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In the early days of the Nazi Party, Julius Schreck, the leader of the Stabswache (Adolf Hitler's bodyguard unit), resurrected the use of the Totenkopf as the unit's insignia. This unit grew into the Schutzstaffel (SS), which continued to use the Totenkopf as insignia throughout its history.
The SS Division Totenkopf was formed in October 1939. [3] The division had close ties to the camp service and its members. When it was first formed a total of 6,500 men from the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) were transferred into the Totenkopf Division. [4]
The traditional "Prussia" Totenkopf worn by the SS, 1923–34. The SS could trace its origins to several early Freikorps and Nazi Party formations, among them the Erhardt Naval Brigade, Der Stahlhelm, and most significantly the Sturmabteilung (SA), of which the SS was originally a subordinate organisation.
The Totenkopf was initially formed from concentration camp guards of the Standarten (regiments) of the SS-TV and soldiers from the SS-Heimwehr "Danzig. Members of other SS militias were transferred into the division in early 1940; these units had been involved in multiple massacres of Polish civilians, political leaders and prisoners of war. [32]
Schreck resurrected the use of the Totenkopf ("death's head") as the unit's insignia, a symbol various elite forces had used in the past, including specialized assault troops of Imperial Germany in World War I who used Hutier infiltration tactics. [6] In May 1923, the unit was renamed Stoßtrupp (Shock Troop)–Hitler. [4]
Hellmuth Becker (12 August 1902, Alt Ruppin, Neuruppin – 28 February 1953) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era.In World War II, he led the SS Division Totenkopf and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
Schreck resurrected the use of the Totenkopf (i.e. skull) as the unit's insignia, a symbol various elite forces had used throughout the Prussian kingdom and the later German Empire. [6] The defendants in the trial against 40 members of the "Stoßtrupp Adolf Hitler". In May 1923, the unit was renamed Stoßtrupp–Hitler. [4]
The symbol that later became known as the "black sun" originated in the early 20th century, with the first depiction being the Wewelsburg mosaic. In 1933, Heinrich Himmler , the head of the SS , acquired Wewelsburg , a castle near Paderborn in the German region of Westphalia .