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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

~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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