the German Danzig,” 4 May, 1935, p. 3.
Article entitled: “Who fights against us we will defeat,
who provokes us we shall attack” (with picture of SA men
in military formation bearing caption: “We are a
political ideological troop”), 13 July, 1935, p. 1.
Article entitled: “The SA is and remains the Shock Troop
of the Third Reich” (with picture of _Gruppenfuehrer_
reviewing SA men marching in uniform and in full pack,
in military formation), 24 August, 1935, p. 2.
Article entitled: “SA Men at the heavy machine gun,” 3
July, 1936, p. 14.
Photograph of SA men in uniform and full pack on
obstacle run, 29 August, 1936, p. 7.
Article entitled: “Fight, Fight, Fight” with subtitles:
“Preparation of Francken Division for the NS War Games”
(with picture of SA men bearing arms), 26 June, 1937, p.
4.
Photograph of SA men bearing weapons, bearing caption:
“Austria’s SA: through battle, distress and persecution,
to victory.”
Photograph bearing caption: “German-Austrian SA was
armed in the hour of decision,” 2 April, 1938, p. 1.
Photograph of SA men bearing arms on battle maneuvers,
19 August, 1938, p. 8., bearing the caption: “The way to
victory.”
Article entitled: “SA and the _Wehrmacht_” (with
pictures of SA men on field maneuvers throwing hand
grenades), 2 September, 1938, p. 1.
Photograph of SA men on field maneuvers, 9 September,
1938, p. 18.
Photograph of SA men bearing arms in trenches,
apparently on field maneuvers, 16 September, 1938, p. 1.
(Frankens-SA).
Photographs of SA men marching under arms, and on the
rifle range, 30 September, 1938, p. 4. (Frankens-SA).
Photograph of SA Regiment _Feldherrnhalle_ marching in
goose-step with rifles and steel helmets and with the
Luftwaffe insignia of sovereignty on their uniform and
helmets, 11 November, 1938, p. 4.
Photograph entitled “Regiment _Feldherrnhalle_ was
there”, (referring to the incorporation of the
Sudetenland), 14 October, 1938, p. 6.
Photograph bearing the caption: “Training with the KK
Rifle. Something entirely new for the Sudeten German.
Every SA man must be outstanding in marksmanship,” 6
January, 1939, p. 3.
Article entitled: “The SA—the forger of military
power,” with the subheading: “The SA as Bearer of the
Pre-military Training,” 27 January, 1939, p. 1.
Photograph of Von Brauchitsch (_Wehrmacht_) and Lutze
reviewing the SA, 3 February, 1939, p. 3.
Photograph of SA on march with full pack and rifles.
(Frankens-SA), 3 February, 1939, p. 1.
C. _Cooperation with the Wehrmacht in Preparation for Aggression._
Evidence of the SA’s participation in the conspiracy is found in the
care which was taken at all times to coordinate the military training
program of the SA with the requirements of the _Wehrmacht_. As early as
1934, an SA memorandum provided that the SA chief of training and his
subordinates should remain—
“* * * in direct touch with the respective offices and sections
of the Reich Defense Ministry.” (_2823-PS_)
The same memorandum recites that a Lieutenant-Colonel of the _Wehrmacht_
was assigned to the SA with the duty of participating—
“* * * in all questions regarding training and organization * *
*.” (_2823-PS_)
Another SA memorandum declared that:
“* * * permanent liaison between the Reich Defense Ministry and
the Supreme Commander of the SA * * * has been assured.”
(_2821-PS_)
Hitler’s words regarding cooperation between _Wehrmacht_ and SA were as
follows:
“The requirements of the _Wehrmacht_ are to be taken into
consideration in organization and training.
“The Chief of Staff of the SA releases the required executionary
directives in agreement with the Commander in Chief of the
_Wehrmacht_ units. He alone is responsible for the fulfillment.”
(_2383-PS_)
A speech by the Chief of Staff of the SA relating to the technical and
specialized branches of the SA revealed that this opportunity for
collaboration with the _Wehrmacht_ in specialized military training was
utilized to the utmost:
“In the course of this development also special missions for
military betterment (program) were placed on the SA. The Fuehrer
gave the SA the cavalry and motor training and called SA
Obergruppenfuehrer Littmann as Reich Inspector with the mission
to secure the * * * recruits and requirements for the German
Wehrmacht through the SA. In close cooperation with parts of the
Wehrmacht special certificates were created for the
communication, engineer and medical units which, like the
cavalry certificate of the SA, are valued as statement of
preference for employment in said units.” (_3215-PS_)
The specialized training given SA members, in accordance with the
requirements of technical branches of the _Wehrmacht_, is described by
SA Sturmfuehrer Bayer as follows (_2168-PS_):
“* * * On one side the young SA man who enters the armed forces
(_Wehrmacht_) from his branch, comes prepared with a multitude
of prerequisites which facilitate and speed up training in
technical respects; while on the other side those very soldiers,
having served, who return out of the armed forces into the SA
keep themselves, by constant practice, in a trained condition
physically and mentally and impart their knowledge to their
fellows.
“Thus they contribute a considerable portion to the enhancement
of armed strength (_Wehrkraft_) and armed spirit (_Wehrgeist_)
of the German people.” (_2168-PS_)
And, with respect to the mounted or cavalry SA—
“* * * the SA each year is able to furnish many thousands of
young trained cavalrymen to our _Wehrmacht_. * * * At present
the SA cavalry has at its disposal 101 cavalry units in whose
schools, year in and year out, young Germans who are obligated
for military service receive the training which fits him for
entrance into a section of troops which is of their own
choosing.” (_2168-PS_)
The close relationship between the SA and the _Wehrmacht_ is shown
throughout the issues of “_Der SA-Mann_”, which contain a number of
articles on military training written by _Wehrmacht_ officers. The same
relationship is shown in many photographs. For example, in the issue of
1 May, 1937, at page 4, there is a picture of a _Wehrmacht_ formation
drawn up in front of an SA building with SA officers and men in the
background. The picture is entitled—
“Day after day the closed formations of the _Wehrmacht_ march in
Wurzburg to the subscription places of the SA for thanksgiving
to the nation in order to announce its close relation with the
SA, and to express thanks to the Fuehrer for making the Reich
capable of defense.”
Page 2 of the issue of 27 January, 1939, contains a photograph of the SA
Chief of Staff, Lutze, addressing a group of SA men. The photograph
bears the caption, “We will be the bridge between the Party and the
_Wehrmacht_.” Page 3 of the issue of 3 February, 1939, reproduces a
photograph of General von Brauchitsch and Chief of Staff Lutze reviewing
an SA unit.
The close cooperation between the _Wehrmacht_ and the SA, and the
significance of the SA military training program is shown by the fact
that service in the SA was considered as military service under the
Conscription Law of 1935. The Organization Book of the Party declared
that—
“Equally significant is a suitable education and training which
the SA has accomplished within the yearly classes, and which
have satisfied their arms obligation.” (_3220-PS_)
And an article in “Das Archiv” declared—
“It was announced that conscripted SA men and Hitler Youths can
fulfill their military conscription in the SA Regiment
_Feldherrnhalle_ whose Commander is General Field Marshall SA
Obergruppenfuehrer Goering. The Regiment for the first time was
employed as Regiment of the Luftwaffe in the occupation of the
Sudetenland under its Fuehrer and Regimental Commander SA
Gruppenfuehrer Reimann.” (_3214-PS_)
There was never any misunderstanding among SA men as to the reasons
which lay behind their military training program. They were preparing
for war and knew it. The purpose of the so-called “Sports Program” was
announced time after time in articles in “_Der SA-Mann_.” For example,
the introduction to an article entitled, “The War of Tomorrow,” which
appeared in the issue of 6 July, 1937, at page 12, declared:
“By decree of the Fuehrer of 18th March, 1937, the SA Sport
Badge was declared as a means for the aggressive training of the
body, for the fostering of a military spirit, for the retaining
of military efficiency and thereby as a basis for German
military power. * * *
“* * * In the following article an attempt is made to occupy
every SA Fuehrer, who does not have the opportunity due to their
profession or many-sided SA services, with questions concerning
military policy and modern war direction, to give him an overall
view of facts, teachings, opinions and beliefs which today are
not without decisive influence upon the military policy, upon
the character of the coming war and upon the modern national
defense.”
D. _Participation of the SA in Warfare._
It would be natural in view of the above quotation, to expect the SA to
have been used as a striking force in the first steps of the aggressive
warfare launched by Germany, and as a basis for so-called Commando
Groups. Such was the case. SA units were among the first of the Nazi
military machine to invade Austria in the spring of 1938. This fact was
proudly announced in an article appearing in “_Der SA-Mann_” for 19
March, 1938, at p. 10, entitled, “We were the First!” Similarly, the SA
participated in the occupation of the Sudetenland (_3214-PS_). It was
announced that conscripted SA men and Hitler Youths could fulfill their
military conscription duty in the SA Regiment _Feldherrnhalle_,
commanded by General Field Marshall SA Obergruppenfuehrer Goering. The
regiment was employed for the first time as Regiment of the Luftwaffe in
the occupation of the Sudetenland, under its Fuehrer and Regimental
commander SA Gruppenfuehrer Reimann.
SA participation in the occupation of the Sudetenland is also shown by
an affidavit of Gottlob Berger, a former officer in the SS who was
assigned to the Sudeten-German Free Corps (_3036-PS_). Berger declares—
“* * * 1. In the fall of 1938 I held the rank and title of
Oberfuehrer in the SS. In mid-September I was assigned as SS
Liaison Officer with Konrad Henlein’s Sudeten German Free Corps
at their headquarters in the castle at Dondorf outside Bayreuth.
In this position I was responsible for all liaison between the
Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler and Henlein and, in particular, I was
delegated to select from the Sudeten Germans those who appeared
to be eligible for membership in the SS or VT (_Verfuegungs
Truppe_). In addition to myself, Liaison Officers stationed with
Henlein included an Obergruppenfuehrer from the NSKK, whose name
I have forgotten, and Obergruppenfuehrer Max Juettner, from the
SA. In addition, Admiral Canaris, who was head of the OKW
Abwehr, appeared at Dondorf nearly every two days and conferred
with Henlein.
“2. In the course of my official duties at Henlein’s
Headquarters I became familiar with the composition and
activities of the Free Corps. Three groups were being formed
under Henlein’s direction: One in the Eisenstein area, Bavaria,
one in the Bayreuth area; one in the Dresden area, and possibly
a fourth group in Silesia. These groups were supposedly composed
of refugees from the Sudetenland who had crossed the border into
Germany, but they actually contained Germans with previous
service in the SA and NSKK [Nazi Motor Corps] as well. These
Germans formed the skeleton of the Free Corps. On paper the Free
Corps had a strength of 40,000 men. Part of the equipment
furnished to Henlein, mostly haversacks, cooking utensils and
blankets, were supplied by the SA.” (_3036-PS_)
The adaptability of the SA to whatever purpose was required of it is
demonstrated by its activities subsequent to the outbreak of the war.
During the war the SA continued to carry out its military training
program, but it also engaged in various other functions:
“The General of the SA, Wilhelm Schepmann, gave further orders
to increase the employment of the SA in the homeland war
territories because of the requirements of total war employment.
This was done in numerous business conferences with Fuehrers of
the SA-Divisions.
“As a result of these conferences, as well as of measures
already carried out earlier for the totalization of the war
employment, the SA now has placed 86 per cent of its main
professional Fuehrer Corps at disposal at the Front even though
the war missions of the SA have increased in the fields of
pre-military training, the SA penetration into new territorial
parts of the Reich, the air war employment, the State and
national guard etc., during war time.
“The SA as a whole has given at present an even 70% of its
nearly million members to the Wehrmacht.” (_3219-PS_)
The SA even extended its activities into Poland:
“By command of the General of the SA, the ‘SA-Unit General
Government’ was established, the command of which was taken over
by Governor-General SA Obergruppenfuehrer Dr. Frank.”
(_3216-PS_)
An affidavit of Walter Schellenberg, bureau chief in the RSHA, reads as
follows:
“* * * From the beginning of 1944 on the SA also participated in
many of the functions which had previously been entrusted only
to the SS, SIPO and Army, for instance the guarding of
concentration camps, the guarding of prisoner of war camps, the
supervision over forced laborers in Germany and occupied areas.
This cooperation of the SA was planned and arranged for by high
officials in Berlin as early as the middle of 1943 * * *.”
(_3232-PS_)
E. _Special Responsibility of Goering for the SA Program._
Hermann Goering participated in the conspiracy in his capacity as an SA
member and leader. In 1923, Goering became Commander of the entire SA. A
few months later Goering participated in the so-called Munich Putsch. SA
troops participated with him in this action.
Goering’s intention to employ the SA as a terroristic force to destroy
political opponents is shown by a speech made by him on 3 March, 1933,
at a Nazi demonstration in Frankfurt Am Main (_1856-PS_). Goering spoke
as follows:
“Certainly, I shall use the power of the State and the police to
the utmost, my dear Communists! So you won’t draw any false
conclusions by the struggle to the death in which my fist will
grasp your necks, I shall lead with those down there. Those are
the Brown Shirts.” (_1856-PS_)
The importance of the SA under Goering in the early stages of the Nazi
movement is shown by a letter written to Goering by Hitler (_3259-PS_):
“My dear Goering:
“When in November 1923 the Party tried for the first time to
conquer the power of the State, you as Commander of the SA
created within an extraordinarily short time that instrument
with which I could bear that struggle. Highest necessity had
forced us to act, but a wise providence at that time denied the
success. After receiving a grave wound you again entered the
ranks as soon as circumstances permitted as my most loyal
comrade in the battle for power. You contributed essentially to
creating the basis for the 30th of January. Therefore, at the
end of a year of the National Socialist Revolution, I desire to
thank you wholeheartedly, my dear Party Comrade Goering, for the
great values which you have for the National Socialist
Revolution and consequently for the German people.
“In cordial friendship and grateful appreciation.
“Yours,
“(s) Adolf Hitler!” (_3259-PS_)
Although Goering did not retain command of the SA, he at all times
maintained a close affiliation with the organization. This is shown by
the photographs of Goering participating in SA activities which have
been mentioned previously. In 1937, Goering became Commander of the
_Feldherrnhalle_ Regiment of the SA. This was the Regiment which was
employed in the occupation of the Sudetenland. (_3214-PS_)
* * * * *
LEGAL REFERENCES AND LIST OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE STURMABTEILUNG
(SA)
│ │ │
Document │ Description │ Vol. │ Page
│ │ │
│Charter of the International Military │ │
│ Tribunal, Article 9. │ I │ 6
│International Military Tribunal, │ │
│ Indictment Number 1, Section IV (H);│ │
│ Appendix B. │ I │ 29, 72
│ ———— │ │
│Note: A single asterisk (*) before a │ │
│document indicates that the document │ │
│was received in evidence at the │ │
│Nurnberg trial. A double asterisk (**)│ │
│before a document number indicates │ │
│that the document was referred to │ │
│during the trial but was not formally │ │
│received in evidence, for the reason │ │
│given in parentheses following the │ │
│description of the document. The USA │ │
│series number, given in parentheses │ │
│following the description of the │ │
│document, is the official exhibit │ │
│number assigned by the court. │ │
│ ———— │ │
392-PS │Official NSDAP circular entitled “The │ │
│Social Life of New Germany with │ │
│Special Consideration of the German │ │
│Labor Front”, by Prof. Willy Mueller │ │
│(Berlin, 1938). (USA 326) │ III │ 380
│ │ │
*787-PS │Memorandum to Hitler from Public │ │
│Prosecutor of Dresden, 18 June 1935, │ │
│concerning criminal procedure against │ │
│Vogel on account of bodily injury │ │
│while in office. (USA 421) │ III │ 568
│ │ │
*1395-PS │Law to insure the unity of Party and │ │
│State, 1 December 1933. 1933 │ │
│Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1016. │ │
│(GB 252) │ III │ 978
│ │ │
*1721-PS │Confidential report of SA │ │
│Brigadefuehrer, November 1938, │ │
│concerning destruction of Jewish │ │
│property. (USA 425) │ IV │ 214
│ │ │
1725-PS │Decree enforcing law for securing the │ │
│unity of Party and State, 29 March │ │
│1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, │ │
│p. 502. │ IV │ 224
│ │ │
*1759-PS │Affidavit of Raymond H. Geist. (USA │ │
│420) │ IV │ 288
│ │ │
*1856-PS │Extract from book entitled “Hermann │ │
│Goering—Speeches and Essays”, 3rd │ │
│edition 1939, p. 27. (USA 437) │ IV │ 496
│ │ │
*1893-PS │Extracts from Organization Book of the│ │
│NSDAP, 1943 edition. (USA 323) │ IV │ 529
│ │ │
*2168-PS │Book by SA Sturmfuehrer Dr. Ernst │ │
│Bayer, entitled “The SA”, depicting │ │
│the history, work, aim and │ │
│organization of the SA. (USA 411) │ IV │ 772
│ │ │
2260-PS │Settlement of Relationship between │ │
│NSDAP and Stahlhelm (Steel Helmets) │ │
│published in National Socialist Party │ │
│Press Service release, 21 June 1933. │ IV │ 933
│ │ │
*2354-PS │Extracts from Organization Book of │ │
│NSDAP, 5th, 6th and 7th editions, │ │
│concerning SA. (USA 430) (See Chart │ │
│No. 17.) │ IV │ 1091
│ │ │
*2383-PS │Ordinance for execution of decree of │ │
│Fuehrer concerning position of the │ │
│Head of Party Chancellery of 16 │ │
│January 1942, published in Decrees, │ │
│Regulations, Announcements. (USA 410) │ V │ 9
│ │ │
*2407-PS │Order concerning the Roehm purge and │ │
│appointment of Lutze as Chief of │ │
│Staff, published in Voelkischer │ │
│Beobachter, 1934. (USA 412) │ V │ 82
│ │ │
*2471-PS │Pamphlet No. 12 in a series entitled │ │
│“Here Speaks the New German”. Speech │ │
│made in January 1936 by Victor Lutze, │ │
│Chief of Staff of SA, subject: “The │ │
│Affairs and Tasks of SA”. (USA 413) │ V │ 211
│ │ │
2532-PS │Extract from The Third Reich, by Gerd │ │
│Ruehle. │ V │ 268
│ │ │
*2660-PS │Distribution Plan for Gaue, Kreise, │ │
│and Ortsgruppen, from The Bearers of │ │
│Sovereignty, 2nd Issue, 3rd Year, │ │
│February 1939. (USA 325) │ V │ 365
│ │ │
*2760-PS │Extract from Mein Kampf by Adolf │ │
│Hitler, 1933 edition. (USA 256) │ V │ 396
│ │ │
*2820-PS │General Service Regulations for the SA│ │
│of the NSDAP, published in Munich, 12 │ │
│December 1933. (USA 427) │ V │ 456
│ │ │
2821-PS │Memorandum from Supreme SA │ │
│Headquarters, 19 March 1934, │ │
│concerning organization of the SA and │ │
│collaboration between Wehrmacht and │ │
│SA. (USA 431) │ V │ 458
│ │ │
2822-PS │Letter from the Reich Military │ │
│Ministry, 26 May 1933, suggesting that│ │
│an SA branch and Reich Defense Council│ │
│be united. │ V │ 459
│ │ │
*2823-PS │Memorandum of SA Headquarters, January│ │
│1934, concerning assignment of │ │
│Wehrmacht officer to Training Division│ │
│of SA. (USA 429) │ V │ 459
│ │ │
*2824-PS │Extract from book entitled │ │
│“Concentration Camp Oranienburg”. (USA│ │
│423) │ V │ 461
│ │ │
**3036-PS │Affidavit of Gottlob Berger on the │ │
│composition and activity of the │ │
│Henlein Free Corps in September 1938. │ │
│(Objection to admission in evidence │ │
│upheld.) (USA 102) │ V │ 742
│ │ │
**3050-A-E-PS │Excerpts from The SA Man. (USA 414; │ │
│USA 415; USA 416; USA 417; USA 418) │ │
│(Referred to but not offered in │ │
│evidence.) │ V │ 777
│ │ │
*3054-PS │“The Nazi Plan”, script of a motion │ │
│picture composed of captured German │ │
│film. (USA 167) │ V │ 801
│ │ │
*3211-PS │Goebbels to the SA, 17 October 1935, │ │
│from The Archive, Vol. 19, October │ │
│1935, p. 939. (USA 419) │ V │ 928
│ │ │
3212-PS │Excerpt from The Archive, Vol. 34, │ │
│January 1937, p. 1452. │ V │ 929
│ │ │
3213-PS │Excerpt from The Archive, Vol. 50, May│ │
│1938, pp. 156-157. │ V │ 929
│ │ │
3214-PS │Excerpt from The Archive, Vol. 55, │ │
│October 1938, p. 1069. (USA 432) │ V │ 930
│ │ │
*3215-PS │Excerpt from The Archive, Vol. 60, │ │
│March 1939, p. 1834. (USA 426) │ V │ 930
│ │ │
*3216-PS │Excerpt from The Archive, Vol. 97, │ │
│April 1942, p. 54. (USA 434) │ V │ 933
│ │ │
3217-PS │Excerpt from The Archive, Vol. 97, │ │
│April 1942, p. 54. │ V │ 933
│ │ │
3218-PS │Excerpt from The Archive, October │ │
│1933, pp. 482-485. │ V │ 934
│ │ │
*3219-PS │Excerpt from The Archive, Vol. 125, │ │
│August 1944, p. 367. (USA 433) │ V │ 934
│ │ │
*3220-PS │Excerpt from Organization Book of │ │
│NSDAP, 1943 edition, p. 358. (USA 323)│ V │ 935
│ │ │
*3221-PS │Affidavit of William F. Sollman, 26 │ │
│October 1945. (USA 422) │ V │ 936
│ │ │
*3232-PS │Affidavit of Walter Schellenberg, 26 │ │
│November 1945. (USA 435) │ V │ 937
│ │ │
*3252-PS │Extract from book Hermann Goering, The│ │
│Man and His Work, by Eric Gritzbach, │ │
│1937. (USA 424) │ V │ 957
│ │ │
*3259-PS │Extract from book Hermann Goering, The│ │
│Man and His Work, by Eric Gritzbach, │ │
│p. 69. (USA 424) │ V │ 1007
│ │ │
*D-44 │Circular, 25 July 1933, referring to │ │
│publications of SA activities. (USA │ │
│428) │ VI │ 1024
│ │ │
Affidavit F │Affidavit of Josef Dietrich, 20-21 │ │
│November 1945. │ VIII │ 631
│ │ │
L-198 │State Department Dispatch by Consul │ │
│General Messersmith, 14 March 1933, │ │
│concerning molesting of American │ │
│citizens in Berlin. │ VII │ 1026
│ │ │
L-199 │Newspaper clippings from Berliner │ │
│Tageblatt, 29 March 1933, regarding │ │
│boycott action. │ VII │ 1034
│ │ │
Statement IX │My Relationship to Adolf Hitler and to│ │
│the Party, by Erich Raeder, Moscow, │ │
│fall 1945. │ VIII │ 707
│ │ │
Statement XIII │Outline of Defense of Dr. Robert Ley, │ │
│written in Nurnberg prison, 24 October│ │
│1945. │ VIII │ 749
│ │ │
**Chart No. 8 │Organization of the SA. (Enlargement │
│displayed to Tribunal.) │ End of VIII
│ │ │
*Chart No. 17 │Foreign Organization of the NSDAP. │
│(2354-PS; USA 430) │ End of VIII
5. THE SCHUTZSTAFFELN (SS)
In the early weeks of the trial, there appeared in a newspaper
circulated in Nurnberg an account of a correspondent’s visit to a camp
in which SS prisoners of war were confined. The thing which particularly
struck the correspondent was the one question asked by the SS prisoners:
Why are we charged as war criminals? What have we done except our normal
duty?
The evidence which follows will answer that question. It will show that
just as the Nazi Party was the core of the conspiracy, so the SS was the
very essence of Nazism. For the SS was the elite group of the Party,
composed of the most thorough-going adherents of the Nazi cause, pledged
to blind devotion to Nazi principles, and prepared to carry them out
without any question and at any cost. It was a group in which every
ordinary value was so subverted that today its members can ask, what is
there unlawful about the things we have done?
In the evidence of the conspirators’ program for aggressive war, for
concentration camps, for the extermination of the Jews, for enslavement
of foreign labor and illegal use of prisoners of war and for the
deportation and Germanization of inhabitants of conquered territories,
in all this evidence the name of the SS runs like a thread. Again and
again that organization and its components are referred to. It performed
a responsible role in each of these criminal activities, because it was
and indeed had to be a criminal organization.
The creation and development of such an organization was essential for
the execution of the conspirators’ plans. Their sweeping program and the
measures they were prepared to use and did use, could be fully
accomplished neither through the machinery of the government nor of the
Party. Things had to be done for which no agency of government and no
political party even the Nazi Party, would openly take full
responsibility. A specialized type of apparatus was needed—an apparatus
which was to some extent connected with the government and given
official support, but which, at the same time, could maintain a
quasi-independent status so that all its acts could be attributed
neither to the government nor to the Party as a whole. The SS was that
apparatus.
Like the SA, it was one of the seven components or formations of the
Nazi Party referred to in the Decree on Enforcement of the Law for
Securing the Unity of Party and State of 29 March 1935 (_1725-PS_). But
its status was above that of the other formations. As the plans of the
conspirators progressed, it acquired new functions, new
responsibilities, and an increasingly more important place in the
regime. It developed during the course of the conspiracy into a highly
complex machine, the most powerful in the Nazi State, spreading its
tentacles into every field of Nazi activity.
The evidence which follows will be directed toward showing first, the
origin and early development of the SS; second, how it was
organized—that is, its structure and its component parts; third, the
basic principles governing the selection of its members and the
obligations they undertook; and finally, its aims and the means used to
accomplish them.
The history, organization, and publicly announced functions of the SS
are not controversial matters. They are not matters to be learned only
from secret files and captured documents. They were recounted in many
publications, circulated widely throughout Germany and the world—in
official books of the Nazi Party itself, and in books, pamphlets, and
speeches by SS and State officials published with SS and Party approval.
Throughout this section there will be frequent reference to and
quotation from a few such publications.
A. _Origin and General Functions of the SS._
(1) _Origin._ The first aim of the conspirators was to gain a foothold
in politically hostile territory, to acquire mastery of the street, and
to combat any and all opponents with force. For that purpose they needed
their own private, personal police organization. The SA was created to
fill such a role. But the SA was outlawed in 1923. When Nazi Party
activity was again resumed in 1925, the SA remained outlawed. To fill
its place and to play the part of Hitler’s own personal police, small
mobile groups known as protective squadrons—_Schutzstaffel_—were
created. This was the origin of the SS in 1925. With the reinstatement
of the SA in 1926, the SS for the next few years ceased to play a major
role. But it continued to exist as an organization within the SA—under
its own leader, however—the Reichsfuehrer SS.
This early history of the SS is related in two authoritative
publications. The first is a book by SS Standartenfuehrer Gunter
d’Alquen entitled “The SS” (_2284-PS_). This pamphlet of some 30 pages,
published in 1939, is an authoritative account of the history, mission,
and organization of the SS. As indicated on its fly leaf, it was written
at the direction of the Reichsfuehrer SS, Heinrich Himmler. Its author
was the editor of the official SS publication “_Das Schwarze Korps_”.
The second publication is an article by Himmler, entitled “Organization
and Obligations of the SS and the Police.” It was published in 1937 in a
booklet containing a series of speeches or essays by important officials
of the Party and the State, and known as “National Political Course for
the Armed Forces from 15 to 23 January 1937”. (_1992-A-PS_)
As early as 1929, the conspirators recognized that their plans required
an organization in which the main principles of the Nazi system,
specifically the racial principles, would not only be jealously guarded
but would be carried to such extremes as to inspire or intimidate the
rest of the population. Such an organization would also have to be
assured complete freedom on the part of the leaders and blind obedience
on the part of the members. The SS was built up to meet this need. The
following statement appears on page 7 of d’Alquen’s book, “_Die SS_”
(_2284-PS_):
“On the 16th of January, 1929, Adolf Hitler appointed his tested
comrade of long standing, Heinrich Himmler, as Reichsfuehrer SS.
Heinrich Himmler assumed charge therewith of the entire
_Schutzstaffel_ totaling at the time 280 men, with the express
and particular commission of the Fuehrer to form of this
organization an elite troop of the Party, a troop dependable in
every circumstance. With this day the real history of the SS
begins as it stands before us today in all its deeper essential
features, firmly anchored into the national Socialist movement.
For the SS and its Reichsfuehrer, Heinrich Himmler, its first SS
man, have become inseparable in the course of these
battle-filled years.” (_2284-PS_)
Carrying out Hitler’s directive, Himmler proceeded to build up out of
this small force of men an elite organization which, to use d’Alquen’s
words, was “composed of the best physically, the most dependable, and
the most faithful men in the Nazi movement.” As d’Alquen further states,
at page 12 of his book:
“When the day of seizure of power had finally come, there were
52,000 SS men, who in this spirit bore the revolution in the
van, marched into the new State which they began to help form
everywhere, in their stations and positions, in profession and
in science, and in all their essential tasks.” (_2284-PS_)
(2) _General Functions._ The conspirators now had the machinery of
government in their hands. The initial function of the SS—that of
acting as their private army and personal police force—was thus
completed. But its mission had in fact really just begun. That mission
is described in the Organizations book of the NSDAP for 1943 as follows:
“_Missions_
“The most original and most eminent duty of the SS is to serve
as the protector of the Fuehrer.
“By order of the Fuehrer its sphere of duties has been amplified
to include the internal security of the Reich.” (_2640-PS_)
This new mission—protecting the internal security of the regime—was
somewhat more colorfully described by Himmler in his pamphlet, “The SS
as an Anti-bolshevist Fighting Organization,” published in 1936
(_1851-PS_):
“We shall unremittingly fulfill our task, the guaranty of the
security of Germany from the interior, just as the _Wehrmacht_
guarantees the safety, the honor, the greatness, and the peace
of the Reich from the exterior. We shall take care that never
again in Germany, the heart of Europe, will the
Jewish-Bolshevistic revolution of subhumans be able to be
kindled either from within or through emissaries from without.
Without pity we shall be a merciless sword of justice for all
those forces whose existence and activity we know, on the day of
the slightest attempt, may it be today, may it be in decades or
may it be in centuries.” (_1851-PS_)
This conception necessarily required an extension of the duties of the
SS into many fields. It involved, of course, the performance of police
functions. But it involved more. It required participation in the
suppression and extermination of all internal opponents of the regime.
It meant participation in extending the regime beyond the borders of
Germany, and eventually, participation in every type of activity
designed to secure a hold over those territories and populations which,
through military conquest, had come under German domination.
B. _Organization and Branches of the SS._
The expansion of SS duties and activities resulted in the creation of
several branches and numerous departments and the development of a
highly complex machinery. Although those various branches and
departments cannot be adequately described out of the context of their
history, a few words about the structure of the SS may be useful.
For this purpose reference is made to the chart depicting the
organization of the SS as it appeared in 1945. This chart was examined
by Gottlob Berger, formerly Chief of the SS Main Office, who stated in
an attached affidavit that it correctly represents the organization of
the SS (_Chart Number 3_).
(1) _Supreme Command of the SS._ At the very top of the chart is
Himmler, the Reichsfuehrer SS, who commanded the entire organization.
Immediately below, running across the chart and down the right hand
side, embraced within the heavy line, are the twelve main departments
constituting the Supreme Command of the SS. Some of these departments
have been broken down into the several offices of which they were
composed, as indicated by the boxes beneath them. Other departments have
not been so broken down. It is not intended to indicate that there were
not subdivisions of these latter departments as well. The breakdown is
shown only in those cases where the constituent offices of some
department may have a particular significance in this case.
These departments and their functions are described in two official Nazi
publications: The first is the Organizations Book of the NSDAP for 1943,
at pages 419-422 (_2640-PS_). The second is an SS manual, which bears
the title: “The Soldier Friend—Pocket Diary for the German Armed
Forces—Edition D: Waffen SS” (_2825-PS_). It was prepared at the
direction of the Reichsfuehrer SS and issued by the SS Main Office for
the year ending 1942. In addition, the departments are listed in a
directory of the SS published by one of the Main Departments of the SS
(_2769-PS_). This document was found in the files of the Personal Staff
of the Reichsfuehrer SS. It is entitled “Directory for the
_Schutzstaffel_ of the NSDAP, 1 November 1944”, marked “Restricted”, and
bears the notation “Published by SS Fuerhungshauptamt, Kommandant of the
General SS. Berlin—Wilmersdorf.”
Returning to the chart, following down the central spine from the
Reichsfuehrer SS to the regional level, the Higher SS and Police
Leaders, the supreme SS commanders in each region are reached.
Immediately below these officials is the breakdown of the organization
of the Allgemeine or General SS. To the left are indicated two other
branches of the SS—the Death Head Units (_Totenkopf Verbaende_) and the
Waffen SS. To the right under the HSS Pf is the SD. All of which,
together with the SS Police Regiments, are specifically named in the
Indictment (Appendix B) as being included in the SS.
(2) _Principal Branches of the SS._ Up to 1933 there were no such
specially designated branches. The SS was a single group, made up of
“volunteer political soldiers.” It was out of this original nucleus that
new units developed.
(_a_) _The Allgemeine SS._ The Allgemeine (General) SS was the main stem
from which the various branches grew. It was composed of all members of
the SS who did not belong to any of the special branches. It was the
backbone of the entire organization. The personnel and officers of the
Main Departments of the SS Supreme Command were members of this branch.
Except for high ranking officers and those remaining in staff
capacities, as in the Main Offices of the SS Supreme Command, its
members were part-time volunteers. Its members were utilized in about
every phase of SS activity. They were called upon in anti-Jewish pogroms
of 1938; they took over the task of guarding concentration camps during
the war; they participated in the colonization and resettlement program.
In short, the term “SS” normally meant the General SS.
It was organized on military lines as will be seen from the chart
(_Chart Number 3_), ranging from district and subdistrict down through
the regiment, battalion, and company, to the platoon. Until after the
beginning of the war it constituted numerically the largest branch of
the SS. In 1939 d’Alquen, the official SS spokesmen, said, in his book,
“The SS” (_2284-PS_):
“The strength of the General SS, 240,000 men, is subdivided
today into 14 corps, 38 divisions, 140 infantry regiments, 19
mounted regiments, 14 communication battalions and 19 engineer
battalions as well as motorized and medical units. This General
SS stands fully and wholly on call as in the fighting years,
except for one small part of the chief leaders and men. The
corps, which are presently led by a Lt. General or Major
General, are subdivided into divisions, regiments, battalions
and companies.” (_2284-PS_)
Similar reference to the military organization of the General SS will be
found in Himmler’s speech, “Organization and Obligations of the SS and
the Police” (_1992-A-PS_), and in the Organizations Book of the NSDAP
for 1943 (_2640-PS_). Members of this branch, however,—with the
exception of certain staff personnel—were subject to compulsory
military service. As a result of the draft of members of the General SS
of military age into the Army, the numerical strength of presently
active members considerably declined during the war. Older SS men and
those working in or holding high positions in the Main Departments of
the Supreme Command of the SS remained. Its entire strength during the
war was probably not in excess of 40,000 men.
(_b_) _The SD._ The second component to be mentioned is the Security
Service of the Reichsfuehrer SS, almost always referred to as the SD.
Himmler described the SD in these words (_1992-A-PS_):
“I now come to the Security Service (SD); it is the great
ideological intelligence service of the Party and, in the long
run, also that of the State. During the time of struggle for
power it was only the intelligence service of the SS. At that
time we had, for quite natural reasons, an intelligence service
with the regiments, battalions and companies. We had to know
what was going on on the opponents side, whether the Communists
intended to hold a meeting today or not, whether our people were
to be suddenly attacked or not, and similar things. I separated
this service already in 1931 from the troops, from the units of
the General SS, because I considered it to be wrong. For one
thing, the secrecy is endangered, then the individual men, or
even the companies, are too likely to discuss everyday
problems.” (_1992-A-PS_)
Although, as Himmler put it, the SD was only the intelligence service of
the SS during the years preceding the accession of the Nazis to power,
it became a much more important organization promptly thereafter. It had
been developed into such a powerful and scientific espionage system
under its chief, Reinhard Heydrich, that on 9 June 1934, just a few
weeks before the bloody purge of the SA, it was made, by decree of Hess,
the sole intelligence and counter-intelligence agency of the entire Nazi
Party (_2284-PS_). Its organization and numbers, as they stood in 1937,
were thus described by Himmler (_1992-A-PS_):
“The Security Service was already separated from the troop in
1931 and separately organized. Its higher headquarters, coincide
today with the _Oberabschnitte_ and _Abschnitte_—[that is, the
districts and subdistricts of the General SS]—and it has also
field offices, its own organization of officials with a great
many Command Posts, approximately three to four thousand men
strong, at least when it is built up.” (_1992-A-PS_)
Up to 1939 its headquarters was the SS Main Security Office
(_Sicherheitshauptamt_), which became amalgamated in 1939 into the Reich
Main Security Office (or RSHA), one of the SS main departments shown on
the chart (_Chart Number 3_).
The closer and closer collaboration of the SD with the Gestapo and
Criminal Police (Kripo), which eventually resulted in the creation of
the RSHA, as well as the activities in which the SD engaged in
partnership with the Gestapo are discussed in Section 6 on the Gestapo.
The SD was, of course, at all times an integral and important component
of the SS. But it is more practicable to deal with it in connection with
the activities of the whole repressive police system with which it
functioned.
(_c_) _The Waffen SS._ The third component is the Waffen SS, the combat
arm of the SS, which was created, trained, and finally utilized for the
purposes of aggressive war. The reason underlying the creation of this
combat branch was described in the Organizations Book of the Nazi Party
for 1943:
“The Waffen SS originated out of the thought: to create for the
Fuehrer a selected long service troop for the fulfillment of
special missions. It was to render it possible for members of
the General SS, as well as for volunteers who fulfill the
special requirements of the SS, to fight in the battle for the
evolution of the National Socialist idea, with weapon in hand,
in unified groups, partly within the framework of the Army.”
(_2640-PS_)
The term “Waffen SS” did not come into use until after the beginning of
the war. Up to that time there were two branches of the SS composed of
fulltime, professional, well-trained soldiers: the so-called _SS
Verfuegungstruppe_, translatable perhaps as “SS Emergency Troops”; and
the _SS Totenkopf Verbaende_, the “Death Head Units.” After the
beginning of the war, the units of the _SS Verfuegungstruppe_ were
brought up to division strength, and new divisions were added to them.
Moreover, parts of the SS Death Head Units were formed into a division,
the _SS Totenkopf Division_. All these divisions then came to be known
collectively as the “Waffen SS”.
This development is traced in the Organization Book of the Nazi Party
for 1943:
“The origin of the Waffen SS goes back to the decree of 17 March
1933, establishing the “Stabswache” with an original strength of
120 men. Out of this small group developed the later-called SS
Verfuegungstruppe (SS Emergency Force).” (_2640-PS_)
The function and status of the _SS Verfuegungstruppe_ are described in a
Top Secret Hitler order, 17 August 1938 (_647-PS_). That order provides,
in part:
* * * * * *
“II. The Armed Units of the SS.
“A. (The _SS Verfuegungstruppe_)
“1. The _SS Verfuegungstruppe_ is neither a part of the
Wehrmacht nor a part of the police. It is a standing armed unit
exclusively at my disposal. As such and as a unit of the NSDAP
its members are to be selected by the Reichsfuehrer SS according
to the philosophical and political standards which I have
ordered for the NSDAP and for the _Schutzstaffel_. Its members
are to be trained and its ranks filled with volunteers from
those who are subject to serve in the army who have finished
their duties in the obligatory labor service. The service period
for volunteers is for 4 years. It may be prolonged for _SS
Unterfuehrer_. Such regulations are in force for SS leaders. The
regular compulsory military service (par. 8 of the law relating
to military service) is fulfilled by service of the same amount
of time in the _SS Verfuegungstruppe_.”
* * * * * *
“III. Orders for the Case of Mobilization.
“A. The employment of the _SS Verfuegungstruppe_ in case of
mobilization is a double one.
“1. By the Supreme Commander of the Army within the wartime
army. In that case it comes completely under military laws and
regulations, but remains a unit of the NSDAP politically.
“2. In case of necessity in the interior according to my orders,
in that case it is under the Reichsfuehrer SS and chief of the
German Police.
“In case of mobilization I myself will make the decision about
the time, strength and manner of the incorporation of the _SS
Verfuegungstruppe_ into the wartime army, these things will
depend on the inner-political situation at that time.”
(_647-PS_)
Immediately after the issuance of this decree, this militarized force
was employed with the Army for aggressive purposes—the taking over of
the Sudetenland. Following this action, feverish preparations to
motorize the force and to organize new units, such as antitank, machine
gun, and reconnaissance battalions, were undertaken pursuant to further
directives of the Fuehrer. By September 1939, the force was fully
motorized, its units had been increased to division strength, and it was
prepared for combat. These steps are described in the National Socialist
Yearbook for the years 1940 (_2164-PS_) and 1941 (_2163-PS_). The
Yearbook was an official publication of the Nazi Party, edited by
Reichsleiter Robert Ley and published by the Nazi Party publishing
company.
After the launching of the Polish invasion, and as the war progressed,
still further divisions were added. The Organizations Book of the Nazi
Party for 1943 (_2640-PS_) lists some eight divisions and two infantry
brigades as existing at the end of 1942. This was no longer a mere
emergency force. It was an SS army and hence came to be designated as
the “Waffen SS” that is, “Armed” or “Combat” SS. Himmler referred to the
spectacular development of this SS combat branch in his speech at Posen
on 4 October 1943 to SS Gruppenfuehrers, in these terms:
“* * * Now I come to our own development, to that of the SS in
the past months. Looking back on the whole war, this development
was fantastic. It took place at an absolutely terrific speed.
Let us look back a little to 1939. At that time we were a few
regiments, guard units (_Wachverbande_) 8 to 9,000 strong,—that
is, not even a division, all in all 25 to 28,000 men at the
outside. True, we were armed, but really only got our artillery
regiment as our heavy arm two months before the war began.”
* * * * * *
“In the hard battles of this year, the Waffen-SS has been welded
together in the bitterest hours from the most varied divisions
and sections, and from these it formed: bodyguard units
(_Leibstandarte_), military SS (_Verfuegungstruppe_), Death’s
Head Units, and then the Germanic SS. Now when our ‘Reich’,
Death’s Head Cavalry Divisions and ‘Viking’ Divisions were
there, everyone knew in these last weeks: ‘Viking’ is at my
side, ‘Reich’ is at my side, ‘Death’s Head’ is at my
side,—‘Thank God’ now nothing can happen to us.” (_1919-PS_)
The transformation of a small emergency force into a vast combat Army
did not result in any separation of this branch from the SS. Although
tactically under the command of the _Wehrmacht_ while in the field, it
remained as much a part of the SS as any other branch of that
organization. Throughout the war it was recruited, trained, administered
and supplied by the main offices of the SS Supreme Command.
Ideologically and racially its members were selected in conformity with
SS standards, as shown by the recruiting standards of the Waffen SS
published in the SS manual, “The Soldier Friend” (_2825-PS_). A section
of that manual entitled “The Way to the Waffen SS,” reads:
“Today at last is the longed-for day of the entrance examination
where the examiners and physicians decide whether or not the
candidate is ideologically and physically qualified to do
service in the Armed Forces SS.
“Everyone has acquainted himself with the comprehensive Manual
for the Waffen SS; the principal points are as follows:
“1. Service in the Armed Forces SS counts as military service.
Only volunteers are accepted.”
* * * * * *
“3. Every pure-blooded German in good health between the ages of
17 and 45 can become a member of the armed forces SS. He must
meet all the requirements of the SS, must be of excellent
character, have no criminal record, and be an ardent adherent to
all Nazi socialist doctrines. Members of the _Streifendienst_
and of the _Landdienst_ of the Hitler Youth will be given
preference because their aptitudes, qualities and schooling are
indicative that they have become acquainted very early with the
ideology of the SS.”
* * * * * *
“In all cases of doubt or difficulty the recruiting offices of
the Waffen SS will advise and aid volunteers. They have branches
over the entire Reich, always at the seat of the Service Command
Headquarters, and work closely with the recruiting of the Waffen
SS in the Main Office (SS Hauptamt) of the Reichsfuehrer SS.”
(_2825-PS_)
The recruiting activities of the SS Main Office are illustrated by its
recruiting pamphlet, “The SS Calls You,” an elaborate illustrated
booklet containing full information covering the Waffen SS:
“If you answer the call of the Waffen SS and volunteer to join
the ranks of the great Front of SS Divisions, you will belong to
a corps which has from the very beginning been directed toward
outstanding achievements, and, because of this fact, has
developed an especially deep feeling of comradeship. You will be
bearing arms with a corps that embraces the most valuable
elements of the young German generation. Over and above that you
will be especially bound to the National Socialist ideology.”
(_3429-PS_)
The SS Main Office, through which these recruiting activities were
conducted, was one of the principal departments of the SS Supreme
Command. It is shown on the chart (the second box from the left) (_Chart
Number 3_). In the breakdown of that department, shown by the boxes
underneath, will be found the central recruiting office.
Other departments of the Supreme Command performed other functions in
connection with the Waffen SS. The SS Operational Headquarters (_SS
Fuehrungshauptamt_)—the fifth box from the left—contains the Command
Headquarters of the Waffen SS (_Chart Number 3_). The functions of this
department are thus defined in the SS Manual, “The Soldier Friend”:
“In the _Fuehrungshauptamt_ the command office of the Waffen SS
handles tasks of military leadership: Training and organization
of the units of the Waffen SS, supply of the troops with arms,
equipment and ammunition, procurement of motor vehicles for the
Waffen SS and General SS, personnel and disciplinary affairs.”
(_2825-PS_)
The SS Legal Main Office (_Hauptamt SS Gericht_) (indicated on the chart
by the second box from the top on the right hand side within the heavy
embracing line—(_Chart Number 3_)) controlled the administration of
courts-martial and discipline within the Waffen SS. The secret Hitler
order of 17 August 1938 (_647-PS_) had, it is true, provided that in the
event of mobilization the SS militarized forces should come completely
under military laws and regulations. That provision was modified by
subsequent enactments: The decree of 17 October 1939 relating to special
jurisdiction in penal matters for members of the SS and for members of
police groups on special tasks (_2946-PS_); and the decree of 17 April
1940, entitled “Second Decree for the Implementation of the Decree
Relating to a Special Jurisdiction in Penal Matters for Members of the
SS” (_2947-PS_). These two decrees established a special jurisdiction in
penal matters for various classes of SS members, including members of
the SS militarized units, in cases which would ordinarily fall under the
jurisdiction of the _Wehrmacht_; and created special SS courts to handle
such cases under the direction of the SS Legal Main Office. Thus, in the
vital question of discipline, as well as in recruiting, administration,
and supply, the Waffen SS was subject to the SS Supreme Command.
The place of the Waffen SS as an integral part of the entire SS
organization was strongly emphasized by Himmler in his address to
officers of the _SS Leibstandarte_ “Adolf Hitler” on the “Day of Metz”:
“You must also consider the following: I cannot concentrate my
mind solely on—now, please don’t become conceited—the most
splendid part of the SS because it _is_ the most positive part
and because the trade you are following _is_ the most positive
and most manly. I cannot do that. I must always have the
_entire_ SS in my mind.
“If I did not see this part, I would deny life to this most
positive and most manly part of our activity; i.e., the Armed
SS. I would deny your life. Because this armed SS will live only
if the entire SS is alive. If the entire corps is actually an
order which lives according to these laws and realizes that one
part cannot exist without the other—you are unimaginable
without the General SS, and the latter is not imaginable without
you. The police is not imaginable without the SS, nor are we
imaginable without this executive branch of the state which is
in our hands.” (_1918-PS_)
(_d_) _The Totenkopf Verbaende._
The fourth component to be mentioned is the SS Death Head Units (_SS
Totenkopf Verbaende_). Their origin and purpose are succinctly described
by d’Alquen on page 20 of his book, “_Die SS_”:
“The SS Death Head Units form one part of the garrisoned SS.
They arose from volunteers of the General SS who were recruited
for the guarding of concentration camps in 1933.
“Their mission, aside from the indoctrination of the armed
political soldier, is guarding enemies of the State who are held
in concentration camps.
“The SS Death Head Units obligate their members to 12 years
service. It is composed mainly of men who have already fulfilled
their duty to serve in the _Wehrmacht_. This time of service is
counted completely.” (_2284-PS_)
Since the Death Head Units, like the _SS Verfuegungstruppe_, were
composed of well trained professional soldiers, they were also a
valuable nucleus for the Waffen SS. The secret Hitler order of 17 August
1938 (_647-PS_) provided for this task in the event of mobilization. The
_Totenkopf Verbaende_ were to be relieved from the duty of guarding
concentration camps and transferred as a skeleton corps to the _SS
Verfuegungstruppe_. Section II C, subparagraph 5, of that order
provides: “5. _Regulations for the case of the Mobilization_.
“The _SS-Totenkopf Verbaende_ form the skeleton corps for the
reinforcement of the _SS-Totenkopf Verbaende_ (police
reinforcement), and will be replaced in the guarding of the
concentration camps by members of the General SS who are over 45
years of age and had military training.
“The skeleton corps—which up to now were units of the two
replacement units for the short time training of the
reinforcement of the _SS-Totenkopf Verbaende_—will be
transferred to the _SS-Verfuegungstruppe_ as skeleton crews of
the replacement units for that unit.” (_647-PS_)
(_e_) _The SS Polizei Regimente._
The final component specifically referred to in the Indictment is the SS
Police Regiments. The SS eventually succeeded in assuming controls over
the entire Reich Police. Out of the police, special militarized forces
were formed, originally SS Police Battalions, and later expanded to SS
Police Regiments. Himmler, in his Posen speech, declared:
“Now to deal briefly with the tasks of the regular uniformed
police and the Sipo [the Security Police] they still cover the
same field. I can see that great things have been achieved. We
have formed roughly 30 police regiments from police reservists
and former members of the police—police officials, as they used
to be called. The average age in our police battalions is not
lower than that of the security battalions of the Armed Forces.
Their achievements are beyond all praise. In addition, we have
formed Police Rifle Regiments by merging the police battalions
of the ‘savage peoples.’ Thus we did not leave these police
battalions untouched but blended them in the ratio of about 1 to
3.” (_1919-PS_)
The results of this blend of militarized SS police and “savage peoples”
will be seen in the evidence, subsequently referred to, of the
extermination actions conducted by them in the Eastern territories.
These exterminations which were so successful and so ruthless that even
Himmler could find no words adequate for their eulogy.
(3) _Unity of the Organization._
Each of the various components described above played its part in
carrying out one or more functions of the SS. The personnel composing
each differed. Some were part-time volunteers; others were professionals
enlisted for different periods of time. But every branch, every
department, every member was an integral part of the whole organization.
Each performed his assigned role in the manifold tasks for which the
organization had been created. No better witness to this fact could be
called upon than the Reichsfuehrer SS, whose every endeavor was to
insure the complete unity of the organization. The following words are
taken from his Posen speech:
“It would be an evil day if the SS and police fell out. It would
be an evil day if the Main Offices, performing their tasks well
meaningly but mistakenly made themselves independent by each
having a downward chain of command. I really think that the day
of my overthrow would be the end of the SS. It must be, and so
come about, that this SS organization with all its branches—the
General SS which is the common basis of all of them, the
Waffen-SS, the regular uniformed police (_Ordnungspolizei_), the
SIPO (with the whole economic administration, schooling,
ideological training, the whole question of kindred), is, even
under the tenth Reichsfuehrer-SS _one_ bloc, _one_ body, _one_
organization.
* * * * * *
“The regular uniformed police and SIPO, General-SS and Waffen-SS
must now gradually amalgamate too, just as this is and must be
the case within the Waffen-SS. This applies to matters
concerning filling of posts, recruiting, schooling, economic
organization, and medical services. I am always doing something
towards this end, a bond is constantly being cast around these
sections of the whole to cause them to grow together. Alas, if
these bonds should ever be loosened—then everything—you may be
sure of this—would sink back into its old insignificance in one
generation, and in a short space of time.” (_1919-PS_)
C. _Selection, Training, and Obligations of Members._
To understand this organization, the theories upon which it was based
must be kept clearly in mind. The underlying philosophy of the SS, the
principles by which its members were selected, and the obligations
imposed upon them furnish the key to all its activities. It is
necessary, therefore, to consider them in some detail.
(1) _The Racial Basis of the SS._
(_a_) _The SS as a racial and biological elite._
The fundamental principle of selection was what Himmler called that of
Blood and Elite. The SS was to be the living embodiment of the Nazi
doctrine of the superiority of Nordic blood, and of the Nazi conception
of a master race. In Himmler’s own words, the SS was to be a “National
Socialist Soldierly Order of Nordic Men” (_1992-A-PS_). In describing to
the _Wehrmacht_ the reasons behind his emphasis on racial standards of
selection and the manner in which they were carried out, he said:
“* * * Accordingly, only good blood, blood which history has
proved to be leading and creative and the foundation of every
state and of all military activities, only Nordic blood, can be
considered. I said to myself that should I succeed in selecting
from the German people for this organization as many people as
possible a majority of whom possess this desired blood, in
teaching them military discipline and, in time, the
understanding of the value of blood and the entire ideology
which results from it, then it will be possible actually to
create such an elite organization which would successfully hold
its own in all cases of emergency.” (_1992-A-PS_)
Further on in the same speech, Himmler described the selection of
candidates for his organization:
“* * * They are extremely thoroughly examined and checked. Of
100 men we can use on the average of 10 or 15, no more. We ask
for the political reputation record of his parents, brothers and
sisters, the record of his ancestry as far back as 1750 and
naturally the physical examination and his records from the
Hitler Youth. Further, we ask for a record of hereditary health
showing that no hereditary disease exists in his parents and in
his family. Last, but perhaps most important, is a certification
of the race commission. This examining commission is composed of
SS leaders, anthropologists and physicians.” (_1992-A-PS_)
This same strict selection process for the SS was somewhat similarly
described in the Organizations Book of the Nazi Party for 1943:
“_Selection of Members_
“For the fulfillment of these missions a homogeneous firmly
welded fighting force has been created bound by ideological
oaths, whose fighters are selected out of the best Aryan
humanity.
“The conception of the value of the blood and soil serves as
directive for the selection into the SS. Every SS man must be
deeply imbued with the sense and essence of the National
Socialist Movement. He will be ideologically and physically
trained so that he can be employed individually or in groups in
the decisive battle for the National Socialist ideology.
“Only the best and thoroughbred Germans are suited for
commitment, in this battle. Therefore it is necessary that an
uninterrupted selection is retained within the ranks of the SS,
first superficially, then constantly more thoroughly.”
(_2640-PS_)
The creation of a racial and biological elite had some very practical
reasons behind it. The conspirators’ plans for conquest and exploitation
of the conquered territories required the development of a Nazi
aristocracy which would dominate Germany and Europe for centuries to
come. That purpose was explicitly stated by Himmler in his Posen speech:
“One thing must be clear, one thing I would like to say to you
today: the moment the war is over, we will really begin to weld
together our organization, this organization which we have built
up for 10 years, which we imbued and indoctrinated with the
first most important principles during the 10 years before the
war. We must continue to do this—we,—if I may say so, we older
men—for twenty years full of toil and work, so that a tradition
30, 35, 40 years, a generation, may be created. Then this
organization will march forward into the future young and
strong, revolutionary and efficient to fulfill the task of
giving the German people, the Germanic people, the superstratum
of society which will combine and hold together this Germanic
people and this Europe, and from which the brains which the
people need for industry, farming, politics, and as soldiers,
statesmen and technicians, will emerge. In addition this
superstratum must be so strong and vital that every generation
can unreservedly sacrifice two or three sons from every family
on the battle-field, and that never-the-less the continued
flowing of the bloodstream is assured.” (_1919-PS_)
He forcibly made the same point in his address to officers of the _SS
Leibstandarte_ “Adolph Hitler” on the “Day of Metz”:
“The ultimate aim for these 11 years during which I have been
the Reichsfuehrer SS has been invariably the same: To create an
order of good blood which is able to serve Germany. Which
unfailingly and without sparing itself can be made use of
because the greatest losses can do no harm to the vitality of
this order, the vitality of these men, because they will always
be replaced. To create an order which will spread the idea of
nordic blood so far that we will attract all nordic blood in the
world, take away the blood from our adversaries, absorb it so
that never again, looking at it from the viewpoint of grand
policy, nordic blood in great quantities and to an extent worth
mentioning will fight against us. We must get it and the others
cannot have it. We never gave up the ideas and the aim conceived
so many years ago. Everything we did has taken us some distance
further on the way. Everything we are going to do will lead us
further on the way.” (_1918-PS_)
Since the SS was to be made a Nazi aristocracy which would dominate not
only Germany but the world for centuries to come, it was essential that
the SS stock be perpetuated. To insure the continuance of this good
blood, the first step was to limit marriages of SS men to women meeting
the same requirements as to health, descent, and ideological background
as the SS man himself. This was accomplished by an order of the
Reichsfuehrer SS issued on 31 December 1931. This SS marriage law is set
out in full in d’Alquen’s Book, “The SS,” (_2284-PS_). But proper
marriages were not enough without children. A series of orders took care
of that. On 13 September 1936, Himmler issued an order entitled
“Foundation of the Organization ‘_Lebensborn e.V._’”, published in the
SS manual, “The Soldier Friend”:
“As early as December 13, 1934, I wrote to all SS leaders and
declared that we have fought in vain if political victory was
not to be followed by victory of birth of good blood. The
question of multiplicity of children is not a private affair of
the individual but his duty towards his ancestors and our
people.
“The SS has taken the first step in this direction long ago with
the engagement and marriage decree of December 1931. However,
the existence of sound marriage is futile if it does not result
in the creation of numerous descendants.”
* * * * * *
“The minimum amount of children for a good sound marriage is
four. Should unfortunate circumstances deny a married couple
their own children, then every SS leader should adopt racially
and hereditarily valuable children, educate them in the spirit
of National Socialism, let them have an education corresponding
to their ability.” (_2825-PS_)
The drive for perpetuation of SS stock was continued. A further order of
Himmler, issued on 28 October 1939, directed to the entire SS and the
Police, is also published in the SS manual, “The Soldier Friend”:
“The old saying that only those who have children can die in
peace must again become acknowledged truth in this war,
especially for the SS.
* * * * * *
“Though in other times it may perhaps be considered an
infraction of necessary social standards and conventions, German
women and girls of good blood can fulfill a high obligation by
bearing children out of wedlock to soldiers going to the front,
whose eventual return or death for Germany lies entirely in the
hands of fate—not out of promiscuity but out of a deep sense of
ethics.”
* * * * * *
“Let us never forget that the victory of the sword and of the
spilled blood of our soldiers remains fruitless, if it is not
succeeded by the victory of the child and the colonizing of
conquered soil.” (_2825-PS_)
A final order designed to assure continuance of good SS blood was issued
on 15 August 1942, entitled “SS Orders to the Last Sons”, also published
in “The Soldier Friend”:
“You SS men have been withdrawn from the front lines by order of
the Fuehrer because you are the last sons. This measure has been
taken because the people and the State have an interest in
seeing that your families do not die out.
“It has never been the nature of SS men to submit to a fate
without attempting to effect a change. It is your duty to see to
it that you are no longer the last sons by producing as many
children of good blood as possible.” (_2825-PS_)
These orders were not the product of some benevolent theorist in
eugenics who was interested in large and happy SS families for their own
sake. They stemmed from a basic idea of the conspiracy, the plan to
insure Germany’s continued capacity to wage war for generations. Himmler
put this theory very bluntly in his speech to officers of the _SS
Leibstandarte_ “Adolf Hitler” on the “Day of Metz”:
“* * * If we once had not enough sons, those who will come after
us will have to become cowards. A nation which has an average of
four sons per family can venture a war; if two of them die, two
transmit the name. The leadership of a nation having one son or
two sons per family will have to be faint-hearted at any
decision on account of their own experience, because they will
have to tell themselves: We cannot afford it. Look at France,
which is the best example. France had to accept from us a
dictate.” (_1918-PS_)
(_b_) _The SS as an exterminator of “inferior” races._
Domination of Europe through a Nazi Elite required more, however, than
the positive side of racism—that is, the building up of a numerous
“biologically superior” group. It necessarily meant also the destruction
of other races. The SS had to be, and was, taught not merely to breed,
but to exterminate. In a speech delivered at Kharkov in April 1943,
Himmler declared:
“We have—I would say, as very consistent National
Socialists—taken the question of blood as our starting point.
We were the first really to solve the problem of blood by
action, and in this connection by problem of blood, we of course
do not mean anti-semitism. Antisemitism is exactly the same as
delousing. Getting rid of lice is not a question of ideology. It
is a matter of cleanliness. In just the same way, anti-semitism
for us, will soon have been dealt with. We shall soon be
deloused. We have only 20,000 lice left, and then the matter is
finished within the whole of Germany.” (_1919-PS_)
But it was not merely against Jews that SS efforts were directed. All
non-Nordic races were similarly condemned. In his Posen speech, Himmler
stated this basic principle of the SS:
“One basic principle must be the absolute rule for the SS men:
We must be honest, decent, loyal and comradely to members of our
own blood and to nobody else. What happens to a Russian, to a
Czech, does not interest me in the slightest. What other nations
can offer in the way of good blood of our type, we will take, if
necessary, by kidnapping their children and raising them here
with us. Whether nations live in prosperity or starve to death
interests me only so far as we need them as slaves for our
culture; otherwise, it is of no interest to me. Whether 10,000
Russian females fall down from exhaustion while digging an
antitank ditch interests me only insofar as the antitank ditch
for Germany is finished.”
* * * * * *
“That is what I want to instill into this SS and what I believe
I have instilled in them as one of the most sacred laws of the
future.” (_1919-PS_)
(_c_) _Indoctrination of members in SS racial theories._ These were the
principles which were publicly reiterated, over and over again, so that
the newest recruit was thoroughly steeped in them. In his Kharkov speech
to the commanding officers of three Waffen SS divisions, Himmler
strongly insisted on indoctrinating all SS members in his theories of
the racial struggle.
“This is what is important for us as SS men, for our province of
duty and our mission (it is a task additional to those of the
whole German armed forces and the whole German people): That is
what I would like to impress upon you. This is what I beg you as
commanding officers, as chiefs and as leaders, to teach the
young men again and again in their ideological instruction. That
is what I demand and exact of you—that you really concern
yourself with the man, the young fellow of 17 or 18 who comes to
us, and with many who are in our ranks not as volunteers but as
conscripts. I ask you to look after them, and guide them, and
not let them go before they are really saturated with our spirit
and are fighting as the old guard fought before us—that is what
I request and demand of you.
“We have only one task—to stand firm and carry on the racial
struggle without mercy.” (_1919-PS_)
This function of the SS men in the racial struggle was publicly
proclaimed in the Organizations Book of the NSDAP for 1943:
“He openly and relentlessly fights against the most dangerous
enemies of the State: Jews, Freemasons, Jesuits and political
clergymen.” (_2640-PS_)
(2) _The Obligation of Obedience._ Indoctrination of the organization in
principles of racial hatred was not enough. The members had to be ready
and willing tools, prepared to carry out tasks of any nature, however
distasteful, illegal or inhuman. Absolute obedience was the necessary
second foundation stone of the SS. The Organizations Book of the NSDAP
for 1943 thus describes this fundamental requirement:
“Obedience must be unconditional. It corresponds to the
conviction that the National Socialist ideology must reign
supreme. He who is possessed by it and fights for it
passionately subjects himself voluntarily to the obligation to
obey. Every SS man is prepared, therefore, to carry out blindly
every order which is issued by the Fuehrer or which is given by
his superior, irrespective of the heaviest sacrifices involved.”
(_2640-PS_)
The same point was emphasized by Himmler in the Posen speech:
“I would like here to state something clearly and unequivocally.
It is a matter of course that the little man must obey. It is
even more a matter of course that all the senior leaders of the
SS, that is the whole corps of Gruppenfuehrers, are a model of
blind obedience.” (_1919-PS_)
(3) _The SS as a Terroristic Agency._ A necessary corollary of these two
fundamental principles of race and of blind obedience was ruthlessness.
Subsequent evidence of SS activities will prove how successfully the SS
learned the lesson it was taught. The SS had to and did develop a
reputation for terror which was carefully cultivated. Himmler himself
attested to it as early as 1936 in a speech publicly delivered at the
Peasant’s Day Rally and subsequently published and circulated in
pamphlet form under the title “The SS as an Anti-bolshevist Fighting
Organization”:
“I know that there are some people in Germany who become sick
when they see their black coats. We understand the reason for
this and do not expect that we shall be loved by too many.”
(_1851-PS_)
(4) _Continuance of the Elite and Voluntary Character of the SS._ The
role which the SS was to play required that it remain constantly the
essence of Naziism, and that its elite Nazi quality never be diluted.
For this reason the SS was for a time temporarily closed to new members,
and those who had proved unfit were weeded out. Himmler described this
process in his article “Organization and Obligations of the SS and the
Police” (_1992-A-PS_). Referring to the influx of new adherents to the
Party and its organizations in 1933, he said:
“A very difficult question confronted us at that time. It was a
question of deciding whether to close the Party and its
organizations to further membership and thus remain pure in
quality but small in volume, or of opening them to further
membership to increase their volume.”
* * * * * *
“The SS too was endangered by this menace. Therefore I closed it
while some of the other organizations accepted as great a number
of people as possible. This way I had the SS again under my
control in April and said: We shall accept no more people. From
the end of 1933 to the end of 1935 we expelled all those of the
newly accepted members who proved unsuitable.” (_1992-A-PS_)
These standards were not abandoned later. Indeed, in 1943 the
Organizations Book of the Nazi Party stated that:
“The demands with respect to racial purity of the SS are being
increased every year.”
And in the same year, 1943, Himmler emphasized this point in a letter
written to Kaltenbrunner (_2768-PS_).
This letter from the Reichsfuehrer SS, which bears the date 24 April
1943, states in part as follows:
“Referring again to the matter which I discussed some time ago,
i.e., the admission of SIPO officials into the SS. I wish to
clarify again: I want an admission only if the following
conditions are fulfilled:
“1. If the man applies freely and voluntarily;
“2. If, by applying strict and peacetime standards, the
applicant fits racially and ideologically into the SS,
guarantees according to the number of his children a
really healthy SS stock, and is neither ill, degenerate
nor worthless.”
* * * * * *
“I beg you not only to act accordingly in the future, but
especially also that numerous admissions into ranks of the SS in
the past be reexamined and revised according to these
instructions.” (_2768-PS_)
(5) _Method of Acquiring Membership in the SS._ The normal method by
which membership in the SS was attained was discussed by Himmler in his
article, “Organization and Obligations of the SS and Police”:
“The age groups in the SS are as follows: With 18 years the
young man enters the SS. He is first an applicant, after three
months he takes the oath on the Fuehrer and thus becomes a
candidate (_Anwaerter_). As a candidate during the first year he
takes examinations for his SA sport insignia and his bronze
sport insignia. At the age of 19 or 19½, according to the time
of his acceptance, he is conscripted for the labor service and
subsequently for the _Wehrmacht_. After two more years he comes
back from the _Wehrmacht_ unless he remains there as a
prospective noncommissioned officer or reenlists. If he returns
to us, he is still candidate. In these weeks he is especially
thoroughly instructed in ideology. The first year is for him a
period of elementary ideological indoctrination. In these weeks
following his return from the _Wehrmacht_ he receives special
instruction about the marriage law and all other laws pertaining
to the family, and the honor laws. On the 9th of November,
following his return from the _Wehrmacht_, he becomes an SS man
in the true sense. The Reichsfuehrer of the SS is just as much
an SS man in the sense of the SS organization as the common man
at the front. On this 9th of November he is awarded the dagger,
and at this occasion he promises to abide by the marriage law
and the disciplinary laws of the SS, since the family is also
subject to these laws. From this day on he has the right and the
duty to defend his honor with a weapon as laid down by the honor
laws of the SS. The applicants and candidates do not yet have
this right. The SS man remains in the so-called active General
SS until his 35th year. From his 35th to his 45th year he is in
the SS reserve, and after his 45th year in the _Stammabteilung_
of the SS, identified by the grey color patch.” (_1992-A-PS_)
The oath to the Fuehrer, referred to by Himmler in the passage just
quoted, appears in the SS recruiting pamphlet, “The SS Calls You”:
“The Oath of the SS Man:
“I swear to you, Adolf Hitler, as Fuehrer and Reichschancellor,
loyalty and bravery. I vow to you, and to those you have named
to command me, obedience unto death, so help me God.”
(_3429-PS_)
D. _Criminal Aims and Activities of the SS._
(1) _The Purge of 20[_sic_] June 1934._ Proof of the elite Nazi quality
and thorough reliability of the SS, the test by which it won its spurs,
occurred on 30 June 1934, when it participated in the purge of the SA
and other opponents or potential opponents of the Nazi regime. That was
the first real occasion for use of this specialized organization which
could operate with the blessing of the Nazi State but outside the law.
In an affidavit signed and sworn to in Nurnberg on 19 November 1945,
Wilhelm Frick says, referring to the victims of that purge:
“They were just killed on the spot. Many people were killed—I
don’t know how many—who actually did not have anything to do
with the putsch. People who just weren’t liked very well, as for
instance, Schleicher, the former Reich Chancellor, were killed *
* * The SS was used by Himmler for the execution of these orders
to suppress the putsch.” (_2950-PS_)
Himmler referred to this same event in his Posen speech:
“Just as we did not hesitate on June 20,[_sic_] 1934, to do the
duty we were bidden, and stand comrades who had lapsed, up
against the wall and shoot them, so we have never spoken about
it and will never speak about it.” (_1919-PS_)
It was in recognition of its services in this respect that the SS was
elevated to the status of a component of the Party equal in rank to the
SA and other similar branches. The following announcement appeared on
page 1 of the _Voelkischer Beobachter_ of 26 July 1934:
“The Reich press office announces the following order of the
Fuehrer.
“In consideration of the greatly meritorious service of the SS,
especially in connection with the events of 30 June 1934, I
elevate it to the standing of an independent organization within
the NSDAP.
“Munch 20 July 1934.” (_1857-PS_)
(2) _Functions as a Repressive Police Organization._
One of the first steps essential to the security of any regime is
control of the police. The SS was the type of organization which the
conspirators needed for this purpose. Their aim was to fuse the SS and
police, and to merge them into a single, unified repressive force.
Shortly after the seizure of power the conspirators began to develop as
part of the state machinery, secret political police forces. These
originated in Prussia with the Gestapo, established by decree of Goering
in April 1933, and were duplicated in the other German States. (This
development is discussed in Section 6 on the Gestapo.) By 1934 Himmler,
the Reichsfuehrer SS, had become the chief of these secret political
police forces in each of the German states except Prussia, and deputy
chief of the Prussian Gestapo. In that capacity he infiltrated these
forces with members of the SS until a virtual identity of membership was
assured.
On 17 June 1936, by Decree on the Establishment of a Chief of the German
Police (_2073-PS_), the new post of Chief of the German Police was
created in the Ministry of the Interior. Under the terms of the decree,
Himmler was appointed to this post with the title of “Reichsfuehrer SS
and Chief of the German Police in the Ministry of the Interior.” The
combination of these two positions, that of leadership of the SS and
head of all the police forces in the Reich, was no accident but was
intended to establish a permanent relation between the two bodies and
not a mere “transitory fusion of personnel.” The significance of the
combination of these two positions was referred to by Hitler in the
preamble to his secret order of 17 August 1938:
“By means of the nomination of the Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of
the German Police in the Ministry of the Interior on June 17th,
1936 (_Reichsgesetzblatt_ I, page 487), I have created the basis
for the unification and reorganization of the German Police.
“With this step, the _Schutzstaffeln_ of the NSDAP, which were
under the Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police even
up to now, have entered into close connection with the duties of
the German Police.” (_647-PS_)
Upon his appointment, Himmler immediately proceeded to reorganize the
entire Reich Police Force, designating two separate branches: (1) the
regular uniformed police force (_Ordnungspolizei_, or Orpo), and (2) the
Security Police (_Sicherheitspolizei_, or Sipo). The Sipo was composed
of all criminal police organizations in the Reich and all the secret
political police forces, or Gestapo. This reorganization was achieved by
the Decree Assigning Functions in the Office of the Chief of the German
Police (_1551-PS_). To be head of the Sipo, that is the criminal police
and Gestapo, Himmler appointed Reinhard Heydrich, who was at that time
the Chief of the SD. Thus, through Himmler’s dual capacity as leader of
the SS and as Chief of the Police, and through Heydrich’s dual capacity
as head of the Sipo and as chief of the SD, a unified personal command
of the SS and Security Police Forces was achieved. But further steps
toward unification were later taken. In 1939, the Security Police and
the SD were combined in a single department, the Reich Security Main
Office, commonly referred to as the RSHA. (The details of the
organization of the RSHA are discussed in Section 6 on the Gestapo.) The
important point to be observed is this: The newly created Reich Security
Main Office was not a mere department of the Government. It was a dual
body: an agency of the government, organizationally placed in the
Department of the Interior, and at the same time one of the principal
departments of the SS, organizationally placed in the Supreme Command of
the SS. (cf. the chart of the SS organization (_Chart Number 3_)). The
following description of the RSHA appears in the Organizations Book of
the NSDAP for 1943:
“The RSHA handles all the organizational, personnel, management
and technical affairs of the Security Police and the SD. In
addition, it is the central office of the State Police and
criminal police executive, as well as the central directorate of
the intelligence net of the SD.” (_2640-PS_)
The position of the RSHA in the Supreme Command of the SS is also
similarly described in the SS manual, “The Soldier Friend”. (_2825-PS_)
But it was not merely the Gestapo and the Criminal Police which came
under the sway of the SS. The regular uniformed police as well were
affected. For, like the RSHA, the Department of the Regular Police
(_Ordnungspolizei_, or Orpo), was not merely a department in the
Ministry of the Interior, but also simultaneously in the Supreme Command
of the SS. Its position in the SS is indicated by the seventh box on the
chart of the SS organization (_Chart Number 3_). The following
description of the Department of the Regular Police appears in the
Organizations Book of the NSDAP for 1943:
“The sphere of duties of the Main Office of the
_Ordnungspolizei_ includes police administration as well as the
management and direction of the protective police
(_Schutzpolizei_) of the Reich, the Gendarmes, the protective
police of the community, the water protection police, the air
protection police, the fire protection police, the protective
groups in the occupied territories, the colonial police, the
volunteer fire department, the compulsatory and youth fire
departments, the technical aid and the technical SS and police
academy.” (_2640-PS_)
The position of this Department in the SS Supreme Command is also
similarly described in the SS Manual, “The Soldier Friend”. (_2825-PS_)
This unity of the Command was not a mere matter of the highest
headquarters. It extended down to the operating level. As the chart
shows, the Higher SS and Police Leader in each region, who was directly
subordinate to Himmler, had under his command both the Security Police
and the regular, uniformed police (_Chart Number 3_). These forces were
subject to his orders as well as to those of the RSHA and the Department
of the Regular Police respectively. This position of the Higher SS and
Police Leader is described in the Organizations Book of the NSDAP for
1943. (_2640-PS_)
SS control of the police was, however, not only a matter of organization
and of unified command. Unity of personnel was also in large measure
achieved. Vacancies occurring in the police forces were filled by SS
members; police officials retained in the force were urged to join the
SS; and schools operated by the SS were the required training centers
for police as well as SS officials. These measures are described in
Himmler’s article, “Organization and Obligations of the SS and the
Police” (_1992-A-PS_). They are also described in an authoritative book
on the police and on the SS, entitled “The German Police,” written by
Dr. Werner Best, a Ministerial Director in the Ministry of the Interior
and a department head in the Security Police and published in 1940. It
bears on its flyleaf the imprimatur of the Nazi Party and is listed in
the official list of National Socialist Party bibliography. Chapter 7
from that book is reproduced in document (_1852-PS_). Reference is also
made to the order of the Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police
of 23 June 1938, entitled “Acceptance of Members of the Security Police
into the SS” (_1637-PS_). In that order provision was made for admitting
members of the Security Police into the SS upon certain conditions. The
preamble of the order states that it was issued “with the aim of fusing
members of the German Police with the ‘_Schutzstaffel_’ of the National
Socialist German Workers Party into one uniformly turned out State
Protective Corps of the National Socialist Reich” (_1637-PS_).
Parenthetically, it should be observed that even this aim was not
sufficient to cause a relaxation of SS admission standards since the
order provided that, to be admitted as an SS member, personnel of the
Security Police were obliged to fulfill the general requirements of the
SS (its racial and ideological standards).
Through this unity of organization and personnel, the SS and the police
became identified in structure and in activity. The resulting situation
was described by Best as follows:
“Thus the SS and the Police form a unit, both in their structure
and in their activity, although their individual organizations
have not lost their true individuality and their position in the
larger units of the Party and State administration * * *”
* * * * * *
“In the relationship between the Police and the SS, the
principle of the ‘orderly’ penetration of an organization of the
National order has been realized for the first time to the final
outcome through the supporters of the National Socialist
movement”. (_1852-PS_)
As Himmler stated in his address to the officers of _SS-Leibstandarte_
“Adolph Hitler” on the “Day of Metz”:
“I want to tell you: In the entire Waffen-SS we must begin to
view the other great activity of the entire SS (_Gesamt-SS_) and
entire Police. We must see to it that you consider the activity
of the man in the green uniform as just as valuable as the
activity you yourself are engaged in. You have to consider the
work of the SD man or the man of the Security Police as a vital
part of our whole work just like the fact that you can carry
arms”. (_1918-PS_)
Through the police the SS was in a position to carry out a large part of
the functions assigned to it. The working partnership between Gestapo,
the criminal police, and the SD, under the direction of the
Reichsfuehrer SS, resulted in the ultimate in repressive and
unrestrained police activity. (cf. the discussion in Section 6 on the
Gestapo.) It must be remembered that the Gestapo activities were but one
aspect of SS functions—one part of the whole criminal SS scheme.
(3) _Functions and Activities with Respect to Concentration Camps._
Control over the police, however, was not enough. Potential sources of
opposition could be tracked down by the SD. Suspects could be seized by
the criminal police and Gestapo. But those means alone would not assure
the complete suppression of all opponents and potential opponents of the
regime. For this purpose concentration camps were invented, and the SS
was given large responsibility in that system.
(_a_) _Criminal activities of SS guards and camp personnel._ The first
requirement of the camps was for guard and administrative personnel.
Part-time volunteer members of the _Allgemeine SS_ were originally
utilized as guards. But part-time volunteers could not adequately serve
the need of the extensive and long-range program that was planned.
Hence, beginning in 1933 full-time professional guard units (the _SS
Totenkopf Verbaende_) were organized. Their very name (“Death Head
Units”) and their distinguishing insignia, the skull and cross bones,
appropriately marked the type of activity in which they engaged.
During the war, members of the _Allgemeine SS_ resumed the function of
guarding the camps which they had undertaken when the camps were
created. This was provided for in the Hitler order of 17 August 1938
(_647-PS_) directing the substitution of _Allgemeine SS_ members for the
Death Head Units in the event of mobilization. That substitution took
place. In reviewing the events of the period between 1938 and 1940,
significant for the SS, the National Socialist Yearbook of 1940
congratulated the _Allgemeine SS_ on the performance of its new mission:
“However, not only the garrisoned parts of the SS were employed.
Also the General SS were brought forth for special missions.
Thousands of younger and older SS comrades were employed for the
strengthening of the police and for the guarding of
concentration camps and have faithfully fulfilled their duty
throughout the weeks.” (_2164-PS_)
It is unnecessary to repeat the evidence of wholesale brutalities,
tortures, and murders committed by SS guards. These were not sporadic
crimes committed by irresponsible individuals. They were a part of a
definite and calculated policy, which necessarily resulted from SS
philosophy, and which was carried out from the initial creation of the
camps.
Himmler bluntly explained to the _Wehrmacht_ in 1937 the prevailing view
of the SS as to the inmates of concentration camps:
“It would be extremely instructive for everyone, some members of
the _Wehrmacht_ were already able to do so, to inspect such a
concentration camp. Once they have seen it, they are convinced
of the fact that no one had been sent there unjustly; that it is
the offal of criminals and freaks. No better demonstration of
the laws of inheritance and race, as set forth by Doctor Guett,
exists than such a concentration camp. There you can find people
with hydrocephalus, people who are cross-eyed, deformed,
half-Jewish, and a number of racially inferior products. All
that is assembled there. Of course, we distinguish between those
inmates who are only there for a few months for the purpose of
education, and those who are to stay for a very long time. On
the whole, education consists of discipline, never of any kind
of instruction on an ideological basis, for the prisoners have,
for the most part, slave-like souls; and only very few people of
real character can be found there.” (_1992-A-PS_)
Even these “slave-like souls,” however, might be redeemed by SS hygienic
measures. For, as Himmler continued:
“The discipline thus means order. The order begins with these
people living in clean barracks. Such a thing can really only be
accomplished by us Germans, hardly another nation would be as
humane as we are. The laundry is frequently changed. The people
are taught to wash themselves twice daily, and the use of a
toothbrush with which most of them have been unfamiliar.”
(_1992-A-PS_)
Despite this callous jest to the _Wehrmacht_, all pretense was swept
away in Himmler’s speech to his own Gruppenfuehrers at Posen:
“I don’t believe the Communists could attempt any action, for
their leading elements, like most criminals, are in our
concentration camps. And here I must say this—that we shall be
able to see after the war what a blessing it was for Germany
that, in spite of all the silly talk about humanitarianism, we
imprisoned all this criminal substratum of the German people in
concentration camps: I’ll answer for that.” (_1919-PS_).
Certainly there was no “silly humanitarianism” in the manner in which SS
men performed their task. An illustration of their conduct, not in 1944
or 1945 but in 1933, is shown in four reports relating to the deaths of
four different inmates of the Concentration Camp Dachau between May 16
and 27, 1933. Each report is signed by Winterberger, the Public
Prosecutor of the District Court in Munich, and addressed to the Public
Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Munich. The first (_641-PS_) 1 June
1933, relates to the death of Dr. Alfred Strauss, a prisoner in
protective custody in Dachau. That report states:
“On May 24, 1933 the 30 year old, single, attorney at law, Dr.
Alfred Strauss from Munich who was in the concentration camp
Dachau as a prisoner under protective custody was killed by 2
pistol shots from SS man Johann Kantschuster who escorted him on
a walk outside of the fenced part of the camp prescribed to him
by the camp doctor.
“Kantschuster gives the following report: He himself had to
urinate; Strauss proceeded on his way. Suddenly Strauss broke
away towards the shrub located at a distance of about 6 m from
the line. When he noticed it, he fired 2 shots at the fugitive
from a distance of about 8 m, whereupon Strauss collapsed dead.
“On the same day, May 24, 1933, a judicial inspection of the
locality took place. The corpse of Strauss was lying at the edge
of the wood. Leather slippers were on his feet. He wore a sock
on one foot, while the other foot was bare, obviously because of
an injury to this foot. Subsequently an autopsy was performed.
Two bullets had entered the back of his head. Besides, the body
showed several black and blue spots (_Blutunterlaufung_) and
also open wounds.”
* * * * * *
“I have charged Kantschuster today with murder and have made
application for opening and execution of the judicial
preliminary investigation as well as for a warrant of arrest
against him.” (_641-PS_)
The second (_642-PS_) also 1 June 1933, relates to the death of Leonhard
Hausmann, another prisoner in Dachau. That letter states:
“On 17 May 1933, Leonhard Hausmann from Augsburg, 31 years old,
married, relief worker, who was kept in protective custody in
the Dachau concentration camp, was shot by SS Staff Sergeant
Karl Ehmann. According to the account of the latter, Hausmann
was to dig out young fir trees in the woods in the vicinity of
the camp and pile them up on a certain spot. He was supervised
by Ehmann. Suddenly the latter did not see him anymore.
Therefore Ehmann looked after the prisoners and saw him running
away in a stooped position, Ehmann ran after him, called ‘Halt’
several times, once also ‘Stop,’ but in vain. Whereupon Ehmann
raised his pistol at the prisoner and fired without aiming;
Hausmann dropped dead. Ehmann asserts that he fired from a
distance of 10 to 12 meters.
“The corpse was inspected already on 17 May 1933 with the
assistance of the State court physician. It was found that death
was due to a shot through the left side of the chest. According
to the autopsy protocol, the shot was fired from a distance less
than 1 meter. Meanwhile the legal-medical institute ascertained
that the distance was less than 30 cm.” (_642-PS_)
The third (_644-PS_) 22 May 1933, relates to the death of Louis Schloss,
an inmate of Dachau. Attached to the letter is a copy of a report of the
autopsy conducted in the Schloss case, signed by the examining
physicians. The letter of 22 May 1933, begins:
“In the afternoon of 16 May 1933 the police station Dachau
informed the State Prosecution that an inmate of the
concentration camp Dachau, the merchant Louis Schloss, from
Nurnberg, widowed, born on 21 June 1889, has hanged himself in
solitary confinement. At the request of the state prosecution,
on the same day the legal inspection was performed with the
assistance of the state court physician with the State Court
Munich II. As it was proven that the corpse exhibited numerous
whip marks and as the cause of death appeared doubtful, an
autopsy was carried out on 17 May 1933. According to a
preliminary certificate of the participating physicians, the
autopsy did not prove death by hanging”. (_644-PS_)
The preliminary opinion of the examining physician states:
“Preliminary opinion:
“I. The death through hanging could not be proven by autopsy.
“II. Extensive blood suffusions and whipmarks were found,
particularly on the back, on the buttocks and on both arms, as
well as on both legs, abdomen and thorax to a minor extent. In
the region of the buttocks and shoulders extensive destruction
of adipose tissue was found together with the blood suffusions.
This is adequate to explain death through autointoxication and
fat embolism.” (_644-PS_)
The fourth (_645-PS_) 1 June 1933, relates to the death of Sebastian
Nefzger, another Dachau prisoner. The letter reads:
“On May 27, 1933, the following report was received by the Lower
Court Dachau:
“Concentration Camp Dachau, Political Division, May 27, 1933, to
the Lower Court Dachau. An inquest on the dead body of the
prisoner Nefzger Sebastian merchant in Munich, Schommerstrasse
17/0, born: 1/10/1900 in Munich, religion: Catholic, marital
status: married—showed that death through the action of third
persons must be excluded. Death was indubitably caused by
excessive bleeding resulting from an opened artery of the left
hand. Signed Dr. Nuernbergk, Camp Physician.
“Neither the Lower Court Dachau nor the State Attorney Munich II
had up to that time been informed of Nefzger’s death reported in
the letter in spite of the fact that Nefzger had already died in
the night of the 25 to the 26th of May 1933. The Lower Court
Dachau informed the State Attorney, Munich II of this letter. A
coroner’s inquest was ordered, which took place as late as May
27, 1933. Since the physician appointed by the Superior Court,
doubted that death had occurred to excessive bleeding and in
identified marks of strings on the victim’s neck, a judicial
autopsy was arranged by the State Attorney on May 29, 1933. The
resulting opinion of the expert is so far: I) The autopsy
discloses that excessive bleeding due to a cut on the left arm
must be excluded as a cause of death: II) The cut on the left
wrist reveals three incisions of the bone. Trial cuts are
lacking. These findings are contrary to the assumption that the
wound has been self-inflicted: III) It must be assumed that the
cause of death was suffocation. As a cause for suffocation,
strangulation and throttling must be considered. The
characteristics of the marks left by the strings do not agree
with those otherwise observed in cases of death caused by
hanging.” (_645-PS_)
These four murders, committed within the short space of two weeks in the
Spring of 1933, each by different SS guards, are but a few examples of
SS activities in the camps even as early as 1933. Many similar examples
from that period and later periods could be produced.
Indeed, that sort of thing was officially encouraged. Disciplinary
Regulations for the Dachau Concentration Camp were issued on 1 October
1933 by SS Fuehrer Eicke, who later became commander of all the Death
Head Units (_778-PS_). The fourth paragraph of the introduction of those
rules provides:
“Tolerance means weakness. In the light of this conception,
punishment will be mercilessly handed out whenever the interests
of the Fatherland warrant it. The fellow countryman who is
decent but misled will never be affected by these regulations.
But let it be a warning to the agitating politicians and
intellectual provocators—regardless of which kind—; be on
guard not to be caught, for otherwise it will be your neck and
you will be shut up according to your own methods.” (_778-PS_)
So many inmates were killed “while trying to escape,” to use the pat
official phrase, that by 1936 the Minister of Justice was moved to
appeal to Himmler to regulate the use of firearms by the Death Head
Units. A memorandum 9 March 1936, prepared by Minister of Justice
Guertner, reads as follows:
“On the 2d of this month, using the Hoppe case as an
illustration, I discussed the question of use of arms by the
guard-personnel of the concentration camp with the Reichsfuehrer
SS. I suggested to Himmler that he issue an order on the use of
arms for the officials subordinated to him. I referred in this
respect to the example of the decree on the use of arms by the
armed forces of 17 January of this year. Himmler has promised me
that such a decree will be issued and will grant us
participation in the preliminary work.” (_781-PS_)
The memorandum bears the pencil notation, “Initiative with Himmler”.
Subsequent events showed how Himmler carried out this initiative.
(_b_) _Administration of concentration camps through SS agencies._
Furnishing guard personnel was not the only function of the SS with
relation to the camps. The entire internal management of the camps,
including the use of prisoners, their housing, clothing, sanitary
conditions, the determination of their right to live and the disposal of
their remains, was controlled by the SS. Such management was first
vested in the leader of the SS Death Head Units, who also had the title
of Inspector of the Concentration Camps. This official was originally a
part of the SS Main Office (_SS Hauptamt_), represented on the chart by
the second box from the left (_Chart Number 3_).
During the course of the war, in March 1942, control of concentration
camps was transferred to another of the departments of the SS Supreme
Command, the SS Economic and Administration Main Office (commonly known
as WVHA). That department is indicated on the chart by the third box
from the left (_Chart Number 3_).
That change was announced in a letter to Himmler 30 April 1942 from SS
Obergruppenfuehrer and General of the Waffen SS Pohl, the Chief of WVHA
(_R-129_). In that letter Pohl reported on the measures he had taken to
carry out Himmler’s order of 3 March 1942 to transform the camps into
large scale economic enterprises, and inclosed an order to all
concentration camp commanders which provided that no longer was there to
be any limit on working hours in the camps. (_R-129_)
(_c_) _SS control of concentration camps and the slave labor program._
This shift of control to WVHA coincided with the change in the basic
purposes of the concentration camps. Political and security reasons,
which previously had been the grounds for confinement, were abandoned
and the camps were made to serve the Nazi slave labor program.
To satisfy the increased demands for manpower it was not enough to work
the inmates of the camp harder. More inmates had to be obtained. Through
its police arm, the SS was prepared to satisfy this demand. On 17
December 1942 an order was issued to all commanders of the Security
Police and SD directing that at least 35,000 prisoners qualified for
work be sent immediately to the concentration camps (_1063-D-PS_).
Thirty-five thousand prisoners was, of course, merely the beginning. The
SS dragnet was capable of catching many more slaves. A directive to all
the departments of the SS Supreme Command signed by Himmler at his field
headquarters on 5 August 1943, ordered the collection of men, women, and
children for work in coal mines (_744-PS_). This directive implements an
order signed by Keitel directing the use of all males captured in
guerilla fighting in the East for forced labor (_744-PS_). The Himmler
directive, it will be noted, is addressed to every main office in the SS
Supreme Command:
“_Subject_: Manpower for coal mining industry. _Reference_:
Letter of the command staff of the Reichsfuehrer SS—journal No.
Ia/1909/43 secret.
Secret
1. Chief of the personal staff of Reichsfuehrer SS.
2. SS Main Office.
3. Reich security main office (RSHA).
4. Race and resettlement main office—SS.
5. Main office, ordinary police.
6. SS economic administrative main office.
7. SS personal main office.
8. Main office SS court.
9. SS Supreme Command—Headquarters of the Waffen SS.
10. Staff Headquarters of the Reichscommissar for the
consolidation of Germanism.
11. Main office center for Racial Germans (_Volksdeutsche
Mittelstelle_).
12. Office of SS Obergruppenfuehrer Heissmeyer.
13. Chief of the guerilla-fighting units.