Waffen-SS - Origins (1929–1939)

Origins (1929–1939)

The origins of the Waffen-SS can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men in March 1933 by Josef "Sepp" Dietrich to form the Sonderkommando Berlin. By November 1933 the formation was 800 men strong, and at a remembrance ceremony in Munich for the tenth anniversary of the failed Munich Putsch the regiment swore allegiance to Hitler. The oath given: Pledging loyalty to him alone and Obedience unto death. The formation was given the title Leibstandarte (Bodyguard Regiment) Adolf Hitler (LAH). On 13 April 1934, by order of Himmler, the regiment became known as the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH).

The Leibstandarte demonstrated their loyalty in June 1934 during the Night of the Long Knives, the purge of the Sturmabteilung (SA). The SA had over two million members at the end of 1933. Led by one of Hitler's old comrades, Ernst Röhm, the SA represented a threat to Hitler's relationship with the German Army and threatened to sour his relations with the conservatives of the country; people whose support Hitler needed to solidify his position in the German government. Hitler decided to act against the SA. The SS was put in charge of eliminating Röhm and the other high-ranking officers of the SA.

The Night of the Long Knives between 30 June and 2 July 1934 saw the killing of approximately 82 SA men, including almost its entire leadership, effectively ending the power of the SA. This action was largely carried out by the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. In September 1934, Adolf Hitler authorized the formation of the military wing of the Nazi Party and approved the formation of the SS-Verfügungstruppe or SS-VT, special service troop under Hitler's command. The SS-VT had to depend on the German Army for its supply of weapons and military training and they had 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). The SS was given the lowest priority for recruits.

Even with the difficulties of the quota system Heinrich Himmler formed two new SS regiments, the SS Germania and SS Deutschland, which together with the Leibstandarte and a communications unit made up the SS-VT. At the same time Himmler established the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz and SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig for training the officers required to lead the new regiments. Both schools used the regular army training methods and used former Army officers to train their potential officers to be combat effective. The officer candidates had to meet stringent requirements before being allowed entry to the schools: all SS officers had to be a minimum height of 5 foot 10 inches – 5 foot 11 inches for the Leibstandarte and they also had to have served some time in the ranks.

Members of the SS could be of any religion but atheists were not allowed. In 1937, Himmler wrote in a letter to a pastor that an SS man's religious denomination was his own personal choice. Himmler wrote, "Atheism is the only world-view or religious view that is not tolerated within the SS." Himmler resented the fact that Christianity or the Christian churches could forbid SS men from having any leadership role in the church. The Nazis considered Jewishness to be a race, not a religion, so Himmler didn't consider it.

In 1936, Himmler selected former Lieutenant General Paul Hausser to be Inspector of the SS-VT with the rank of Brigadefuhrer, and he set about transforming the SS-VT into a credible military force that was a match for the regular army.

On 17 August 1938, Hitler declared that the SS-VT would have a role in domestic as well as foreign affairs, which transformed this growing armed force into the rival that the army had feared. He decreed that service in the SS-VT would qualify to fulfill military obligations, although service in the SS-Totenkopfverbände or SS-TV would not. Some units of the SS-TV would, in the case of war, be used a reserves for the SS-VT, which did not have its own reserves. For all its training, the SS-VT had been unable to test itself in a combat situation. This changed in 1938, when two opportunities arose with the Anschluss of Austria in March and the occupation of the Sudetenland in October. A battalion of the Leibstandarte was chosen to accompany the Army troops in occupying Austria, and the three regiments of the SS-VT participated in the occupation of the Sudetenland. In both actions no resistance was met.