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Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression Volume IV
Document No. 2164-PS
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PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2164-PS
NATIONAL SOCIALIST YEARBOOK 1940 [Nationalsozialistisches Jahrbuch 1940]
Editor: Dr. Robert Ley, Pp. 365-371
The SS (The Schutzstaffeln of the NSDAP)
The SS since the Reichparteitag 1938
Between today and the Reichsparteitag 1938 there is a span of time which, saturated with important political events, was rich in missions and commitments for the SS as a whole. Only three of those occurrences of special significance are mentioned:
the incorporation of the Sudetenland into the Reich,
the founding of the Protectorate Bohemia-Moravia,
the return of Memel to the greater Germany.
When the march into the liberated provinces of the Sudetenland began on that memorable 1 October 1938, the Emergency Force [Verfuegungstruppen] as well as the Death Head units [Totenkopfverbaende] were along with those in the lead. Already previously they have proven themselves in the fulfillment of their assigned missions in every respect and thereby contributed to the results. However, not only the garrisoned parts of the SS were employed. Also the General SS [Allgemeine SS] were brought forth for special missions. Thousands of younger and older SS comrades were employed for the strengthening of the Police and for the guarding of Concentration Camps and have faithfully fulfilled their duty throughout the weeks.
The 15th of March 1939 brought a similar utilization of the SS when it served to establish order in the collapsing Czechoslovakia. This action ended with the founding of the protectorate Bohemia-Moravia.
Only a week later, on the 29th March 1939, Memel also returned to the Reich upon basis of an agreement with Lithuania. Again it was the SS, here above all, the East Prussian SS, which played a prominent part in the liberation of this province.
the founding of the protectorate Bohemia-Moravia. Only a week later, on the 29th March 1939, Memel also returned to the Reich upon basis of an agreement with Lithuania. Again it was the SS, here above all, the East Prussian SS, which played a prominent part in the liberation of this province.
Aside from these illustrated commitments, the cordon-service [Absperrdienst], which is included among the well known missions of the SS, goes on. It placed increased requirements on the Berlin SS as a result of visits by the Italian Foreign Minister, Count Ciano, (21 to 23 May 1939), the Prince regent Paul of Yugoslavia (1 to 5 June 1939), and the return of the Condar Legion (6 June 1939). Also these missions were readily fulfilled in cooperation with other formations of the movement.
It is here especially emphasized that the SS did justice to the demand required of it in all cases and have proven themselves worthy of the confidence of the Fuehrer.
Naturally the territorial expansion of the Reich also brought along a further expansion of the SS.
The return of Austria already resulted in the creation of the SS-Regiment "Der Fuehrer" in the SS-V.T. [Verfuegungstruppen] and the creation of the SS-Regiment "Austria" in the SS-T. [Totenkopfverbaende] and the formation of the SS Corps area "Donau" in the General [Allgemeine] SS. Likewise, the incorporation of the Sudeten-German provinces necessitates the organization of new units by the Allgemeinen SS.
The founding of the protectorate Bohemia-Moravia also brought the possibility to construct an SS here which consists out of the independent SS division XXXIX in Prague with the 107th SS Regiment in Iglau and 108th in Prague, which are under the command of the higher SS and Police-fuehrer Bohemia-Moravia, SS-Brigadier General Frank.
Upon the return of Memel, the whole Memel Ordungsdienst was taken over in the SS by the Reichsfuehrer SS. The members of the new Regiment retained the right to wear the native insignia of Memel, the elk antlers, as collar insignia.
SS and Police-fuehrer Bohemia-Moravia, SS-Brigadier General Frank. Upon the return of Memel, the whole Memel Ordungsdienst was taken over in the SS by the Reichsfuehrer SS. The members of the new Regiment retained the right to wear the native insignia of Memel, the elk antlers, as collar insignia.
The SS-Emergency Force [Verfuegungstruppen]
The SS-Emergency Force [Verfuegungstruppen]. The SS-Verfuegungstruppe is a standing armed force although it belongs to the SS in its entirety. It is neither a part of the Police nor a part of the Wehrmacht and stands at the exclusive disposal of the Fuehrer.
The construction of the individual groups of the SS-Verfuegungstruppe is similar to the corresponding units of the Army for organizational reasons. The Truppe was recruited out of volunteers from the number who are conscripted [Wehrpflichtigen]; these however are still subjected to special selective laws of the SS in addition to their usefulness determined by the Wehrmacht.
In the SS-Verfuegungstruppe, in which they must obligate themselves to four years service, they fulfill the first two years of their active lawful Army conscription.
In the year 1938 after the reincorporation of Austria into the Reich, new SS-Regiment "Der Fuehrer" was formed in Austria by Fuehrer decree. It appeared for the first time in public as a group on the Reichsparteitag 1938.
During the September crisis of the year 1938, the SS-Verfuegungstruppen was placed under the Army by special decree of the Fuehrer in order to solve the mission of the liberation of the Sudeten provinces with this combination.
In all parts of the newly returned German Sudeten provinces, units of the SS-Verfuegungstruppen marched over the border, along with the first formations of the Army. All the tasks assigned to the Truppe were entirely fulfilled in every case. Hereby, the Truppe showed excellent accomplishments.
with this combination. In all parts of the newly returned German Sudeten provinces, units of the SS-Verfuegungstruppen marched over the border, along with the first formations of the Army. All the tasks assigned to the Truppe were entirely fulfilled in every case. Hereby, the Truppe showed excellent accomplishments.
Following the completion of this employment the order came to completely motorize the Truppe during the course of the winter. This brought a huge amount of work for all officers and men of the SS-Verfuegungstruppe for the winter.
In addition to the organizational measures which were required by this rearrangement, the training of a large number of drivers for the various types of vehicles had to take place in this short time. Specialists had to be schooled. Aside from that, the leadership principles of offices and men had to be retaught. While everyone still worked with all their might in the fulfillment of this task, already the March of 1939 saw the new employment for the pacification of the protectorate Bohemia-Moravia.
By decree of the Fuehrer the SS-Verfuegungstruppe again was committed into the Framework of the Army. This commitment offered an excellent test of efficiency for the employability of the SS Verfuegungstruppe. Hardly was the work of motorization completed when a new employment in this new form had to follow without any apparent large preparatory practices.
The return from this commitment however in no way signified the continuation of the uninterrupted training period. A new decree by the Fuehrer demanded the immediate conversion of the existing units of the SS-Verfuegungstruppen into a motorized division. And so the organizational preparations for the construction of new groups already began on the military training grounds following their commitment in the protectorate. The SS Artillery Regiment, the SS Anti-tank Battalion, the SS Anti-aircraft machine gun Battalion and the SS Reconnaissance Squadrons were created.
preparations for the construction of new groups already began on the military training grounds following their commitment in the protectorate. The SS Artillery Regiment, the SS Anti-tank Battalion, the SS Anti-aircraft machine gun Battalion and the SS Reconnaissance Squadrons were created.
The training of these new formations to a battle-ready, employable unit was the goal of the so short summer training of the year 1939.
The SS-Death Head Units [Totenkopfverbaende]
Once a year the SS-Totenkopfverbaende step forth into the open on a large scale: on the Reichparteitag. The participation on this day is a reward for the officers and men for the heavy services accomplished during the preceding year. At the same time it should bear testimony of the exclusiveness and of the soldierly discipline of this Armed part of the SS.
If the work of construction and the commitment during the preceding years should be quickly summarized then it must be said beforehand that hardly a young German goes through a tougher school of self-training and self-discipline as the men of the SS-Totenkopf regiments. The service in the concentration camps, the guarding of State enemies and of criminal subhumanity requires unheard of demands of the man in physical as well as in psychological respects; the man who fulfills his duty day by day for the community in his unselfish commitment and in his exemplary trustworthiness. Here it does not only mean to be a soldier, but also beyond that, to be a character who remains hard despite all enmities and who remains hard toward any temptations which may approach him. Only the best human material, selected according to character and heredity, grew in this organization for service.
it does not only mean to be a soldier, but also beyond that, to be a character who remains hard despite all enmities and who remains hard toward any temptations which may approach him. Only the best human material, selected according to character and heredity, grew in this organization for service.
During the last year, as in all of the years of its existence, the spiritual tools for their daily employment were given by schooling and instruction in the quiet work of the troop while the military training provided for the increased striking power of the troop. This systematic training made it possible for the SS Totenkopf regiments [Standarte] to do justice to all their missions which were assigned to them outside of the sphere of their daily service. Was it the employment during the reincorporation of the Sudeten district into the Reich in which especially the men of the SS Totenkopf regiments were placed in the front lines and where it served to execute the quickest and most reliable commitment capabilities under orders; or was it the reception of foreign State officials which required the troop to serve as parade troops in public-always the SS Totenkopf regiments immaculately fulfilled their duties. Therefore, they can look back with justifiable pride upon all their achievements, in which they were employed and where they served to represent the SS. This also goes for their employment on district and county days [Kreistag] of the Party or on other occasions, as the Reich Warriors day in Kassel for example. Everywhere the men happily and unselfishly served according to their motto: "Be more than appears."
employed and where they served to represent the SS. This also goes for their employment on district and county days [Kreistag] of the Party or on other occasions, as the Reich Warriors day in Kassel for example. Everywhere the men happily and unselfishly served according to their motto: "Be more than appears."
One of the main missions in the past year was the continued construction of Special Units [Sondereinheiten], for example, all matters concerning transportation, communication and medical affairs. In addition, there also was the establishment of E-Battalions (Educational), the task of which is the training, in courses of 3 months each, of those comrades of the General [Allgemeinen] SS who are not inducted for service in the Wehrmacht. They were trained in weapons and terrain.
Source:
Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression Volume IV
Office of the United States Chief Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality
Washington, DC : United States Government Printing Office, 1946
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Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression Volume IV Document No. 2168-PS Previous Document Volume IV Menu Next Document TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2168-PS Writings of the Hochschule for Politics Edited by Paul Meier-Beneckenstein II The organizational structure of the Third Reich Number 21 "The German laborer of brain and fist, who marches in the SA, has long ago grown out of the bourgeoise notion of duty behind which stands 'I must' and has grown into the sublime feeling of the soldierly conception of duty which culminates in the absolute voluntariness of 'I want to'. We SA men want to live as men, to fight as men, and to die as men with the consciousness that we have done our utmost for and devoted our utmost to Fuehrer and Folk." /s/ VICTOR LUTZE CONTENTS I. History of the SA. The Path of the Struggle-The SA in the Third Reich. II. Organization. The Branches of the SA-The Operational Staff of the Supreme SA Headquarters-The Operational Main Office-The Main Office for Education-The Main Office for Health-The Main Office for Personal Affairs-The Main Administrative Offce-The Main Office for NS Tournaments-The Adjutant's Office of the Chief of Staff-The Special Units of the SA-Engineer and Signal SA-The Mounted SA-The Naval SA-The SA Sanitation Men-The "Feldherrnhalle" Regiment-The Reichfuehrer School. III. PROSPECTUS. The Law of Willingness to Volunteer. THE SA History, Work, Aim, and Organization of the Storm Troops of the Fuehrer and the Supreme SA Headquarters. Compiled on order of the Supreme SA Headquarters. By SA-Sturmfuehrer Dr. Ernst Bayer 1938 Junker and Luennhaupt Publishing House, Berlin I. HISTORY OF THE SA The Path of the Struggle Germany experienced in the year 1918 a revolution whose spiritual bearers were people to whom morals, honor, and love of the Fatherland were unknown conceptions, who ridiculed soldierly virtues and fighting behavior and laughed at the performance of the German Army. Their example and their propaganda found followers because the man of that time had not learned to think clear politically, because he was tossed here and there between political, economic, and religious directions and interests, and because he did not have the power, to decide for himself, out of a deep anchorage and belief, in a great ideological idea, and to hold
the man of that time had not learned to think clear politically, because he was tossed here and there between political, economic, and religious directions and interests, and because he did not have the power, to decide for himself, out of a deep anchorage and belief, in a great ideological idea, and to hold himself firm against a breakdown. That which the Reich of the Kaiser had failed to do, which was the internal shaping of the human being into a knowing and convinced fighter for the nation, avenged itself in 1918 bitterly. At this time of the complete breakdown of Germany, the Fuehrer with his Idea began the march among the people. And beside and with him marched men, embodiment of soldierly spirit, who perceived their highest mission in life to be in service for a new greater Germany, ready to enter upon and to sacrifice everything for the victory of National Socialism. They are the first political soldiers of the Fuehrer, the original cell of the SA. Are we able today to write a history of the SA? Scarcely, for this history is still too much the present and we stand too close yet to the experiences of a great period in order to be able to measure and evaluate correctly the immense performance of the fighting period and of the upheaval in its forcible measures. Numbers are distinctive of the picture of history. And, indeed, if we would give an historical presentation of the fight and the performance of the SA, we must not only name the dates of great events, which are apparent to all the world, but also we must go out into everyday affairs and experience there the path, spirit, and struggle of the SA as an historical performance of the unfolding power of a nation. Dates and numbers, however, win meaning and become valuable only if they come alive as the expression of a great deed, of an offered sacrifice or of an historical performance for the nation. And the SA has produced innumerable of such dates and figures which distinguish the path of the SA as the sacrificial way of the best of a nation. Along this path stand the eternal monuments of over 400 blood witnesses of the Movement, who gave their lives for the resurrection of Germany. The
nation. And the SA has produced innumerable of such dates and figures which distinguish the path of the SA as the sacrificial way of the best of a nation. Along this path stand the eternal monuments of over 400 blood witnesses of the Movement, who gave their lives for the resurrection of Germany. The SA was not founded as one forms just any sort of club. It was born in midst of strife and received from the Fuehrer himself the name "Storm Troops" after that memorable hall battle in the Hofbrauhaus at Munich on the 4th of November 1921. Forty-six National Socialist regulars stood against a thousand Marxists on this memorable day. The Fuehrer had spoken to his men before the meeting: "Today for the first time you will have to preserve the faith of the Movement come what may. Not one of us leaves the hall unless they bear us out as dead men. He who cowardly yields, from him I will personally tear off his arm band and take away his badge. Think about the fact that attack at the slightest attempt to make an explosion is the best defense." In a bitter struggle 46 German men, who were determined to carry through to the end even at the sacrifice of their lives, beat out of the hall and put to flight a thousand Marxists. It was a baptism of fire and a test of the willingness to bear a burden which this young shocktroop of the Movement had masterfully undergone and which secured for the Party peaceful meetings up to 9 November 1925, for no Marxist dared to raise his fist again in National Socialist meetings. Outside, however, on the streets the dissembling strife continued in strengthened extent. Blood and sacrifice were the most faithful companions of the young SA on its hard path to power. The Storm Troops were and still are today the fist and propaganda arm of the Movement. The SA was not only messenger, but also pattern for the Idea, the spiritual and physical armament of the Party and the assembly basin for the fanatical fighters of the National Socialist ideology. So the SA became the school for practical National Socialism for all German men; it has so remained up to the present day and it will be so forever in the future. It is one of the greatest historical services of the SA that at the time when
of the National Socialist ideology. So the SA became the school for practical National Socialism for all German men; it has so remained up to the present day and it will be so forever in the future. It is one of the greatest historical services of the SA that at the time when the German People's Army had to undergo a dissolution, it held high those virtues which marked the German soldier: personal courage, idealism, willingness to sacrifice, consciousness of responsibility, power to decide, and leadership. Thus, the SA became among the people the messenger and bearer of German armed strength and German armed spirit. The 4th of November 1921 was not only the birth hour of the SA by itself, but was the day from which the young fighting troop of the Movement took its stand at the focal point of political events. With the clear recognition that now the unity of a troop led to victory, the SA was systematically reorganized and so-called "Centuries" were established. The year 1922 saw the SA variously in action. On the 16th of August the first marching columns demonstrated along with patriotic associations against the protective law of the Republic. The Marxists appeared but the SA struck destructively and by fighting gained for itself the liberty and right of the streets. The flow into the SA grew so, that in September 1922 eight Hundertschaften could be raised in Munich. These quickly grew further. On the 23rd of November the 11th Hundertschaft was formed, which was composed almost exclusively of students. The present deputy of the Fuehrer, Rudolf Hess, took over the leadership of this Century. "We have to teach the Marxists that the master of the streets in the future is National Socialism, exactly as it will once be the master of the State"; thus, Adolf Hitler sketched the outlines of the task of the SA. And sooner perhaps than one supposed, the opportunity came to let deeds speak. The march in Coburg on the 14th and 15th of October 1922 became a beacon of the Germany which was awakening. It was to be a "German Day" set up by the citizens and it became a breakthrough battle for National Socialism. It became the day of the SA on which 800 SA men under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and Naval Lieutenant retired, Klintzsch,
1922 became a beacon of the Germany which was awakening. It was to be a "German Day" set up by the citizens and it became a breakthrough battle for National Socialism. It became the day of the SA on which 800 SA men under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and Naval Lieutenant retired, Klintzsch, broke completely the Red Terror. This mighty success and its linking danger for the system of government led to a step by the Berlin government which was often repeated in the following years: prohibition of the NSDAP for Prussia and other states. The more lively the activity became in Bavaria. For the first time, on 28 January 1923, the Reich Party Day of the NSDAP was held in Munich, where the four standards designed by Adolf Hitler himself were handed over to the SA as campaign symbols. And here, too, the 11th Hundertschaft appeared for the first time in uniform: grey cap, windbreaker, swastika band, and knotted stick. The Ruhr invasion by the French caused the conversion of the SA, which up to then had been only a political fighting troop, into an armed association for the purpose of employing these battle-tested men in a desired active resistance against foreign domination. All pressed for a decision. And in the matter the Storm Troops of the Fuehrer did not want to be inactive. They joined themselves with other fighting Bavarian bands and formed the "Labor group of patriotic fighting associations" under the leadership of retired First Lieutenant Kriebel. In March 1923 the last commandant of the Reichthofen Squadron, Hermann Goering, took command of the entire SA. Activity and readiness is the password. Out at Forstenrieder Park and on the Froettmaninger heath near Munich the Labor group held great exercises, at which on May 1st an armed parade of the whole Bavarian SA and other fighting associations ensues on the Oberwiesen field. This day was supposed to bring the final reckoning with the Marxists. Only the employment of the Reichswehr and police prevented this intention. The decision is pressing; the collapse of the Ruhr resistance and its consequences threaten the unity of the Reich and seem to bring about chaos. The 8th of November comes around. That evening, full of hope and certainty of success; the betrayal of that night, base and unbelievable. No one believes yet that