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The ‘Aristocracy of National Socialism’: The Role of the SS in National Socialist Germany

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Aspects of the Third Reich

Abstract

In 1956 Gerald Reitlinger published a (now outdated) book on the history of the SS, The SS — Alibi of a Nation.1 The title suggests one of the main difficulties previously complicating the historian’s analysis of the SS: the impact of the Black Order’s monstrous amorality on the post-war generation, since, after 1945, the executors of the holocaust became, so to speak, the ‘whipping boys’ of German atonement. In countless books, films and magazine articles the SS has been presented as the incarnation of all evil. For many people both inside and outside Germany the delicate moral question of their own involvement in the events of the NS period seemed expeditiously answered simply by reference to the terror apparatus of the SS and the universal threat it represented. Confronted by an historical issue so entangled in emotional commitments, it is understandably difficult for the scholar to maintain the requisite ‘intellectual distance’.

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Notes and References

  1. G. Reitlinger, The SS: Alibi of a Nation, 1922–1945 (London, 1956). The most authoritative analysis of the SS as a whole is now as before the collaborative work by H. Buchheim et al., Anatomie des SS-Staates, 2 vols (Freiburg-Olten, 1965). (English abridged edition, Anatomy of the SS-state, New York, 1968).

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  2. For a broader analysis of the ideological impact of the idea of politisches Soldatentum see H. Buchheim, ‘Befehl und Gehorsam’, in Anatomie des SS-Staates, vol. 1; and B. Wegner, Hitlers Politische Soldaten: die Waffen-SS 1933–1945. Studien zu Leitbild, Struktur und Funktion einer nationalsozialistischen Elite (Paderborn, 1982), Part I.

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  3. A. Hitler, Mein Kampf (Munich, 1933), p. 386.

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  4. Speech by Himmler on 8 November 1938, as quoted in B. F. Smith and A. Petersen (eds), Heinrich Himmler — Geheimreden 1933 bis 1945 (Frankfurt, Berlin, Vienna, 1974), pp. 31f.

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  5. Reichs Sicherheitshauptamt/ Amt I/ Arbeitsgemeinschaft für SS-Führeranwärter: Grundriss Nr. 9, Judentum (Bundesarchiv Koblenz: R 58/844, Bl. 72).

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  6. SS-Gruppenführer Pancke as quoted in J. Ackermann, Heinrich Himmler als Ideologe (Göttingen, 1970), p. 156.

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  7. As he did, for example, in a speech on 8 November 1937: ‘we want to create an upper class for Germany, selected constantly over centuries, a new aristocracy, recruited always from the best sons and daughters of our nation, an aristocracy that never becomes old’ (National Archives: microfilm T-175/ roll 90/... 2447).

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  8. ‘Erschliessung des germanischen Erbes’, undated memorandum of the Reichsführung-SS (1937), published in Ackermann, Heinrich Himmler, pp. 253f.

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  9. For details see H. Ueberhorst, Elite für die Diktatur. Die Nationalpolitischen Erziehungsanstalten 1933 bis 1945. Ein Dokumentarbericht (Dusseldorf, 1969); H. Scholtz, NS-Ausleseschulen. Internatsschulen als Herrschaftsmittel des Führerstaates (Göttingen, 1973). H. W. Koch, The Hitler Youth: Origins and Development (London, 1975).

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  10. See M. Kater, Das ‘Ahnenerbe’ der SS 1935–1945. Ein Beitrag zur Kulturpolitik des Dritten Reiches (Stuttgart, 1974).

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  11. See L. V. Thompson, Lebensborn and the Eugenics Policy of the Reichsführer-SS, Central European History, IV (1971), 54–77.

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  12. A decree of the Reichsminister des Innern of 11 November 1938 allowed the SD to work for the state administration as well; see also Anatomie des SS-Staates, vol. 1, p. 74.

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  13. G. Buchheit, Der deutsche Geheimdienst. Geschichte der militärischen Abwehr (Munich, 1967), pp. 428ff.

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  14. For the ‘Dachau model’ see M. Broszat, ‘Nationalsozialistische Konzentrationslager 1933–1945’, in Anatomie des SS-Staates, vol. II, pp. 46ff.., and F. Pingel, Häftlinge unter SS-Herrschaft. Widerstand, Selbstbehauptung und Vernichtung im Konzentrationslager (Hamburg, 1978), pp. 35ff.

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  15. Details of the numerical development are given in Hitlers Politische Soldaten Wegner, p. 104 (Table 2).

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  16. With the establishment of the Hauptamt Ornungspolizei and the Reichssicherheitshauptamt the top police administration became correspondingly organised to the central SS administration. For details see H.-J. Neufeldt et al., Zur Geschichte der Ordnungspolizei 1936–1945 (Koblenz, 1957) and G. Browder, SIPO and SD, 1931–1940. Formation of an Instrument of Power, unpublished PhD thesis (University of Wisconsin, 1977).

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  17. The most lucid contemporary comment on the Staatsschutzkorps concept was given by W. Best, ‘Die Schutzstaffel der NSDAP und die deutsche Polizei’, Deutsches Recht, 9 (1939), edition A, 44ff. For further consideration see Wegner, Hitlers Politische Soldaten, pp. 11 Off.

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  18. For the general background see K. J. Müller, Das Heer und Hitler. Armee und nationalsozialistisches Regime 1933–1940 (Stuttgart, 1969), p. 147.

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  19. This is well expressed, for example, in the regulations from the minister of defence on 24 September 1934, concerning the organisation of the SS-Verfigungstruppe (published in P. Hausser, Soldaten wie andere auch. Der Weg der Waffen-SS, Osnabrück, 1966, pp. 232ff., doc.no. 1).

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  20. This referred only to service in the SS-Verfügungstruppe, whereas service in the SS war academies or the SS Death’s Head units was not accepted as military service in pre-war years.

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  21. Führer decree of 17 August 1938, published in Hausser, Soldaten wie andere auch, pp. 252ff., doc. no. 6.

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  22. Führer decree of 18 May 1939 (Bundesarchiv Koblenz: R 2/ 12 172a); a detailed analysis may be found in Wegner, Hitlers Politische Soldaten, Chapter 8.

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  23. See R. M. Smelser, The Sudeten Problem 1933–1938. Volkstumspolitik and the Formulation of Nazi Foreign Policy (Folkestone, 1975), pp. 166ff. and A. Ramme, Der Sicherheitsdienst der SS. Zu seiner Funktion im faschistischen Machtapparat und im Besatzungsregime des sog. General-gouvernements Polen (Berlin, 1969), pp. 87ff.

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  24. O. Groehler, ‘Kolonialforderungen als Teil der faschistischen Kriegszielplanung’, Zeitschrift für Militärgeschichte, 4 (1965), 552.

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  25. H. A. Jacobsen, Nationalsozialistische Aussenpolitik 1933–1938 (Frankfurt-Berlin, 1968), pp. 461ff.

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  26. Ribbentrop’s relationship to the SS is sketched by R. M. Smelser, The Sudeten Problem, pp. 179f.

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  27. In pre-war years the two most important SS enterprises were the ‘Deutsche Erd-und Steinwerke GmbH, founded in 1938, and the ‘Deutsche Ausrüstungswerke GmbH’, founded in 1939. An account of their development is given by E. Georg, Die wirtschaftlichen Unternehmungen der SS (Stuttgart, 1963), pp. 42ff., 58ff.

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  28. Ibid., p. 10.

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  29. For further details see R. Vogelsang, Der Freundeskreis Himmler (Göttingen, 1972).

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  30. Speech of 4 October 1943, as quoted in H. Buchheim, ‘Die Höheren SS-und Polizeiführer’, Vierteljahreshefte für Zeitgeschichte 11 (Munich, 1963) 379f. In a speech on 8 November 1938 Himmler had already expressed himself in the same sense: ‘We must... take care, that all the branches established always feel as part of the whole.... For every single one of these branches this should hold true: everybody is an SS man before everything else, then he belongs to the General SS, the Reserve Troops, the Death’s Head units or the secret service.’ (As quoted in Heinrich Himmler — Geheimreden op. cit., p. 29.)

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  31. The relevance of 1938 for the development of National Socialist Germany will be reflected in a forthcoming book, edited by F. Knipping and K. J. Müller.

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  32. Speech by Himmler of 8 November 1938, as quoted in Heinrich Himmler — Geheimreden, p. 49.

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  33. Ibid., p. 38.

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  34. This is estimated as the minimum by Broszat in Anatomie des SS-Staates, vol. II, p. 132.

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  35. For details on the deathrate in concentration camps see Pingel, Häftlinge unter SS-Herrschaft, pp. 80ff., 181ff.

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  36. The classic work on the holocaust is still R. Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews (Chicago, 1961). For the role of the Action Groups (Einsatzgruppen) see the exhaustive study by H. Krausnick and H. H. Wilhelm, Die Truppe des Weltanschauungskrieges. Die Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD 1938–1942 (Stuttgart, 1981).

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  37. The latest result of the newly revived debate on the genesis of the ‘final solution’ is a detailed analysis of Hitler’s personal involvement: G. Fleming, Hitler und die Endlösung. ‘Es ist des Führers Wunsch...’ (Wiesbaden-Munich, 1982).

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  38. Pingel, Häftlinge unter SS-Herrschaft, pp. 123ff., A. Speer, Der Sklavenstaat. Meine Auseinandersetzungen mit der SS (Stuttgart, 1981), and, more recently, L. Herbst, Der totale Krieg und die Ordnung der Wirtschaft. Die Kriegswirtschaft im Spannungsfeld von Politik, Ideologie und Propaganda (Stuttgart, 1982). Herbst (pp. 253ff.) deals with a rather neglected aspect, which is the SS’s interest in the ministry of economy.

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  39. Speer, Der Sklavenstaat, p. 61.

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  40. M. Broszat, ‘Nationalsozialistische Konzentrationslager’, in Anatomie des SS-Staates, vol. ii, pp. 94f.

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  41. Pingel, Häftlinge unter SS-Herrschaft, p. 129.

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  42. Wegner, Hitlers Politische Soldaten, p. 210 (Table 8).

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  43. For the negotiations between the SS-Hauptamt and the armed forces’ high command in the early years of the war see G. H. Stein, The Waffen-SS: Hitler’s Elite Guard at War, 1939–1945 (Oxford and Ithaca, New York, 1966).

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  44. Ibid., pp. 3Iff., 87ff.; see also G. Rempel, ‘Gottlob Berger and Waffen-SS Recruitment, 1939–1945’, Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen, 27 (1/1980), 107–122.

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  45. To date, we lack an authoritative analysis of the SS as a multinational army. First approaches are Ph. H. Buss and A. Mollo, Hitler’s Germanic Legions. An illustrated history of the Western European Legions with the SS, 1941–1943 (London, 1978); H. W. Neulen, Eurofaschismus und der Zweite Weltkrieg. Europas verratene Söhne (Munich, 1980).

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  46. For supporting documents see B. Wegner, ‘Auf dem Wege zur pangermanischen Armee. Dokumente zur Entstehungsgeschichte des III. (germanischen) SS-Panzerkorps’, Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen, 28 (2 Freiburg 1980), 101–36, especially pp. 112f.

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  47. Ibid., p. 102.

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  48. Wegner, Hitlers Politische Soldaten, pp. 273ff.

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  49. There are critical accounts of the history of two of those divisions: J. J. Weingartner, Hitler’s Guard. The story of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 1933–1945 (London-Amsterdam, 1974); Ch. W. Sydnor, Jr, Soldiers of Destruction. The SS Death’s Head Division 1933–1945 (Princeton, 1977). For additional bibliographical information see B. Wegner, ‘Die Garde des “Führers” und die “Feuerwehr” der Ostfront. Zur neueren Literatur über die Waffen-SS,’ Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen, 23 (1/1978), 210–36.

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  50. For a detailed sociographic analysis of the higher echelons of the Waffen-SS officer corps see Wegner, Hitlers Politische Soldaten, Part iv (pp. 217ff.) and, by the same author, ‘Das Führerkorps der Waffen-SS im Kriege,’ in H. H. Hofmann (ed.), Das deutsche Offizierkorps 1860–1960 (Boppard a.Rh., 1980), pp. 327–50.

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  51. This holds particularly true for the period after the German attack on the Soviet Union.

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  52. See also Stein’s critical judgement, The Waffen-SS, pp. 172ff.

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  53. See note 46 above.

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  54. One of the most impressive documents of this policy is the so-called Generalplan Ost from summer 1941; see G. Eisenblätter, Grundlagen der Politik des Reichs gegenüber dem Generalgouvernement, 1939–1945, Diss. phil. (Frankfurt, 1969), pp. 205ff.; for the general background see R. Koehl, RKFDV: German resettlement and population policy 1939–1945. A history of the Reich commission for the strengthening of Germandom (Cambridge, 1957).

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  55. For the role of the Höhere SS-und Polizeifuhrer within the SS administrative structure see H. Buchheim, ‘Die Höheren SS-und Polizeifuhrer’, Vierteljahreshefte für Zeitgeschichte 11 (Munich 1963), 362–91.

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  56. Himmler’s self-assessment at the culminating point of his career is well reflected in his speech to the Gauleiter of 3 August 1944, in Vierteljahreshefte für Zeitgeschichte (Munich, 1953), 357–94.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt, Freiburg i. Br, Germany

    Bernd Wegner (historian)

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  1. Bernd Wegner
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H. W. Koch

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© 1985 B. Wegner

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Wegner, B. (1985). The ‘Aristocracy of National Socialism’: The Role of the SS in National Socialist Germany. In: Koch, H.W. (eds) Aspects of the Third Reich. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17891-9_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17891-9_14

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-333-35273-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-17891-9

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