The 11th SS-Standarte was a large regimental formation of the

Allgemeine-SS The ''Allgemeine SS'' (; "General SS") was a major branch of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany; it was managed by the SS Main Office (''SS-Hauptamt''). The ''Allgemeine SS'' was officially established in the autum ...

and the principal mustering SS unit in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. First formed in 1932, the Standarte was headquartered in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and during its first years of existence served as a base for members of the

Austrian SS The Austrian SS was that portion of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) membership from Austria. The term and title was used unofficially. They were never officially recognized as a separate branch of the SS. Austrian SS members were seen as regular personn ...

who were attempting to influence Austrian politics towards an

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

with Germany. By 1936, the SS had been declared illegal in Austria, and the 11th SS-Standarte went completely underground, although still participated in several covert actions against the

government of Austria The Government of Austria (german: Bundesregierung der Republik Österreich) is the executive cabinet of the Republic of Austria. It consists of the chancellor, who is the head of government, the vice chancellor and the ministers. Appointme ...

. When

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

absorbed Austria in 1938, the Standarte "came out in the open" and became the largest regiment command of the SS in Austria, under the authority of the

SS-Oberabschnitt Donau The Austrian SS was that portion of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) membership from Austria. The term and title was used unofficially. They were never officially recognized as a separate branch of the SS. Austrian SS members were seen as regular personn ...

. During this period in the 1930s, one notable member of the 11th SS-Standarate was

Amon Göth Amon Leopold Göth (; alternative spelling ''Goeth''; 11 December 1908 – 13 September 1946) was an Austrian SS functionary and war criminal. He served as the commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp in Płaszów in German ...

who would later join the German Concentration Camp service and be immortalized in the film ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...

''. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

began, most members of the 11th SS-Standarte transferred into the Waffen-SS. A small core of Allgemeine-SS personnel remained in Austria, but as the war progressed there were less and less formal functions performed by the 11th SS-Standarte. The unit effectively existed on paper only after 1944, but was listed as having a posted commander until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Commanders

* SS-

Sturmbannführer __NOTOC__ ''Sturmbannführer'' (; ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank equivalent to major that was used in several Nazi organizations, such as the SA, SS, and the NSFK. The rank originated from German shock troop units of the First World War ...

Walter Turza (June 11, 1931 - November 12, 1931) * SS-Sturmbannführer Anton Ziegler (November 12, 1931 - September 9, 1932) * SS-Sturmbannführer Josef Fitzthum (September 9, 1932 - March 30, 1933) * SS-Sturmbannführer Anton Ziegler (March 30, 1933 - August 1, 1933) * SS-Sturmbannführer Hubert Köblinger (August 1, 1933 -August 23, 1933) * SS-Sturmbannführer Georg Hof (March 23, 1933 - August 1, 1934) * SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Musil (August 1, 1934 - February 7, 1935) * SS-Sturmbannführer Karl Urban (February 7, 1935 - March 17, 1937) * SS-Sturmbannführer Max Plobner (March 17, 1937 - July 8, 1938) * SS-Sturmbannführer Leopold Koberl (July 8, 1938 - October 1, 1938) * SS-Sturmbannführer Helmuth Breymann (October 1, 1938 - January 9, 1944) * SS-Standartenführer Walter Turza (January 9, 1944 - May 8, 1945)

References

* Yerger, Mark C. ''Allgemeine-SS: The Commands, Units, and Leaders of the General SS'', Schiffer Publishing (1997). {{Allgemeine-SS Nazi SS

See also

Commanders

References