SECTION 1: Beginnings
The SS, or Schultzstaffel, was created in 1925 by Adolf Hitler. This elite organization was to be used as a bodyguard for Hitler, and other Nazi officials. On January 20, 1920, Heinrich Himmler was appointed Reichenfuhrer-SS which is the leader of the SS. At first, the SS was a small organization that consisted of 280 men, and was part of the SA. To be a member of the SS, you had to have “racial purity”. You had to prove that you had no Jewish ancestors, and four generations of Aryan ancestry. Reinard Heydrich, Hitler's deputy, established the intelligence agency of the SS, which was very successful. But it wasn’t until June- July of 1943 until they became independent, and really started their reign of terror.
SECTION 2: Event
The SS grew considerably in numbers once Hitler became Chancellor in 1933. They started with 280 men, and grew to 52,000 men. The SS needed to get out of the shadow of the SA, so Himmler tried to convince Hitler that the SA leaders were corrupt.Himmler showed Hitler the evidence of the SA’s corruption, and Hitler ordered the arrest and murder of the SA leaders. After this event, which is known as “Night of the Long Knives”, the SS became an independent organization. Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939. Germany needed to justify this act, so the job was given to the SS intelligence agency. They justified this attack by creating fake attacks by the poles, and using corpses from the concentration camps wearing Polish uniforms to make it look like Poland attacked Germany. Following the initial assault by the Wehrmacht, the SS came in to kill all of the Polish aristocracy, priests, and Jews.
Once Germany started taking over more countries, the SS started to recruit more and more men to their cause. They would gain over 100,000 men before the war was over from Holland, Belgium, France, and Norway. The SS consisted of two main groups; the Allegemine-SS and the Waffen-SS. The Allegemine-SS was more of a police force, and took care of racial matters. The Waffen-SS was a field unit, that was included with the army. On January 20, 1942, Reinard Heydrich held a conference in Wannsee with high officials and ministers of the Reich. It was here were the Nazis came up with the "Final Solution". Hitler gave direct orders to Himmler to destroy the Jewish race in Europe. The SS were put in charge of the concentration camps were millions of Jews were murdered and worked to death.
SECTION 3: Results
In 1945, Germany, along with the SS, started to fall apart. As the allies closed in on Germany, officers of the SS tried negotiating with Allied forces. Some of these men include Karl Wolff, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and even Himmler himself. Himmler offered his surreder to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the commander of the U.S. and U.K. forces in Europe. Hitler found out about this on April 29, 1945, and he removed Himmler from his position. On May 20, the Soviets captured Henirich Himmler and gave him to the British. Before the British could perform a body search on Himmler, he killed himself by biting down on a cyanide capsule. Other SS leaders either disappeared or were arrested.
Even though the war was at its end, the SS still continued to run their concentration camps. They killed most of the prisoners that were left. In the last five months of the war, 350,000 prisoners died from starvation, disease, or in the gas chamber. The SS killed millions of Jews and other Europeans in the concentration camps throughout World War II, and the SS would pay for it. After the war ended, the Nuremburg trials began in November of 1945. Since both Himmler and Heydrich were dead, the Allies selected Ernst Kaltenbrunner to represent the SS at the trials. The SS was disbanded and Nazism would cease to exist. Even though the major leaders of the SS were brought to justice, most of the lower level members were never tried for these crimes.
NAME: Larry P.
SECTION 1: Beginnings
The SS, or Schultzstaffel, was created in 1925 by Adolf Hitler. This elite organization was to be used as a bodyguard for Hitler, and other Nazi officials. On January 20, 1920, Heinrich Himmler was appointed Reichenfuhrer-SS which is the leader of the SS. At first, the SS was a small organization that consisted of 280 men, and was part of the SA. To be a member of the SS, you had to have “racial purity”. You had to prove that you had no Jewish ancestors, and four generations of Aryan ancestry. Reinard Heydrich, Hitler's deputy, established the intelligence agency of the SS, which was very successful. But it wasn’t until June- July of 1943 until they became independent, and really started their reign of terror.
SECTION 2: Event
The SS grew considerably in numbers once Hitler became Chancellor in 1933. They started with 280 men, and grew to 52,000 men. The SS needed to get out of the shadow of the SA, so Himmler tried to convince Hitler that the SA leaders were corrupt.Himmler showed Hitler the evidence of the SA’s corruption, and Hitler ordered the arrest and murder of the SA leaders. After this event, which is known as “Night of the Long Knives”, the SS became an independent organization. Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939. Germany needed to justify this act, so the job was given to the SS intelligence agency. They justified this attack by creating fake attacks by the poles, and using corpses from the concentration camps wearing Polish uniforms to make it look like Poland attacked Germany. Following the initial assault by the Wehrmacht, the SS came in to kill all of the Polish aristocracy, priests, and Jews.
Once Germany started taking over more countries, the SS started to recruit more and more men to their cause. They would gain over 100,000 men before the war was over from Holland, Belgium, France, and Norway. The SS consisted of two main groups; the Allegemine-SS and the Waffen-SS. The Allegemine-SS was more of a police force, and took care of racial matters. The Waffen-SS was a field unit, that was included with the army. On January 20, 1942, Reinard Heydrich held a conference in Wannsee with high officials and ministers of the Reich. It was here were the Nazis came up with the "Final Solution". Hitler gave direct orders to Himmler to destroy the Jewish race in Europe. The SS were put in charge of the concentration camps were millions of Jews were murdered and worked to death.
SECTION 3: Results
In 1945, Germany, along with the SS, started to fall apart. As the allies closed in on Germany, officers of the SS tried negotiating with Allied forces. Some of these men include Karl Wolff, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and even Himmler himself. Himmler offered his surreder to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the commander of the U.S. and U.K. forces in Europe. Hitler found out about this on April 29, 1945, and he removed Himmler from his position. On May 20, the Soviets captured Henirich Himmler and gave him to the British. Before the British could perform a body search on Himmler, he killed himself by biting down on a cyanide capsule. Other SS leaders either disappeared or were arrested.
Even though the war was at its end, the SS still continued to run their concentration camps. They killed most of the prisoners that were left. In the last five months of the war, 350,000 prisoners died from starvation, disease, or in the gas chamber. The SS killed millions of Jews and other Europeans in the concentration camps throughout World War II, and the SS would pay for it. After the war ended, the Nuremburg trials began in November of 1945. Since both Himmler and Heydrich were dead, the Allies selected Ernst Kaltenbrunner to represent the SS at the trials. The SS was disbanded and Nazism would cease to exist. Even though the major leaders of the SS were brought to justice, most of the lower level members were never tried for these crimes.