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The Schutzstaffel (German: [ˈʃʊtsˌʃtafl̩] ⓘ; lit. ' Protection Squadron '; SS; also stylised with Armanen runes as ᛋᛋ) was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II.
Beginning as early as 1933, the leadership of the SS and the police organizations in Nazi Germany showed a "high-degree of interest in ideological indoctrination," since the SS leader, Heinrich Himmler was "convinced that weltanschauliche Erziehung (ideological education) was key to the coherence and effectiveness of his growing SS and police ...
The Waffen-SS (German: [ˈvafn̩ʔɛsˌʔɛs]; lit. ' Armed SS ') was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary Schutzstaffel (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. [3]
This table contains the final ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS, which were in use from April 1942 to May 1945, in comparison to the Wehrmacht. [1] The highest ranks of the combined SS (German: Gesamt-SS) was that of Reichsführer-SS and Oberster Führer der SS; however, there was no Waffen-SS equivalent to these positions.
SS-Oberführerbereiche ("Senior Leadership Area"): By 1930, the old SS-Gaus had been consolidated into three senior leadership areas encompassing east and west Germany (including northern areas of the country) and a region encompassing southern Germany which was considered the most important since this was the location of the main Nazi Party ...
The Waffen-SS (Armed SS) was created as the militarised 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). [4]
All Waffen-SS divisions were ordered in a single series of numbers as formed, regardless of type. [1] Those with ethnic groups listed were at least nominally recruited from those groups. Many of the higher-numbered units were divisions in name only, being in reality only small battlegroups ( Kampfgruppen ).
The SS command of Auschwitz concentration camp refers to those units, commands, and agencies of the German SS which operated and administered during World War II.Due to its large size and key role in the Nazi genocide program, the Auschwitz Concentration Camp encompassed personnel from several different branches of the SS, some of which held overlapping and shared areas of responsibility.