Allgemeine SS The Allgemeine SS ( " General SS " , literally " Universal SS " ) was the most numerous branch of the Schutzstaffel ( SS ) paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany . It was managed by the SS - Hauptamt ( ) . The Allgemeine SS was officially established in the autumn of 1934 to distinguish its members from the SS - Verfügungstruppe ( which later became the Waffen - SS ) and the SS - Totenkopfverbände ( concentration camp guards ) . Starting in 1939 , foreign units of the Allgemeine SS were raised in occupied countries . They were later consolidated into the " Leitstelle der germanischen SS " ( ) from 1940 . Early years . The SS was created on April 4 , 1925 and subordinated to the SA on November 1 , 1926 . It was thus a subunit of the SA and the NSDAP . It was considered to be an elite organization by both party members and the general population . The main task of the SS was the personal protection of the Führer of the Nazi Party , Adolf Hitler . As early as the winter of 1925 the SS consisted of approximately 1 , 000 members , but of this number there were barely 200 active members . Heinrich Himmler tried to separate the SS from the SA , and SA leaders generally had no authority over SS personnel from 1927 onwards . Himmler began to systematically develop and expand the SS with stricter requirements for members as well as a general purge of SS members who were identified as drunkards , criminals , or otherwise undesirable for service in the SS . By December 1929 , the number of active SS members had grown to 1 , 000 . As the SS grew even further , Himmler on 29 January 1930 announced to SA leader Ernst Röhm , that : The Schutzstaffel is growing , and will probably number 2 , 000 by the end of this quarter . From that point on the SS would be considered , therefore , " de facto " independent . By December of that same year , the SS had a membership of 2 , 727 . Himmler now looked to another source for recruits to the SS : the SA . Many former members of Röhm ' s Frontbann joined the SS . In 1926 it had been specified that the SS had to subordinate itself absolutely to the SA , and with that any arbitrary action of the SS was prevented . With local recruitment , SS men owed their loyalty to the respective SA leader . However , by 1929 , many SA " Unterführers " had already gone over to Himmler ' s SS . Hitler assisted Himmler in his first great victory over the SA , by decreeing on November 7 , 1930 : " " The task of the SS is first the practice of the police service within the party . No SA leader is entitled to give instructions to the SS ! " " This order split the two organizations from each other , and confirmed thereby the " de jure " independence of the SS from the SA . Formation and service . After the " Machtergreifung " ( seizure of power ) by the NSDAP , the SS began to expand into a massive organization . By March 1933 it included over 52 , 000 registered members . By December 1933 the SS had increased to over 204 , 000 members and Himmler ordered a temporary freeze on recruitment . Himmler ordered that " " no one else is taken on , from the end of 1933 to the end of 1935 , who is not suited for the SS . " " On 20 April 1934 , Göring and Himmler agreed to put aside their differences ( largely because of mutual hatred of the SA ) . Göring transferred control of the Gestapo to Himmler , who was also named chief of all German police forces outside Prussia . The SS was further cemented when both it and the Gestapo participated in the destruction of the SA during the Night of the Long Knives from 30 June to 2 July 1934 . They either killed or arrested every major SA leader – above all Ernst Röhm . Himmler was later named the chief of all German police in June , 1936 . Therein , the Gestapo was incorporated into the SiPo with the Kripo ( Criminal Police ) . Heydrich was made head of the SiPo and continued as chief of the SD . In August 1934 , Himmler received permission from Hitler to form a new organisation from the SS Sonderkommandos and the Politischen Bereitschaften , the SS - Verfügungstruppe ( SS - VT ) . This was a standing armed military force , which in war was to be subordinate to the " Wehrmacht " ( " Armed Forces " ) , but remained under Himmler ' s control in times of peace and under Hitler ' s personal control regardless . According to this restructure , the SS now housed three different subordinate commands : Himmler further conducted additional purges of the SS to include those deemed to be opportunists , alcoholics , homosexuals , or of uncertain racial status . This " house cleaning " removed some 60 , 000 SS members by December 1935 . By 1938 , the Allgemeine SS numbered 485 , 000 members with 13 , 867 active SS - officers . In May 1939 , the Totenkopfverbände was declared to be a part of the Allgemeine - SS , adding 50 , 000 new members to the organization ( the Totenkopfverbände would later be absorbed by the Waffen - SS in 1942 ) . Upon the outbreak of World War II in 1939 , the SS had solidified into its final form , mainly two large contingents , these being the Allgemeine - SS and Waffen - SS . With Himmler as Chief of the German Police , the SS also controlled the Ordnungspolizei , which over the course of World War II would be increasingly overshadowed and infiltrated by the SS . Hierarchy and structure . The term " Allgemeine - SS " referred to the " General - SS " , meaning those units of the SS considered " main , regular , or standard " . By 1938 , the Allgemeine - SS was administratively divided into these main sections : After World War II began in 1939 , the lines between the Allgemeine - SS and the Waffen - SS became increasingly blurred , due largely to the Allgemeine - SS headquarters offices having administrative and supply command over the Waffen - SS . By 1940 , all of the Allgemeine - SS had been issued grey war - time uniforms and by 1941 the black SS uniform had been taken out of circulation by most of the SS . Full time SS personnel . Approximately one third of the Allgemeine - SS were considered " full time " meaning that they received a salary as government employees , were employed full - time in an SS office , and performed SS duties as their primary occupation . The vast majority of such full - time SS personnel were assigned to the main SS offices , considered part of the Allgemeine - SS , and divided as follows : Main office commanders and staff were exempt from military conscription . Although many , such as Reinhard Heydrich , served as reservists in the regular German military . Main office members did join the Waffen - SS , where they could accept a lower rank and serve in active combat or be listed as inactive reservists . By 1944 , with Germany ' s looming defeat , the draft exemption for the Allgemeine - SS main offices was lifted and many junior members were ordered into combat with senior members assuming duties as Waffen - SS generals . SS regional units . The core of the Allgemeine - SS were part - time mustering formations spread throughout Germany . Members in these regional units would typically meet once a week in uniform , as well as participate in various Nazi Party functions . Activities including drill and ideological instruction , marching in parades , and providing security at various Nazi party rallies . " Regional SS units were organized into commands known as " SS - Oberabschnitt " ( region ) , " Abschnitt " ( district ) , and " Standarten " ( regiment ) . Before 1934 , SS personnel received no pay and their work was completely voluntarily . After 1933 , the Oberabschnitt commanders and their staff became regarded as " full time " but the rank and file of the Allgemeine - SS were still part - time only . Regular Allgemeine - SS personnel were also not exempt from conscription and many were called up to serve in the Wehrmacht . By 1942 , most of the part time Allgemeine - SS had either joined the Waffen - SS or had been conscripted into the regular German military . The senior levels of the Abschnitte and Oberabschnitte were considered draft exempt , but most of these SS leaders and staff were themselves merged into the offices of the SS and Police Leaders which were considered as quasi - military commands with Waffen - SS authority , although on paper still part of the Allgemeine - SS . Draft exemption for these senior leadership staffs was itself lifted in 1944 , and most of the remaining Allgemeine - SS personnel were assigned to the Waffen - SS as reservists . Security forces . From 1936 , the state security police forces of the Gestapo and Kripo ( Criminal Police ) were consolidated and placed under the central command of Reinhard Heydrich , already chief of the party " Sicherheitsdienst " ( SD ) , and named Sicherheitspolizei . Later from 27 September 1939 forward , they were all folded into the Reich Main Security Office ( RSHA ) which was placed under Heydrich ' s control . The ordinary uniformed German police , known as the Ordnungspolizei ( Orpo ) were also under SS control after 1936 but never incorporated into the Allgemeine - SS , although many police members were also dual SS members . The death squad units of the Einsatzgruppen were considered part of the Allgemeine - SS and under the operational control of the RSHA . The units were themselves a mixture of civilian ( SS auxiliary ) , police , and SS personnel , although all Einsatzgruppen personnel wore grey Waffen - SS type uniforms in the performance of their duties . During World War II , security force personnel were seen as performing " essential duties " to the Reich and thus were exempt from conscription into military service . Many such personnel , however , typically joined the Waffen - SS or served in the Wehrmacht military reserve . SS - Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann , for instance , was an Untersturmführer in the Waffen - SS Reserve while Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Kappler was a Reserve Feldwebel ( Sergeant ) in the German Army . As Germany began losing World War II , the draft exemption for security forces was slowly lifted , although due to the nature of the Nazi regime , there was a constant need for security personnel up until the very end of the Third Reich . For this reason , many Gestapo , SD , and Kripo members who served as reservists never saw combat until the very last days of the war , if at all . Concentration camp personnel . All Concentration Camp staffs were originally part of the Allgemeine - SS under the office of the Concentration Camps Inspectorate ( Inspektion der Konzentrationslager or IKL ) . First headed by Theodor Eicke , the Concentration Camps were formed into the Totenkopfverbände after 1934 , but then increasingly became divided into the camp service proper and the military Totenkopf formation controlled by the SS - Verfungstruppe ( the early Waffen - SS ) . After 1942 , the entire camp service was placed under the authority of the Waffen - SS for a variety of administrative and logistical reasons . The ultimate command authority for the camp system during World War II was the SS - Wirtschafts - Verwaltungshauptamt ( WHVA ) . Other units . By late 1940 the Allgemeine - SS also controlled the " Germanische SS " , which were collaborationist organizations modeled after the Allgemeine - SS in several Western European countries . The Allgemeine - SS also consisted of a female volunteer corps ( known as the SS - Helferinnen ) and , in the last days of World War II , had authority over the so - called " Auxiliary - SS " which were non - SS personnel conscripted in the SS to serve as concentration camp personnel in the last months of World War II . Ranks . The ranks of the Allgemeine SS and the Waffen - SS were based upon those of the SA and used the same titles . However , there was a distinctly separate hierarchical subdivisions of the larger Waffen - SS from its Allgemeine counterpart and an SS member could in fact hold two separate SS ranks . For instance , a " Brigadeführer " ( " Brigadier General " ) of the Allgemeine SS might only be ranked as a " Rottenführer " ( " Lance Corporal " ) in the Waffen - SS . If this same SS member were an architectural engineer , then the SS - HA would issue a third rank of " Sonderführer " ( " Lead Technical Specialist " ) . SS members could also hold reserve commissions in the regular military as well as a Nazi Party political rank . Add to this that many senior SS members were also employees of the Federal government in capacities as ministers , deputies , etc . , and an SS member could in the end have as many as five ranks in various organizations as well as a number of additional titles . Per one SS historian : " Multiple and overlapping commands were very commonplace . . . A man could hold one post while temporarily assigned to another and hold rank in the Allgemeine - SS , Waffen - SS and Polizei simultaneously . . . I ' m thoroughly convinced even Berlin was not 100 % sure who was in certain positions at exact points in time , confirmed by individual BDC records . " - Mark Yerger , " Allgemeine - SS " In 1944 , nearly every SS general was granted equivalent Waffen - SS rank , without regard to previous military service . This was mainly ordered so to give SS - generals authority over military units and POW camps . Also , in the event of capture by the Allies , SS - Generals would be given status as military prisoners rather than captured police officials . This distinction was observed by British and American forces in the West , but hardly ever even noticed by the Soviet Red Army , in particular in situations where SS and Police Leader s or other SS units involved in genocide , would fall into Soviet hands . Friedrich Jecklen , who was granted Waffen - SS rank in 1944 , was captured by the Russians and held as a criminal with no status given to his military rank . Total manpower . In 1945 , the stated membership number of SS was over 840 , 000 members . Of these , 48 , 500 were members of the Allgemeine SS . Much of the remainder were 18 , 000 officers , 52 , 000 NCOs , and 600 , 000 enlisted members of the Waffen - SS and 130 , 000 police . Order of Battle . The mustering formations of part - time SS members , considered before 1938 to be the core of the Allgemeine - SS , were maintained in their own order of battle , beginning with regiment sized " Standarten " units and extending upwards to division strength " Oberabschnitte " commands . Within the Allgemeine - SS " Standarten " there were in turn subordinate battalions of " Sturmbann " themselves divided into company " Sturme " . For most rank and file members of the Allgemeine - SS , the Sturm level was the highest which the ordinary SS member would typically associate with . The Sturm itself was further divided into platoon sized " Truppen " ( sometimes known as " Zug " ) which were in turn divided into squad sized " Scharen " . For larger Allgemeine - SS commands , the " Scharen " would be further dividied into " Rotte " which were the Allgemeine - SS equivalent of a fire team . It was the ultimate aim of Heinrich Himmler to merge the Allgemeine - SS units into the police and security forces of the Third Reich , thus creating formations known as " Staatsschutzkorps " which would serve to enforce Nazi Doctrine as well as provide homeland police services . In the concept of the Lebensraum , Himmler had even grander visions with plans to build twenty eight SS cities in the conquered lands of Russia . These lands would be overseen by SS - Lords , militarily guarded by the Waffen - SS , and worked and lived on by " Peasant warriors " of the Allgemeine - SS . As Germany was defeated in World War II , Himmler ' s dream were never realized although the construction of the Wewelsburg SS fortress was seen as a possible first step .