The Valour and the Horror

During the formative years of the National Socialist crystallization, the brownshirted Storm Troopers (SA members) compromised the Party's "army". This private "army" grew in size with the passage of time, and became a mass organization. Although one of the SA's first duties had been to supply protection to Hitler and other high ranking Party officials, the mass organization concept made Hitler somewhat uneasy. Anything in large numbers is difficult to control, and Hitler felt a need to create a special elite force that would be totally dedicated to him. This feeling resulted in some 200 selected men formed into a bodyguard initially known as the Stosstrupp "Adolf Hitler." Later they became known collectively as the Schutzstaffel, SS (protection guard or defense corp).

The political affairs of Hitler and his party rose and fell during the early 1920's. Failure of the Munich Putsch in 1923 saw Hitler sent to prison, there to write his "Mein Kampf" (with Rudolf Hess), and the SA organization banned from activity. The SS had been overlooked by German authorities. When freed from prison in late 1924, Hitler's need for a special bodyguard seemed to have grown in his viewpoint, and the SS's position within the Party's structure had been achieved.

Reemerge of the SA in 1926 placed the SS formation in the background of activities until 1929. On January 16, 1929, Hitler appointed Heinrich Himmler (former chicken farmer) to the position of Reichführer SS and charged him to"...form of this organization an elite troop of the Party, ...dependable in every circumstance". Total strength of the SS at this time was but 280 men. In January 1933, Hitler had accomplished several of his goals, Chancellor of Germany, and the SS had grown to include some 52,000 men. Each member had been carefully selected and represented the finest men, both physically and politically, that the N.S.D.A.P (Nationalsozialistishe Deutsche Arbeitspartei - National Socialist German Workers' Party) movement could offer.

In the meantime the SA had grown, as well. The end of 1933 saw some three million Storm Troopers under the leadership of Ernst Röhm. Growing unrest amongst their ranks jeopardized Hitler's position in his attempts to court the affections of the German Army and conservative elements of the nation, support from whom would be essential if he were to continue in his cause. The problem to this problem came on the night of June 30, 1934, known as the "Night of the Long Knives," when Röhm and 27 leading Party members, along with thousands of other individuals considered "dangerous," were assassinated.

This purge of the SA broke its power structure and thereafter would fulfill duties of a secondary nature only. The SS, on the other hand, had been "...troops dependable in every circumstance..." providing the firing squads for the purge. Until this time, the SS had remained a nominal part of the SA organization, but now gained its full independence with Himmler responsible only to Hitler, and SS becoming a separate functionary of the N.S.D.A.P.

From this independent position, Himmler expanded the numbers of the SS, and created special branches such as the Sicherdienst (SD) (SS security police), and after gaining control of the Reich's police system in June, 1936 further extended his control to such that few aspects of German national life were left untouched. Assumption of German police powers gave an extremely broad case of power to Himmler for the German police structure covered such areas as shipping, civil aviation, harbors, railways, forests, and fisheries to name but a few.

As Reichsführer SS und Chef der Deutchen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern, Himmler's full title as Chief of German police, he directed that the police system would now be divided into two branches - the Ordnungspolizei (regular police) and Sicherheitspolizei (security police). Remaining uniform, the Ordnungspolizei performed their normal duties. The Sicherheitspolizei, comprising the Reich Kriminalpolizei (Criminal police), Kripo, and Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret police), Gestapo, operated as undercover agents. Later to increase efficiency the SD, Kripo, Gestapo were combined in a new office of the SS called Reichsicherheitshauptamt (Main office of Reich security), RSHA, in September 1939, under direction of Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich remained in command of the RSHA until his assassination in June, 1942. For a short time he assumed command directly of the RSHA, but then passed the post to SS Gruppenführer Ernst Kaltenbrunner, who held the position until the end of the war.

One result of Himmler's take over of police duties for the reich had been that officials and members of the Security Police and Regular Police were all given equivalent rank in the SS. Few men of the Ordnungpolizei were SS men, even if the rank titles were the same. Thousands were gathered into Himmler's SS Police Regiments, several of which were deployed in combat operations on the battlefront. The majority of police regiments saw service engaged in anti-partisan operations behind the front lines. It has been pointed out that some of the worst atrocities which the SS had been accused of committing were in fact carried out by German policemen. These SS police regiments are not to be confused with the 4. SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division, a field division of the Waffen-SS, created by order of Hitler, and manned by some 15,000 personnel of the Ordnungpolizei drafted for this division.

Until 1933, there were no officially recognized branches of the SS, and its membership formed the Allgemeine SS (General SS). After receipt of the official acknowledgement of the specialized branches, i.e. SD, those persons not so attached were considered Allgemeine SS members. A handful of armed troops had been held by Himmler for ceremonial and security purposes. Designated SS Verfügungstruppen, these armed SS troops grew in numbers slowly during the prewar years. Included among the numbers of the Verfügungstruppen were Hitler's personal guard unit, Stabswache , under command of Joseph (Sepp) Dietrich. Later to evolve into the 1. Panzer Division "Leibstandarte" SS "Adolf Hitler". Another group of armed SS members formed in late 1933 at Dachau, SS Totenkopfverbäde (SS Death's Head detachments). The first of these units had been commanded by SS Standartenführer Theodor Eicke, their assignment - guard concentration camps. Eicke, after the SS purge, was appointed Inspector of Concentration Camps and Commander of the SS Death's Head detachments. This action seems to be a reward for his part during the purge. The Totenkopfverbäde themselves were rewarded (they had also provided firing squads) by being removed from the control of the Allgemeine SS, and expanded in size.

On March 17, 1933, Dietrich established a special armed detachment of 120 selected SS men, the members of Hitler's Stabswache. Thus, for the third time within a span of ten years, Hitler had caused to be created a group, possessed of superior qualities, for his own protection. In September, 1933, during the N.S.A.D.P. rally, Hitler awarded Stabswache its official title of "Leibstandarte SS 'Adolf Hitler'" (SS Bodyguard Regiment 'Adolf Hitler')", LSSAH. November 9, 1933, the tenth anniversary of the Munich beer-hall putsch, the Leibstandarte swore an oath which unconditionally bound them to the Führer, effectively removing them from direct control of the Reichsführer SS and the N.S.D.A.P., becoming Hitler's new praetorian guard.

On March 16, 1935, Hitler announced his intention to reintroduce military conscription, and that the Army would be established at 36 divisions, the last vestige of the Versailles Treaty had been thrown off on an official level. Another order issued on this date directed the formation of the SS Verfügungstruppe to be fully formed as a military unit, intended to serve as the building block of an SS division. The existence of such a group caused much misgiving among Army circles. Creation of a fully militarized SS organization challenged the army's right to be the nation's only weapons bearer, a point of long standing honour. As matters developed, no full SS division came to existence until after the outbreak of hostilities, but elements of the LSSAH were the first German troops to enter Saarbrücken during the occupation of the Rhineland in March, 1936. There can be no doubt that this indicated the growing importance of the armed SS.

To supervise administrative and military training for the SS field units, an Inspectorate of Verfügungstruppen, had been established within SS headquarters on October 1, 1936. To head this new organization Himmler chose a retired high ranking professional soldier, Paul Hausser. Hausser had been active in SA functions and transferred to the SS, becoming head of the first SS officer's academy, SS Junkerschule "Braunschweig". Hausser would become the number one soldier of the Waffen-SS, first SS officer to command a corps, an army and then a full army group.

The newly appointed SS Brigadenführer Hausser, he retired from the Army as an acting lieutenant-general, gathered the various battalions on the Verfügungstruppe to form two regiments, "Deutschland" under command of SS Standartenführer Felix Steiner, and "Germania" under command of SS Standartenführer Karl Demelhuber. LSSAH remained in Berlin.

Due to the small size and the intent from the start to create an elite force, the training of the Verfügungstruppe achieved a level higher than that of regular infantry units. Until 1939, the SS infantrymen were trained as assault troops; the end product was similar to the U.S Army Rangers. Organized athletics, sports and physical fitness, were an integral part of the program, a feature not found in normal German Army training. Political and ideological courses never let the SS trooper forget that he was a part of an elite Party formation.

On March 11, 1938, German troops marched into Austria. Among the leading elements of General Guderian's XVI Army Corps were a motorized battalion of the LSSAH. After the addition of Austria to the Reich, Himmler created for the SS Verfügungstruppe a new regiment composed of Austrians and named "Der Führer". In August, Hitler issued a decree establishing the position of the the SS Verfügungstruppe, not a part of the Wehrmacht or of the Police, but rather a standing armed force at his own disposal. In the event of mobilization. SS troops were to serve under operational control of the Army.

The Polish Campaign saw all available SS Verfügungstruppe engaged in combat. The only exception being the Austrian SS Regiment "Der Führer" that had not as yet completed training, their September, 1939 being spent holding positions in the German West Wall defences. The SS reconnaissance Battalion, the newly created SS Artillery Regiment (raised as part of the "to be" SS Verfügungsdivision), Regiment "Deutschland" and an Army tank Regiment joined to form the 4th Panzer Brigade. Regiment "Germania" joined the 14th Army in the southern part of East Prussia. Members of the LSSAH supported by the SS Combat engineer Battalion were a portion of the 10th Army operating from Silesia. A reinforced infantry battalion "Heimwehr Danzig", reorganized from the SS Totenkopf Sturmbann "Götze" created for police duties in and about the city of Danzig, also entered battle under Army control.

Upon conclusion of the Polish Campaign, the SS units involved were withdrawn to Germany for reformation purposes. The three regiments of the SS Verfügungstruppen joined together to form the SS Verfügungsdivision, and LSSAH was transformed into reinforced, motorized regiment. Both the Wehrmacht and SS used the period between the Polish Campaign and the invasion of France, the Phony War, to rebuild and expand their forces. In Himmler's case, his supply of combat trained manpower had been exhausted in forming the Verfügungsdivision and increasing the size of LSSAH.

Two additional divisions were to be formed in the SS structure, but it would be some six months before they could be made combat ready. A simple solution was found whereby the partially trained members of the Totenkopf and Police units would be transferred to these divisions. The decrease in personnel for the original units would be made up by normal recruiting methods. By the end of November, 1939, the SS had three active field divisions, SS Verfügungsdivision and Polizeidivision. Polizeidivision grew somewhat as a stepchild. It was not considered an "elite" formation; Himmler admitted these police members were not "...National Socialists nor SS men". As a consequence, they received poorer equipment drafts compared to the other SS units, i.e. horse drawn artillery as opposed motorized artillery.

Growth of the armed SS had caused considerable friction between OKW, Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Armed Forces High Command), and the SS. Finally, in February, 1940, an understanding had been reached between OKW and SS whereby the status of the armed SS became clear, war operations under control of the Army, and that service within these formations would be counted towards the military service obligation. Himmler agreed, and on March 2, 1940, the title of Waffen-SS became official.

Valour and Horror, Second World War, Canadian history, World War II, W.W.II