Allgemeine SS

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Allgemeine SS

The Allgemeine SS (German for "General SS", literally "Universal SS") was the biggest SS branch in terms of members. It was established in the autumn of 1934 to distinguish certain SS

Schutzstaffel

The , abbreviated SS- or - was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the F?hrer's "Praetorian Guard," the Nazi Party's "Shield Squadron" and a force that, fielding almost a million men, managed to exert as much political influence as th...
members from the Waffen-SS

Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel or 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....
.

Starting in 1939 units similar to the SS were formed in neighbouring countries, which were consolidated under the Leitstelle der germanischen SS (Directing Center of the Germanic SS) from 1940.

Hierarchy
The ranks

Ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel

The ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel were a Nazi party paramilitary ranks used by the Schutzstaffel to differentiate that organization from the regular German armed forces, the German state, and the Nazi Party....
of the Allgemeine SS, Waffen-SS, and SS-Totenkopfverbände were traditionally based upon those of the SA

Sturmabteilung

The , abbreviated SA, , functioned as a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party the Germany Nazism. They played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s....
.

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Encyclopedia

The Allgemeine SS (German for "General SS", literally "Universal SS") was the biggest SS branch in terms of members. It was established in the autumn of 1934 to distinguish certain SS

Schutzstaffel

Waffen-SS

Hierarchy

The ranks

Ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel

Sturmabteilung

The , abbreviated SA, , functioned as a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party the Germany Nazism. They played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s....
. Thus there were distinctly separate hierarchical subdivisions of the SS. Therefore a Brigadeführer

Brigadeführer

Brigadef?hrer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadef?hrer was also an SA rank.The rank was first created due to an expansion of the Schutzstaffel and assigned to those officers in command of SS-Brigaden....
(Brigadier General
Brigadier General

Brigadier General is the lowest ranking General Officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of Colonel and Major General.The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a brigadier general, or simply a brigadier, would command a brigade in the field....
) of the Allgemeine SS might only be ranked as a Rottenführer

Rottenführer

Rottenf?hrer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in the year 1932. The rank of Rottenf?hrer was used by several Nazi paramilitary groups, among them the Sturmabteilung , the Schutzstaffel and was senior to the paramilitary rank of Sturmmann....
(Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal

Lance Corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organizations. It is below the rank of Corporal, and is typically the lowest Non-commissioned officer or enlisted rank, usually equivalent to the Ranks and insignia of NATO....
) in the Waffen-SS. If this same SS member were an architectural engineer

Architectural engineering

Architectural engineering, also known as Building Engineering, is the application of engineering principles and technology to building design and construction....
, then the SS-Hauptämter (SS Main Offices) would issue a third rank of Sonderführer (Lead Technical Specialist). Accordingly, in 1944 the Allies

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers of World War II during the World War II. Within the ranks of the Allies powers, the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the United States of America were known as "The Big Three"....
began to separate all higher ranked SS and police officials (Höherer SS und Polizeiführer) bearing the Allgemeine rank of Brigadeführer or higher from regular POWs

Prisoner of war

A prisoner of war is a combatant who is held in continuing custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict....
if captured.

Overlapping ranks

Multiple and overlapping commands were very commonplace. . . A man could hold one post while temporarily assigned to another and hold rank in the Allgemeine-SS, Waffen-SS and Polizei simultaneously. . . I'm thoroughly convinced even Berlin was not %100 sure who was in certain positions at exact points in time, confirmed by individual BDC records. - Mark Yeger, Allgemeine-SS

Early years

The SS was created on April 4, 1925 and subordinated to the SA on November 1, 1926. It was thus a subunit of the SA and the NSDAP

National Socialist German Workers Party

The 'National Socialist German Workers' Party', , commonly known in English as the , was a racialist, totalitarian political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945....
. It was considered to be an elite organization by both party members and among the general population.

The main task of the SS was the personal protection of the Führer

Führer

F?hrer is "leader" or "guide" in the German language, derived from the verb 'to lead'. In standard German it is , but in English it is usually ....
of the Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born Germany politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party....
. As early as the winter of 1925 the SS consisted of approximately 1,000 members, but of this number there were barely 200 active members. Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was a Nazi Germany German politician and head of the Schutzstaffel. He was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, competing with Hermann G?ring, Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels....
tried to separate the SS from the SA, and SA leaders generally had no authority over SS personnel from 1927 onwards. Himmler began to systematically develop and expand the SS. Many racketeers, habitual criminals, former members of the Freikorps

Freikorps

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 119-1983-0012, Kapp-Putsch, Marienbrigade Erhardt in Berlin.jpgThe designation of Freikorps was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of 18th century onwards....
, and Germans disappointed with the Weimar Republic

Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was the democracy and republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933. Following World War I, the republic emerged from the German Revolution in November 1918....
began to join the SS.

By December 1929, the number of active members had grown to 1,000. The SS grew so fast that on 29 January, 1930, Himmler could announce to his former mentor Ernst Röhm

Ernst Röhm

Ernst Julius R?hm, was a Germany army officer and Nazism leader. He was a co-founder of the Sturmabteilung , the Nazi Party militia, and later was SA commander....
, leader of the SA, that: "The Schutzstaffel is growing, and will probably number 2,000 by the end of this quarter." From that point on the SS would be considered, therefore, de facto independent. By December of that same year, the SS had a membership of 2,727.

Himmler now looked to another source for recruits to the SS: the SA. Many former members of Röhm's Frontbann

Frontbann

The term Frontbann refers to a reorganized and renamed version of the Sturmabteilung or SA. It was created in April 1924 in an effort to rebuild the Nazi party in the aftermath of the failed Munich Putsch....
joined the SS. In 1926 it had been specified that the SS had to absolutely subordinate itself to the SA and with that every arbitrary action of the SS was prevented. With local recruitment, the SS members were obligated to owe loyalty to the respective SA leader. However, by this time numerous Unterführer of the SA had already gone over to Himmler's SS. Hitler assisted Himmler in his first great victory over the SA, by decreeing on November 7, 1930: "The task of the SS is first the practice of the police service within the party. No SA leader is entitled to give instructions to the SS!"

This order split the two organizations from each other, and confirmed thereby the de jure
De jure

De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".The terms de jure and de facto are used instead of "in principle" and "in practice", respectively, when one is describing politics or legal situations....
independence of the SS from the SA.

Formation and Service

After the so-called Machtergreifung

Machtergreifung

Machtergreifung is a German language word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazism takeover of power in Weimar Germany on January 30 1933....
by the National Socialists, the SS began to expand into a massive organization: By March 1933 it included over 52,000 registered members. By December 1933 the SS had increased to over 204,000 members and Himmler ordered a temporary freeze on recruitment. Himmler ordered that, "no one else is taken on, from the end of 1933 to the end of 1935, who is not suited for the SS."

Also in the winter 1933/34, Himmler became Chief

Chief of police

Chief of Police, also written as police chief or shortened to just chief in the police department is the title typically given to the head of a police department, particularly in North America....
of the Political Police (Politische Polizei) for the whole of Germany. He would eventually subordinate this organisation, along with the Gestapo

Gestapo

The was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel , it was administered by the Reichssicherheitshauptamt and was considered a dual organization of the Sicherheitsdienst and also a suboffice of the Sicherheitspolizei ....
and the Sicherheitsdienst

Sicherheitsdienst

The Sicherheitsdienst was primarily the intelligence service of the Schutzstaffel and the NSDAP. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the Gestapo, which the SS had infiltrated heavily after 1934....
(SD) to the Reich Security Main Office

RSHA

The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt , was a subordinate organization of the Schutzstaffel. The RSHA was created by Heinrich Himmler on September 22 1939 through the merger of the Sicherheitsdienst , the Gestapo , and the Kriminalpolizei ....
(Reichssicherheitshauptamt or simply RSHA) and place Reinhard Heydrich

Reinhard Heydrich

Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was an Schutzstaffel-Obergruppenf?hrer und General der Polizei, chief of the RSHA and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia....
at its head.

On June 30, 1934 the power of the SS was further cemented when it participated in the decapitating of the SA during the Night of the Long Knives

Night of the Long Knives

The Night of the Long Knives or "Operation Hummingbird", was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi Party regime carried out a series of political executions, most of those killed being members of the Sturmabteilung , the paramilitary Brownshirts....
. They either killed or arrested every major leader in the SA – above all Ernst Röhm

Ernst Röhm

Ernst Julius R?hm, was a Germany army officer and Nazism leader. He was a co-founder of the Sturmabteilung , the Nazi Party militia, and later was SA commander....
.

In August 1934, Himmler received permission from Hitler to form a new organisation from the SS Sonderkommandos and the Politischen Bereitschaften, the SS-Verfügungstruppe

SS-Verfügungstruppe

The SS-Verf?gungstruppe were combat divisions of the SS, trained according to the regulations of the German Armed Forces . They were the precursor of the later-developed Waffen-SS....
(SS-VT). This was a standing armed force, which in war was to be subordinate to the Armed Forces, or Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe ....
, but remained under Himmler's control in times of peace and under Hitler's personal control regardless. According to this restructure, the SS housed three different subordinate commands:

the Allgemeine-SS,
the SS-Verfügungstruppe
SS-Verfügungstruppe

The SS-Verf?gungstruppe were combat divisions of the SS, trained according to the regulations of the German Armed Forces . They were the precursor of the later-developed Waffen-SS....
the SS-Totenkopfverbände
SS-Totenkopfverbände

SS-Totenkopfverb?nde was a Germany Nazism formation of Nazi concentration campss guards. Created before World War II, the SS-TV was a part of the Nazi military organization Schutzstaffel ....

By December 1935 approximately 60,000 SS members had been purged from the SS. Himmler's "house cleaning" effectively ended the careers of those who were deemed to be opportunists, alcoholics

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions to describe the detrimental effects of alcohol intake.In common and historic usage, alcoholism refers to any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages despite health problems and negative social consequences....
, homosexuals

Homosexuality

Homosexuality refers to human sexual behavior or same-sex attraction between people of the same sex or to homosexual orientation. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "having sexual and romantic attraction primarily or exclusively to members of one?s own sex"; "it also refers to an individual?s sense of personal and social identi...
or of uncertain racial status.

During this period the SS was reorganized, with the creation of the Allgemeine SS as a result. The new organization grew quickly achieving peak membership in 1938, with 485,000 members. At that time, of the 13,867 active SS-Führer only 1,144 or 8.3% did not belong to the NSDAP.

A second decree from Hitler on May 18 1939 merged the Totenkopfverbände into the Allgemeinen-SS, adding 50,000 new members to the organization.

By August 1939 there were 485,000 members of the Allgemeine SS (including 180,000 men in the so-called "Reserve-Standarten"). Approximately 170,000 were called up for service in the Wehrmacht and 35,000 others into the Waffen-SS. Only the 100,000 full-time SS leaders in the main offices had been exempted from the military service

Military service

Military service in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other military organization, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft ....
. Here the actual history of the Allgemeine-SS ends, since the war would ensure that the Waffen-SS would completely eclipse the Allgemeine-SS, both in size and importance. But the main offices of the Allgemeine SS, which were originally only staff departments of the SS main office (the so-called Reichsführung-SS) responsible for the coordinating the day-to-day operations of the Allgemeine SS, were officially responsible for the members of the Waffen-SS also in the war years.

Towards the end of the war in 1945 the Gesamt-SS had over 840,000 members. From these 48,500 were members of the Allgemeine SS. Much of the remainder was comprised of 18,000 officers, 52,000 NCOs, and 600,000 enlisted members of the Waffen-SS and 130,000 police. SS membership numbers were formally lent to the members of the Waffen-SS of all ranks, while SS membership was also automatically lent to police officers.

Bibliography

Andrew Mollo: A Pictorial History of the SS, 1923-1945 (ISBN 0-7128-2174-0)
Robin Lumsden: The Allgemeine-SS, Vol. 266 (ISBN 1-85532-358-3)
Heinz Hoehne: Der Orden unter dem Totenkopf, 1992, Weltbild-Verlag, (ISBN 3-89350-549-0)
Heinz Hoehne: The Order of the Death's Head, 2001, Penguin, (ISBN 0141390123) (Translation of Der Orden. . . )
Felix Steiner
Felix Steiner

Felix Martin Julius Steiner was a Germany Heer and Waffen-SS officer who served in both World War I and World War II.Steiner ranks as one of the most innovative commanders of the Waffen-SS....
: Die Armee der Geächteten (ISBN 3-920722-10-8)
Gordon Williamson: Die Waffen-SS 1933-1945. Ein Handbuch (ISBN 3-85492-706-1)
Gordon Williamson: Die SS - Hitlers Instrument der Macht. Die Geschichte der SS von der Schutzstaffel bis zur Waffen-SS (ISBN 3-7043-6037-6)
Hilde Kammer/Elisabeth Bartsch: Jugendlexikon Nationalsozialismus. Begriffe aus der Zeit der Gewaltherrschaft 1933-1945 (ISBN 3-499-16288-1)

External links

Photo of the Allgemeine SS uniform