(SS-VT, ) was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
(NSDAP). On 17 August 1938
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the (order police) nor the , but military-trained men at the disposal of the . In time of war, the SS-VT were to be placed at the disposal of the army.
The SS-VT were involved in the German
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
in September 1939. By 1940 these military
SS units had become the nucleus of the .
Formation
The SS-VT was formed on 24 September 1934 from a merger of various Nazi and
paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934.
Overview
Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
formations such as the SS Special Detachments (''
SS-Sonderkommandos'') and the Headquarters Guard (''SS-
Stabswache'') units. The SS-VT consisted of three regiments, modelled on the infantry regiments of the German Army (''
Heer'') and regulations; each regiment consisting of three infantry battalions, a motorcycle company and a mortar company. The unit was officially designated ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' ("Dispositional troops", i.e. troops at the personal disposal of the Führer). The men were to be volunteers who had completed their service in the ''
Reichsarbeitsdienst
The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major paramilitary organization established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the Economy of Nazi Germany, German economy, militarise the wo ...
'' (RAD; Reich Labour Service).
The existence of the ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT) was publicly declared on 16 March 1935 by Hitler in a speech at the
Reichstag. The SS-VT had to depend on the German Army for its supply of weapons and military training, and the army also retained control of the recruiting system through local draft boards responsible for assigning conscripts to the different branches of the Wehrmacht to meet quotas set by the German High Command (''
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
The (; abbreviated OKW ː kaːˈveArmed Forces High Command) was the Command (military formation), supreme military command and control Staff (military), staff of Nazi Germany during World War II, that was directly subordinated to Adolf ...
'' or OKW in German). As a consequence, the SS was given the lowest priority for recruits, thereby limiting its size.
In 1936, Himmler selected former Lieutenant General
Paul Hausser to be Inspector of the SS-VT with the rank of ''
Brigadefuhrer''. Hausser worked to transform the SS-VT into a credible military force that was a match for the regular army. The SS-VT trained alongside Hitler's personal bodyguard, the ''
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler'' (LSSAH), which had also been formed from the ''SS-
Stabswache'' and ''SS-Sonderkommando Berlin''. The LSSAH, under the command of
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich, continued to serve exclusively as a personal protection unit for Hitler and an honor guard during this timeframe.
By 1937 the SS was divided into three branches: the ''
Allgemeine-SS'' (General SS), the ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT), and the ''
SS-Totenkopfverbände
(SS-TV; or 'SS Death's Head Battalions') was a major branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary (SS) organisation. It was responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps, concentration camps and extermination camps of Nazi Germany ...
'' (SS-TV) which administered the
concentration camps
A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...
. On 17 August 1938 Hitler decreed that the SS military formations were to be placed at the "disposal" of the army in time of war. Hitler stated, at Himmler's request, that service in the SS-VT qualified to fulfill military service obligations. Further, during wartime, units of the SS-TV would be used as reserves for the SS-VT. Over the course of the war this led to a constant flux of men between the Waffen-SS and the
Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe.
The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
.
The military formations under Himmler's command on 1 September 1939 consisted of several subgroups:
* Hitler's bodyguard unit, the ''Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler'' (LSSAH) under
Sepp Dietrich.
* The
Inspectorate of ''Verfügungstruppe'' under
Paul Hausser, which commanded the ''Deutschland'', ''
Germania
Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...
'' and ''Der Führer'' regiments.
*The
Concentration Camps Inspectorate (''Inspektion der Konzentrationslager'') under
Theodor Eicke, which fielded four militarized
Death's-Head ''Standarten'', comprising camp guards of the ''
SS-Totenkopfverbände
(SS-TV; or 'SS Death's Head Battalions') was a major branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary (SS) organisation. It was responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps, concentration camps and extermination camps of Nazi Germany ...
.'' The
''SS-Totenkopf'' Division was initially formed from concentration camp guards of the ''
Standarten'' (regiments) of the SS-TV and the ''
SS Heimwehr Danzig'' in October 1939. It was then folded into the Waffen-SS in August 1940. These troops wore the SS-TV skull and crossbones rather than the SS-VT "SS" runes.
*There were in addition combat-trained non-SS police units of ''
Obergruppenführer
(, ) was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after ...
''
Kurt Daluege
Kurt Max Franz Daluege (15 September 1897 – 24 October 1946) was a German ''SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer'' and ''Generaloberst'' of the police, the highest ranking police officer, who served as chief of ''Ordnungspolizei'' (Order Police) of N ...
's ''
Ordnungspolizei
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (''Orpo'', , meaning "Order Police") were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly of power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favour of t ...
'', which reported to Himmler in his capacity as Chief of German Police. For the 1940 campaigns these also would be formed into a
division, which would be placed under Waffen-SS control in January 1941 and merged into it in February 1942.
Early operations
Elements of the SS-VT served with the Wehrmacht during the occupation of the
Sudetenland
The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and ) is a German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the border districts of Bohe ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, and
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
. For those operations, the SS-VT was under the command of the army. The SS-VT also formed an Artillery Regiment during this time-frame which was used to fill the gaps in a number of army units for those events. The SS-VT regiments ''Deutschland'' and ''Germania'' along with the ''Leibstandarte'' participated in the
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, with ''Der Führer'' (recruited in
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
after the
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...
) in reserve at Prague. In September 1939, a combined unit of SS-VT and
Heer (army) troops conducted operations jointly as
Panzer Division ''Kempf'' during the
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
. It fought alongside army units at
Rozan,
Modlin,
Łomża
Łomża () is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately to the north-east of Warsaw and west of Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the capital of Łomża County and has been the se ...
and
Kmiczyn. The division was disbanded near the Polish city of
Nidzica
Nidzica (; formerly ; ; ) is a town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of Poland, lying between Olsztyn and Mława, in Masuria. The capital of Nidzica County, its population in 2017 was 13,872.
History
The settlement was originally founded by O ...
on 7 October 1939.
In spite of the swift military victory over Poland in September 1939, events during the invasion of Poland raised doubts over the combat effectiveness of the SS-VT. The OKW or ''
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
The (; abbreviated OKW ː kaːˈveArmed Forces High Command) was the Command (military formation), supreme military command and control Staff (military), staff of Nazi Germany during World War II, that was directly subordinated to Adolf ...
'' (High Command of the Armed Forces) reported that the SS-VT units took unnecessary risks and had a higher casualty rate than the army. They also stated that the SS-VT was poorly trained and its officers unsuitable for combat command. As an example, OKW noted that the ''Leibstandarte'' had to be rescued by an army regiment after becoming surrounded at
Pabianice
Pabianice is a city in central Poland with 63,023 inhabitants (2021). Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County. It lies about southwest of Łódź and belongs to the metropolitan area of that city. It is the thi ...
by the Poles. In its defence, the SS insisted that it had been hampered by having to fight piecemeal instead of as one formation, and was improperly equipped by the army to carry out its objectives. Himmler insisted that the SS-VT should be allowed to fight in its own formations under its own commanders, while the OKW tried to have the SS-VT disbanded altogether. Hitler was unwilling to upset either the army or Himmler, and chose a third path. He ordered that the SS-VT form its own divisions but that the divisions would be under army command.
In addition, Eicke's SS-TV field forces were not military, and during the invasion of Poland, "
eir...capabilities were employed instead in terrorizing the civilian population through acts that included hunting down straggling Polish soldiers, confiscating agricultural produce and livestock, and torturing and murdering large numbers of Polish political leaders, aristocrats, businessmen, priests, intellectuals, and Jews." Further, members of the ''Leibstandarte'' also committed atrocities in numerous towns, including the murder of 50 Polish Jews in
Błonie and the massacre in Złoczew, where 200 civilians were machine gunned. Złoczew's children also suffered; SS men beat and murdered them, sometimes with rifle butts, crushing the skulls of toddlers. Shootings also took place in
Bolesławiec
Bolesławiec (pronounced , ) is a historic city situated on the Bóbr River in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the administrative seat of Bolesławiec County, and of Gmina Bolesławiec, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Gm ...
,
Torzeniec,
Goworowo,
Mława, and
Włocławek
Włocławek (; or ''Alt Lesle'', Yiddish: וולאָצלאַוועק, romanized: ''Vlatzlavek'') is a city in the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship in central Poland along the Vistula River, bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park ...
.
Development of the Waffen-SS
In October 1939 the SS-VT regiments ''Deutschland'', ''Germania'', and ''Der Führer'' were organized into the ''
SS-Verfügungs-Division'' with Paul Hausser as commander. The LSSAH was expanded into a motorized regiment.
In addition, the armed but ill-trained ''Totenkopfstandarten'', together with ''SS Heimwehr Danzig'', were organized into the ''
Totenkopf-Division'' under Eicke's command in October 1939. A further division, the
''Polizei-Division'', was created from the ''
Ordnungspolizei
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (''Orpo'', , meaning "Order Police") were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly of power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favour of t ...
''. These formations took part in combat training while under army commands in preparation for
Fall Gelb against the Low Countries and France in 1940.
Elements of both the SS-VT and the LSSAH participated in the ground invasion of the
Battle of the Netherlands
The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Battle of France, Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Neth ...
. In the five-day campaign, the LSSAH linked up with army units and airborne troops after a number of clashes with Dutch defenders. After the surrender of Rotterdam, the LSSAH left for
The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
, which they reached on 15 May, after capturing 3,500 Dutch soldiers as
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
.
On 16 May the SS ''Totenkopf'' Division was ordered to France and was attached to army divisions which formed the northern "spearhead" of attack. In France, the SS ''Totenkopf'' was involved in the only Allied tank attack in the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...
. On 21 May units of the British
1st Army Tank Brigade, supported by the
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, took part in the
Battle of Arras. The SS ''Totenkopf'' was overrun, finding their standard
anti-tank gun
An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...
, the
3.7 cm PaK 36, no match for the British
Matilda tank.
After the Dutch surrender, the LSSAH was moved south to France. On 24 May the LSSAH, along with the SS-VT division, were positioned to hold the perimeter around
Dunkirk
Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
, assisting in reduction of the size of the pocket containing the encircled
British Expeditionary Force and French forces. On 27 May, a unit from the ''Totenkopf'', the 4 Company, committed the
Le Paradis massacre; 97 captured men of the 2nd Battalion
Royal Norfolk Regiment were machine gunned after surrendering, with survivors finished off with
bayonet
A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...
s. Two men survived. By 28 May the ''SS-Leibstandarte'' had taken the village of
Wormhout, from Dunkirk. There, soldiers of the 2nd Battalion were responsible for the
Wormhoudt massacre, where 80 British and French soldiers were murdered after they surrendered.
After the close of the Battle of France, the SS-VT was officially renamed the Waffen-SS, in a speech made by
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
on 19 July 1940. Himmler also gained approval for the Waffen-SS to form its own high command, the ''Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS'' (Waffen-SS Command Office) within the ''
SS-Führungshauptamt'' (FHA), which was created in August 1940 under ''
Gruppenführer
__NOTOC__
''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire d ...
''
Hans Jüttner. The ''Totenkopf'' Division, together with the independent ''Totenkopf-Standarten'', were transferred to FHA control. Further that same month, SS chief-of-staff
Gottlob Berger approached Himmler with a plan to recruit volunteers in the conquered territories from the ethnic German and Germanic populations. At first Hitler had doubts about recruiting foreigners, but he was persuaded by Himmler and Berger. He gave approval for a new division to be formed from foreign nationals with German officers.
In December 1940 the ''Germania'' Regiment was removed from the ''Verfügungs''-Division and used to form the cadre of a new division,
SS-Division ''Germania''. It was made up of mostly "Nordic" volunteers from the newly conquered territories, Danes, Norwegians, Dutch and Flemings. By the start of 1941, ''Germania'' was renamed ''Wiking'', with command given to then ''Brigadeführer''
Felix Steiner, the former commander of the SS-VT regiment ''Deutschland''. The ''Verfügungs-Division'' was also renamed ''Reich'' (in 1942 ''Das Reich''). In addition, the ''Polizei'' division was brought under Waffen-SS administration.
[ ''Polizei'' division members continued to wear ''Ordnungspolizei'' insignia and the division did not include "SS" in its name.] The ''Leibstandarte'' was also expanded to a division for
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
.
When the Waffen-SS divisions were assigned numbers much later in the war these first formations, ''Leibstandarte, Das Reich, Totenkopf, Polizei'' and ''Wiking'', were recognized as SS divisions 1 through 5.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ss-Verfugungstruppe
Nazi SS
German words and phrases