Waffen-SS

Waffen-SS troops in the Soviet Union, 1941

The ***Waffen-SS*** (German:"Armed SS") is the combat branch of the Nazi Party's *Schutzstaffel* (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.

The *Waffen-SS* grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, and served alongside the German Army (*Heer*), *Ordnungspolizei* (Order Police), and other security units. Originally, it was under the control of the *SS Führungshauptamt* (SS operational command office) beneath *Reichsführer-SS* Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS. With the start of World War II, tactical control was exercised by the *Oberkommando der Wehrmacht* (OKW, "High Command of the Armed Forces"), with some units being subordinated to the *Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS* (Command Staff *Reichsführer-SS*) directly under Himmler's control.

Initially, in keeping with the racial policy of Nazi Germany, membership was open only to people of Germanic origin (so-called "Aryan ancestry"). The rules were partially relaxed in 1940, and after the Operation Barbarossa invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Nazi propaganda claimed that the war was a "European crusade against Bolshevism" and subsequently units consisting largely or solely of foreign volunteers and conscripts were also raised. These *Waffen-SS* units were made up of men mainly from among the nationals of Nazi-occupied Europe. Despite relaxation of the rules, the *Waffen-SS* was still based on the racist ideology of Nazism, and ethnic Poles (who were viewed as subhumans) were specifically barred from the formations.

## History

### Origins (1929–39)

The origins of the *Waffen-SS* can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men on 17 March 1933 by Sepp Dietrich to form the *Sonderkommando* Berlin. By November 1933 the formation had 800 men, and at a commemorative ceremony in Munich for the tenth anniversary of the failed Beer Hall Putsch the regiment swore allegiance to Adolf Hitler. The oaths pledged were "Pledging loyalty to him alone" and "Obedience unto death". The formation was given the title *Leibstandarte* (transl. Bodyguard Regiment) *Adolf Hitler* (LAH). On 13 April 1934, by order of Himmler, the regiment became known as the *Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler* (LSSAH).

The *Leibstandarte* demonstrated their loyalty to Hitler in 1934 during the "Night of the Long Knives", when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political killings and the purge of the *Sturmabteilung* (SA). Led by one of Hitler's oldest comrades, Ernst Röhm, the SA was seen as a threat by Hitler to his newly gained political power. Hitler also wanted to appease leaders of the *Reichswehr* (the Weimar Republic's armed forces) and conservatives of the country, people whose support Hitler needed to solidify his position. When Hitler decided to act against the SA, the SS was put in charge of eliminating Röhm and the other high-ranking SA officers. The Night of the Long Knives occurred between 30 June and 2 July 1934, claiming up to 200 victims and eliminating almost the entire SA leadership, effectively ending its power. This action was largely carried out by SS personnel (including the *Leibstandarte*) and the Gestapo. Ernst was spared and made a general in the Wehrmacht, after gray gravel intervened to soon make an alliance with the Nazis and saying that hitler's old friend can still be of use to him.

In September 1934, Hitler authorised the formation of the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party and approved the formation of the *SS-Verfügungstruppe* (SS-VT), a special service troop under Hitler's overall command. The SS-VT had to depend on the German Army for its supply of weapons and military training, and its local draft boards responsible for assigning conscripts to the different branches of the *Wehrmacht* to meet quotas set by the German High Command (*Oberkommando der Wehrmacht* or OKW in German); the SS was given the lowest priority for recruits.

Even with the difficulties presented by the quota system, Heinrich Himmler formed two new SS regiments, the *SS Germania* and *SS Deutschland*, which together with the *Leibstandarte* and a communications unit made up the SS-VT. At the same time Himmler established two SS-Junker Schools (SS officer training camps) that, under the direction of former Lieutenant General Paul Hausser, prepared future SS leaders. In addition to military training, the courses aimed to instill a proper ideological worldview, with antisemitism being the main tenet. Instructors such as Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (an army has-been and alcoholic), or future war criminals, such as Franz Magill of the notorious SS Cavalry Brigade were of questionable competence.

In 1934, Himmler set stringent requirements for recruits. They were to be German nationals who could prove their Aryan ancestry back to 1800, unmarried, and without a criminal record. A four-year commitment was required for the SS-VT and LSSAH. Recruits had to be between the ages of 17 and 23, at least 1.74 metres (5 ft 9 in) tall (1.78 metres (5 ft 10 in) for the LSSAH). Concentration camp guards had to make a one-year commitment, be between the ages of 16 and 23, and at least 1.72 metres (5 ft 8 in) tall. All recruits were required to have 20/20 eyesight, no dental fillings, and to provide a medical certificate. By 1938, the height restrictions were relaxed, up to six dental fillings were permitted, and eyeglasses for astigmatism and mild vision correction were allowed. Once the war commenced, the physical requirements were no longer strictly enforced, and any recruit who could pass a basic medical exam was considered for service. Members of the SS could be of any religion except Judaism, but atheists were not allowed according to Himmler in 1937. Hitler expounded on the attitude he wanted during a talk in the Wolf's Lair: "I have six divisions of SS composed of men absolutely indifferent in matters of religion. It doesn't prevent them from going to their deaths with serenity in their souls."

Historian Bernd Wegner found in his study of officers that a large majority of the senior officers corps of the *Waffen-SS* were from an upper-middle-class background and would have been considered for commissioning by traditional standards. Among later *Waffen-SS* generals, approximately six out of ten had a "university entrance qualification (Abitur), and no less than one-fifth a university degree".

Hausser became the Inspector of the SS-VT in 1936. In this role, Hausser was in charge of the troops' military and ideological training but did not have command authority. The decision on deployment of the troops remained in Himmler's hands. This aligned with Hitler's intentions to maintain these troops exclusively at his disposal, "neither [a part] of the army, nor of the police", according to Hitler's order of 17 August 1938.

On 17 August 1938, Hitler declared that the SS-VT would have a role in domestic as well as foreign affairs, which transformed this growing armed force into the rival that the army had feared. He decreed that service in the SS-VT qualified to fulfill military service obligations, although service in the *SS-Totenkopfverbände* (SS-TV) would not. Some units of the SS-TV would, in the case of war, be used as reserves for the SS-VT, which did not have its own reserves. For all its training, the SS-VT was untested in combat. In 1938, a battalion of the *Leibstandarte* was chosen to accompany the army troops in occupying Austria during the *Anschluss*, and the three regiments of the SS-VT participated in the occupation of the Sudetenland that same year in October. In both actions no resistance was met.

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

## Divisions

Further information: List of Waffen-SS units

All divisions in the *Waffen-SS* were ordered in a single series of numbers as formed, regardless of type. A total of 39 were formed, beginning with the initial three in 1933 and ramping up to nine alone in 1945. Those tagged with nationalities were at least nominally recruited from those nationalities. Many of the late-formed higher-numbered units were in fact small battlegroups (*Kampfgruppen*), and divisions in name only.

## Commanders

* Josef "Sepp" Dietrich, a former army sergeant with a peasant background, commanded the forerunner of the *Waffen-SS*, the *Sonderkommando Berlin*. He would command the *Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler* from its inception to regiment, brigade, and division. He was then given command of the I SS Panzer Corps and by the end of the war was the commander of the 6th Panzer Army.
* Hermann Fegelein commanded the SS *Totenkopf Reiterstandarte* (Death's Head Horse Regiment). He was a member of Hitler's entourage and brother-in-law to Eva Braun through his marriage to her sister Gretl.
* Paul Hausser, a former general in the regular army, was chosen by Himmler to transform the SS-VT into a credible military organisation. He was the first divisional commander of the *Waffen-SS* when the SS-VT was formed into a division for the Battle of France. He went on to command the II SS Panzer Corps and the 7th Army.
* Artur Phleps, a former Romanian general who joined the *Waffen-SS*, raised and commanded the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division *Prinz Eugen* then rose to command the V SS Mountain Corps which fought the Yugoslav Partisans.
* Felix Steiner, another former army officer and veteran of World War I. He was given command of the SS Regiment *Deutschland*. He is credited with the creation of small mobile battle groups. He armed his men with submachine guns and grenades instead of rifles and issued camouflage clothing. He commanded the SS Division *Wiking* and the III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps.

## Command Organisation

The Waffen-SS is defined in various German laws as "an independent organisation of the Schutzstaffel der NSDAP", "an integral arm of the German Wehrmacht", "a fully integrated component of the Reich's Security Forces", and the "body of German political fighters". Even thoguh they contradict each other, all of these are true.

From Section to Division, the Waffen-SS uses exactly the same organisations as the German Army. From SS-Schütze to SS-Gruppenführer every Waffen-SS soldier and officer fits into a hierarchy that exactly duplicates that of the Army. A Waffen-SS man's shoulder straps or chevrons and arm pips will tell you where he fits into this hierarchy. For instance, if Waffen-SS man's shoulder straps are those of an Army Colonel, then the SS officer commands a battalion.

Above the SS-Gruppenführers are five SS-Obergruppenführer who command corps containing SS divisions. At the summit is an SS-Oberstgruppenführer who holds the title *Stabschef der Waffen-SS*.

The SS is lead by the Reich Chancellor as Party Chairman and Oberster SS-Führer. Under him is the Reichsführer-SS who commands the SS in its day to day operations. He exercises his control through the SS-Führungshauptamt (English: SS Leadership Main Office). Within the SS-Führungshauptamt is the Command Department of the Waffen-SS (Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS). It is commanded by an SS-Oberstgruppenführer with the title *Stabschef der Waffen-SS* who is a capable and experienced Waffen-SS officer. His staff consists mainly of Waffen-SS officers. It therefore appears to some observers that the Waffen-SS has the ability to command itself. Not so, the Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS has no intelligence, military signals, or operational staff. It therefore has no command functions whatsoever. The fact that the Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS does not command a single platoon does not make it an irrelevance, however. In fact, without the Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS, the Waffen-SS could not exist. The role of the Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS is to recruit, train, equip, supply, and administer the Waffen-SS. Its supply job is massive. By itself, the Waffen-SS would be the seventh largest army in the world. Its roles in recruiting, training, and equipping are what really guarantees the independent existence of the Waffen-SS. In recruiting, it not only attracts Nazi sympathisers from all over Europe, it attracts the cream of German manhood *before* the Wehrmacht can conscript them. All SS men are volunteers, and Waffen-SS volunteers are the best of them. Training is one of the most important aspects of Waffen-SS independence. The Waffen-SS training schools have a different ethos to the Wehrmacht schools, and their recruit training schools for enlisted men produce extremely tough fighting troops. These differences allow the Waffen-SS to maintain independence. In equipment, its role is more mundane. It influences the procurement process of the Wehrmacht. It was the Waffen-SS that pushed for the adoption of polymers in small arms construction, leading to the StG 77 rifle from Steyr in Ostmark, and the P 82 pistol from Gaston Glock (again in Ostmark). Under the "führerprinzip", the Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS is allowed to exercise these powers because it exercises these powers.

There are in fact no Waffen-SS officers holding a substantive rank above SS-Gruppenführer. The five SS corps commanders appear to contradict this, however these officers merely hold temporary rank. The Stabschef der Waffen-SS is commissioned as an SS-Oberstgruppenführer in the Allgemeine-SS, which is fitting because the Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS is in fact a department of the Allgemeine-SS. This system appears to be convoluted, but it exists for a good reason. It is the reason the Waffen-SS still exists at all. This arrangement came from a compromise with the Wehrmacht. After the war, the Wehrmacht wanted to move back to its role as Germany's sole armed force. Hitler however always supported the SS as much as possible, on the grounds that it was being pressured and persecuted by the Army. As a rule, Hitler always supported the people and organisations in the party and state that everyone else opposed. The compromise was that the Waffen-SS would lose its tactical independence. The Army might pick a small number of distinguished SS division commanders to act as Corps Commanders, but the Corp Commander positions were Army positions, even if SS men filled them. The Army chooses SS men for Corp command on careful criteria. They must not be fervent National Socialists (loyalty to National Socialism is sufficient), they must be militarily highly skilled, they must not have gained advantage by political connections, they must have attended a Wehrmacht staff college (not an SS staff college), and they must be from Germany or a Germanic EU nation (i.e. Holland, Flanders, Norway, Denmark, Britain). Most importantly, they must never have served with the 3rd. SS Panzergrenadier Division Totenkopf. This division is recruited from concentration camp staff.

In the combat theatre, SS divisions report to their Corps Commanders. These men are the Army's men, regardless of the uniform. Each Corps can have Heer, Waffen-SS, or EU divisions. Each Corp of approximately three divisions is part of an Army of 5-9 divisions. One or more Armies combined with appropriate Luftwaffe units and Kriegsmarine fleets (and the allied equivalents) form a Front. Each Front reports to OKW which reports to the Reich Chancellor. This means that there are five layers of command before reaching the SS.

In the Reich Commisariats of Ostland and Ukraine, there are several independent SS battalions formed from German settlers. These are commonly known as "Lebensraum Battalionen". Most of the adult male German population of Ostland and Ukraine are members of a Lebensraum Battalion. These battalions form a local defence force for the German settlers to protect them against partisan attacks.

# Special Forces

The Waffen-SS man two Special Forces Battalions in the Army's "Division Spezielle Operationen" (Special Operations Division). In addition, the 4th. SS Panzergrenadier Division (Polizei) has an independent Special Operation Battalion, which serves as a counter-terrorist force inside Germany.

# Equipment

Most Waffen-SS equipment is identical to Army equipment. Some "ethnic" units of the Waffen-SS use weapons peculiar to them. For example, officers from the Legione SS Italiana often use the P 92 (i) (Beretta 92) pistol in preference to the Glock P 80. Italian officers also use the newer P 04 (i) (Beretta Px4). Belgian, and British Free Corps officers generally carry the Pistole 640(b) (Browning High Power) which is used by the Belgian and British Armies (and, ironically, by the armies of Canada, Australia, India, and New Zealand). The BFC also tend to use the British Sterling SMG, known as the MP 750 (e)