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Schutzstaffel

File:Schutzstaffel_SS.svg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Schutzstaffel

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Also known as Elite Guard

The Schutzstaffel (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ᛋᛋ) was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II.

AI overview

The Schutzstaffel (SS) was a large paramilitary force that served Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany and throughout occupied Europe during World War II. It is historically significant as a key instrument of Nazi power during this period.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Government agency.agency_name
Schutzstaffel
Government agency.logo
Schutzstaffel SS.svgclass=skin-invert
Government agency.logo_width
100
Government agency.logo_caption
SS insignia
Government agency.picture
Clockwise from top left:
Government agency.preceding1
Sturmabteilung (SA)
Government agency.preceding2
Stabswache
Government agency.dissolved
(de facto) (de jure)
Government agency.jurisdiction
Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe
Government agency.headquarters
Prinz-Albrecht-Straße, Berlin
Government agency.employees
800,000 ( 1944)
Government agency.minister_type
Reichsführer
Government agency.agency_type
Paramilitary
Government agency.parent_agency
Nazi PartySturmabteilung (until July 1934)
Government agency.child1_agency
Allgemeine SS
Government agency.child2_agency
Waffen-SS
Government agency.child3_agency
SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV)
Government agency.child4_agency
Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; until 1939, when folded into the RSHA)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
Nazi Party
Has part
SS-Hauptamt
Field of work
counter-insurgency
Headquarters
Munich
Parent organization
Nazi Party
Chairperson
Reichsführer-SS
Conflict
World War II
Image
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H04436, Klagenfurt, Adolf Hitler, Ehrenkompanie.jpg
Motto
Meine Ehre heißt Treue
Political ideology
Nazism
Show 15 more facts
Commons category
SS (Nazi Germany)
inception
1925-04-04
dissolved, abolished or demolished date
1945-10-10
director / manager
Karl Hanke
topic's main category
Category:Nazi SS
house publication
Das Schwarze Korps
native label
SS
owner of
Ostindustrie
member count
800000
P8168
Cavtat
on focus list of Wikimedia project
Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
different from
Sturmabteilung
subject named as
SS
Sources (10)

via Wikidata · CC0

~82 min read

Encyclopedic overview

45 sections
Contents
  • Origins
  • Forerunner of the SS
  • Early commanders
  • Himmler appointed
  • Ideology
  • Pre-war Germany
  • Hitler's personal bodyguards
  • Concentration camps founded
  • SS in World War II
  • Invasion of Poland
  • Battle of France
  • Campaign in the Balkans
  • War in the east
  • The Holocaust
  • Anti-partisan operations
  • Death camps
  • Business empire
  • Military reversals
  • Normandy landings
  • Battle for Germany
  • SS units and branches
  • Reich Security Main Office
  • <span id="Special_action_units"></span> ''SS-Sonderkommandos''
  • ''Einsatzgruppen''
  • SS Court Main Office
  • SS Cavalry
  • SS Medical Corps
  • Other SS units
  • ''Ahnenerbe''
  • ''SS-Helferinnenkorps''
  • ''SS-Gefolge''
  • Foreign legions and volunteers
  • Ranks and uniforms
  • SS membership estimates 1925–1945
  • SS offices
  • Austrian SS
  • Post-war activity and aftermath
  • International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg
  • Escapes
  • See also
  • Informational notes
  • Citations
  • Bibliography
  • Further reading
  • External links

The Schutzstaffel (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ᛋᛋ) was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II.

It began with a small guard unit known as the Saal-Schutz ("Hall Security") made up of party volunteers to provide security for party meetings in Munich. In 1925, Heinrich Himmler joined the unit, which had by then been reformed and given its final name. Under his direction (1929–1945) it grew from a small paramilitary formation during the Weimar Republic to one of the most powerful organisations in Nazi Germany. From the time of the Nazi Party's rise to power until the regime's collapse in 1945, the SS was the foremost agency of security, mass surveillance, and state terrorism within Germany and German-occupied Europe.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Schutzstaffel” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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