Waffen SS: WW2 Elite Highly Motivated Fighting Machine (LARGE IMAGES)

Guido Knopp, sums the Waffen-SS perfectly in his documentary “Waffen SS – Hitler’s Elite Fighting Force”: “Had that marvellous courage and unflinching endurance,the blood so freely shed been devoted to a cause in anyway honourable, the Waffen SS would have assured themselves of eternal. But it was not. They served and were inextricably interlinked with a system unutterably evil in any conception.Nurtured by lies, upheld by corruption, impelled by avarice,ambitions and naked lust for power. And thus, although the ranks of the Waffen SS included many who were blameless, its arms will be forever stained with the darkest hues of infamy.”

SS Sturmann Otto Funk

Otto Funk has become a part of WW2 folklore. A tough Waffen SS soldier, he kept fighting in the Hitlerjugend Division until the very end. He was captured by US forces in Austria. Funk is still alive today. That is in 2011.
Information Source: stabswache-de-euros.blogspot.com

Otto Funk in 2011. Hale and hearty. He was lucky. (Image source: Tumbir)

The highly motivated men. Waffen SS soldiers taking oath

Emblems of the various Waffen SS divisions

Hauptsturmfiihrer SS Vinzenz Kaiser with other officers on the Kursk Bulge.

WHO WAS VINZENZ KAISER?

Vinzenz Kaiser was an Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. It was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.

In June 1944 Kaiser was transferred to the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen, for the battles in Normandy and the retreat across the Rhine and back to Nuremberg. Kaiser died on the night of April 19–20, 1945 when he was beaten and shot in American captivity.

A SS man blows up a Russian T-34 tank during the Battle of Kursk


The Waffen-SS were the best equipped units in the Second World War. They were the elite of the elite in Hitler’s Reich. I feel that no Allied or German can touch the lofty position which the Waffen SS occupy in the military history of WWII. Despite their animalistic crimes, the Waffen SS seldom retreated and resisted surrender until the last possible moment of the war. In some of the most famous actions in history, the SS units were always at the front line. The greatest fighting force, in my mind, can only be the unit which, although only in service for six years, served with a gallantry and courage which was near fanatical: the Waffen SS.
Source: Scribd

Waffen SS hunting for partisans


As the Nazi Reich collapsed in May 1945, Hitler’s finest soldiers continued with desperate resistance amidst the ruins of Berlin.Throughout the great sphere of conflict created by the Nazis,there was one band of elite units, known and feared across Europe and beyond. In an existence of only twelve years, they won a unique reputation for immense fighting spirit and unfailing professionalism in combat. Yet, despite their undoubted bravery,they established a culture of fear and loathing. In many of the most signal triumphs of German arms and military strength, they played a role far disproportionate to their small numbers. As the Axis powers retreated in the face of the advancing Allies, despite repeatedly sustaining horrific casualties, their discipline remained unbroken, their fighting ability unimpaired. As the crimes of the regime were unearthed, they were burdened with the blackest crimes of the Nazi regime. For all their undoubted bravery, they bear a reputation which will be forever shrouded in infamy. They were the Waffen SS, and, to me, they were the greatest fighting force of the Second World War, and perhaps even of all military history. 

A SS "Tiger" Tank crew member shares a smoke with a Hungarian soldier. 1944

The crimes of the Waffen SS were numerous, horrific and at times down right evil. However, it is impossible for any historian to deny that the Waffen SS served with immense distinction throughout the war and, to this day, bear a reputation for daring,courage and professionalism in combat.The Waffen SS began its existence as the Stabswache, a small group of 117 soldiers, created with the duty to defend Adolf Hitler. SS units would lead the advance into the Rhineland,Austria and Czechoslovakia. After the brief and bloody battle for Poland, the Waffen SS was officially created by Heinrich Himmler in October 1939. Units would later serve in France and would fight in the Balkans, before the invasion of Russia, on 22nd June1941.The SS fought the Western Allies from the beaches of Normandy,to the outskirts of Berlin. 

The 1st SS Corps surrendered at Vienna in May 1945. The remainder would fight in desperate defence of Berlin and other key defensive positions. The Bodyguard Battalion from the Liebstandarte fought to the death at the entrance of Hitler’s Bunker in Berlin. Many survivors from the Liebstandarte were captured as they attempted to breakout from Berlin following Hitler’s suicide.
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France 1940.Soldiers of the SS Totenkopf Division examines a captured British 'Matilda' tank

When Hitler invaded Soviet Russia in June1941,Waffen-SS divisions were in the forefront of the fighting and remained there throughout the war, spearheading the drive on Moscow and the battles around Kharkov and Kursk, and capitulating only after last-ditch stands in the crumbling ruins of the Third Reich in 1945. Throughout these four years the SS divisions, whose personnel owed their loyalty personally to Hitler rather than to the German state, and whom he therefore trusted more than the Army, were placed wherever the situation was most critical and the fighting hardest. Their casualties were enormous, but their loyalty immense.

The commander of the 10th SS FrundsbergHarmel talks with Polish prisoners in Arnhem.






SS weapons and equipment, contrary to popular belief, were identical to those issued to the Army, although it is true that, towards the end of the war, their tank battalions were stronger by approximately 20percent. The regular infantry weapon was the Kar 98K carbine, supplemented by MP 40 sub-machine-guns, MG 34 and MG 42 machine-guns, the MP43 assault rifle and mortars of 5 cm, 8.1 cm and 12 cm calibres. There was a higher proportion of automatic and heavy weapons in the Panzer and Panzer-Grenadier formations which has contributed to the false impression that the Waffen-SS were better equipped than the Army. In fact the only real difference was that the elite SS Panzer-Grenadier regiments had a full complement of armoured half-tracks where as most Army Panzer-Grenadier regiments only had half. In addition, SS Panzer divisions included a Nebelwerfer Abteilung (battalion).

Soldier from the SS Totenkopf in action during the Battle of Warsaw

THE WEHRMACHT AND WAFFEN SS

In the 1930s the relationship between the German Army and the Waffen-SS was even tenuous. The soldiers of the German Army considered themselves as the best soldiers and looked down on SS troops. The soldiers of the SS VT were only amateurs; the soldiers of the SS Totenkopf, the concentration camp guards, were sadist, and the soldiers of the Leibstandarte were "asphalt soldiers," who looked great on parade ground, but were incapable fighters. After the first German campaigns in Poland and Western Europe, most army officers admired the courage and recklessness with which Waffen-SS units fought, but they felt that overall most SS troops suffered from a combination of recklessness and lack of training.

The relationship between the German Army and the Waffen-SS reached the rock bottom during the German operations in Yugoslavia in 1941 when SS troops threatened to open fire on army columns. Army and Waffen-SS units were even competing to capture the Yugoslav capital, Belgrade, first. 

The turning point came during the German campaign in the Soviet Union when the Waffen-SS earned its reputation for bravery and steadfastness. No longer did the German Army look down on SS troops, as their élan and courage propelled many German advances and stopped many Soviet attacks. In 1944 when the SS units were still winning tactical victories on both the Eastern and Western Fronts, many army units even admired the Waffen-SS units, which were constantly rushing over the front, plugging gaps in the line, rescuing encircled troops, and mounting ferocious counterattacks.

The number of those killed in action, both in the Waffen-SS and the German Army, correspond exactly to the ratio of their total strengths. The casualties among noncommissioned officers and enlisted men in the German Army and in the Waffen-SS were equivalent, but the casualty rate for officers was different. The deaths among SS officers were almost double that of officers in all combat units.

Source: Global Security

SS Cavalry Brigade

SS TOTENKOPF (DEATH'S HEAD) WERE PRISON GUARDS?

The Waffen-SS was not the SS organization which protected concentration camps, such as Dachau, Buchenwald, and Mauthausen. Separate SS units did this. The SS Totenköpfe Verbände (SS Death's Head Units) was specially trained for this task. The "Death's Head" was the symbol of the SS-Totenkopfverbande (one of the original three branches of the SS, along with the Algemeine SS and the Waffen SS), whose purpose was to guard the concentration camps. Most of the original members of this organization were later transferred into and became the core of a Waffen SS division, the Death's Head Division.

In 1939 the distinction between the Waffen-SS and SS Totenköpfe Verbände became more fluid, when the Totenkopf Division was formed out of SS Totenköpfe Verbände. However, the SS Totenköpfe Verbände itself never became a full military unit and, as such, never became part of the Waffen-SS. Most soldiers of the Waffen-SS never saw a concentration camp. Only a few severely wounded Waffen-SS veterans, who never fully recovered, were transferred to the SS Totenköpfe Verbände to conduct guard duties.

Source: Global Security

Column of tanks of the 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" in Kharkov. March 1943.

SOME MASSACRES BY THE WAFFEN SS

Hess wrote with truth that the Waffen SS were more suitable for the specific tasks to be solved in occupied territory owing to their extensive training in questions of race and nationality. Himmler, in a series of speeches made in 1943, indicated his pride in the ability of the SS to carry out these criminal acts. He encouraged his men to be "tough and ruthless," he spoke of shooting "thousands of leading Poles," and thanked them for their cooperation and lack of squeamish- ness at the sight of hundreds and thousands of corpses of their victims. He extolled ruthlessness in exterminating the Jewish race and later described this process as "delousing."

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LE PARADIS (Pas-de-Calais, May 26, 1940)

A company of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, trapped in a cowshed, surrendered to the 2nd Infantry Regiment, SS 'Totenkopf' (Death's Head) Division under the command of 28 year old SS Obersturmfuhrer Fritz Knoechlein. Marched to a group of farm buildings, they were lined up in the meadow along side the barn wall. When the 99 prisoners were in position, two machine guns opened fire killing 97 of them. The bodies were then buried in a shallow pit in front of the barn. Two managed to escape, Privates Albert Pooley and William O'Callaghan of the Royal Norfolk Regiment emerged from the slaughter wounded but alive. When the SS troops moved on, the two wounded soldiers were discovered, after having hid in a pig-sty for three days and nights, by Madame Duquenne-Creton and her son Victor who had left their farm when the fighting started. She then cared for them till captured again by another, much more friendly, Wehrmacht unit to spend the rest of the war as POWs. In 1942, the bodies of those executed were exhumed by the French authorities and reburied in the local churchyard now part of the Le Paradis War Cemetery. After the war, the massacre was investigated by the War Crimes Investigation Unit and Knoechlein was traced and arrested. During the war he had been awarded three Knight's Crosses. Tried before a War Crimes Court in the No. 5 Court of the Curiohaus, Altona, in Hamburg, he was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging and on January 28, 1949, the sentence was carried out. Married with four children, his wife attended the trial every day. (On May 27, 1970 a memorial plaque was affixed to the barn wall and unveiled by Madame Creton in the presence of members of the Dunkirk Veterans Association)

WORMHOUDT ATROCITY (Pas-de-Calais, May 27/28 , 1940)

The day after the Le Paradis massacre, around 100 men of the 2nd Royal Warwickshire Regiment, the Cheshire Regiment and the Royal Artillery, were taken prisoner by the No 7 Company, 2nd Battalion of the SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. At Esquelbecq, near the town of Wormhoudt, about twelve miles from Dunkirk, the prisoners were marched across fields to a nearby farm and there confined in a barn with not enough room for the wounded to lie down. There the massacre began. About five stick grenades were lobbed in amongst the defenceless prisoners who died in agony as shrapnel tore into their flesh. When the last grenade had been thrown, those still standing were then ordered outside, five at a time, there to be mown down under a hail of bullets from the rifles of the executioners. Fifteen men survived the atrocity in the barn only to give themselves up later to other German units to serve out the war as POWs. Bodies of the murdered victims were buried in a mass grave dug up near the barn. A year later, the SS, in an attempt to cover up the crime, disinterred the bodies and buried them in various cemeteries in Esquelbecq and Wormhoudt. In 1947, the War Graves Commission erected headstones over the graves but as most of the bodies bore no identification, their ID tags and pay books being destroyed by the SS prior to the shootings, the names carved on the headstones bear no relation to the bodies buried underneath. Unlike the Le Paradis massacre, the victims of Wormhoudt were never avenged, as after the war no survivor could positively identify any of the SS soldiers involved.

ORADOUR-SUR-GLANE (Central France, June 10, 1944)

On their 450 mile drive from the south of France to the Normandy invasion area, the 2nd SS Panzer Division 'Das Reich' (15,000 men aboard 1,400 vehicles, including 209 tanks) under the command of SS General Lammerding, arrived at Limoges, a town famous for its porcelain. In the small town of St. Junien (30 kilometres from Limoges) the 'Der Führer Regiment' was regrouping. Following many encounters with the local maquis in which two German soldiers were killed, a unit of the regiment arrived at ORADOUR (believed to be a hotbed of maquis activity) in a convoy of trucks and half-tracks. At about 2 PM on this Saturday afternoon the 120 man SS unit surrounded the village ordering all inhabitants to parade in the market place for an identity check. Women and children were separated from the menfolk and herded into the local church. The men were herded in groups into six carefully chosen local garages and barns and shot. Their bodies were then covered with straw and set on fire. The 452 women and children in the church were then suffocated by smoke grenades lobbed in through the windows and sharpnel grenades that were thrown down the nave while machine-guns raked the interior. The church was then set on fire.

Incredibly, one woman, Mme Marguerite Rouffanche, escaped by jumping through a window, she was the only witness to the carnage in the church. (Mme Rouffanche died, aged 91, in March, 1988) Unspeakable atrocities were committed throughout the village, but some men managed to escape. The commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of the SS Regiment at ORADOUR was thirty-two year old SS Sturmbannführer Adolf Diekmann, a survivor of the Russian Front. He was later killed in the Normandy battle area on June 30 when hit in the head by shrapnel.

THE TULLE MURDERS (Near Limoges, Central France, June 9, 1944)

The day before the massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane, the SS murdered 99 men in the town of Tulle in central France. This was in response to activities by the local FTP resistance groups who had attacked and taken over the town. When the 2nd SS Panzer Division 'Das Reich' took over the town they found 40 dead bodies of the German 3rd Battalion/95th Security Regiment garrison troops near the school, their bodies badly mutilated. Other bodies were found around the town, bringing the total German dead in Tulle to sixty-four. Next day, the reprisals began. All males in the town were gathered together and 130 suspects were selected for execution. A number were released because of their youth and the remaining 99 were executed by the Pioneer Platoon of SS-Panzer Aufklarungs Abteilung 2. Their bodies were hung up on lamp-posts and from balconies along the main streets of the town in the hope that the hanging bodies would deter future attacks by the Maquis and the FTP. More would have been hanged had not the SS ran out of rope. Instead, they rounded up 149 civilians and deported them to Germany for slave labour. Of these, 101 did not return.

Source: Militaryphotos.net

SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" at the Kursk Bulge. Also seen a Tiger tank.

WAFFEN SS: Warriors Or Criminals?

Generally the Waffen-SS was not directly involved in the Holocaust, as the separately organised Allgemeine SS was responsible for the death camps, although many members of it and the SS-Totenkopfverbände subsequently became members of the Waffen-SS, forming the initial core of the Totenkopf Division. Many Waffen-SS members and units were responsible for war crimes against civilians and allied servicemen. For members who did not take part in them, they had to face the fact there was a "guilt by association" that attached. After the war the Schutzstaffel organisation as a whole was held to be a criminal organization by the post-war German government, due to the undeniable evidence that it was responsible for serious war crimes. Formations such as the Dirlewanger and Kaminski Brigades were singled out, and many others were involved in large-scale massacres or smaller-scale atrocities such as the Houtman affair or murders perpetrated by Heinrich Boere.

The linking of the SS-VT with the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) in 1938 posed important questions about Waffen-SS criminality, since the SS-TV were already responsible for imprisonment, torture and murder of Jews (and other political opponents) through providing the personnel for manning of the Concentration Camps. Their leader, Theodor Eicke, who was the commandant of the Dachau concentration camp, inspector of the camps and murderer of Ernst Röhm, later became the commander of the 3 SS Totenkopf Division. With the invasion of Poland, the Totenkopfverbände troops were called on to carry out "police and security measures" in rear areas. What these measures involved is demonstrated by the record of SS Totenkopf Standarte Brandenburg. It arrived in Włocławek on 22 September 1939 and embarked on a four day "Jewish action" that included the burning of synagogues and the execution en masse of the leaders of the Jewish community. On 29 September the Standarte travelled to Bydgoszcz to conduct an "intelligentsia action". Approximately 800 Polish civilians and what the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) termed "potential resistance leaders" were killed. The Totenkopfverbände was to become one of the elite SS divisions, but from the start they were among the first executors of a policy of systematic extermination.

Several formations within the Waffen-SS were found guilty of a war crime, especially in the opening and closing phases of the war. In addition to documented atrocities, Waffen-SS units assisted in rounding up Eastern European Jews for deportation and utilised Scorched-earth tactics during anti-partisan operations. Some Waffen-SS personnel convalesced at concentration camps, from which they were drawn, by serving guard duties. Other members of the Waffen-SS were more directly involved in genocide.

The end of the war saw a number of war crime trials, including the Malmedy massacre trial. The counts of indictment related to the massacre of more than 300 American prisoners "in the vicinity of Malmedy, Honsfeld, Büllingen, Ligneuville, Stoumont, La Gleize, Cheneux, Petit Thier, Trois Ponts, Stavelot, Wanne and Lutrebois", between 16 December 1944 and 13 January 1945, and the massacre of 100 Belgian civilians mainly in the vicinity of Stavelot.

During the International Military Tribunal (better known as the Nuremberg Trials), the Waffen-SS was declared a criminal organisation, except conscripts from 1943 onward, who were exempted from that judgement as they had been forced to join.

SS division "Viking". The Battle of Kovel, March-April 1944.


WAFFEN SS: WRONGLY PORTRAYED? IN DEFENCE OF WAFFEN SS

The Waffen-SS is often portrayed incorrectly in the main stream media. The SS organization started out as an elite bodyguard unit to Adolf Hitler. As the SS grew, it evolved into different organizations: The Allgemeine-SS (General SS) was the political branch. The SS-Totenkopfverbande (SS Deaths Head Organization) was in control of the prison system. The Waffen-SS (Armed SS) was the front-line combat part of the SS.

The Waffen-SS grew to well over a half million men. During WWII, the Waffen-SS recruited men from all over Europe (not just from Germany) for front-line combat duties. More than half of its 40 or so divisions were made up of non-German volunteers. Some of the nationalities and ethnic groups which mad eup the foreign volunteers of the Waffen-SS were: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Flanders, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Wallony and even a few from Great Britain. Eventually, the Waffen-SS became an elite force to be reckoned with.

It is a fact, that to this day, the Waffen-SS is represented, actually misrepresented, by the modern media and entertainment industry solely as an evil tool of the Nazi's. While there is no denying that atrocities were committed by the Waffen-SS (case in point the Malmedy massacre), atrocities occurred on both sides--that is why it's called WAR! For the record, the American Army, specifically the "Rainbow Division" on more than one occasion rounded up officers and men of the 17th SS and machine-gunned them without mercy. Of course, to the victor goes the spoils and there were never any follow-ups or investigations of these heinous acts and not one man of the aforementioned American unit was ever punished with so much as a day's imprisonment.


A new unconventional approach to war appeared in the Russian Front, whereby both sides ignored the usual convention of war fare. For example, killing and brutality toward prisoners, mutilation of bodies, and barbarism were practiced by German Army and Waffen-SS as well as the Red Army. Thus Hermann Goring, while confronting Russian general Rudenko chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, said that the Russians had no right to judge the Germans or accuse them of atrocities.

 As the war progressed, more Waffen-SS divisions were formed. Some of which, like the "Hohenstauffen" and "Frundsberg" consisted of youth about 16 years old. Hitler commented that Germany's youth fights magnificently and with incredible bravery, and more fanatically than their older comrades. By the middle of 1943 the Germans were in all fronts on the defensive as the progress of the war turned in favor of the allies. Then it was Hitler's intent to conduct an active defense by counterattacks with the object of wresting the initiative from the allies. Despite Hitler's best efforts, the constantly deteriorating military situation made it impossible to maneuver the troops properly. Thus the Waffen-SS divisions were shuttled from one danger spot to another, with only an occasional brief rest for refitting. For example the Waffen-SS-LAH made the trip between West and East seven times in two years. In the final analysis the contribution of the Waffen-SS till the end of the war was to be able to delay the allied advances.

The retreat of the German armies in all fronts to the final collapse of the Third Reich, are very well known from Historical documents and they do not need any mention here. Nevertheless there were specific spots where the Waffen SS till the end of the war had the chance to show their valor in battle. Few examples ace quoted here: "In August 7, 1944 the newly reestablished SS Panzer Divisions "Wiking" and "Totenkopf" launched a counterattack which threw the Russians out of Warsaw and back across the Vistula River. The Russians were held back for two months. That same night of August a formidable force of several SS Panzer divisions under the command of General Paul Hausser launched an heroic assault against the American troops that was checked by a furious Allied air attack. The newly refitted SS Panzer divisions "SS-LAW "Das Reich" "Hohen stauffen" and "Hitler Jugend" were organized into the 6th SS Panzer Army.

Under Sepp Dietrich and on December 16,1944 they launched operation "Wacht am Rhein" known as "the Battle of the bulge" in Ardennes aiming at capturing the port of Antwerp. In the early stages of the assault the Waffen-SS made considerable gains. They were assisted from the south by Hasso von Manteuffel's 5th Panzer Army. In the long run this battle failed and ended by mid January 1945.

The final participation of the Waffen SS worth mentioning is the battle for the defense of Berlin. The Soviet push on Berlin started April 16, 1945. The valiant general of the Waffen-SS Felix Steiner had the honor to be in charge of the few Panzer divisions that were left, of the huge structure of the Waffen-SS. During the years of defeat, Hitler's latent and growing paranoia took over and he started to mistrust even more his generals, particularly after the assassination attempt undertaken by colonel Count. Glaus von Stauffenberg by putting a bomb in Hitler's Headquarters at Rastenburg "Wolf's Lair" on July 20, 1944.

Then his trust turned more to the Waffen-SS generals. Hitler, from his bunker at the last days of Berlin, would give irrelevant orders to his Waffen-SS generals which were disobeyed because of their absurdity. Finally the Fuhrer lost trust in his last trusted general of the Waffen-SS Felix Steiner. That made Hitler realize that it was the end and thus he committed suicide. During his outbursts at the Bunker he needed only to have gone a little out of his way to see that he had not been really betrayed by the Waffen-SS. As was mentioned before the divisions "Nordland" and "Charlemagne" were there fighting to the end. Now the crucial question is whether the Waffen-SS were involved in atrocities performed by other branches of the SS and to what degree. Loathed by many as a criminal organization yet also respected for the esprit du corps, resolve and valor of its units and individuals, the Waffen-SS was a highly complex multifaceted phenomenon unique among the military organizations of the world. The history of the Waffen-SS began to be recorded before the 2nd world war and continued during the war. Many accounts were biased as they were written by pro-Nazi sources or wartime enemies. The debate continued and to a lesser degree is still going on now. However the controversy contributed too many incorrect concepts being taken into historiography as accepted truths.

The military tribunal at Nuremberg accepted the view that the Waffen-SS were part of the criminal organization of the SS and proceeded along these lines of thinking. The defenders argued that Waffen-SS was a purely military organization no different from any other component of the Wehrmacht and had no connection with crimes committed by other branches of the SS, and the only similarity was that of the common original title.

After the tribunal in Nuremberg there came the years of silence whereby members of the Waffen-SS were too ashamed or intimidated to raise any issues. Then, when war crimes etc passed into memory and the passions were somewhat subdued, leading Waffen-SS veterans decided that the time was ripe to remove the stigma on their honor. They started to organize under the efforts of Otto Kumm (prior leader of Germania Deutschland and Prinz Eugen) and others, grew in 1950 the "Hilfsgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit der Waffen-SS" or HIAG, (Mutual Aid Society of the Waffen-SS). In late 1953 a number of Waffen-SS men were released from Allied captivity. Among them was Kurt Meyer former commander of the Panzer division "Hitler Jugend" who became the chief spokesman for HIAG. In 1957 Meyer, speaking before 8,000 former Waffen-SS men in Karlberg, Bavaria claimed that Waffen-SS troops did not commit any collective crimes except few isolated incidents, like the firadour massacre in France, which was as a reprisal for the killing of Waffen-SS officers by French marquis (Part of the French resistance). He also condemned the theory of "collective guilt" established at Nuremberg.

He also said that the charge that units belonging to the divisions of the Waffen SS were assigned to carry out extermination operations is a deception designed to defame the group.

Yet, contrary to Hausser's and Steiner's original conception Reichsfuhrer SS Himmler assigned numerous units of Waffen-SS to purposes other than combat. These included Murderous Eisatzgruppen and concentration camp guards. Waffen-SS veterans point out that they themselves had no say in these other men being assigned to their group and many cases had no idea that they were linked to such groups. To confuse the issue even more we note that there were varying degrees of personnel exchange between the murderous groups and combat units. The controversy still goes on. Much depends on one's definition of the term Waffen-SS. The accusers stress the fact that the Waffen-SS was part of the SS system and therefore shared their activity and responsibility of crimes and associated guilt. The defenders claim that the Waffen-SS was only a small part of the huge and complex SS system and were only concerned with military and combat issues. They do not deny that isolated instances of atrocities may have occurred by the Waffen SS particularly in the Russian front. But someone could see as war crimes the daily bombing of the Hamburg civilian population by the Allied Airforce, or the dropping of the atom bomb in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Also the barbarism the British used against EOKA fighters in Cyprus in the mid 60's.

An important case to mention is the Oskar Dirlewanger and his brigade. It consisted of convicted poachers at first and ended up using the scum of the earth. Understandably these men would commit murder and other atrocities without any difficulty. At the Nuremberg trials it was debated whether the Dirlewanger group was directly connected with the Waffen-SS or not. The most notorious crimes the brigade committed were during the suppression of the 1944 Warsaw uprising. Finally Dirlewanger was wounded in February 1945 and was arrested for these crimes. He died June 7, 1945 of "unspecified causes." The issue of Waffen-SS criminality has been clouded by propaganda which included many Germans who tended to identify the Waffen-SS with the commission of war crimes. One of these was field Marshall Erwin Rommel (the famous "desert fox".) An episode with his son Manfred as described by him is as follows (See Rommel papers).


"So one day I decided to opt for the Waffen-SS and told my father of my decision in order to get his consent. He reacted strongly. 'That's out of the question,' he said 'You'll join the same force as I've served in for over thirty years.' When I argued the point with him he perfectly well recognized the quality of the SS troops, under no circumstances did he want me to be under the command of a man (Himmler) who, according to his information was carrying out mass murders."

One misconception is that Waffen-SS were political soldiers indoctrinated in Nazi ideology. However political indoctrination was a very minor part in the Waffen-SS training. It was much more prevalent in Youth Groups, the majority of which served in the Wehrmacht. Also the Wehrmacht consisted mostly of Ethnic Germans whereas about 33 to 50% of Waffen-SS consisted of Germanics and other foreigners who were not raised under any Nazi indoctrination. Thus it cannot realistically be said that the Waffen-SS was characterized as being a group of Nazi fanatics than the soldiers of the German Army. When we talk about criminality and atrocities connected with combat areas of the Waffen-SS it is interesting to note that separate crimes were found for each of the eight first Waffen-SS divisions. These incidents have sometimes received little study but are taken at face value and their few particulars are repeated in countless works that rehash one another.

It is important to realize that most cases resulted from previous atrocities committed in violation of the laws and customs of war. For example, when captain Fritz Knochlein was condemned for the massacre of British prisoners at LeParadis, during the Western campaign in 1940, later evidence showed that he had simply reacted to earlier British crimes. Controversially speaking, Knochlein was found later not to be such an honorable officer.

As informative pieces I would like to mention few other alleged atrocities performed by the Waffen-SS: Malmedy massacre at the Ardennes by the 1st Panzer SS division, Oradoqr in France by the 2nd SS Panzer division, LeParadis in France by the 3rd SS Panzer division, Larissa in Greece by the 4th SS Panzer division, murder of 600 Galician Jews after Barbarossa by the 5th SS Polizel division, destruction of Hovaniemi, Finland by the 6th Mountain SS division.

It is safe to assume that most Waffen SS war atrocities were due to reprisals after guerilla activities, as for example the destruction of Distomo in Sterea Ellada, Greece, in the spring of 1944 followed an attack by guerillas, who in their turn claimed that the Germans were killing whomever they found in their way. It is worth remembering that before and during the Second World War reprisals involving the civilian population in occupied lands were tolerated as a last resort to subdue the enemy, therefore they were not considered illegal. Only the nature and the degree of the reprisal should be taken under consideration in other words if it was appropriate to the crime or not. In most cases the reprisal was probably exaggerated. It was only in 1949 at the revision of the Geneva Convention that this was changed and acts like reprisals etc became prohibited. Thus, then, not every killing of a civilian by men of the Waffen-SS was a crime. However true massacres such as the executions at the razing of Lidice in Czechoslovakia in the wake of Reinhard Heydrich's assassination (an incident perpetrated not by the Waffen-SS but by the Gestapo, German and Czech police units) were never allowed under International Law.

In the East, generally, the Waffen SS had to face partisan activity which traditionally is of cruel nature. People in Yugoslavia used the concept of "Ethnic cleansing" thus the Germans got involved in a style of warfare that existed there for centuries before and has been continuing until very recently if there is a war. The Waffen-SS had a substantial proportion of its units involved in anti-partisan warfare not only in Southern and Eastern Europe but in the Soviet Union, Italy and elsewhere. So it is within the realm of anti partisan operations that the bulk of Waffen-SS atrocities can be found. The conclusions that I personally draw out of this expensive study are these: All wars no matter how noble are climbing to be they involve atrocities and cruel acts.

There is no doubt that the Waffen-SS were participating in combat atrocities; however they cannot be labeled as a criminal organization.

The justification that most atrocities were performed as reactionary acts to other atrocities by the enemy does not hold water. Two wrongs do not make it right, and one evil does not justify another evil. The Waffen-SS were really honorable soldiers and they deserve the designation of Germany's Elite troops.
Source: Foothill.net

SS soldiers help a wounded comrade. Battle of Kursk. August 1943

At the outbreak of World War II, most members of the Waffen-SS were Germans; as the war years progressed foreigners who joined the Waffen-SS outnumbered native Germans. The largest group of non-German SS men were Eastern Europeans. These people enlisted mostly for the freedom and independence of their countries and hoped that the Germans would grant some sort of autonomy to their homelands after the war, mostly away from the possible Russian domination The Western Europeans who joined the Waffen-SS had mostly in their minds, saving Europe from Bolshevism.

Men of the 3rd SS Division "Totenkopf" near Leningrad. 1941.

Others were motivated by an adventurous desire, better food, the prestige of the SS uniform, or to avoid compulsory labor service. Few had criminal records. With the turn in the tide of the war in 1943, these people felt caught in between. Their countries of origin would consider them traitors, and their compromising solution was to strengthen their attitudes in combat and fight even more bravely. It was one of the ironies of the war that at the end within the encircled German capital, the last defenders of the entombed Father included Danes and Norwegians of the Waffen-SS division "Nordland," a group of French from the division "Charlemagne" and a group of Latvian Waffen SS.

The gradual deterioration of the Waffen-SS as to their purity for Aryanism ended up in January 1944 by recruiting Moslem divisions from Bosnia the "Handscar" (form of Turkish sword). However the Moslems did not show any efficiency or reliability. According to Himmler, eight weeks of SS training for the Moslems only taught them not to steal from one another! Having openly compromised its racial exclusiveness by the creation of the "Handschar" division, the Waffen-SS no longer had any good reason for denying itself a share in the Slavic manpower pool. Since then, Himmler in his speeches made only very few tentative remarks about the "Jewish-Bolshevik" enemy, and not a word about "Asiatic Hordes" and "Slavic subhumans." It is interesting to note that an attempt to form a Waffen-SS "free Corps" by selecting British prisoners of war was hardly successful. The enlargement of the Waffen-SS with foreigners did not lead to a corresponding increase in its military capabilities. It was rather the opposite. Only the West European group-numerically the smallest-fought consistently well and were practically indistinguishable in quality from native Germans. Most of the non Germanic volunteers and conscripts were thought as traitors in their own countries, and after the and of the war they were punished either by execution or imprisonment.

Soldiers of the SS Division "Totenkopf" regulate traffic on the street of a French city, to facilitate the movement of other German troops.1940. The arrogance shows on the face.

Soldiers of the Waffen SS, came under fire during the invasion of Holland. May 1940. See the fear on the faces. This is war.

From Scribd

As the Nazi Reich collapsed in May 1945, Hitler’s finest soldiers continued with desperate resistance amidst the ruins of Berlin.Throughout the great sphere of conflict created by the Nazis, there was one band of elite units, known and feared across Europe and beyond. 

In an existence of only twelve years, they won a unique reputation for immense fighting spirit and unfailing professionalism in combat. Yet, despite their undoubted bravery,they established a culture of fear and loathing. In many of the most signal triumphs of German arms and military strength, they played a role far disproportionate to their small numbers. 

As the Axis powers retreated in the face of the advancing Allies, despite repeatedly sustaining horrific casualties, their discipline remained unbroken, their fighting ability unimpaired. As the crimes of the regime were unearthed, they were burdened with the blackest crimes of the Nazi regime. For all their undoubted bravery, they bear a reputation which will be forever shrouded in infamy. 

They were the Waffen SS, and, to me, they were the greatest fighting force of the Second World War, and perhaps even of all military history. This is what I intend to argue in this essay. The crimes of the Waffen SS were numerous, horrific and at times down right evil. However, it is impossible for any historian to deny that the Waffen SS served with immense distinction throughout the war and, to this day, bear a reputation for daring,courage and professionalism in combat.

The Waffen SS began its existence as the Stabswache, a small group of 117 soldiers, created with the duty to defend Adolf Hitler. SS units would lead the advance into the Rhineland,Austria and Czechoslovakia. After the brief and bloody battle for Poland, the Waffen SS was officially created by Heinrich Himmler in October 1939. Units would later serve in France and would fight in the Balkans, before the invasion of Russia, on 22ndJune1941.The SS fought the Western Allies from the beaches of Normandy, to the outskirts of Berlin. The 1st SS Corps surrendered at Vienna on May 1945. The remainder would fight in desperate defence of Berlin and other key defensive positions. The Bodyguard Battalion from the Liebstandarte fought to the death at the entrance of Hitler’s Bunker in Berlin. Many survivors from the Liebstandarte were captured as they attempted to breakout from Berlin following Hitler’s suicide.

To best show the Waffen SS’s great fighting ability, I think it best to look at a few examples of the some of the best and bravest soldiers of the war. During the Battle of Cherkassy, Gerhard Fischer commanded the 3rd Battery of the 5th SS Panzer jäger Battalion, attached to 5th SS Panzer Division “Wiking”. His battery down to a strength of only two, Fischer lead the breakout through Soviet lines, through which the rest of his division were able to follow, and then the remaining four Panzer Divisions. The Cherkassy Pocket was breached, and Fischer was awarded theKnight’s Cross for his part in saving the lives of over 50,000German troops. Fischer survived the war and still lives in Germany.

Another great example of SS fighting prowess was Rudolf  Roy. Roy was a Panzerjäger commander in the 12th SS Panzerjäger Battalion, part of the Hitler Youth Division. In August 1944, Roy and his battalion were deployed against Operation Totalise in Normandy. Roy and his gunner are credited with the destruction of eighty tanks on August 8th, and within five days had brought this total to 26. Roy’s action allowed his Battlegroup(“Waldmüller”) to disengage. Rudolf  Roy was killed by an American sniper on 17th December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge.

Perhaps the most famous Waffen SS unit of the war was the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. Undoubtedly the most well known of its members was Michael Wittmann, one of the greatest tank commanders in military history. During the Battle of Normandy,Wittmann’s company was ordered to defend the rear of the 352nd Infantry Division. When Allied armour attacked, Wittmann covered the retreat of the division, before withdrawing himself. On the 13 th June 1944, Wittmann’s company spotted a British armoured company. Ordering his company to hold firm, Wittmann set out alone and in the space of 15 minutes had destroyed 15 British tanks, 2 anti-tank guns and 14 troop transports. Wittmann died a soldier’s death on August 8th 1944, near the village of Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil, leading his Tigers into action one last time.

Despite their undoubted bravery, the Waffen SS earned a justifiable reputation for great callousness. It was on the 27th May 1940 in the village of Le Paradis, when 14th Company of the Totenkopf Division murdered ninety seven out of ninety nine prisoners from the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Norfolk Regiment. The 2nd Norfolks were out of ammunition and surrendered. They were driven down a road to wall and machine gunned.

At Wormhoult, on 28th May, 1940 the Liebstandarte committed their first crime of the campaign. After murdering 50 Jews in Poland, the men of the artillery company crowded almost 100British and French prisoners were crowded into a barn. The barn was then sealed and 12 SS threw in grenades. 10 survivors were shot in back. 80 men in all died. The 15 survivors were captured by a regular army unit, treated and sent to Germany. A senior Liebstandarte officer, Wilhelm Mohnke as accused by SS men, but fervently denied his guilt until his death in 2001.

It was at Marzabotto in Italy, between the 29th of September and 5th of October that the worst civilian massacre by the Waffen SS in Italy took place. Men of the Reconnaissance Battalion 16th SS Panzer grenadier Division “Reichsfuhrer SS” carried out a massacre of 728 men, women and children. They were treated as partisans, despite the fact that 45 were under the age of 2, 110 were under the age of 10, 95 under the age of 16, 142 were over the age of 60, 316 were women and 5 were Catholic priests. 10 former SS Members were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2007 by an Italian Military Tribunal

Also in Italy in 1944, 2 SS Officers undertook the murder of 335 hostages in caves near Ardeatine 335 hostages were killed with a single shot to the back of the head. The caves were them blocked to hide the crime. It was reported by SS men that some victims had crawled into corners and crevices to die.

I feel that esteemed historian, Guido Knopp, sums the Waffen-SS perfectly in his documentary “Waffen SS – Hitler’s Elite FightingForce”: “Had that marvellous courage and unflinching endurance,the blood so freely shed been devoted to a cause in anyway honourable, the Waffen SS would have assured themselves of eternal. But it was not. They served and were inextricably interlinked with a system unutterably evil in any conception.Nurtured by lies, upheld by corruption, impelled by avarice,ambitions and naked lust for power. And thus, although the ranks of the Waffen SS included many who were blameless, its arms will be forever stained with the darkest hues of infamy.”

The Waffen-SS were the best equipped units in the Second World War. They were the elite of the elite in Hitler’s Reich. I feel that no Allied or German can touch the lofty position which the Waffen SS occupy in the military history of WWII. Despite their animalistic crimes, the Waffen SS seldom retreated and resisted surrender until the last possible moment of the war. In some of the most famous actions in history, the SS units were always at the front line. The greatest fighting force, in my mind, can only be the unit which, although only in service for six years, served with a gallantry and courage which was near fanatical: the Waffen SS.

By Fraser Walker

Bosnians-Muslims from the 13th Mountain Division SS "Khanjar".


THE FOREIGN LEGION WAFFEN SS WERE USELESS


However, after Stalingrad, Hitler took more extreme decisions. In January 1942, he authorised Himmler to create new Waffen-SS units. However, the manpower was simply not available and young native Germans were conscripted – despite the protests of parents and from the Wehrmacht. The original pedigree of the Himmler’s idea for the SS was being diluted – he wanted ideologically pure volunteers; those who were willing to fight and die for the cause. Now, the new units were being made up of conscripts. To go with this, Waffen-SS units were made up of men from Eastern Europe. They went completely in the face of Nazi racial purity but they were needed to fight the Partisans who were becoming more and more successful in the east. The sole qualification to join was a hatred of communism. The Waffen-SS was to include Croats, Albanians, Russians, Ukrainians, and Caucasians etc. Over 100,000 Ukrainians responded to Himmler’s call in April 1943. However, few of the foreign divisions fought well. The Baltic divisions did, until the Russians overran their homelands. The XIV Galician Division (the Ukrainians) suffered badly at its first battle at Brody-Tarnov in June 1944. The Balkan Muslim SS units mutinied in training, did little good against Tito’s partisans and were disbanded at the end of 1944. The Cossack SS units simply disappeared as the war neared its end and proved of little use to Hitler.
Source: Historylearningsite

Again men from the SS "Khanjar" Division


The legacy of the Waffen-SS is less than straightforward. On many occasions they proved themselves an elite fighting force – be it in the drive to Dunkirk or the attack on Russia in Operation Barbarossa. However, the unsavoury aspects of war that are linked, rightly or wrongly, to the Waffen-SS have tainted this success.

Bosnian Muslims from the SS "Khanjar" Division pray

Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler with his daughter Gudrun. 1941.

The officers from Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler Division come to the British to discuss surrender terms. Austria, May 7, 1945.

SS soldiers lined up on the parade ground of the Plaszow concentration camp

 A Soviet soldier walks past a dead SS officer. Berlin. May 2, 1945.

 The commander of the 28th Panzer Grenadier Division SS "Wallonia" {Or Wallonien?} Leon Degrel with his soldiers


WHO WAS LEON DEGREL?


Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle (Bouillon, 15 June 1906 – 31 March 1994) was a Walloon Belgian politician, who founded Rexism and later joined the Waffen SS (becoming a leader of its Walloon contingent) which were front-line troops in the fight against the Soviet Union. After World War II, he was a prominent figure in neo-nazi movements.


SS DIVISION WALLONIEN


The 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien was formed from the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien which was a Belgian Waffen SS volunteer brigade comprising volunteers of Walloon background. It saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II.
In September of 1944, the Sturmbrigade had its status raised to that of a division, but its strength never reached more than a brigade.

Robert Ley takes a guard of honor from the SS in Danzig

Robert Ley (15 February 1890 – 25 October 1945) was a Nazi politician and head of the German Labour Front from 1933 to 1945. He committed suicide while awaiting trial for war crimes.

Men of SS Wimwehr in action during the takeover of Danzig

WHO WERE THE SS WEIMWEHR?

SS Heimwehr "Danzig" was an SS unit established in the Free City of Danzig (today Gdańsk, Poland) before the Second World War. It fought with the German army against the Polish Army during the invasion of Poland. After this it became part of the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf and ceased to exist as an independent unit.

Also known as Heimwehr Danzig (Danzig Home Defense), it was officially established on 20 June 1939, when the Danzig senate under Albert Forster decided to set up its own powerful-armed force; a cadre of this new unit primarily formed the Danzige SS Wachsturmbann "Eimann".

SS men signal Luftwaffe bombers flying above. Belgorod area. Soviet Union.

Fritz Witt SS Standartenfuhrer.

WHO WAS FRITZ WITT?

Fritz Witt (25 May 1908 – 14 June 1944) was a German Waffen-SS officer who served with the 1.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler before taking command of the 12.SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend. Witt was killed by an allied naval barrage in 1944.

Perhaps the most famous Waffen SS unit of the war was the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. Undoubtedly the most well known of its members was Michael Wittmann, one of the greatest tank commanders in military history. During the Battle of Normandy,Wittmann’s company was ordered to defend the rear of the 352nd Infantry Division. When Allied armour attacked, Wittmann covered the retreat of the division, before withdrawing himself.On the 13th June 1944, Wittmann’s company spotted a British armoured company. Ordering his company to hold firm, Wittmann set out alone and in the space of 15 minutes had destroyed 15 British tanks, 2 anti-tank guns and 14 troop transports.Wittmann died a soldier’s death on August 8th 1944, near the village of Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil, leading his Tigers into action one last time.

 Motorcyclists SS Division "Totenkopf" take a breather in camp

SS men and Hungarian soldiers with a 'Royal Tiger' tank in Budapest

SS men with anti-tank guns at Piritse

SS Totenkopf men in the bus give a some document to a motorcycle rider

Waffen SS sniper

 This man is from the 12th SS Hitler Youth or HitlerJugend Division

 Waffen SS Viking Division during the Battle of Kovel

VIDEO: BATTLE OF KOVEL 1944 (GERMAN NEWSREEL)

Waffen SS men take positions

Otto Skorzeny, who rescued Mussolini in 1943, seen here during the defence of Frankfurt, February 1945.

WHO WAS OTTO SKORZENY?

Otto Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he commanded a rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity. Skorzeny was also the leader of Operation Greif, in which German soldiers were to infiltrate through enemy lines, using their opponents' uniforms and customs. At the end of the war, Skorzeny was involved with the Werwolf guerrilla movement and the ODESSA network where Skorzeny would serve as Spanish coordinator.

Although he was charged with breaching the 1907 Hague Convention in relation with Operation Greif, the Dachau Military Tribunal acquitted Skorzeny after the war. Skorzeny fled from his holding prison in 1948, first to France, and then to Spain.

 Hitler in his desperation was sending boys to fight. Captured by the Americans are two boys from the Hitlerjugend Division

 The same two boys. One feels sorry for them. 

The Waffen SS men were the ones who fought to the bitter end.Here lie corpses of Waffen SS men from the Nordland Division. May 1945. Berlin.

 Signalers from SS Totenkopf Division

These men from SS Viking Division fire away with their machine gun

Shaken SS men surrender to grim Russian soldiers after a battle. Eastern front

 SS soldiers during the Warsaw Uprising

 These men peer out cautiously round a corner as a T-34 tank lies destroyed

Waffen SS during training

 A dead Waffen SS man in Normandy. 1944

 The SS Leibstandarte Adolph Hitler Division moves through Greek POW. May 1941

Men of the Leibstandarte 1st SS division with a Tiger tank

 Young man from the 12th SS Hitler Jugend Division

 Men from the Das Reich division walk past a burning American convoy in Belgium

 Boys from the Hitler Youth Division surrender

 Sappers from the Das Reich Division aboard a Stug 3

 SS man walk past a burning T-34 tank in Poland. Near Warsaw. August 1944.

SS men with Russian machine guns

 A mere boy. A Waffen SS soldier captured by the Americans during the Ardennes Offensive. December 23, 1944.

 June-July 1942. A Waffen SS reporter with a microphone (Source: Bundesarhiv (Bundesarchiv) / 101III-Adendorf-009-14)

The soldiers of the Waffen-SS divisions "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. In the background is a self-propelled assault gun Sturmgeschütz III. Kharkov area. Russia. 1943.

 SS fighters in France

Medic from the Waffen SS Totenkopf tends to the injured. July 1941. Russia.

Waffen SS soldiers during the Warsaw Uprising. August 1944.

Waffen SS NCO

Men of the Galician SS (14. SS-Freiwilligen Division "Galizien")

A Waffen SS Oberstrumfuehrer ( “Senior Assault or Storm Leader”) explains the use of the successful panzerfaust

Waffen SS training

Waffen SS in action in Russia

DVDS ON WAFFEN SS