Waffen-SS (Armed SS)
The military arm of Schutzstaffel (SS)
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The Waffen-SS (German for "Armed SS", literally "Weapons SS") was the combat arm of the
Schutzstaffel ("Protective Squadron") or SS. In contrast to the Heer, Germany's regular army, the Waffen-SS was
a group of combat units composed of volunteer troops, with its members partially having strong personal commitments
to Nazi ideology and also partially selected on a racial basis. The Heer was itself often mistakenly referred to as
the Wehrmacht, however the term Wehrmacht actually referred to the combined armed forces, including the Heer,
Kriegsmarine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force) and, unofficially, the Waffen-SS.
It was founded in Germany in 1939 after the SS was split into two units but the title of Waffen-SS only became official on 2 March,
1940. Although nominally under the leadership of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, a political and internal security appointee, the
Waffen-SS saw action throughout the Second World War under de facto operational control of the Wehrmacht. During the war it grew
to 39 divisions, which served as elite combat troops alongside the regular army.
After the war, at the Nuremberg Trials the Waffen-SS was condemned as a criminal organisation due to its political connections to
the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party or NSDAP), and involvement in war crimes and The Holocaust. As a result,
Waffen-SS veterans were denied many of the rights afforded to other German combat veterans who had served in the Heer, Luftwaffe or
Kriegsmarine, except conscripts sworn in after 1943, who were exempted from the judgment on the basis of involuntary servitude.
Waffen-SS soldiers were held in separate, more rigorous confinement by the Western Allies and were also punished more severely by the
Soviet Union. As well, many Waffen-SS men recruited from German-occupied countries in Europe were punished by their home
countries.
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Lists of Waffen-SS units & emblemsHistory, Commanders, Organization, Operations, Awards , Gallery |
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Waffen-SS Divisions |
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Waffen-SS Brigades |
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Waffen-SS Foreign Legions |
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Other Waffen-SS units |
Soldiers of SS Division Wiking entering into Rostov (1942) |
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Waffen-SS Organisation & Offices
The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the Führers "Praetorian Guard," the Nazi Partys "Shield Squadron" and a force that, fielding almost a million men, (both on the front lines and as political police) managed to exert as much political influence as the Wehrmacht. Due to its complex structure we are able to show only certain aspects of it organisation:
Waffen-SS Divisions
The Waffen-SS (German for "Armed SS", literally "Weapons SS") was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel ("Protective Squadron") or SS,
an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to a force of over
38 divisions, which served alongside the regular army, but was never formally part of the Wehrmacht. It was Adolf Hitlers will that
the Waffen-SS never be integrated into the Army: they were to remain the armed wing of the Party and were to become an elite police
force once the war was over.[1] For this reason, although operational control of the Waffen-SS units on the front line was given to
the Army's High Command, in all other respects they remained under the auspices of Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler's SS organization,
and behind the lines these units were an instrument of political policy enforcement, including the implementation of the Nazis
"Final Solution" to the "Jewish problem".
Although at first membership in the Waffen-SS was open to "Aryans" only in accord with the racial policies of the Nazi state, in
1940 Hitler authorized the formation of Waffen-SS units composed largly or solely of foreign volunteers and conscripts, and by the
end of the war ethnic non-Germans made up approximately 60% of the Waffen-SS.
After the war, in the Nuremberg Trials, the Waffen-SS was condemned as a criminal organisation due to its essential connection to the
Party and its involvement in war crimes and the Holocaust. As a result, Waffen-SS veterans were denied many of the rights afforded to
other German combat veterans who had served in the Heer (army), Luftwaffe (air force) or Kriegsmarine (navy). The exception made was
for Waffen-SS conscripts sworn in after 1943, who were exempted due to their involuntary servitude. In the 1950s and 1960s Waffen-SS
veteran groups successfully fought numerous legal battles in the newly-founded West Germany to overturn the Nuremberg ruling and win
pension rights for their members.