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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). The Waffen-SS was not an official part of the Wehrmacht. It was founded in Germany in 1939 after the SS was split into two units[1] but the title of Waffen-SS only became official on 2 March, 1940.[2] 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.[1][3] 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. [4] Waffen-SS soldiers were held in separate, more rigorous confinement by the Western Allies and were punished severely by the Soviet Union. As well, many Waffen-SS men recruited from German-occupied countries in Europe were punished by their home countries. 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.

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he was a member of a very elite German military unit. he faught to the death.

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Q: What is a ss soldier?
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What does death's head look like on the soldiers uniforms in the holocaust?

a skull, but it was not on soldier's uniforms, it was on the uniforms of a divivsion of the SS.


What is the difference between the luftwaffe the SS and gestapo?

Originally organised by Hermann Goering, the gestapo was Prussia's secret state police. However, it eventually became part of the SS and operated throughout Germany and in occupied areas. Members of the Gestapo generally operated in civilian clothing but, in occupied areas, often wore SS uniform with police-style (rather than SS) rank insignia. Membership of the Gestapo didn't necessarily mean membership of the SS.


What did SS officers do?

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What ranks did Rudolf Hoess achieve during his services in the SS?

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What did the ukranian SS do?

normal SS duties. There was a detachment of Ukranian SS at Auschwitz, working at the krematoria.