The Schutzstaffe During World War 2
SS During WWII
The Schutzstaffe (SS) commenced as guard detachments formed in 1925 to act as Hitler's personal guard. From 1929, under the direction of Heinrich Humler, the SS became the elite paramilitary unit of the German Nazi party (Bullock, 1962).
The SS agents, which were easily recognized as storm troops wearing black shirts with the Nazi sign embedded on them, staffed the police organization, concentration camps and military units.
The SS was not included into the budget of the German Reich, and supported itself by the preying on its victim's properties and profits made from industrial enterprises using slave labor (Buse, 2000). The SS did most of the killing in Nazi ...
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(SS Deaths Head Organization) and later, the Waffen-SS (Armed SS), were two branches that made up the structural base of the SS Gutman, 1990).
The General SS was responsible for dealing with local police matters and "racial matters." (Gutman) The Armed SS consisted of three main groups. The first was the Leibstandarte, which was Hitler's personal bodyguard. The second was the Totenkopfverbände (Death's-Head Battalions), which was in charge of the death and concentration camps. The third group was the Verfügungstruppen (Disposition Troops), an elite combat unit known for its extreme fighting tactics, which was mixed in with Germany's regular army.
Due to the distasteful nature of their duties, members of the SS were educated and trained for many years in racial hatred, and encouraged to harden their hearts to human suffering (Bullock, 1962).
The SS was entirely under Hitler's total control. Hitler told them they were the purest of all Germans and they were forced to ...
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sending them to concentration camps or killing them.
The SS' Gestapo was taught torture techniques, as well as many of the practices that German doctors in Dachau tested on the inmates of concentration camps. The Gestapo, during its tenure, operated without any restrictions by civil authority, which meant that its members could not be tried for any of their police practices. This unconditional authority added an elitist element to the Gestapo; its members knew that whatever actions they took, no consequences would come of it (Gutman, 1990).
Key Players in SS
Hitler assigned three men to carry out the efforts of the SS: Himmler, Heydrich and Goebbels. Himmler, who was blindly ...
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"The Schutzstaffe During World War 2." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 19 Sep. 2015. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Schutzstaffe-During-World-War-2/104990>
"The Schutzstaffe During World War 2." Essayworld.com. September 19, 2015. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Schutzstaffe-During-World-War-2/104990.
"The Schutzstaffe During World War 2." Essayworld.com. September 19, 2015. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Schutzstaffe-During-World-War-2/104990.
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