Waffen-SS

"During the 1930’s the SS (Schutz Staffel or Protection Squad) became the main paramilitary arm of the German Nazi Party. As time went on, the Waffen-SS (Armed SS) was formed as the combat arm of the SS. The Waffen-SS effectively formed a fourth arm of the military alongside the Heer (Army), Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Kriegsmarine (Navy). This article looks at the SS-Panzergrenadier divisions operating in Russia in 1942 and 1943. At the outbreak of war in 1939, the Waffen-SS fought alongside the regular army, much to the distrust of many military officers who did not feel that a political organisation had a role in battlefield operations. However, as the combat experience of Waffen-SS units grew, acceptance of their role as battle-proven units increased. By 1943 eight Waffen-SS divisions formed an experienced and battle-hardened spearhead for Germany’s armies, particularly on the Eastern Front."

"They were constantly in battle achieving a remarkable reputation for aggression and stamina in combat, but the constant combat came at a high cost in casualties. Additionally, thanks to their political connections, they enjoyed higher establishments of men and equipment. Of the eight Waffen-SS divisions, four were SS-Panzergrenadier divisions: 1st ‘Liebstandarte SS Adolf Hitler’, 2nd ‘Das Reich’, 3rd ‘Totenkopf’, and 5th ‘Wiking’. Of the remaining four divisions the 4th ’Polizei’ operated as an infantry division, the 6th ‘Prinz Eugen’ and 7th ‘Nord’ Divisions were designated as Gerbirgs (Mountain) divisions, and the 8th ‘Florian Geyer’ was a cavalry division."

"On paper an SS-Panzergrenadier division was organised and equipped in much the same manner as an equivalent Heer (Army) division, which consisted of two Panzergrenadier regiments supported by a Panzer battalion, an artillery regiment, a tank-hunter battalion, an assault gun battalion, an anti-aircraft battalion, a reconnaissance battalion, and a pioneer battalion. The biggest difference was the amount of armour available. Whereas the Heer division has just one battalion, SS-Panzergrenadier divisions had an entire regiment and eventually, for a while, including a company of heavy Tiger tanks. Additionally, unlike the motorised army Panzergrenadier divisions, the Waffen-SS Panzergrenadier division included a full battalion mounted in armoured half-tracks. The only Heer division that was comparable to the organisation of an SS division was the elite Grossdeutschland division."

"When you're a paratrooper, you're the elite of the Army, you're always on the front lines. You know you're going to pay the price. Then you had the German army. They were fighting the war for years. By World War II, they had it perfected, they had the best weapons in the world. We were no match for German artillery. Those Germans were technologically advanced for being a small country. They had the best fighters in the world, the Fallschirmjaeger, German paratroopers, and the SS- Nazis, even the Germans were scared of them. They were fearless, raised as boys to live and die for Hitler. Germany was prepared, and America was sound asleep. We didn't make the plans for it, kid."

"The Waffen-SS was the military branch of the SS. Units of the Waffen-SS took part in most of the major military campaigns of World War II. They were heavily involved in the commission of the Holocaust through their participation in mass shootings, anti-partisan warfare, and in supplying guards for Nazi concentration camps They were also responsible for many other war crimes."

"Believing that Germany would be victorious in war, SS chief Heinrich Himmler intended to strengthen the position of the SS relative to the established German elites after the war. To this end, Himmler persuaded Adolf Hitler in late 1939 to permit the establishment of an armed SS force known as the Waffen-SS. Although initially restricted to four divisions, the Waffen-SS eventually fielded more than 20 divisions. This created an armed force of about half a million men and established a command and operations structure to rival the German army. As military defeat reduced the prestige of the generals, the SS further encroached on the authority of the German armed forces (Wehrmacht). Already in 1942, the SS took over—from the armed forces—coordinating anti-partisan operations in the occupied Soviet Union. After the failure of the attempt on Hitler's life of July 20, 1944, Hitler appointed Himmler Commander of the Replacement Army (a position responsible for training and overseeing military personnel) and gave him command of matters relating to prisoners of war."

"SS Officer: Hans, have you looked at our caps recently? Hans: Our caps? SS Officer: They've got skulls on them. [pause] Hans- are we the baddies?"

"SS Officer: I just can't think of anything worse than a skull! Hans: A rat's- anus?! SS Officer: Yeah. And if we were fighting an army marching under the banner of a rat's anus I think I'd be a lot less worried, Hans."

"Other foreigners generally wore the uniform of the Waffen-SS, the combat arm of the SS, a reflection of Himmler's enthusiasm for broadening the available pool of 'Nordic' blood, as well as the Wehrmacht's reluctance to surrender large numbers of Germans of military age to the SS. Formally, some of these foreigners were not supposed to be foreign at all; they were Volksdeutsche, like the 17,000 Croatian Germans recruited or conscripted into the Prinz Eugen division, the 1,300 Danish Germans who volunteered to serve in the Wiking division and the Hungarian Germans who served in the Horst Wessel and Maria Theresa divisions. Residents of Alsace, Lorraine or Luxembourg who could claim two or more German grandparents were also offered Reich citizenship if they joined the Waffen-SS. From an early stage, however, non-Germans were also recruited, beginning with Dutchmen, Belgian Flemings, Danes and Norwegians in the summer of 1940. These nations were supposedly 'Germanic' or 'Nordic' in character, though there were also Waffen-SS recruits from Latin countries, notably Belgian Walloons. In all, these West European countries produced at most 117,000 men, not counting the tiny British Free Corps, made up of around fifty prisoners of war. Recruiting proved easier in Eastern Europe. May 1941 saw the formation of a Finnish legion, which proved to be a highly effective fighting force, followed by Latvian and Estonian division."

"The Waffen-SS also accepted Ukrainians, Slovaks and Croats. With every passing month after Stalingrad, the criteria for Waffen-SS membership grew more elastic, forcing Himmler to cite the multinational structure of the old Habsburg army as a precedent. Ukrainians were recruited; so were Hungarians, Bulgarians and Serbs. In February 1943 the first of three divisions was formed of Bosnian and Albanian Muslims, who wore fezes decorated with SS runes and were led in their prayers by regimental imams notionally under the supervision of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Out of all forty-seven Waffen-SS divisions, twenty were formed wholly or partly out of non-German recruits or conscripts and a further five out of Volksdeutsche. Towards the end of the war, in fact, there were more non-Germans than Germans serving in Himmler's army."

"In 1933, before the Waffen-SS, there was a portion of the Nazi Party’s Schutzstaffel (SS), armed and trained along military lines and served as an armed force. These troops were originally known as the SS-Verfügungstruppen, the name indicating that they served at the Führer’s pleasure. By 1939, four regiments (Standarten) had been organized. The Verfügungstruppen took part in the occupation of Austria and Czechoslovakia side by side with the Army (Heer). During the months preceding the outbreak of the war, they were given intensive military training and were formed into units that took part in the Polish campaign. In addition, elements of Death’s Head formations (Totenkopfverbände), which served as concentration camp guards, also took to the field as combat units. During the following winter and spring, regiments that had fought in Poland were expanded into brigades and later divisions. This purely military branch of the SS was known at first as the Bewaffnete SS (Armed SS) and later as the Waffen-SS. The regiment Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler eventually became a division of the same name; the Standarte Deutschland together with the Austrian Standarte Der Führer formed the Verfügungs Division, to which a third regiment, Langemarck, was later added, creating the division Das Reich; and the Totenkopf units were formed into the Totenkopf Division. These three divisions were to be the nucleus of the Waffen-SS in its subsequent rapid expansion."

"Over time, the Waffen-SS created some 42 divisions and three brigades as well as a number of small, independent units. Of the divisions, seven were panzer divisions. The balance included 12 panzergrenadier divisions, six mountain divisions, 11 grenadier divisions, four cavalry divisions, and a police division. Many of the divisions, organized late in the war, were divisions in name only and never exceeded regimental strength. The SS panzer divisions were the purest in terms of German members, as well as being the best equipped and supported of all German combat units. They formed the strongest and politically most reliable portion of the Waffen-SS. The creation of an SS panzer division was sometimes evolutionary. Formed from Hitler’s bodyguard unit, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler became a full infantry regiment with three battalions, an artillery battalion, and antitank, reconnaissance, and engineer attachments in 1939. After it was involved in the annexation of Bohemia and Moravia, it was redesignated the Infanterie-Regiment Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (motorized). In mid-1939 Hitler ordered it organized as an SS division, but the Polish crisis put these plans on hold. The regiment proved itself an effective fighting unit during the campaign, though several Army generals had reservations about the high casualties it had sustained in combat."

"In principle, the SS was to accept no new members after 1933, except from selected graduates of the Hitler Youth. However, the creation of the Waffen-SS and its rapid growth caused the partial suspension of this rule. However, service in the Waffen-SS did not necessarily include membership in the SS proper. Prior to the war, suitable SS candidates were singled out while still in the Hitler Youth (HJ). Boys who had proved themselves, often under SS leadership, in the HJ patrol service were often tabbed for later SS service. If the candidate satisfied SS requirements in political reliability, racial purity, and physique, he was accepted as a candidate at the age of 18. At the annual Nazi Party Congress in September, candidates were accepted, received SS certificates, and were enrolled in the SS. Service in the Waffen-SS was officially voluntary. The Waffen-SS claimed priority over all other branches of the armed forces in the selection of recruits. Eventually, to meet the high rate of casualties and the expansion of Waffen-SS field divisions, service in the Waffen-SS became compulsory for all members of the SS, and the voluntary transfer of personnel from any other branch of the armed forces was permitted. From 1943, pressure was exerted on members of the Hitler Youth to volunteer for the Waffen-SS. Later, entire Army, Navy, and Air Force units were taken over by the Waffen-SS, given SS training, and incorporated into field units. Waffen-SS enlistment drives in Germany were nearly continuous. Waffen-SS recruitment was regionally organized and controlled."

"The SS increased its power over the Army dramatically in July 1944, as individual members of the Waffen-SS were attached to regular Army units to improve their reliability. Waffen-SS units were used to prevent mass desertions or unauthorized withdrawals. Waffen-SS personnel formed the nucleus of the Volksgrenadier and in some instances of Volkssturm units. Large contingents of the Luftwaffe and Kriegesmarine were pressed into the service of the Waffen-SS when it became urgent to reform badly mauled Waffen-SS units. At the end of 1940, the Waffen-SS numbered slightly more than 150,000 men. By June 1944, it had grown to 594,000. Intended as an elite force, the Waffen-SS evolved due to the exigencies of war from the original SS concept of a military organization imbued with Nazi ideology and loyalty to Hitler into a polyglot force of decreasing combat effectiveness."

"Over 400,000 persons were mobilized to carry out fortification work in Berlin. Select police and SS units were concentrated in the city. Many SS regiments and detached battalions which had been deployed in adjacent areas were pulled up to defend the special sector of Berlin. These SS troops were commanded by the chief of Hitler's personal bodyguard, Monke. The German Fascist command was counting on forcing us to inch our way through one line after another, which meant the battle would be dragged out as long as possible to the point where our forces would be bled white and finally stopped on the close approaches. It was hoped to do to our forces what the Soviet troops had done to the Germans on the approaches to Moscow. But these calculations were not destined to come true."