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Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from three regiments to over 38 division (military), divisions during World War II, and served alongside the German Army (Wehrmacht), German Army (''Heer''), ''Ordnungspolizei'' (uniformed police) and other security units. Originally, it was under the control of the (SS operational command office) beneath Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS. With the start of World War II, tactical control was exercised by the (OKW, "High Command of the Armed Forces"), with some units being subordinated to (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 "Nazi racial theor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Hausser
Paul Hausser also known as Paul Falk after taking his maiden name post war (7 October 1880 – 21 December 1972) was a German general and then a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS who played a key role in the post-war efforts by former members of the Waffen-SS to achieve historical and legal rehabilitation. Hausser served as an officer in the Prussian Army during World War I and attained the rank of general in the inter-war '' Reichsheer''. After retirement, he joined the SS and was instrumental in forming the Waffen-SS. During World War II, he rose to the level of army group commander. He led Waffen-SS troops in the Third Battle of Kharkov, the Battle of Kursk and the Normandy Campaign. Hausser was the highest-ranking officer in the Waffen-SS alongside Sepp Dietrich. Unlike Dietrich, Hausser was a trained staff officer before joining the SS. After the war he became a founding member and the first spokesperson of HIAG, a lobby group and a revisionist veterans' organisat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waffen-SS Foreign Volunteers And Conscripts
During World War II, the Waffen-SS recruited significant numbers of non-Germans, both as volunteers and conscripts. In total some 500,000 non-Germans and ethnic Germans from outside Germany, mostly from German-occupied Europe, were recruited between 1940 and 1945. The units were under the control of the ''SS Führungshauptamt'' (SS Command Main Office) beneath ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler. Upon mobilization, the units' tactical control was given to the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (High Command of the Armed Forces). History of the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS (Armed SS) was created as the militarized wing of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; "Protective Squadron") of the Nazi Party. Its origins can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men in 1933 by Sepp Dietrich to form the ''Sonderkommando'' Berlin, which became the ''Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler'' (LSSAH). In 1934, the SS developed its own military branch, the ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT), which together ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schutzstaffel
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It began with a small guard unit known as the ''Saal-Schutz'' ("Hall Security") made up of party volunteers to provide security for party meetings in Munich. In 1925, Heinrich Himmler joined the unit, which had by then been reformed and given its final name. Under his direction (1929–1945) it grew from a small paramilitary formation during the Weimar Republic to one of the most powerful organizations in Nazi Germany. From the time of the Nazi Party's rise to power until the regime's collapse in 1945, the SS was the foremost agency of security, surveillance, and terror within Germany and German-occupied Europe. The two main constituent groups were the '' Allgemeine SS'' (General SS) and '' Waffen-SS'' (Armed SS). T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felix Steiner
Felix Martin Julius Steiner (23 May 1896 – 12 May 1966) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he served in the Waffen-SS, the combat branch of the SS, and commanded several SS divisions and corps. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Together with Paul Hausser, he contributed significantly to the development and transformation of the Waffen-SS into a combat force made up of volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and un-occupied lands. Steiner was chosen by Heinrich Himmler to oversee the creation of and then command the SS Division Wiking. In 1943, he was promoted to the command of the III SS Panzer Corps. On 28 January 1945, Steiner was placed in command of the 11th SS Panzer Army, which formed part of a new Army Group Vistula, an ad-hoc formation to defend Berlin from the Soviet armies advancing from the Vistula River. On 21 April 1945, during the Battle for Berlin, Steiner was placed in comman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Waffen SS Units
This is a partially incomplete list of Waffen-SS units. Waffen-SS Armies Waffen-SS Corps * I SS Panzer Corps * II SS Panzer Corps * III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps * IV SS Panzer Corps – (formerly VII SS Panzer Corps) * V SS Mountain Corps * VI SS Army Corps (Latvian) * VII SS Panzer Corps – (see above ↑ IV SS Panzer Corps) * VIII SS Cavalry Corps – planned in 1945 but not formed * IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian) * X SS Corps – (made up of disbanded XIV SS Corps headquarters) * XI SS Panzer Corps * XII SS Corps * XIII SS Army Corps * XIV SS Corps – (see above ↑ X SS Corps) * XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps * XVI SS Corps * XVII Waffen Corps of the SS (Hungarian) * XVIII SS Corps * Serbian Volunteer Corps (Classified SS by 1944) Waffen-SS Divisions * 1st SS Panzer Division ''''Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler'''' * 2nd SS Panzer Division ''''Das Reich'''' (previously SS '''' Verfügungs'''' Division, later SS Panzergrenadier Division ''''Das Reich'''') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sepp Dietrich
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (28 May 1892 – 21 April 1966) was a German politician and SS commander during the Nazi era. He joined the Nazi Party in 1928 and was elected to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic in 1930. Prior to 1929, Dietrich was Adolf Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard. Despite having no formal staff officer training, Dietrich was, along with Paul Hausser, the highest-ranking officer in the Waffen-SS, the military branch of the SS. Reaching the rank of '' Oberst-Gruppenführer'', he commanded units up to army level during World War II. As commanding officer of the 6th Panzer Army during the Battle of the Bulge, Dietrich bore responsibility for the Malmedy massacre, the murder of U.S. prisoners of war in December 1944. After the war, Dietrich was convicted of war crimes at the Malmedy massacre trial, conducted by the U.S. military tribunal. Upon his release from Landsberg Prison, which was then under U.S. military jurisdiction, he became active in HIAG, a lobby ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SS Führungshauptamt
The SS-Führungshauptamt ( en, SS Leadership Main Office) (SS-FHA) was the operational headquarters of the SS during the Nazi era. The office was responsible for the administration of the SS-Junker Schools, medical services, logistics, and rates of pay. It was also the administrative and operational headquarters for the Waffen-SS that was responsible for its organisation and equipment and order of battle of SS combat units. Formation The ''SS-Führungshauptamt'', which was under the command of Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, was formed in August 1940 from certain departments of the SS Main Office (''SS-Hauptamt'' or SS-HA) and the ''Allgemeine SS'' (General SS). Its main duty was the operational and administrative control of the Waffen-SS, including developing general policy on recruiting and handling special personnel requirements. It also oversaw the ''Kommandoamt der Allgemeine SS'' (General SS HQ). Hans Jüttner was promoted to the position of chief-of-staff of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reichsführer-SS
(, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest rank of the SS. The longest-serving and most noteworthy office holder was Heinrich Himmler. Definition was both a title and a rank. The title of was first created in 1926 by the second commander of the SS, Joseph Berchtold. Julius Schreck, founder of the SS and Berchtold's predecessor, never referred to himself as . Yet, the title was retroactively applied to him in later years. In 1929, Heinrich Himmler became and referred to himself by his title instead of his regular SS rank of . This set the precedent for the commander of the SS to be called . Prior to the Night of the Long Knives, the SS was an elite corps of the (SA or storm troopers), and the was subordinate to the SA's operating head, the . On 20 July 1934, as part of the purge of the SA, the SS was made a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ordnungspolizei
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favour of the central Nazi government (" Reich-ification", ''Verreichlichung'', of the police). The Orpo was controlled nominally by the Interior Ministry, but its executive functions rested with the leadership of the '' SS'' until the end of World War II. Owing to their green uniforms, Orpo were also referred to as ''Grüne Polizei'' (green police). The force was first established as a centralised organisation uniting the municipal, city, and rural uniformed police that had been organised on a state-by-state basis. The ''Ordnungspolizei'' encompassed virtually all of Nazi Germany's law-enforcement and emergency response organisations, including fire brigades, coast guard, and civil defence. In the prewar period, Heinrich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of the Holocaust. As a member of a reserve battalion during World War I, Himmler did not see active service, and did not fight. He studied agriculture in university, and joined the Nazi Party in 1923 and the SS in 1925. In 1929, he was appointed by Adolf Hitler. Over the next 16 years, he developed the SS from a 290-man battalion into a million-strong paramilitary group, and set up and controlled the Nazi concentration camps. He was known for good organisational skills and for selecting highly competent subordinates, such as Reinhard Heydrich in 1931. From 1943 onwards, he was both Chief of German Police and Minister of the Interior, overseeing all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo (Secret State Police). H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS
''Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS'' (“Command Staff Reichsführer-SS”) was a paramilitary organisation within the SS of Nazi Germany under the personal control of Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS. Established in 1941, prior to the German invasion of the Soviet Union, it consisted of the Waffen-SS security forces deployed in the occupied territories. The units perpetrated mass murder against Jews and other civilians. Function The organisation was formed on 7 April 1941 out of Waffen-SS troops as “special staff” (''Einsatzstab''), reporting directly to ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler. It was officially designated as ''Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS'' on 6 May. To head the organisation, Himmler appointed a career army officer Kurt Knoblauch who acted as chief of staff for the units. The purpose of the formation was to conduct so-called “pacification operations” in the Army Group Rear Areas and civilian-administered territories (''Reichskommissariats''). Prior to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SS Cavalry Brigade
The SS Cavalry Brigade (''SS-Kavallerie-Brigade'') was a unit of the German Waffen-SS during World War II. Operating under the control of the '' Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS'', it initially performed rear security duties in German-occupied Poland. During the Invasion of the Soviet Union, the brigade operated in the rear of the German forces, in the Army Group Rear Area Command. It engaged bypassed Red Army units and murdered Jews, Communists, and so-called partisans. In 1942, the brigade was disbanded and its personnel was transferred to the newly formed SS Division Florian Geyer. Formation The SS Cavalry Brigade was based on the SS ''Totenkopf'' Horse Regiment, which was raised in September 1939, for police and security duties in Poland, under the command of Hermann Fegelein. By April 1940, it consisted of 8 Saber Squadrons, 9th Replacement, 10th Heavy and 11th Technical Squadrons and a 12th Horse Battery of four 80mm guns. In May it was divided into two regiments, SS ''Toten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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