). Over time, the SS and its individual units (SD, Gestapo, Totenkopf units) were to become the all-encompassing police body of the party, and the Waffen-SS was destined to become the military representative of this new power (529).
On March 17, 1933, Hitler instructed Sepp Dietrich to form a security unit to protect the Reich Chancellery. Thus the headquarters guard was once again recreated (SS-Stabwache), the number of which was 117 people. A few weeks later the guard became known as the "SS Sonderkommando Berlin" (SS-Sonderkommando Berlin) under the command of the same Dietrich. In June 1933, two more SS Sonderkommandos were formed at the Reichswehr training bases in Jüterbog and Zossen - together they laid the foundation for the creation of the Waffen-SS. On September 3, all three Sonderkommandos were merged together under the leadership of Dietrich (by this time their number had grown to 600 people) and were named Adolf Hitler Standarte, a On November 9, 1933, on the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch, the formation received its final name Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.
The Leibstandarte became an exemplary parade unit. Only volunteers who were well physically developed, from 17 to 22 years old and at least 180 cm tall (later 184 cm) were accepted into it. Himmler demanded "racial purity" of candidates. They had to be of Nordic appearance and provide evidence of Aryan ancestry dating back to 1800. The applicant had to be able to withstand any physical exertion. Himmler boasted that until 1936, the Leibstandarte did not even accept anyone who had even one rotten tooth (530).
However, the Leibstandarte, although it laid the foundation for armed forces separate from the Wehrmacht, was initially a separate unit from the SS, under the personal subordination of Hitler.
On September 24, 1934, a decree of War Minister von Blomberg, “agreed with the Fuhrer and the leadership of the SS,” determined the main directions of development of the SS, the size of the “detachments for assignments” of the SS-FT (SS-Verfugungstruppe) was assigned to three regiments. At the same time, it was initially planned to expand the Leibstandarte battalions into regiments. The decree determined that the further expansion of the SS-FT would depend on the orders of the Minister of War (531). The same decree created three schools of commanders for the SS-FT. At the same time, the number of teaching staff, command staff and students of these schools was not included in the general contractual composition of the SS-FT, which left a loophole for their subsequent expansion. In addition to the SS-FT, Himmler united all units involved in guarding concentration camps into the SS “Totenkopf” detachments. (SS-Totenkopfverbande) under the command of Theodor Eicke. Thus, taking into account the SD, three directions took shape in the SS. In order to distinguish them from other parts of the SS, the SD began to be called “general SS” (Allgemeine SS) (532) .
On March 16, 1935, Hitler announced the introduction of universal conscription and an increase in the size of the army to 36 divisions. On the same day, it was announced that within the framework of the SS “special forces” an SS division would be formed from 3 SS-FT regiments created on September 24, 1934. In order to reassure the army leadership, which had only recently freed itself from the nightmare of the people's militia based on the SA, it was announced that there would be no competition between the SS and the army, because SS units would be transferred to the police budget, including the Death's Head formations ( however, these formations were not part of the SS-FT, since the army refused to recognize service in them as army service). In general, all SS units were subject to constant organizational changes, reshuffles, reshuffles and redistribution of competencies, the Waffen-SS too. It is very easy to get lost in the jungle of these changes, but it can definitely be said that the “mission squads” were the most significant predecessor of the Waffen-SS, they had exclusively internal political tasks, but despite this, from 1934 they received full army training.
On October 1, 1936, the SS-FT Inspectorate was created, which until 1940 functioned as the headquarters of the SS-FT. The head of the inspection was retired Reichswehr Lieutenant General Paul Hausser. Hausser did a lot to organize SS-FT combat training. The inspectorate was directly subordinate to Himmler, and Hausser himself did not play any independent political role in the SS. In the SS hierarchy, Hausser, as a Brigadeführer, was lower than Obergruppenführer Sepp Dietrich, the commander of the Leibstandarte. Tensions between the SS-FT Inspectorate and the Leibstandarte, formally part of the SS-FT, reached a peak in 1938 when Dietrich refused to obey Hausser's order to allocate a number of soldiers and commanders from his unit to create one SS-FT regiment in Austria . Hausser threatened to resign if the relationship of hierarchy and subordination with the Leibstandarte was not resolved. The conflict was settled only with the expansion of the SS-FT on the eve of the war (533).
With the outbreak of war, Himmler managed to fulfill his long-standing plan - to form three new SS divisions: Deutschland (Paul Hausser), Totenkopf (Theodor Eicke) and Leibstandarte (Sepp Dietrich). The final decision was made in March 1940, when the “troops for orders” became known as the Waffen-SS (534).
Already during the war, the SS “Totenkopf” SS-TF units became an important part of the Waffen-SS. (SS-Totenkopfverbande SS-TV), which were created on March 29, 1936 for the external protection of concentration camps. Himmler appointed Theodor Eicke as commander of the SS-TF, who had previously distinguished himself during the reorganization of the Dachau concentration camp. Eicke managed to reorganize the concentration camp system in a short time, reducing their number to seven and strictly selecting SS-TF personnel. In the summer of 1937, Eicke reduced the SS-TF to three regiments: Upper Bavaria, Brandenburg and Thuringia, which were respectively attached to the main concentration camps of Dachau, Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald. Ironically, the more Eicke became active in centralizing the concentration camp system, the more the Reichsführer SS sought to decentralize this system, preventing Eicke from becoming too strong. In addition, Heydrich also wanted to take control of the concentration camps. In 1938, by order of Himmler, an economic administration of concentration camps was created, removed from the Eicke inspection and subordinated directly to Himmler. This department was headed by an energetic organizer, Gruppenführer Oswald Pohl (535).
Soon after the creation of the SS-TF they were taken over by the state. The Wehrmacht refused to recognize service in the SS-TF for the performance of military duties - this subsequently had an advantage for the Totenkopf leadership, which could not fear Wehrmacht interference in the process of combat training in the SS-TF. A major expert on the history of the Waffen-SS, Bernd Wegner, pointed out that the continuously ongoing (since 1938) process of merging the tasks of the SS-FT and SS-TF was not accidental, it corresponded to the consistent militarization of the SS, as well as the creation of a single “state defense corps” (536 ) .
The SS-FT grew rapidly: from 1935 to 1938, the SS Deutschland (Munich) under the command of Felix Steiner, the Germania (Hamburg) under the command of Karl Maria Demelhuber were added to the already existing Leibstandarte, and after the Anschluss in Austria there was "Führer" was formed under the command of Georg Keppler (537). On August 17, 1938, Hitler issued a decree, apparently inspired by Himmler, according to which the SS-FT obeyed all military laws and orders, but politically remained part of the NSDAP and obeyed Himmler. After the war, some historians dubbed this decree “the birth of the Waffen-SS” (538).
The main point of establishing the Waffen-SS was so that the SS could prove their combat effectiveness and their loyalty to Hitler in practice, in battle. Otherwise, it would be difficult to imagine how the SS, sitting in the rear during the war and leaving everything to the Wehrmacht to do, could claim any significant place in society in post-war Germany. The Nazi leadership consisted entirely of veterans and heroes of the First World War, so it extremely valued military camaraderie, selflessness, heroism, loyalty to military duty and other attributes of patriotism and love of country. It was precisely as a result of this conscious desire to establish themselves both in their own opinion and in the opinion of others that the Waffen-SS fighters became the best soldiers of the war, “soldiers of destruction.” Oddly enough, one of the most brutal camp commandants, Theodor Eicke, was the commander of one of the most famous and combat-ready German front-line formations - the Totenkopf tank division, whose soldiers also served as camp guards. Thus, the SS leadership wanted to emphasize that they were the best at doing the hardest and most dangerous work at the front and at the same time the dirtiest and most thankless work in the rear, re-educating or destroying the “internal enemies” of the Reich.
Hitler immediately stipulated that the SS special forces would operate as part of army units and be subject to their jurisdiction, and politically they would remain party units. According to Hitler, the SS would ensure the security of the Reich from the inside, and the Wehrmacht from the outside. Hitler soon stipulated that SS units should not exceed 10% of the peacetime Wehrmacht. There was some advantage in this ratio: the fact is that the Wehrmacht, deploying 56 divisions at once (three times as many during the war), had to be content with the human material that was available, and the SS could choose. In addition, Hitler exempted from military service those young people who served in the S.S. In three years, anyone wishing to join the ranks of the SS had to go from being an applicant to (Staffel-Bewerber) to rookie (Staffel-Jungmann), from recruit to candidate (Staffel-Anwarter), from candidate to squad member (Staffel-Mann), from a squad member to a full-fledged SS man (SS-Mann). Himmler attached great importance to the fact that the SS, being the elite of society, did not disintegrate into classes and groups, but cultivated a special camaraderie. In this partnership, differences in ranks had only functional significance, but did not provide any advantages (539).
The SS requirements for the physical training of recruits were much higher than in the Wehrmacht, but they paid much less attention to education. The educational requirements for officer candidates in the SS were significantly lower than in the army. Due to the high demands on the physical condition of recruits, most of the Waffen-SS soldiers were from rural areas, and peasants, of course, are easier to overcome the hardships of field life; People from the village were the best soldiers in all the armies of the world. All those entering the SS had to confirm their Aryan origin, there was no place for people with criminal records in the SS, recruits had to have iron health. During the war, the Waffen-SS were able to recruit their units from among ethnic Germans, which was not available to the Wehrmacht, in which only Reich citizens served. Thanks to this trick, the Waffen-SS units differed from the Wehrmacht units (which constantly suffered from a shortage of conscripts) in having a full complement of personnel.
By order of Himmler, a veteran of the First World War, retired General Staff officer Paul Hausser, was appointed chief inspector of the nascent formations. It was he who was responsible for the combat training of the SS “detachments for assignments”, and then the Waffen-SS (from 1940). Hausser was undoubtedly an outstanding military educator, but he acted primarily within the old Reichswehr tradition. In selecting and establishing new emphasis in the process of combat training, Hausser was for some time opposed by the former Prussian lieutenant Felix Steiner, who was dismissed from the army in 1919 and remained out of work. Steiner's like-minded person was World War II veteran and former submarine commander Cassius von Montagny.
Felix Steiner was greatly impressed by the experience of the First World War, as well as by Liddell Hart's theoretical work “The Future of Infantry” (540), which finally convinced him that the future does not belong to a mass army, but to elite troops with perfect command of weapons and equipment . These kinds of elite units in the Reichswehr were created at the end of 1916 - they were assault battalions under each army or equivalent formation. In 1917, at least 17 such battalions were formed. They had the same numbers as in the army. Assault battalions included from one to five assault companies, one to two machine gun companies, a flamethrower section, a mortar company and a gun battery. The assault battalions were inherently different from other parts of the German army. From the very beginning they considered themselves - and were in fact - elite units. The discipline in these battalions was unusual - the traditional disunity did not separate the privates and officers. The assault battalions received better food, they were freed from the boring everyday life of trench warfare and had more opportunities for recreation. On the other hand, the demands on their military abilities were much higher.
The tenacity and ruthlessness of these soldiers was well described by Ernst Jünger - himself an officer of the assault battalion and one of the most famous heroes of the First World War, a holder of the highest Prussian military order Pour le merite,- in the story “In Steel Thunderstorms”: “Our feelings were determined by rage, alcohol, thirst for blood. As we laboriously but inexorably moved towards the enemy lines, I seethed with rage that gripped me and all of us in an incomprehensible way. An irresistible desire to kill gave me strength. Rage squeezed tears from my eyes. Only the primitive instinct remained" (541).
Steiner, taking assault battalions as a model, initially limited himself to only one battalion in his military-pedagogical experiments; his pedagogical methods were then extended to almost the entire Waffen-SS. He eliminated barracks drill, placing sports at the center of training. He trained soldiers, whom Liddell Hart later called athletes of war, the ideal of the modern infantryman. For Steiner, the most important thing was to eliminate the differences and divisions between the rank and file and the command staff, and to foster true camaraderie in the units. Officers were trained in SS cadet schools, which undoubtedly formed the best system of military training during the Second World War (542). Steiner and many of his supporters in the SS viewed Himmler's mysticism as worthless eccentricity, and put the tasks of combat training and military-political education at the forefront of their work (543). In accordance with these guidelines, officers and non-commissioned officers, together with privates, had to take part in combat sports: this was one of the means to eliminate rank differences. The word “Mr” was not used when addressing the officer. (Herr) like in the Wehrmacht, but only the rank was named. Between officers and privates in the Waffen-SS troops, like in no other army, the bonds of military camaraderie were felt. In addition, Waffen-SS soldiers, as a rule, were ardent supporters of National Socialism, and this was especially clearly felt on the Eastern Front: the SS took Hitler’s declared “fight against Bolshevism, the Soviets and the Jews” much more seriously than the Wehrmacht.
Steiner selected officer cadres not on the basis of noble birth, but on the basis of true merit and qualities of a commander and leader. Prospective cadets from SS officer schools were required to complete two years of military service before entering the school, making educational or birth advantages irrelevant. In the Waffen-SS all opportunities for advancement in rank were open. American historian George Stein wrote that in the Waffen-SS there was a sense of community and mutual respect between officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted men that was virtually unknown in the Wehrmacht (544). Steiner, even in combat training, followed a completely unknown path: he sought to transform his troops into shock troops, capable of instantly and effectively coming into direct contact with the enemy. For this purpose, instead of the carbines that were in service with the army, automatic hand-held small arms (automatic MP-38 and MP-40). Steiner introduced - and demanded strict adherence to - incredibly high standards of physical training: his squad in combat gear covered 3 km in 20 minutes (545). The combat training program developed by Steiner was adopted by Theodor Eicke to train the Totenkopf tank division, as well as other Waffen-SS units. The "Steiner Model", however, was not mandatory for all Waffen-SS units; many commanders of individual units (like Sepp Dietrich, commander of the Leibstandarte, or Karl Maria Demmelhuber, commander of the Germania), did not recognize the possibility of achieving the sporting results that Steiner demanded.
Steiner insisted that all Waffen-SS units be motorized; On his initiative, Waffen-SS soldiers were the first to wear camouflage uniforms, for which they were nicknamed “tree frogs” in the Wehrmacht. During the war, Steiner initially commanded the Waffen-SS infantry division "Germany", then he headed the most famous (after the Reich division) Waffen-SS formation - the Viking division, then the 3rd Panzer Corps and the 2nd Panzer Army. It was thanks to Steiner that the Viking became the best of the SS volunteer formations, and its soldiers the best and most persistent in the entire German army.
The successes of the SS “mission squads” in combat training and the entire Steiner methodology could not obscure the fact that the SS lacked experienced officers who would be trained from generation to generation, as in the Wehrmacht. In the Wehrmacht, 49% of officers were hereditary military officers, in the Waffen-SS - 5%; in the Wehrmacht, 2% of officers were from peasants, in the Waffen-SS - 90% (546). The army felt increasing competition from the SS, so it was forbidden to form Waffen-SS units larger than a division or to have artillery; Recruitment into Waffen-SS units through newspapers was prohibited. Hitler repeatedly repeated that the strength of the Waffen-SS should not exceed 10% of the peacetime army. However, to carry out the Ardennes breakthrough, in September 1944, by order of Hitler, the Waffen-SS tank army (6th) was formed, the commander of this unit was Sepp Dietrich, who for a long time was the commander of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, and then the Waffen-SS division. SS "Adolf Hitler" (547), which at the last stage of the war was transferred to Hungary, where it laid down its arms.
As a matter of fact, the person who was able to truly free the Waffen-SS from the tutelage of the Wehrmacht and make them independent units was SS Brigadeführer (General) Gottlob Berger, who headed the SS Main Directorate in 1938. This department lost most of its functions during the war , but from 1941 Berger was responsible for replenishing the Waffen-SS personnel; His merit is the recruitment of Waffen-SS units from among ethnic Germans, and the creation of various national auxiliary formations of the Waffen-SS. The equally energetic officer Hans Jüttner, who headed the main operational headquarters of the Waffen-SS, was responsible for operational control of the Waffen-SS, organizing supplies, training and mobilizing soldiers into the Waffen-SS.
Another prominent representative of the Waffen-SS was a native of Alsace, a pathological sadist, Theodor Eicke, who consciously educated his subordinates in the spirit of opposition to the army. The murderer of Röhm and the inventor of the bureaucratic system of terror in the concentration camps, Eicke had the idea that his troops should be the antithesis of the army. In 1935, he formed and equipped six battalions of the Death's Head regiment with equipment; from 1938, the battalions were expanded into regiments, each of which bore the names of their places of deployment. Death's Head soldiers guarded concentration camps for one week a month, and spent the remaining three weeks engaged in combat training.
On August 19, 1939, on the eve of the war with Poland, by order of Hitler, parts of the SS-FT were subordinated to the OKH: the Leibstandarte came under the control of the 8th Army (Blaskowitz), the German regiment - the 14th Army (Liszt). Of all the SS-FT regiments, only the Deutschland regiment did not take part in the Polish campaign. The SS-TF regiments “Upper Bavaria”, “Thuringia” and “Brandenburg”, under the command of Theodor Eicke, were entrusted with a special task - as task forces independent from the OKH, they were engaged in “cleaning up” the rear of the 10th and 8th armies. In fact, they were the first to begin the systematic destruction of “undesirable elements” (548). In October 1939, the SS-TF regiments were transformed into the Totenkopf division. Almost at the same time, the SS Police Division was formed from the “order police” units. Two weeks after the start of the Polish campaign, the SS-FT army already existed: three complete divisions and a fourth, which was under formation at the Leibstandarte base. From the beginning of November 1939, they began to use the new designation “Waffen-SS”, which gradually replaced the old names SS-FT and SS-TF (549).
The strong expansion of the Waffen-SS during the war did not seem unusual - during the war all the forces of the nation are mobilized: the Wehrmacht increased ninefold, military production increased fivefold. Against this background, could the SS not contribute to the overall efforts of the nation? True, previously only the armed forces were competent in the military sphere... Official SS explanations boiled down to the need to organize the “internal defense” of the state during war. In peacetime, 10% of the SS formations were armed, which was explained partly by their internal political tasks (SS-TF), partly by the need to reinforce political authority with weapons. The presence of these armed forces encouraged the SS leadership to expand them during the war for their own legitimation and acquisition of a high reputation in post-war Germany (550).
After the start of the Polish campaign, Hitler allowed the formation of Waffen-SS divisions, and in 1940 the SS divisions "Totenkopf", "Viking" and "Reich" were created. After the creation of these units, the security of the concentration camps was transferred to the non-combat-ready part of the SS army. At the end of the war, almost a million soldiers served in the Waffen-SS; from 1943, people were drafted into the Waffen-SS like into the army: they ceased to be volunteer units. Since 1940, personnel for the Waffen-SS began to actively draw from the Volksdeutsch, who made up 1/4 of the strength of the Waffen-SS troops. The Wehrmacht leadership already in 1940 was discouraged by the power and pressure of military athletes from the Waffen-SS divisions. Their fighting morale and contempt for death were exceptional even for the Wehrmacht; Thus, the Wehrmacht tank general Erich Hoepner once spoke of Eick as follows: “He has a butcher’s mentality.” Eicke’s cruelty extended not only to concentration camp prisoners: the commander of the XVI-ro corps, General Gepner, in 1940 ordered an investigation into the murder of British prisoners in Le Paradis by Death’s Head soldiers, but Himmler put the brakes on this matter. Regimental commander Fritz Knochlein, responsible for the murders, was tried and hanged by the Americans after the war (551).
The commanders of the Waffen-SS were not afraid to risk the lives of their soldiers, so losses in the Waffen-SS were sometimes unheard of for the Wehrmacht. Although, on the other hand, it must be borne in mind that there were no homogeneous Waffen-SS, but there were 36 huge units, completely different in quality and combat effectiveness. Rüdiger Overmanns showed that in general the losses of the Waffen-SS were no higher than the average losses in the Wehrmacht - the problem was what specific task this or that unit was performing (552).
From battle to battle, the Waffen-SS increasingly became the military elite of the nation. When the Red Army launched a counteroffensive, the Waffen-SS became for the Germans the personification of soldierly fortitude and devotion to duty. Soldiers fought in the Waffen-SS whose successes and dedication during the war were neither achieved nor surpassed by anyone. Rüdiger Overmanns found that Waffen-SS losses amounted to 314 thousand killed - 70% occurred in the last 16 months of the war. The Eastern Front accounts for 37% of these losses, the Wehrmacht - 60%. (553) Of the entirety of Hitler’s ground military formations, the Waffen-SS were the most modern and effective. The soldiers themselves were extremely proud of their comradeship and defended its honor as best they could. The English historian Trevor-Roper wrote that the Leibstandarte soldiers, who in 1945 were deprived by Hitler of the right to wear armbands for failure in one operation, sent him all their awards and insignia in the barracks bucket (554). This is most likely a legend. In fact, after the failure of Sepp Dietrich's 6th Panzer Army in Hungary in March 1945, Hitler sent an order to the army saying that the troops were not fighting as the situation required and that the Leibstandarte, Reich divisions , “Totenkopf” and “Hohenstaufen” are losing their sleeve bands. What happened after receiving the order is told differently; Trevor-Roper's post is one option. Dietrich himself told the investigator in 1946 that he then called the division commanders to him and, throwing an order on the table, said: “Here is your reward for what you have done in the last five years.” Dietrich ordered the ribbons not to be paired, and wrote to Hitler that he would rather shoot himself than carry out this order (555). However, it is clear that the Waffen-SS actually valued their military honor.
However, over time, the quality of the Waffen-SS troops fell. One third of the Waffen-SS divisions received 90% of all Knight's Crosses awarded to Waffen-SS soldiers (556). Four Waffen-SS divisions (out of 38) - “Totenkopf”, “Adolf Hitler”, “Reich” and “Viking” - accounted for 55% of the Waffen-SS combat awards: that is, these units were extremely unequal. This stemmed from the diversity of formation sources: in 1944, 400,000 Reichsdeutsch, 310,000 Volksdeutsch, 50,000 representatives of the German peoples, 150,000 others served in the Waffen-SS (557).
Number of holders of the Knight's Cross in Waffen-SS divisions (the first digit indicates the time of formation of the division in order):
2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" - 72
5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" - 54
1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte" - 52
3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" - 46
11th Volunteer SS Panzer Grenadier Division "Norland" - 27
8th SS Cavalry Division "Florian Geyer" - 23
23rd Volunteer SS Panzer Division "Nederland" - 20
4th SS Police Grenadier Panzer Division - 19
12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Jugend" - 15
10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg" - 13
9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenzollern" - 12
19th SS Grenadier Division (Lithuanian No. 2) - 12
7th SS Mountain Volunteer Division "Prinz Eugen" - 6
6th SS Mountain Division "Nord" - 5
18th Volunteer SS Panzergrenadier Division "Horst Wessel" - 5
22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division - 5
13th SS Mountain Division "Handschar" - 4
17th Volunteer SS Panzergrenadier Division "Götz von Berlichingen" - 4
20th SS Grenadier Division (Estonian No. 1) - 4
15th SS Grenadier Division (Lithuanian No. 1) - 3
28th Volunteer SS Panzergrenadier Division "Wallonia" - 3
33rd SS Grenadier Division "Charlemagne" - 2
14th SS Grenadier Division (Galician No. 1) - 1
16th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Reichsführer SS" - 1
27th Volunteer Grenadier Division "Langenmark" - 1
36th SS Grenadier Division - 1
Total: 410 holders of the Knight's Cross.
Of this number of holders of the Knight's Cross in the Waffen-SS: generals - 17 (3.8%), other officers - 337 (75.6%), non-commissioned officers - 78 (17.5%), privates - 13 (3% ) (558) .
For both the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS, the war on the Eastern Front had the character of an ideological confrontation; there could be no talk of any “war by rules”; The Soviet Union was the victim of unprovoked aggression, but the Red Army responded with cruelty for cruelty. The carousel of bloodshed and inhumanity was in full swing. For example, when the Leibstandarte fighters took Taganrog, they discovered the bodies of their captured comrades, literally chopped into pieces with sapper shovels; Sepp Dietrich gave the order not to take prisoners for three days - as a result, 4,000 Red Army soldiers were shot (559).
It is difficult to judge unambiguously the crimes of the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front; they were not particularly different from the crimes of the Wehrmacht. True, among the Waffen-SS units there were units that were often used as punitive units. So, in this kind of operations, the SS cavalry units of Fegelein, until August 13, 1941, destroyed 14 thousand people, mostly Jews, in the Pripyat marshes. At the same time, Fegelein’s units lost two fighters - it is clear that this was not about military operations. In Ukraine, the Viking division killed 600 Galician Jews during an action of retaliation; The Reich division assisted the security police and SD task force in exterminating Jews near Minsk. In Kharkov in 1943, the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, avenging the death in captivity of their comrades, destroyed 800 wounded Red Army soldiers (560). However, similar actions of “retribution” were carried out by Wehrmacht units.
But the losses of the Waffen-SS themselves were great. The Waffen-SS commanders did not spare their subordinates. Hitler was delighted with their tenacity. His personal guard "Leibstandarte" distinguished itself in the hardest battles near Rostov in November 1941. The commander of the "Leibstandarte" Sepp Dietrich spent the entire January 1942 in Berlin, where he was treated like a movie star. Hitler wanted to make Dietrich a real hero of the Third Reich. Goebbels wrote: “The Fuhrer wanted Sepp Dietrich’s achievements to be given even greater fame. He should not be a “black sheep” (in the Wehrmacht, the Waffen-SS was sometimes treated condescendingly. - O.P.) among other generals" (561). Immediately after his arrival, Dietrich stayed for three nights at the Reich Chancellery as Hitler's personal guest. He was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. Propaganda repeated the words of the Fuhrer: “The role of Sepp Dietrich is unique. I always gave him the opportunity to excel in hot spots. This person is at the same time dexterous, energetic and tough. He has a serious, conscientious and scrupulous character. And how he cares about his soldiers! He is a man of the same type as Frundsberg, Zieten and Seydlitz. He is the Bavarian Wrangel, to a certain extent an irreplaceable person. For the German people, Sepp Dietrich is a national phenomenon. And for me he is one of the oldest comrades in arms" (562). The effectiveness and military successes of the Leibstandarte prompted Hitler on December 10, 1942 to announce that he would be reorganizing into the Leibstandarte Panzergrenadier Division. This reorganization led to an increase in the division's strength to 21 thousand soldiers (563). The Leibstandarte gradually began to be distinguished even by its opponents - when the 5th battalion of the Leibstandarte appeared near Leningrad, the Soviet troops immediately recognized it and shouted into the loudspeaker: “We welcome the Leibstandarte!” Remember Rostov! We will beat you here, just like we beat you in the south!” (564) .
Although Hitler and Himmler were delighted with the heroism of the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front, the huge German losses and the growing resistance of the Red Army since 1942 no longer raised any doubts that the war would be long, so Hitler allowed form Waffen-SS units not on a voluntary basis, but on the basis of conscription. From that moment on, the differences between the mass of Wehrmacht soldiers and the mass of Waffen-SS soldiers began to disappear, and it was unfair to accuse all Waffen-SS soldiers of crimes against humanity for the reason that many units of the Waffen-SS fought only at the front, and in some cases or did not take part in punitive expeditions. Speer writes that the Waffen-SS sometimes behaved not like an ideological army, but like ordinary soldiers: the 2nd Waffen-SS Panzer Corps under General Bietrich defeated the British airborne division and allowed the British not to evacuate their field hospital. But then party functionaries carried out lynching of the British and American pilots who were there. All Bietrich’s efforts to stop the lynching were in vain, and he sharply reproached the party members for it. This had a strong effect on those around him, if only because the Waffen-SS general expressed reproaches for causeless cruelty (565).
An opposite example can be given - the commander of the 25th regiment of the Waffen-SS division "Hitler Jugend" Mayer was found guilty of the murder of forty-five Canadian prisoners in Normandy (June 8, 1944). Dietrich, as commander of the army, justified himself by saying that he organized and led the investigation into this incident (566). But, in principle, the war in the West was conducted differently. The implication here was that both sides adhered to the laws of war. But even here there were manifestations of cruelty, which is not surprising: after all, there was a war going on. The Americans are also guilty of manifestations of cruelty - for example, the literature mentions the order for the 328th Infantry Regiment of the 26th US Infantry Division dated December 21, 1944: “not to take any of the SS troops and paratroopers prisoner, but to shoot them on the spot.” (567) . Meanwhile, revenge is not considered a justification in the Geneva Convention, and therefore Americans are also guilty of cruelty. The only difference is that they turned out to be winners.
The general bitterness of the war was especially great on the Eastern Front, which, of course, also affected the Waffen-SS. So, without delay, on December 15–18, 1943, after the liberation of Kharkov by Soviet troops, a show trial of war criminals took place. Witnesses testified that on March 13, 1943, Leibstandarte soldiers set fire to the evacuation hospital of the Soviet 69th Army, located on Trinkler Street, and Soviet soldiers trying to escape from the fire were shot with machine guns. The accused were found guilty, and the court's conclusion stated that Sepp Dietrich was also guilty and should receive the deserved punishment. Despite the verdict of a showpiece Soviet court, largely propaganda, it is difficult to establish the true picture of what happened, since the shelling of the hospital took place during the battle. In 1967, an additional investigation into this case was carried out in Nuremberg; the court found that there was insufficient evidence to establish the perpetrators, and the case was dismissed (568). At the investigation after the war, Dietrich, of course, justified himself: “I can only take responsibility for what I did not resist. I want to stand up for the people I once led. I did not sign a single order about the execution of Jews and the burning of villages. I did not order the plunder of captured cities. Therefore, I want to explain how things happened and stand up for my people” (569). General Speidel, who participated in the Resistance, indicated in his memoirs that Waffen-SS units fought bravely and were tightly controlled by their commanders until the very end. The general wrote: “In fairness, it should be said about the Waffen-SS troops that they did not at all identify themselves with the police units; the methods of their “work” were alien to them” (570).
In Greece and Yugoslavia, the Leibstandarte was not known for cruelty and undisciplined behavior. The treatment of British and Greek prisoners was normal. In Russia, everything was different, given the fanaticism with which both sides fought the war. The cruelty was mutual. The above-mentioned incident in Taganrog is evidence of this. Rudolf Lehmann, in his history of the Leibstandarte, wrote that one of the witnesses to the identification of the bodies of the Leibstandarte soldiers who died in Taganrog said: “The corpses were stripped and badly mutilated. Many of those who were considered missing were killed, beaten to death, with limbs cut off and eyes gouged out. It was difficult to identify them... Now we knew what awaited us if we found ourselves in Soviet captivity" (571). The cruelty shown by both sides was terrible. Both the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS were responsible for many things, especially after the guerrilla war began.
In 1942, a large number of Soviet soldiers, as in 1941, found themselves surrounded, but this time they were in no hurry to surrender, continuing to fight, waging a guerrilla war. The Wehrmacht considered the fight against partisans beneath its dignity, and it was inappropriate to use selected units of the Waffen-SS to fight the partisans, so they began to transfer a large number of police units, which were subordinate to Himmler, to the occupied areas in the East. These police forces, made up of older reserve soldiers and some SS volunteers from the local population, were guilty of many crimes, including the mass murder of Jews. It must be emphasized that the police units were not necessarily German. Since 1940, Gottlob Berger scattered recruitment centers throughout Europe; even in the East, Berger ordered recruits from the local population in the Waffen-SS units. As the war expanded, so did the Waffen-SS; by 1944 they numbered 950,000 soldiers (36 divisions). Foreigners also served in the Waffen-SS (data at the beginning of 1944): 18,473 Dutch, 5,033 Flemings, 5,006 Danes, 3,878 Norwegians, 2,480 French, 1,812 Walloons, 584 Swiss, 101 Swedes, Bosnians, Croats, Albanians, Tatars, Cossacks , Caucasians. By January 1944, there were 37,367 foreigners in the Waffen-SS. (572) The significant expansion in the number of the Waffen-SS in the final stage of the war did not lead to an increase in their striking force: the core of the Waffen-SS continued to consist of those who had been tested in battle and had great combat capabilities. experience of six or seven divisions (573).
Thus, with regard to the Waffen-SS, a rather ambiguous picture appears: on the one hand, these are front-line units that simply fulfilled their military duty, and on the other hand, there are murderers and punitive forces operating in the rear. Therefore, it is impossible to judge the Waffen-SS as something integral - it is necessary to differentiate judgments about the various units of these troops. The mistake of many researchers is that they strive to create a generalized image of an SS man - in reality there was none.
German historian Bernd Wegner wrote: “An analysis of the history of the development of the Waffen-SS shows that they cannot be considered separately from the history of the Nazi state, separating them from the villainous character of this state and presenting them as ordinary soldiers. The most direct political and ideological connection between the Waffen-SS and the Nazi regime leaves no doubt about the character of the Waffen-SS and makes them part of the Nazi tradition and Nazi crimes" (574). This is true, but still in this matter it is necessary to consider specific crimes, specific people and specific circumstances, since the Waffen-SS were too large to be considered a homogeneous criminal mass. This allows us to say this already because in the last stage of the war the Waffen-SS was drafted as if it were an army, and these units were not formed on the principle of voluntariness.
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that many war heroes did not see the evil contained in the German political system, for which they risked their lives, did not see the madness of the Nazi doctrine. They did not see that most traditional values had faded into oblivion and died. They did not see that the country was going down a terrible path and that its future was unclear, but it is difficult to blame these people for ignorance. The Waffen-SS troops can be characterized by the words of Field Marshal von Manstein: “No matter how bravely the Waffen-SS troops fought, no matter how wonderful successes they achieved, there is still no doubt that the creation of these special military formations was an unforgivable mistake. Excellent reinforcements, which in the army could occupy the positions of non-commissioned officers, in the SS troops fell out of action so quickly that it was impossible to reconcile with this. The blood shed was in no way worth the gains achieved. The blame for these unnecessary losses lies with those who formed these special formations for political reasons, despite the objections of all competent army authorities. We must not forget that the Waffen-SS fighters at the front were good comrades and showed themselves to be brave and persistent soldiers. Undoubtedly, most of the Waffen-SS would welcome leaving the subordination of Himmler and being included in the ground army" (575).
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Material from BLACKBERRY - website - Academic Wiki encyclopedia on Jewish and Israeli topics
SS and SD(abbreviations from the German Schutzstaffeln, `security formations' and Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, `security service of the imperial SS leader'), the main repressive and punitive institutions of Hitler's Germany, which were in charge of the “final solution” of the Jewish question.
The emergence of SS and DM
The SS arose in 1923 as part of the assault troops (Sturmabteilungen) as a small group of personal bodyguards of A. Hitler. Since 1929, when they were headed by G. Himmler (see National Socialism), they began to form as security units ensuring the security of the entire Nazi leadership. The SD was created by G. Himmler in 1931 as the internal security service of the Nazi Party, designed to monitor the purity of the party ranks and prevent the penetration of alien and hostile elements into them. The SS became an all-powerful organization of political terror, ready to flawlessly and effectively carry out any orders of the Nazi Party after the establishment of the Nazi regime in Germany in January 1933 and its unification with the SD in March 1934.
Hitler's role in the development of the SS
A. Hitler, who did not trust traditional state institutions (including the army, political and criminal police), played a decisive role in the formation of the SS as the main support of the Nazi regime. Hitler believed that even after a total purge of these institutions, they would not be able to become an infallible instrument for carrying out the political course he planned.
SS - a fundamentally new type of power structure
The SS was conceived as a fundamentally new type of power structure; their purpose, structure, principles of personnel selection, ideological and psychological attitudes, symbols were supposed to embody the ideals and goals of the Nazi regime and, above all, its racist ideology. The Nazi leaders made the SS a party elite, membership in them became a badge of distinction and honor - many millions of Germans considered the SS men the embodiment of strength and courage, knights without fear or reproach, the best sons of the German race. Until 1940, membership in the SS was entirely voluntary (the massive influx of volunteers did not stop until the last days of the Third Reich), and not every member of the Nazi Party was accepted into their ranks. A member of the SS had to have an impeccable racial background (documented since at least the late 18th century), and an “Aryan” appearance was also desirable; SS members were required to demonstrate selfless devotion to the Fuhrer and the racial idea, a willingness to stop at nothing to carry out any orders from their superiors, good physical characteristics and a stable psyche. The prestige of the SS was so high that many heads of government departments (for example, J. von Ribbentrop, G. Goering and many others), major bankers, industrialists, engineers, scientists, etc. considered it an honor to wear the special SS general and officer ranks (Obergruppenführer - SS general, Standartenführer - colonel, Obersturmbannführer - lieutenant colonel, Sturmbannführer - major, Sturmführer - lieutenant, etc.).
SS - service for special assignments
The political course of the Nazi regime increasingly did not correspond to the norms of international law and the entire European Christian cultural tradition; Nazi leaders increasingly entrusted the SS with such practical actions that no one else was ready to carry out.
Increase in the number of SS and SD
Scope of activity Ss And Sd continuously increased, their numbers grew rapidly - from 280 people in 1929 to 52 thousand in 1933, several hundred thousand in 1939 and about a million by 1945 (including the Waffen SS - the most reliable military formations that took part in the hostilities).
Subordination of government agencies to the SS and SD services
At the same time, there was an increasingly complete subordination Ss And Sd state structures responsible for internal and external security (only the army could not be completely subordinated). In 1933, the head of the SS G. Himmler also headed the Munich police, in April 1934 - the Prussian Gestapo, in June 1936 - the entire police system of the Third Reich, and in August 1943 - the Imperial Ministry of the Interior. In parallel with this, there was an expansion of the prerogatives of the SD, a kind of elite within the SS: in June 1936, the favorite of A. Hitler and G. Himmler, the chief of the SD since its creation, R. Heydrich (see National Socialism) became the head of the security police of the Third Reich. In September 1939, the absorption of state structures by party ones (including Ss And Sd) ended with the creation of the Main Reich Security Office (RSHA - Reichssicherheitshauptamt) headed by Heydrich. The RSHA, which united the Gestapo and SD under one command, became part of the structure of the Ministry of the Interior, while remaining at the same time one of the most important divisions of the SS (in both capacities it was subordinate to G. Himmler). The RSHA was transferred entirely to the functions and powers to eliminate any, including potential opponents of the Nazi regime and racial ideology, which included persons suspected of treason (particular vigilance was shown towards journalists, some church figures and former members of banned non-Nazi parties and trade unions), as well as all representatives of “inferior and inferior” races, and above all Jews. The "Final Solution" of the Jewish Question could not have been conceived and implemented without Ss And Sd and the human type formed in them - ideological and therefore ruthless and cold-blooded killers, and often simply sadists, for whom Nazi ideology served as a convenient justification for their criminal inclinations.
SS and SD - organizers and executors of anti-Jewish actions
From the moment the Nazi regime was established in Germany, all anti-Jewish actions were entrusted only to Himmler's department. SS and SD directed and controlled the process of ousting Jews from civil, political, economic, cultural and other spheres of life, which began back in 1933. These same punitive authorities monitored compliance with the Nuremberg Laws, which actually deprived Jews of basic human rights. The SD and Heydrich were directly tasked with provoking a wave of “spontaneous” Jewish pogroms throughout Germany on November 9, 1938 (see Kristallnacht). Administered Ss And Sd There was also a campaign carried out before the start of World War II to cleanse the entire territory of Greater Germany from the Jewish presence, as the Nazis began to call the united country after the Anschluss of Austria. One of the main organizers of the forced Jewish emigration, accompanied by the confiscation of almost all the property of the expelled Jews, was A. Eichmann.
The decision to exterminate European Jewry
Formally, the decision to exterminate all European Jewry was made at the Wannsee Conference in 1942, but immediately after the attack on the Soviet Union, the SS began the total killing of Jews in the occupied territories. Together with the police, they formed special detachments - Einsatzgruppen - to “restore order” in the rear of the German troops. Each Einsatzgruppen was headed by senior SS officers.
Death camps
The death camps were under the exclusive jurisdiction of the SS: Himmler’s department was entrusted with their design, construction, security, and then ensuring their uninterrupted operation. Scientific and design institutes that were part of the SS system (among them, along with the institute of “racial hygiene”, were engineering, technological, chemical, biomedical and others) developed the most effective and cheap equipment and chemicals for quickly killing people. The RSHA clearly and organizedly ensured the delivery of Jews from European countries controlled by Nazi Germany to the death camps. After the assassination of R. Heydrich in May 1942 by Czech partisans, the RSHA was headed by E. Kaltenbrunner (a lawyer from Austria, who had led the Austrian SS since 1935; he, in particular, carried out an operation in Lithuania in 1941, during which a group consisting of 18 SS men under his direct command destroyed more than 60 thousand Jews). The SS “Totenkopf” units, specially created in 1934, guarded the death camps. The main administrative and economic department of the SS - the VFHA, which was in charge of the camps, developed and established a regime for maximum rationalization of the death conveyor - first, children, pregnant women, the sick and the elderly were destroyed; the service by prisoners of those operations of the process of killing people was introduced, which was abhorred not only by the SS men themselves, but also by their henchmen from the populated occupied countries; Before their destruction, able-bodied prisoners were drained of all their strength by slave labor; personal belongings and even the remains of victims (gold crowns, hair, often skin, ashes from crematoria ovens) were disposed of. As a rule, only those doctors and scientists who had officer and sometimes general SS ranks were entrusted with medical and biological experiments on concentration camp prisoners, mainly Jews. At the last stage of the war, when the defeat of Nazi Germany became inevitable, it was the SS units that were entrusted with the elimination of death camps and all traces of Nazi atrocities.
Creation of the SS troops
SS troops (Waffen-SS) - combat units of the SS - arose in the early 30s on the basis of the so-called “political units” and at first were called “troops at the disposal of the SS”, or “SS reinforcement troops”. The name “SS troops” (Waffen-SS) began to be used in the winter 1939-40 During the war, these elite units were under the personal command of Reichsführer SS Himmler and under the operational subordination of the Wehrmacht ground forces. The SS troops received the best and most modern weapons and equipment.
The SS troops trace their history back to the SS headquarters guards " Berlin", commanded by Sepp Dietrich, founded on March 17, 1933 from Hitler's bodyguard detachment. It consisted of 120 people. The "guard" soldiers guarded the Imperial Chancellery, and their military training took place on the basis of the 9th Potsdam Infantry Regiment.
At the NSDAP congress in September 1933, the SS Berlin headquarters guard was renamed the party Fuhrer's personal guard regiment under the command of Joseph Sepp Dietrich. On November 9, 1933, the regiment took the oath of allegiance personally to Adolf Hitler, although, according to the Weimar Constitution, the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces was the president, and the chancellor had no right to his own “private” army. But the military command did not show any alarm about this, since the total number of SS men was small and they had poor combat readiness. In addition, the leader of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, was considered by the generals as an ally in the fight against the assault troops (SA).
In other cities of Germany, “SS special forces” began to be created. These special detachments (numbering 100-120 people) were later called “barracks hundreds”, and then “ political parts" The task of these units was initially to protect Adolf Hitler and other leaders of the NSDAP. They, together with the Assault Troops (SA), became part of the police service ("Policeidinst") and were officially used as "auxiliary police" in patrolling the streets. These units were engaged in “wild arrests” of political and internal opponents and had their own illegal basement prisons. In 1937, some of the “political units” were transformed into “Totenkopf” SS units, which were used to guard concentration camps.
The Minister of the Reichswehr, General von Blomberg, the commander of the ground forces, General von Fritsch, and the head of the Military Office (General Staff of the Ground Forces), General L. Beck, were wary of the armed assault troops (SA), the number of which was several times greater than the number of the Reichswehr.
The turning point in relations between the Reichswehr and the armed SS units was the “night of the long knives,” when Hitler got rid of the leadership of the assault troops (SA) led by Rehm. At the same time, A. Hitler made a promise to the commander of the VII Military District (Bavaria), General W. Adam: the Reichswehr would remain the only armed force in the German Empire. But at the same time, the events of June 30, 1934 showed the need to organize armed units at the direct disposal of the Fuhrer. The SS were separated from the SA and subordinated personally to Hitler, and G. Himmler received the party rank of Reichsleiter. From that moment on, rivalry began between the army and the armed SS units.
September 24 1934 In 1999, General von Blomberg issued the first order concerning the organization, tasks and preparations for war. SS reinforcement units" This was the official name - SS-Verfegungstruppe(SS-VT). The name “SS troops” first appeared in Himmler’s order of November 7, 1939. Adolf Hitler first used it in a speech in the Reichstag on July 19, 1940. The document noted that “the SS is a political organization of the NSDAP and does not need neither military uniform, nor military structure, nor military training. They are armed and organized from a political point of view.” Therefore, armed SS units are a “deviation from the principle.”
Funds for the maintenance of SS reinforcement units were allocated by Reichsführer SS G. Himmler, because W. Blomberg’s order emphasized that the possibilities of assistance from the Reichswehr were “very limited.” The order of the Reichswehr Minister also satisfied Himmler: the existence of SS reinforcement units was officially recognized; in some respects the SS units were given equal rights with the Reichswehr; schools were created to train officers for SS units; the responsibility of military specialists for the combat training of the SS men, which the generals viewed as a means of control, ensured high combat training, unattainable without the help of the Reichswehr.
The organizational department of the Military Department considered it possible to cooperate with the SS, subject to limiting the number of general SS and, even more so, SS reinforcement units. The department recommended limiting the military training of SS Fuhrers, prohibiting the exchange of command personnel between SS reinforcement units and the general SS, and limiting the training of SS units to rifle and pistol shooting and drill exercises. With these conditions, the military leadership sought to avoid competition between the SS reinforcement units in the military sphere and turn them into police forces. On December 18, 1934, these recommendations from the Military Office were issued under the signature of Minister General Blomberg as the “Directives on Cooperation with the SS” and became the official political line of the Reichswehr.
Formation of the first SS units
IN 1935 There were 2,600 people in the Fuhrer's security regiment "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler".
On March 16, 1935, Hitler announced the introduction of universal conscription. On the same day, the Fuhrer announced that the “platoons for political purposes” were uniting into a new formation called “ SS reinforcement troops» (SS-Verfugungstruppe, SS-VT). The SS-VT connection included two new SS regiments: “Germania” and “Deutschland” with a total number of 5040 people. The battalions of these two SS regiments did not have a common location, only the Leibstandarte SS AG was entirely stationed in Berlin. In peacetime, SS reinforcement units were to undergo combat training under the control of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, and during war they were completely at his disposal. The recruitment of SS reinforcement units took place on a voluntary basis from among those liable for military service, and service was equated to service in the army. Weapons, equipment, as well as military regulations were purchased from the Reichswehr. To train SS combat officers, officer schools were opened in Bad Tölz and Braunschweig. Both of these schools, using the strong leadership of former Reichswehr officers and political education, raised future officers from the cadets. An SS officer must be at least 175 cm tall, and a candidate for the Leibstandarte must be 2.5 cm taller.
The organization and training of the SS reinforcement troops was carried out by the former army general and later SS Oberstgruppenführer Paul Hausser and Felix Steiner, who left the Wehrmacht. Both founded SS cadet schools to train military leadership, each with his own concept. Hausser wanted to adopt the old Prussian military school, Steiner made an innovative decision in favor of small combat groups, based on his experience during the First World War.
October 1 1936 By order of Himmler, an inspectorate of SS combat units was established within the SS Main Directorate, headed by the head of the officer school in Brunswick, Brigadeführer Paul Hausser (life: 1880-1972; from 1936 to 1939 - inspector of SS combat units, from 1939 he commanded the SS division "Reich", then - the SS Panzer Corps, the 7th Field Army, Army Groups "Upper Rhine" and "F", from August 1, 1944 - SS Oberstgruppenführer and Colonel General of the SS troops) . In his new post, Paul Hausser intended to apply the methods used in officer training schools. He turned the “SS reinforcement troops” (“troops at the disposal of the SS”, SS-VT) into a worthy force. By the end of 1937, Himmler could announce that "the SS-VT, according to existing Wehrmacht standards, are ready for war."
The third military formation became SS units "Totenkopf" (SS-Totenkopf, SS-T) under the command of Theodor Eicke. They were originally created to guard concentration camps. For one week of every month, the soldiers guarded the concentration camps, and the remaining three were engaged in tactical, fire, physical training and political training.
August 17 1938 Mr. Hitler issued a top secret order “On the division of powers of the Wehrmacht and the SS,” which established the tasks of the “SS reinforcement troops” (SS-VT) and the SS “Totenkopf” units (SS-T). According to the order, SS-VT and SS-T must prepare for use in solving “special internal tasks” and during military mobilization. For the duration of the war, the paramilitary SS units were placed at the disposal of either G. Himmler or the commander of the ground army. But even when they served under army leadership, the troops "remained politically an arm of the Nazi Party." The SS-VT was funded by the Ministry of the Interior, although the German high command was allowed to closely monitor their budget. According to this order, the Leibstandarte SS AG regiment and SS-VT units were consolidated into the SS Reserve of the High Command (SS RGK). Hitler's order stipulated that service in the SS-VT corresponded to military service, but service in the SS-T did not meet this requirement. According to the order, in the event of war, some units of the SS "Totenkopf" (SS-T) were to be used as reserves for the SS-VT, and other units of the SS-T were to be mobilized as "police forces" to be deployed at will Reichsfuehrer Himmler. However, in Myron, the SS-T continue to perform duties of a “police nature” and do not join the SS-VT.
In the order from November 1938 In 2008, Reichsführer G. Himmler formulated the main tasks facing the “Totenkopf” units: “SS police forces report directly to the Reichsführer SS, ensuring internal order and legality, while the SS RGC are part of the field army formations. The number of units in wartime ranges from 40 to 50 thousand people. Service in the ranks of the SS “Totenkopf” is not equivalent to active military service, therefore the personnel of units must occur in accordance with the law on universal conscription.”
Before the attack on Poland, the Wehrmacht (until March 16, 1935 - Reichswehr) paid attention to ensuring that no second army appeared next to it. However, already in August 1938, by order of the Fuhrer, the number of SS combat units was increased to a division. To reassure the Wehrmacht command, the “Totenkopf” and “SS reinforcement troops” (or “troops at the disposal of the SS”) units officially belonged to the police, which continued until 1942.
By the summer of 1939. the following were created SS gain parts:
SS Motorized Infantry Regiment " Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler» (Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, LAH), consisting of 3 motorized infantry battalions, anti-tank and reconnaissance units, as well as a light artillery unit. The regiment commander was Joseph “Sepp” Dietrich (1892-1966; at the end of the war - SS Oberstgruppenführer and Colonel General of the SS troops, commander of the 6th SS Panzer Army), who was a comrade-in-arms of A. Hitler since the days of street battles. One of the Leibstandarte battalions took part in the Anschluss of Austria in 1938.
(1st) SS standard " Deutschland"(Deutschland). Consisted of four battalions, PT and reconnaissance units, as well as a light artillery unit. He took part in the occupation of the Sudetenland in 1938.
(2nd) SS standard " Germany(Germany). The regiment had an organizational structure similar to that of the Leibstandarte. He took part in the occupation of Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938.
(3rd) SS standard " Der Fuhrer"(Der Fuhrer). It had the same organizational structure and combat experience as Germany.
Officially, these regiments lost their numbers when they were given an honorary name.
There were also five SS Totenkopf regiments. Their fighting qualities were low. They were used as internal security police and to guard concentration camps. They were commanded by the head of the concentration camp service, Theodor Eicke.
The first combat experience of the SS troops
In September 1939 The SS regiments “Leibstandarte” and “Germania” fought in Poland as part of the 10th and 14th armies, respectively. The Deutschland Standard was part of the so-called Kempff Panzer Division (or East Prussia Panzer Formation), and the Führer Standard occupied defensive positions on the West Wall.
Campaign in Poland showed that the SS men fought very bravely. At the same time, the Wehrmacht command argued that the SS troops acted recklessly on the battlefield, the SS officers ineptly commanded the soldiers on the battlefield, and therefore the SS units suffered losses exceeding the losses of the Wehrmacht. The SS claimed that they were poorly equipped by the Wehrmacht, and Wehrmacht officers often interfered with their orders. Using this data, Himmler tried to achieve greater autonomy for his men, insisting that they be allowed to fight in their own SS divisions under their own commanders, with their own means of support. After the end of the Polish campaign, all 4 SS standards were withdrawn for reorganization.
Formation of the first formations of SS troops
Hitler allowed the SS men to form their own divisions, but during combat operations they had to be under the control of army generals.
Accordingly, at the beginning of October 1939, the three standards of the SS-VT (SS-VT) were combined into a formation called "" (SS-Verfugungsdivision). The division also included artillery and auxiliary units. From April 1940, the division became known as the SS Division Deutschland, and in December 1940 it was reorganized into the SS Reich Motorized Infantry Division.
The Leibstandarte SS remained a separate motorized regiment, receiving new equipment and equipment. It was also planned to be deployed to a division later.
In October 1939, it was also created, which included 3 SS “Totenkopf” regiments, some SS-VT units and reservists from the general SS. Eicke was appointed division commander.
The bringing together of SS combat units with concentration camp guards became necessary due to the sharp restrictions on recruitment into the SS troops. Neither Adolf Hitler nor the Wehrmacht wanted to give a large number of good soldiers into the hands of G. Himmler. Hitler allowed Himmler to slightly increase the SS troops, but not at the expense of the manpower intended for the army. Therefore, the method used by the Reichsfuehrer turned out to be very effective. Himmler, as chief of the German police, had the opportunity to recruit personnel bypassing these restrictions. By recruiting for the police and the SS Totenkopf regiments, and then transferring people from the SS Totenkopf units to SS combat units, Reichsführer SS Himmler gained a loophole for himself to increase the number of SS combat formations.
Total for 1939 - 1940 Ten SS “Totenkopf” regiments were created.
Reichsführer SS Himmler, as chief of police, in 1940 created another unit under his control, which consisted of police officers Police division. Formally, the Police Division at that time was not part of the SS troops, although the division's personnel wore the SS eagle on the sleeves of their uniforms.
Concept "SS troops"(Waffen-SS) began to be used by the SS leadership in early November 1939 and over the course of a year gradually replaced the old names “reinforcement troops” (“troops at disposal”) of the SS and “Totenkopf units.” The earliest known document in which the concept of “SS Troops” was applied is an order dated November 7, 1939, which stated that members of the general SS could be substitute commanders in the SS and police forces. Moreover, the term “SS Troops” was a collective name for “armed SS and police units.” By order of the Reichsfuehrer SS from December 1, 1939. it was established that the SS troops included the following units, formations and services:
SS Regiment "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler";
SS division "Das Reich";
SS division "Totenkopf";
SS Police Division;
SS cadet schools;
SS Death's Head regiments;
SS completion service;
SS Weapons and Instruments Service;
SS Troops Personnel Service;
R.V. service of the SS troops;
support service for SS troops;
sanitary service of the SS troops;
SS Troops Directorate;
SS court.
The SS troops included all SS units that were subordinate to the SS High Command and within it to the command of the SS troops. This included both SS divisions (tactically subordinate to the army) and the SS “Totenkopf” security regiments, which entered from 1940-41. part of the economic and administrative service of the SS, which was responsible for the death camps and concentration camps. 179 positions were transferred from the general SS to the SS troops.
Hitler supported the organizational structure of the SS troops. According to Hitler, the internal division of the SS was Himmler's personal matter.
In 1940, Hitler justified the need to create SS troops in the following way: “The Greater German Reich in its final form will embrace within its borders not only the peoples who were favorably disposed towards the Reich from the very beginning. It is therefore necessary to create in the core of the Reich state police forces capable of representing and maintaining the internal authority of the Reich."
From the very first days Western campaign, and took part in the hostilities. The Leibstandarte SS AG and the SS reinforcement division fought well. The lower fighting qualities of the SS division "Totenkopf" resulted in large losses of personnel. In the Le Paradis area, its troops, under the command of one hysterical officer, who lost a large number of his poorly trained soldiers during the assault on British positions, carried out a massacre of British prisoners of war.
After the Western Campaign, Heinrich Himmler achieved even greater autonomy for the SS troops when he received Hitler's permission to form the Main Directorate of the SS Troops (high command of the SS troops). At the same time, the “Totenkopf” regiments were transferred to the command of the SS troops, and the Main Directorate of the SS Troops took over the responsibilities for servicing the concentration camps.
Himmler intensified the recruitment of foreign volunteers into the SS troops. Winter 1940-1941 a new SS formation was created - SS Volunteer Division "Wiking", which was based on the Germans, as well as Dutch, Flemish and Scandinavian fascists. This was the first division with the participation of foreign volunteers. They were not members of the SS (about half of the division's military personnel).
The appearance of foreign recruits in the ranks of the SS was not accidental. Only a few months ago the northern and western countries were invaded. The peoples who inhabited them had not yet experienced the full brunt of the Nazi regime. In the occupied countries there was always fertile ground for numerous political movements of an anti-communist orientation, which provided the German recruiters who preached a “crusade against Bolshevism” with a large initial set of recruits. A large number of volunteers were recruited in 1940-1941. During the war, the units made up of these volunteers earned a good reputation for their fighting qualities.
Thus, by the beginning of 1941, the SS troops consisted of four divisions and a brigade. At the same time, the SS reinforcement division was renamed .
The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and the SS Reich Division made effective use of their motorized units during the lightning campaign in the Balkans during the invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece in the spring of 1941. In particular, Belgrade was captured by a unit of the SS division "Reich".
Before the start of Operation Barbarossa, another SS formation was created from the 6th and 7th SS regiments "Totenkopf" - SS Combat Group Nord, later deployed to the SS Division Nord.
SS troops in Operation Barbarossa
WITH June 22, 1941 During the year, all four SS divisions, the SS brigade "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" and the SS Kampfgruppe "Nord" took part in the fighting on the Eastern Front.
A few months after the invasion of the Soviet Union " Leibstandarte SS AG"received the status of a division. He and the SS Viking Division fought as part of Army Group South. The SS Division "Reich" fought as part of Army Group "Center", and the SS Division "Totenkopf" was advancing in the zone of Army Group "North". All these SS units were subordinated directly to the army command.
They earned great respect within the military for their resilience in the face of extreme adversity and major losses. This reputation was not at all harmed by the weak performance of the police division and the shameful activities of the SS Nord group.
Further growth of SS troops and combat operations of SS divisions
Spring 1942 police division was included in the SS troops proper.
At the same time, another division was formed, consisting mainly of foreigners. The division received the name SS Volunteer Mountain Division " Prince Eugene" It was recruited among the Volksdeutsche in the territory of the former Austrian Empire. In the fall of 1942, she was sent to fight the Yugoslav partisans.
In the summer of 1942, another division was added to the SS troops when the SS Cavalry Brigade was given division status. This division later received the name " Florian Geyer».
TO spring 1943 The Wehrmacht had already been discredited by defeats at Stalingrad and in North Africa, and the SS tank divisions under the command of Paul Hausser were able to recapture Kharkov. This was the first victory won after a long period of defeats. A. Hitler finally began to notice the attractiveness of G. Himmler’s enlarged army, which consisted of selected SS units. Now the SS troops expected rapid growth. Three new tank divisions, recruited from the Reichsdeutsche, began to form. They were planned to be attached to the first, “classic” divisions, which turned into tank divisions long before they were officially given this status.
"Panthers" of the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking"
Around those volunteer legions that already existed in the army or in the SS troops, it was planned to form new formations from foreigners. The German SS divisions were assigned to the front, and the fight against partisans was transferred to SS formations consisting of foreigners, such as the Muslim division " Khanjar" This meant a complete abandonment of the original racial restrictions.
From the beginning of 1943 to the beginning of 1945, the SS troops increased from eight to 38 divisions. True, by the end of the war, for many of the latter divisions, orders for their formation and deployment rarely reflected their actual strength or combat training. Some of these divisions were groups of several hundred poorly armed men drawn from among the Volksdeutsche, foreigners, pilots and sailors who lacked the equipment or fuel they needed, as well as from among the police and general SS reservists. Sometimes they were reinforced by soldiers trained in SS schools. Despite the absurdity of these formations, it should be remembered that the elite tank and motorized infantry (panzergrenadier) SS divisions were the most effective formations of the Reich in the last period of the war. And the teenagers from the 12th division " Hitler Youth"During the Battle of Normandy, they maintained their aggressive spirit for a month even after losing 20% of their personnel killed and 40% wounded.
Number of members
general SS in
Number of general SS troops SS Troops Total SS
May 1935 196,875 - 10,700 207,575
January 1936 188,974 - 12,067 201041
December 1937 196,979 6,000 17,388 208,364
December 1938 226,753 12,000 23,406 238,159
December 1939 223,615 20,000 40,000 243,615
December 1940 227,699 30,000 50,074 247773
December 1941 256,821 58,447 198,364 396,738
December 1942 260,845 60,081 230,000 430764
July 1943 262 323 61 723 433 400 634000
July 1944 264 379 63 881 594 443 794941
March 1945 263,929 63,881 829,400 1029,448
The longer the war lasted, the larger and larger the SS troops became, but also the more their national composition changed. By the end of the war, the SS troops included more than ten foreign divisions and the Cossack Cavalry Corps.
As of March 1945, there were more than 829 thousand people in the SS troops.
The most reliable historical sources indicate that during the fighting during World War II, approximately 180 thousand soldiers and officers of the SS troops were killed, about 400 thousand were injured, and another 40 thousand people were listed as missing. The SS divisions - "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler", "Das Reich" and "Totenkopf" - lost several of their entire personnel during the war.
At the Nuremberg trials The SS troops were accused of war crimes, participation in the Holocaust and declared criminal, excluding those persons who were drafted into the SS troops by state authorities and did not have the right to choose, as well as those persons who did not commit war or other crimes.
Schutzstaffel, or security detachment - so in Nazi Germany in 1923-1945. were called SS soldiers, paramilitary forces. The main task of a combat unit at the initial stage of formation was the personal security of the leader, Adolf Hitler.
SS soldiers: the beginning of the story
It all started in March 1923, when A. Hitler’s personal security guard and driver, a watchmaker by profession, together with a stationery dealer, and part-time politician of Nazi Germany, Joseph Berchtold, created a headquarters guard in Munich. The main purpose of the newly formed combat formation was to protect the NSDAP Fuhrer Adolf Hitler from possible threats and provocations from other parties and other political formations.
After humble beginnings as a defense unit for the NSDAP leadership, the combat unit grew into the Waffen-SS, an armed defense squadron. The officers and men of the Waffen-SS constituted a formidable fighting force. The total number was more than 950 thousand people, and a total of 38 combat units were formed.
Beer Hall Putsch by A. Hitler and E. Ludendorff
"Bürgerbräukeller" is a beer hall in Munich at Rosenheimerstrasse 15. The area of the drinking establishment could accommodate up to 1830 people. Since the Weimar Republic, thanks to its capacity, the Bürgerbräukeller has become the most popular venue for various events, including political ones.
So, on the night of November 8-9, 1923, an uprising took place in the hall of a drinking establishment, the purpose of which was to overthrow the current government of Germany. The first to speak was A. Hitler's ally in political convictions, Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff, outlining the general goals and objectives of this gathering. The main organizer and ideological inspirer of the event was Adolf Hitler, the leader of the NSDAP, the young Nazi party. In his, he called for the ruthless destruction of all enemies of his National Socialist Party.
The SS soldiers, led at that time by the treasurer and close friend of the Fuhrer J. Berchtold, undertook to ensure the safety of the Beer Hall Putsch - this is how this political event went down in history. However, the German authorities reacted in time to this gathering of Nazis and took all measures to eliminate them. Adolf Hitler was convicted and imprisoned, and the NSDAP party was banned in Germany. Naturally, the need for the protective functions of the newly created paramilitary guard also disappeared. The SS soldiers (photo presented in the article), as a combat formation of the “Shock Detachment”, were disbanded.
The restless Fuhrer
Released from prison in April 1925, Adolf Hitler orders his fellow party member and bodyguard Yu. Schreck to form a personal guard. Preference was given to former fighters of the Shock Squad. Having gathered eight people, Yu. Shrek creates a defense team. By the end of 1925, the total strength of the combat formation was about a thousand people. From now on they were given the name “SS soldiers of the National Socialist German Workers' Party.”
Not everyone could join the SS NSDAP organization. Strict conditions were imposed on candidates for this “honorary” position:
- age from 25 to 35 years;
- living in the area for at least 5 years;
- the presence of two guarantors from among the party members;
- good health;
- discipline;
- sanity.
In addition, in order to become a party member and, accordingly, an SS soldier, the candidate had to confirm his belonging to the superior Aryan race. These were the official rules of the SS (Schutzstaffel).
Education and training
SS soldiers had to undergo appropriate combat training, which was carried out in several stages and lasted for three months. The main objectives of the intensive training of recruits were:
- excellent;
- knowledge of small arms and impeccable possession of them;
- political indoctrination.
The training in the art of war was so intense that only one out of three people could complete the entire distance. After the basic training course, recruits were sent to specialized schools, where they received additional education appropriate to the chosen branch of the military.
Further training in military wisdom in the army was based not only on the specialization of the branch of service, but also on mutual trust and respect between candidates for officer or soldier. This is how the Wehrmacht soldiers differed from the SS soldiers, where strict discipline and a strict policy of separation between officers and privates were at the forefront.
New chief of the combat unit
Adolf Hitler attached special importance to the newly created own troops, which were distinguished by their impeccable devotion and loyalty to their Fuhrer. The main dream of the leader of Nazi Germany was to create an elite formation capable of performing any tasks that the National Socialist Party set for them. This required a leader who could handle this task. So, in January 1929, on the recommendation of A. Hitler, Heinrich Luitpold Himmler, one of A. Hitler’s loyal assistants in the Third Reich, became Reichsführer SS. The personal personnel number of the new SS chief is 168.
The new boss began his work as the head of an elite division by tightening personnel policies. Having developed new requirements for personnel, G. Himmler cleared the ranks of the combat formation by half. The Reichsführer SS personally spent hours studying photographs of SS members and candidates, finding flaws in their “racial purity.” However, soon the number of SS soldiers and officers increased noticeably, increasing almost 10 times. The SS chief achieved such success in two years.
Thanks to this, the prestige of the SS troops increased significantly. It is G. Himmler who is credited with the authorship of the famous gesture, familiar to everyone from films about the Great Patriotic War - “Heil Hitler”, with the raising of the straightened right arm at an angle of 45º. In addition, thanks to the Reichsführer, the uniform of Wehrmacht soldiers (including the SS) was modernized, which lasted until the fall of Nazi Germany in May 1945.
Fuhrer's order
The authority of the Schutzstaffel (SS) increased significantly thanks to the personal order of the Fuhrer. The published order stated that no one had the right to give orders to SS soldiers and officers except their immediate superiors. In addition, it was recommended that all SA units, the assault troops known as the “Brown Shirts,” assist in every possible way in staffing the SS Army, supplying the latter with their best soldiers.
Uniforms of the SS troops
From now on, the uniform of an SS soldier was noticeably different from the clothing of the assault troops (SA), the security service (SD) and other combined arms units of the Third Reich. A distinctive feature of the SS military uniform was:
- black jacket and black trousers;
- White shirt;
- black cap and black tie.
In addition, on the left sleeve of the jacket and/or shirt there was now a digital abbreviation indicating belonging to one or another standard of the SS troops. With the outbreak of hostilities in Europe in 1939, the uniform of SS soldiers began to change. Strict implementation of G. Himmler’s order on a single black and white uniform color, which distinguished the soldiers of A. Hitler’s personal army from the combined arms color of other Nazi formations, was somewhat relaxed.
The party factory for sewing military uniforms, due to its enormous workload, was not able to provide uniforms to all SS units. The military personnel were asked to alter the Schutzstaffel insignia from the Wehrmacht combined arms uniform.
Military ranks of the SS troops
As in any military unit, the SS Army had its own hierarchy in military ranks. Below is a comparative table of the equivalent military ranks of military personnel of the Soviet Army, Wehrmacht and SS troops.
Red Army | Ground forces of the Third Reich | SS troops |
Red Army soldier | Private, rifleman | |
Corporal | Chief Grenadier | Rottenführer SS |
Lance Sergeant | Non-commissioned officer | SS Unterscharführer |
Non-commissioned sergeant major | Scharführer SS |
|
Staff Sergeant | Sergeant Major | SS Oberscharführer |
Sergeant Major | Chief Sergeant Major | SS Hauptscharführer |
Ensign | ||
Lieutenant | Lieutenant | SS Untersturmführer |
Senior Lieutenant | Chief Lieutenant | SS Obersturmführer |
Captain/Hauptmann | SS Hauptsturmführer |
|
SS Sturmbannführer |
||
Lieutenant colonel | Oberst-lieutenant | SS Obersturmbannführer |
Colonel | Standartenführer SS |
|
Major General | Major General | SS Brigadeführer |
Lieutenant General | Lieutenant General | SS Gruppenführer |
Colonel General | General of the troops | SS Oberstgruppenführer |
Army General | Field Marshal General | SS Oberstgruppenführer |
The highest military rank in Adolf Hitler's elite army was Reichsführer SS, which until May 23, 1945, was held by Heinrich Himmler, equivalent to Marshal of the Soviet Union in the Red Army.
Awards and insignia in the SS
Soldiers and officers of the elite unit of the SS troops could be awarded orders, medals and other insignia, just like military personnel of other military formations of the army of Nazi Germany. There were only a small number of distinctive awards that were developed specifically for the “favorites” of the Fuhrer. These included medals for 4- and 8-year service in Adolf Hitler's elite unit, as well as a special cross with a swastika, which was awarded to SS men for 12 and 25 years of dedicated service to their Fuhrer.
Faithful sons of their Fuhrer
Recollection of an SS soldier: “Our guiding principles were duty, loyalty and honor. Defense of the Fatherland and a sense of camaraderie are the main qualities that we cultivated in ourselves. We were forced to kill everyone who was in front of the barrel of our weapons. A feeling of pity should not stop a soldier of great Germany, either in front of a woman begging for mercy, or in front of children's eyes. We were taught the motto: “Accept death and bear death.” Death should become commonplace. Each soldier understood that by sacrificing himself, he thereby helped great Germany in the fight against the common enemy, communism. We considered ourselves warriors behind Hitler’s elite.”
These words belong to one of the soldiers of the former Third Reich, private SS infantry unit Gustav Franke, who miraculously survived the Battle of Stalingrad and was captured by the Russians. Were these words of repentance or the simple youthful bravado of a twenty-year-old Nazi? Today it is difficult to judge this.
