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{{short description|Predecessor of the Waffen-SS}}
The '''SS-Verfügungstruppe''' ('''The Combat Support Force''') (short: '''SS-VT''') were combat divisions of the [[SS]], trained according to the regulations of the German Armed Forces ([[Wehrmacht]]). They were the precursor of the later-developed [[Waffen-SS]]. <ref name="EW">Waffen-SS at [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] </ref>
{{distinguish|text=[[SS-Totenkopfverbände]] (SS-TV), the SS organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= {{lang|de|SS-Verfügungstruppe}}
|image= Sig runes.svg
|image_size=100px
|caption= [[Sig runes|SS insignia]] worn on the right side of the [[Stahlhelm|helmet]]s of SS-Verfügungstruppe.
|dates= 1934–1940
|country= {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]
|allegiance=[[Adolf Hitler]]
|type= [[Panzergrenadier]]
|branch=[[File:Flag Schutzstaffel.svg|23px]] [[SS]]
|role= {{ubl|[[Close protection]]|[[Counter-insurgency]]|[[Maneuver warfare]]|[[Raid (military)|Raiding]]}}
|size= [[Division (military)|Division]]
|command_structure=
|garrison= Berlin
|garrison_label=
|nickname=
|patron=
|motto=
|colors= Black, White, Red
|colors_label=
|march=
|mascot=
|equipment=
|equipment_label=
|battles=
|anniversaries=
|decorations=
|battle_honours=
|disbanded=
|notable_commanders= [[Paul Hausser]]<br>[[Felix Steiner]]<br>[[Sepp Dietrich]]
}}
'''{{lang|de|SS-Verfügungstruppe}}''' ('''SS-VT''', {{literally|SS Dispositional Troops}}) was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the [[Nazi Party]] (NSDAP). On 17 August 1938 [[Adolf Hitler]] decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the {{lang|de|[[Ordnungspolizei]]}} (order police) nor the {{lang|de|[[Wehrmacht]]}}, but military-trained men at the disposal of the {{lang|de|[[Führer]]}}. 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]] in September 1939. By 1940 these military [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] units had become the nucleus of the {{lang|de|[[Waffen-SS]]}}.
==History==
On 24 September 1934 a special [[SS]] military group was formed from the merger of various Nazi and paramilitary formations like units known as SS Special Detachments (SS-Sonderkommandos) and the Headquarters Guard (SS-Stabswache) units. The new group was to be trained as combat ready infantry according to the German Army ([[Wehrmacht]]) regulations. The unit was officially designated SS-Special Purpose Troops (SS-Verfügungstruppe) and was described as neither police nor Armed Forces but military trained men at the disposal of the Führer in war and peace. The existence of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (known as SS-VT) was publicly declared on 16 March 1935. The SS-VT trained alongside Hitler’s personal body guards, although the SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (SS-LAH) continued to serve exclusively as a personal protection unit. The SS-LAH independently fielded combat troops during the campaign against Poland. Elements later joined the SS-VT prior to the invasion of Russia in 1941


==Formation==
Elements of the SS-VT served with the Wehrmacht during the occupation of the Sudetenland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, and participated in the invasion of Poland along with the campaign against the Allies in the West. From the various regiments that formed the SS-VT sprung the Waffen-SS (Armed-SS) Divisions that fought in all German theaters during World War II. Units comprising the SS-VT were not known as the "Waffen-SS" until a speech by Adolf Hitler in July 1940.
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H15390, Berlin, Kaserne der LSSAH, Vergatterung.jpg|thumb|LSSAH troops undergo a drill inspection in Berlin, November 1938]]
The SS-VT was formed on 24 September 1934 from a merger of various Nazi and [[paramilitary]] formations such as the SS Special Detachments (''[[SS-Sonderkommandos]]'') and the Headquarters Guard (''SS-[[Stabswache]]'') units.{{sfn|Reynolds|1997|pp=1–3}} The SS-VT consisted of three regiments, modelled on the infantry regiments of the German Army (''[[German Army (Wehrmacht)|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).{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=144}} The men were to be volunteers who had completed their service in the ''[[Reichsarbeitsdienst]]'' (RAD; Reich Labour Service).{{sfn|Mollo|1991|p=3}}


The existence of the ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT) was publicly declared on 16 March 1935 by Hitler in a speech at the [[Reichstag (Nazi Germany)|Reichstag]].{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=9}} 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]]'' or OKW in German). As a consequence, the SS was given the lowest priority for recruits, thereby limiting its size.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=145}}
In 1939 the overall SS was divided into two groups: the [[Allgemeine-SS]] (General SS) and the [[Waffen-SS]] (Armed SS).


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.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=146}}{{sfn|Windrow|Burn|1992|pp=7–8}} The SS-VT trained alongside Hitler's personal bodyguard, the ''[[Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler]]'' (LSSAH), which had also been formed from the ''SS-[[1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler|Stabswache]]'' and ''SS-Sonderkommando Berlin''. The LSSAH, under the command of [[Sepp Dietrich|Josef "Sepp" Dietrich]], continued to serve exclusively as a personal protection unit for Hitler and an honor guard during this timeframe.{{sfn|Cook|Bender|1994|pp=8, 9, 12, 17, 19}}{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=4–8}}
The Waffen-SS was made into three subgroups
* The Hitler's personal bodyguard ([[German language|German]]: ''[[Leibstandarte]]'')
* The Death's-Head Battalions ([[German language|German]]: ''[[SS-Totenkopfverbände|Totenkopfverbände]]'') that administered the concentration camps.
* The Combat Support Force, ([[German language|German]]: ''[[SS-Verfügungstruppe|Verfügungstruppe]]'') Up to 39 divisions in World War II that served as elite combat troops alongside the regular army [[Wehrmacht]]. <ref name="EW"/>


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) which administered the [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]].<ref>''Organisationsbuch der NSDAP'', 3rd Ed. (1937) p. 424</ref> 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.{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=23}} 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.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=148}}{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=23, 33}} Over the course of the war this led to a constant flux of men between the Waffen-SS and the [[Nazi concentration camps]].{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=23}}
In 1941 the overall commander of the SS, [[Heinrich Himmler]], announced that additional Waffen-SS Verfügungstruppe units would be raised from non-German foreign nationals. The goal was to acquire additional manpower from occupied nations. Some of these foreign legions included volunteers from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, and the Netherlands.


The military formations under Himmler's command on 1 September 1939 consisted of several subgroups:
Countries like Spain, officially a non belligerent state by the end of the war provided many undercover volunteers to the Waffen SS ( most of then with the SS Wallonien division) that saw combat until the end in Berlin. This and many other volunteers of non-German background were "True Believers" in the German cause.
* Hitler's bodyguard unit, the ''Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler'' (LSSAH) under [[Sepp Dietrich]].{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=5–7}}
* The [[Inspectorate]] of ''Verfügungstruppe'' under [[Paul Hausser]], which commanded the ''Deutschland'', ''[[Germania]]'' and ''Der Führer'' regiments.
*The [[Concentration Camps Inspectorate]] (''Inspektion der Konzentrationslager'') under [[Theodor Eicke]], which fielded four militarized [[3rd SS Division Totenkopf|Death's-Head ''Standarten'']], comprising camp guards of the ''[[SS-Totenkopfverbände]].''{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=27, 28, 33, 34}} The [[3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf|''SS-Totenkopf'']] Division was initially formed from concentration camp guards of the ''[[Standarte (Nazi Germany)|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.{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=32–35}} 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]]'' [[Kurt Daluege]]'s ''[[Ordnungspolizei]]'', which reported to Himmler in his capacity as Chief of German Police. For the 1940 campaigns these also would be formed into a [[4th SS Polizei Division|division]], which would be placed under Waffen-SS control in January 1941 and merged into it in February 1942.


== References ==
==Early operations==
[[File:Reichsparteitag 1935 Großer Appell 28-1121M original.jpg|thumb|SS-VT in full marching order, 1935]]
<references/>
Elements of the SS-VT served with the Wehrmacht during the occupation of the [[Sudetenland]], [[Anschluss|Austria]], and [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovakia]].{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=148}} 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.{{sfn|Mollo|1991|p=4}} The SS-VT regiments ''Deutschland'' and ''Germania'' along with the ''Leibstandarte'' participated in the [[invasion of Poland]], with ''Der Führer'' (recruited in [[Austria]] after the [[Anschluss]]) in reserve at Prague. In September 1939, a combined unit of SS-VT and [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|Heer]] (army) troops conducted operations jointly as [[Panzer Division Kempf|Panzer Division ''Kempf'']] during the [[invasion of Poland]].{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=25–27}} It fought alongside army units at [[Battle of Różan|Rozan]], [[Battle of Modlin|Modlin]], [[Łomża]] and [[Kmiczyn]]. The division was disbanded near the Polish city of [[Nidzica]] 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]]'' (High Command of the Armed Forces) reported that the SS-VT units took unnecessary risks and had a higher casualty rate than the army.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=149}} 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]] by the Poles.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=149}} 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.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=149}}

In addition, Eicke's SS-TV field forces were not military, and during the invasion of Poland, "[t]heir...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."{{sfn|Sydnor|1990|pp=37, 44}} 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.<ref>Witold Kulesza. Zbrodnie Wehrmachtu w Polsce – wrzesień 1939. „Biuletyn IPN”. 8-9 (43-44), issue August – September 2004., p.22-23</ref> Shootings also took place in [[Bolesławiec]], [[Torzeniec]], [[Goworowo]], [[Mława]], and [[Włocławek]].{{sfn|Rossino|2003|pp=114, 159–161}}

==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.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=149}}{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=32}}

In addition, the armed but ill-trained ''Totenkopfstandarten'', together with ''SS Heimwehr Danzig'', were organized into the ''[[3rd SS Division|Totenkopf-Division]]'' under Eicke's command in October 1939.{{sfn|Sydnor|1990|pp=37, 44}} A further division, the [[4th SS Polizei Division|''Polizei-Division'']], was created from the ''[[Ordnungspolizei]]''. These formations took part in combat training while under army commands in preparation for [[Fall Gelb]] against the Low Countries and France in 1940.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|pp=149–151}}

Elements of both the SS-VT and the LSSAH participated in the ground invasion of the [[Battle of the Netherlands]].{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=61–65}} In the five-day campaign, the LSSAH linked up with army units and airborne troops after a number of clashes with Dutch defenders.{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=61, 62}} After the surrender of Rotterdam, the LSSAH left for [[The Hague]], which they reached on 15 May, after capturing 3,500 Dutch soldiers as [[prisoners of war]].{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=154}}

On 16 May the SS ''Totenkopf'' Division was ordered to France and was attached to army divisions which formed the northern "spearhead" of attack.{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=66}} In France, the SS ''Totenkopf'' was involved in the only Allied tank attack in the [[Battle of France]]. On 21 May units of the British [[1st Army Tank Brigade (United Kingdom)|1st Army Tank Brigade]], supported by the [[50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division]], took part in the [[Battle of Arras (1940)|Battle of Arras]]. The SS ''Totenkopf'' was overrun, finding their standard [[anti-tank gun]], the [[3.7 cm PaK 36]], no match for the British [[Matilda II|Matilda tank]].{{sfn|Harman|1980|p=100}}

After the Dutch surrender, the LSSAH was moved south to France.{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=65}} On 24 May the LSSAH, along with the SS-VT division, were positioned to hold the perimeter around [[Dunkirk]], assisting in reduction of the size of the pocket containing the encircled [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] and French forces.{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=65–69}} 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]]s. Two men survived.{{sfn|Cooper|2004}} By 28 May the ''SS-Leibstandarte'' had taken the village of [[Wormhout]], {{convert|10|miles}} 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.{{sfn|Weale|2012|pp=251–253}}

After the close of the Battle of France, the SS-VT was officially renamed the Waffen-SS, in a speech made by [[Adolf Hitler]] on 19 July 1940.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=156}} 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]]'' [[Hans Jüttner]]. The ''Totenkopf'' Division, together with the independent ''Totenkopf-Standarten'', were transferred to FHA control.{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=97–103}} 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.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|pp=160, 161}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Wiegand-117-02, Russland, Kradschütze, Beiwagenkrad.jpg|thumb|Motorcycle unit of the [[3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf]] in the Soviet Union, 1941]]

In December 1940 the ''Germania'' Regiment was removed from the ''Verfügungs''-Division and used to form the cadre of a new division, [[5 SS|SS-Division ''Germania'']].{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=103}} It was made up of mostly "Nordic" volunteers from the newly conquered territories, Danes, Norwegians, Dutch and Flemings.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=160}} 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''.{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=103, 104}} The ''Verfügungs-Division'' was also renamed ''Reich'' (in 1942 ''Das Reich'').{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=104}} In addition, the ''Polizei'' division was brought under Waffen-SS administration.<ref> ''Polizei'' division members continued to wear ''Ordnungspolizei'' insignia and the division did not include "SS" in its name.</ref> The ''Leibstandarte'' was also expanded to a division for [[Operation Barbarossa]].{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=118}}

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.{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=302}}

== Notes==
{{reflist|20em}}

==References==
* {{cite book | last1 = Cook | first1 = Stan | last2 = Bender | first2 = Roger James | title = Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler: Uniforms, Organization, & History | year = 1994 | publisher = R. James Bender | location = San Jose, CA | isbn = 978-0-912138-55-8 }}
* {{cite web | last = Cooper | first = D. | title = WW2 People's War: Le Paradis: The murder of 97 soldiers in a French field on the 26/27th May 1940 | date = 22 February 2004 | work = [[BBC Online]] | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/83/a2328383.shtml | access-date = 28 February 2016 }}
* {{cite book | last = Flaherty | first = T. H. | title = The Third Reich: The SS | publisher = Time-Life | year = 2004 | orig-year = 1988 | isbn = 1-84447-073-3 }}
* {{cite book | last = Harman | first = Nicholas | title = Dunkirk: The Necessary Myth | publisher = Hodder and Stoughton | year = 1980 | isbn = 0-340-24299-X | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/dunkirknecessary0000harm }}
* {{cite book | last = Mollo | first = Andrew | title = Uniforms of the SS: Volume 3: SS-Verfügungstruppe | year = 1991 | publisher = Historical Research Unit | isbn = 1-872004-51-2 }}
* {{cite book | last = Reynolds | first = Michael | title = Steel Inferno: I SS Panzer Corps in Normandy | publisher = Spellmount | year = 1997 | isbn = 1-873376-90-1 }}
* {{cite book | last = Rossino | first = Alexander B. | author-link = Alexander B. Rossino | title = Hitler Strikes Poland: Blitzkrieg, Ideology, and Atrocity | publisher = University Press of Kansas | location = Lawrence, Kansas | year = 2003 | isbn = 0-7006-1234-3 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/hitlerstrikespol0000ross }}
* {{cite book | last = Stein | first = George | title = The Waffen-SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War 1939–1945 | url = https://archive.org/details/waffensshitlers00stei | url-access = registration | publisher = Cornell University Press | location = Ithaca, N.Y. | year = 1984 | orig-year = 1966 | isbn = 978-0-8014-9275-4 }}
* {{cite book | last = Sydnor | first = Charles W. | year = 1990 | orig-year = 1977 | title = Soldiers of Destruction: The SS Death's Head Division, 1933–1945 | location = Princeton, N.J. | publisher = Princeton University Press | isbn = 978-0-691-00853-0 }}
* {{cite book | last = Weale | first = Adrian | title = Army of Evil: A History of the SS | year = 2012 | publisher = Caliber Printing | place = New York | isbn = 978-0-451-23791-0 }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Windrow | first1 = Martin | last2 = Burn | first2 = Cristopher | title = The Waffen-SS, Edition 2 | publisher = Osprey | year = 1992 | isbn = 0-85045-425-5 }}


== See also ==
* [[Paul Hausser]]
{{SS organizations}}
{{SS organizations}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Ss-Verfugungstruppe}}
[[Category:Nazi SS]]
[[Category:Nazi SS]]
[[Category:German words and phrases]]

[[de:SS-Verfügungstruppe]]
[[ko:SS전투부대]]
[[nl:SS-Verfügungstruppe]]
[[ja:親衛隊特務部隊]]
[[no:SS-Verfügungstruppe]]
[[pt:SS-Verfügungstruppe]]
[[fi:SS-Verfügungstruppe]]
[[sv:SS-Verfügungstruppe]]

Latest revision as of 12:03, 19 September 2024

Not to be confused with SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV), the SS organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps.

SS-Verfügungstruppe
SS insignia worn on the right side of the helmets of SS-Verfügungstruppe.
Active1934–1940
CountryNazi Germany Germany
AllegianceAdolf Hitler
Branch SS
TypePanzergrenadier
Role
SizeDivision
Garrison/HQBerlin
ColorsBlack, White, Red
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Paul Hausser
Felix Steiner
Sepp Dietrich

SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT, lit. 'SS Dispositional Troops') was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the Nazi Party (NSDAP). On 17 August 1938 Adolf Hitler decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the Ordnungspolizei (order police) nor the Wehrmacht, but military-trained men at the disposal of the Führer. 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 in September 1939. By 1940 these military SS units had become the nucleus of the Waffen-SS.

Formation

[edit]
LSSAH troops undergo a drill inspection in Berlin, November 1938

The SS-VT was formed on 24 September 1934 from a merger of various Nazi and paramilitary formations such as the SS Special Detachments (SS-Sonderkommandos) and the Headquarters Guard (SS-Stabswache) units.[1] 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).[2] The men were to be volunteers who had completed their service in the Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD; Reich Labour Service).[3]

The existence of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) was publicly declared on 16 March 1935 by Hitler in a speech at the Reichstag.[4] 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 or OKW in German). As a consequence, the SS was given the lowest priority for recruits, thereby limiting its size.[5]

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.[6][7] 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.[8][9]

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) which administered the concentration camps.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12][13] Over the course of the war this led to a constant flux of men between the Waffen-SS and the Nazi concentration camps.[11]

The military formations under Himmler's command on 1 September 1939 consisted of several subgroups:

Early operations

[edit]
SS-VT in full marching order, 1935

Elements of the SS-VT served with the Wehrmacht during the occupation of the Sudetenland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia.[12] 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.[17] The SS-VT regiments Deutschland and Germania along with the Leibstandarte participated in the invasion of Poland, with Der Führer (recruited in Austria after the Anschluss) 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.[18] It fought alongside army units at Rozan, Modlin, Łomża and Kmiczyn. The division was disbanded near the Polish city of Nidzica 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 (High Command of the Armed Forces) reported that the SS-VT units took unnecessary risks and had a higher casualty rate than the army.[19] 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 by the Poles.[19] 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.[19]

In addition, Eicke's SS-TV field forces were not military, and during the invasion of Poland, "[t]heir...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."[20] 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.[21] Shootings also took place in Bolesławiec, Torzeniec, Goworowo, Mława, and Włocławek.[22]

Development of the Waffen-SS

[edit]

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.[19][23]

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.[20] A further division, the Polizei-Division, was created from the Ordnungspolizei. These formations took part in combat training while under army commands in preparation for Fall Gelb against the Low Countries and France in 1940.[24]

Elements of both the SS-VT and the LSSAH participated in the ground invasion of the Battle of the Netherlands.[25] In the five-day campaign, the LSSAH linked up with army units and airborne troops after a number of clashes with Dutch defenders.[26] After the surrender of Rotterdam, the LSSAH left for The Hague, which they reached on 15 May, after capturing 3,500 Dutch soldiers as prisoners of war.[27]

On 16 May the SS Totenkopf Division was ordered to France and was attached to army divisions which formed the northern "spearhead" of attack.[28] In France, the SS Totenkopf was involved in the only Allied tank attack in the Battle of France. 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, the 3.7 cm PaK 36, no match for the British Matilda tank.[29]

After the Dutch surrender, the LSSAH was moved south to France.[30] On 24 May the LSSAH, along with the SS-VT division, were positioned to hold the perimeter around Dunkirk, assisting in reduction of the size of the pocket containing the encircled British Expeditionary Force and French forces.[31] 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 bayonets. Two men survived.[32] By 28 May the SS-Leibstandarte had taken the village of Wormhout, 10 miles (16 km) 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.[33]

After the close of the Battle of France, the SS-VT was officially renamed the Waffen-SS, in a speech made by Adolf Hitler on 19 July 1940.[34] 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 Hans Jüttner. The Totenkopf Division, together with the independent Totenkopf-Standarten, were transferred to FHA control.[35] 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.[36]

Motorcycle unit of the 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf in the Soviet Union, 1941

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.[37] It was made up of mostly "Nordic" volunteers from the newly conquered territories, Danes, Norwegians, Dutch and Flemings.[38] 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.[39] The Verfügungs-Division was also renamed Reich (in 1942 Das Reich).[40] In addition, the Polizei division was brought under Waffen-SS administration.[41] The Leibstandarte was also expanded to a division for Operation Barbarossa.[42]

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.[43]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Reynolds 1997, pp. 1–3.
  2. ^ Flaherty 2004, p. 144.
  3. ^ Mollo 1991, p. 3.
  4. ^ Stein 1984, p. 9.
  5. ^ Flaherty 2004, p. 145.
  6. ^ Flaherty 2004, p. 146.
  7. ^ Windrow & Burn 1992, pp. 7–8.
  8. ^ Cook & Bender 1994, pp. 8, 9, 12, 17, 19.
  9. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 4–8.
  10. ^ Organisationsbuch der NSDAP, 3rd Ed. (1937) p. 424
  11. ^ a b Stein 1984, p. 23.
  12. ^ a b Flaherty 2004, p. 148.
  13. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 23, 33.
  14. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 5–7.
  15. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 27, 28, 33, 34.
  16. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 32–35.
  17. ^ Mollo 1991, p. 4.
  18. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 25–27.
  19. ^ a b c d Flaherty 2004, p. 149.
  20. ^ a b Sydnor 1990, pp. 37, 44.
  21. ^ Witold Kulesza. Zbrodnie Wehrmachtu w Polsce – wrzesień 1939. „Biuletyn IPN”. 8-9 (43-44), issue August – September 2004., p.22-23
  22. ^ Rossino 2003, pp. 114, 159–161.
  23. ^ Stein 1984, p. 32.
  24. ^ Flaherty 2004, pp. 149–151.
  25. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 61–65.
  26. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 61, 62.
  27. ^ Flaherty 2004, p. 154.
  28. ^ Stein 1984, p. 66.
  29. ^ Harman 1980, p. 100.
  30. ^ Stein 1984, p. 65.
  31. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 65–69.
  32. ^ Cooper 2004.
  33. ^ Weale 2012, pp. 251–253.
  34. ^ Flaherty 2004, p. 156.
  35. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 97–103.
  36. ^ Flaherty 2004, pp. 160, 161.
  37. ^ Stein 1984, p. 103.
  38. ^ Flaherty 2004, p. 160.
  39. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 103, 104.
  40. ^ Stein 1984, p. 104.
  41. ^ Polizei division members continued to wear Ordnungspolizei insignia and the division did not include "SS" in its name.
  42. ^ Stein 1984, p. 118.
  43. ^ Stein 1984, p. 302.

References

[edit]
  • Cook, Stan; Bender, Roger James (1994). Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler: Uniforms, Organization, & History. San Jose, CA: R. James Bender. ISBN 978-0-912138-55-8.
  • Cooper, D. (22 February 2004). "WW2 People's War: Le Paradis: The murder of 97 soldiers in a French field on the 26/27th May 1940". BBC Online. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  • Flaherty, T. H. (2004) [1988]. The Third Reich: The SS. Time-Life. ISBN 1-84447-073-3.
  • Harman, Nicholas (1980). Dunkirk: The Necessary Myth. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-24299-X.
  • Mollo, Andrew (1991). Uniforms of the SS: Volume 3: SS-Verfügungstruppe. Historical Research Unit. ISBN 1-872004-51-2.
  • Reynolds, Michael (1997). Steel Inferno: I SS Panzer Corps in Normandy. Spellmount. ISBN 1-873376-90-1.
  • Rossino, Alexander B. (2003). Hitler Strikes Poland: Blitzkrieg, Ideology, and Atrocity. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-1234-3.
  • Stein, George (1984) [1966]. The Waffen-SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War 1939–1945. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-9275-4.
  • Sydnor, Charles W. (1990) [1977]. Soldiers of Destruction: The SS Death's Head Division, 1933–1945. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-00853-0.
  • Weale, Adrian (2012). Army of Evil: A History of the SS. New York: Caliber Printing. ISBN 978-0-451-23791-0.
  • Windrow, Martin; Burn, Cristopher (1992). The Waffen-SS, Edition 2. Osprey. ISBN 0-85045-425-5.
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