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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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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?
An SS officer was an officer in the SS.SS stands for Schutzstaffel. Literally it means 'protective squad', but it should be left untranslated as SS.The SS was originally set up as Hitler's personal bodyguard and was a sub-division of the SA (brownshirts, stormtroopers). In 1934 it became fully independent of the SA and was commanded by Himmler (with Heydrich as his deputy). It became the core of Nazi terror apparatus and ran the concentration camps and by about 1936 assumed control of the entire terror apparatus.In the late 1930s, various additional SS units were set up as a kind of supplementary army alongside the main German army, which some of the top Nazis didn't quite trust. This SS "army" was called the "Waffen-SS" and was distinct from the "Totenkopfverbaende" ("Death's Head Units") that ran the concentration camps.All sections of the SS liked to look on themselves as an elite ... During World War 2 the SS accepted foreign volunteers as the German regular army wasn't keen on accepting foreigners. So there were, for example, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Bosnian Muslim and other SS units.In general, the SS had a reputation for fanatical devotion to Nazism. It was officially ranked as racially one notch above ordinary Germans ...!Like all larger military outfits, the SS had officers, NCOs and ordinary soldiers.Note that the SS had its own designation for ranks. These almost entirely avoided rank designations borrowed from foreign languages, so for example, the SS equivalent of a "Major" was a "Sturmbannführer" a full "General" was an "Obergruppenführer" and so on.See the Related Link for "Wikipedia: SS Ranks" to the bottom for the answer.
What ranks did Rudolf Hoess achieve during his services in the SS?
In General Rudolf Hoess was the first and last Camp Commandant of Auschwitz Concentration Camp.Here are the Following ranks he achieved in the SS and when:20th September 1933 - SS aspirant1st April 1934 - SS-Mann20th April 1934 - SS-Sturmmann28th November 1934 - SS-Unterscharführer1st April 1935 - SS-Scharführer1st July 1935 - SS-Oberscharführer1st March 1936 - SS-Hauptscharführer13th September 1936 - SS-Untersturmführer11th September 1938 - SS-Obersturmführer9th November 1938 - SS-Hauptsturmführer30th January 1941 - SS-Sturmbannführer18th July 1942 - SS-ObersturmbannführerFor an SS Personal, to achieve SS-Oberstumbannfuhrer within 8 Years and 10 Months is very impressive, That is the 3rd Highest Rank someone in the SS could Achieve unless if your in the Waffen SS then it's 7th Highest. Less than 75 People in the entire SS including Waffen-SS Achieved this rank.e
What did the ukranian SS do?
normal SS duties. There was a detachment of Ukranian SS at Auschwitz, working at the krematoria.
