SS disposable troops

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The SS-Verfügungstruppe (abbreviation: SSVT ), also Verfügungstruppe ( VT ) called, was a quartered paramilitary special unit of the SS . The SSVT formed the core of the later Waffen-SS alongside the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and the SS-Totenkopfverband .

history

Staff guards and special units

The roots of the available troops lay in the armed SS staff guards and later SS special commandos of the General SS . Shortly after the National Socialist seizure of power , these were combat groups armed with handguns, used to terrorize their political opponents and led by SS subordinates. As part of the SS as a whole, they were subordinate to the section and upper section leaders and they were also authorized to issue instructions. Adolf Hitler had already ordered in February 1933 that around 15,000 SS men from police stocks were armed, given an armband with the inscription “Auxiliary Police” and placed in an “auxiliary police state service”.

But soon this "SS auxiliary police" was dissolved and reorganized as barracked hundreds in the SS special commandos. These 100 men strong special commandos were now led by officers specially assigned by the Reichswehr and the police and built up like military regiments from the start. Once the Sonderkommandos had reached a certain number of staff, they were renamed Political Readiness .

The reason for the establishment of the SS special commandos and the political readiness was obviously Hitler's fear of a possible attempted coup by the communist Red Front Fighters League. But when the feared putsch on the part of the KPD did not materialize, these SS units were actively involved in the Nazi government's policy of repression.

Formation of the available force

The disposal force was first mentioned on September 24, 1934, when Hitler informed the three sections of the Wehrmacht that a permanently armed SS unit called the "SS disposal force" had been set up . This should be formed from the existing special commandos and political readiness and have the strength of three standards (regiments). Furthermore, this troop was supposed to represent a political “ guard ” of the Nazi leadership. On the same day the Reich Ministry of War ruled :

“According to the fundamental decision of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor, the SS forms an armed, standing force consisting of three regiments, an intelligence department and an engineer battalion. The available troops are subordinate to the Reichsführer of the SS. An organizational connection with the Wehrmacht does not exist in peace. In the event of war, it is determined that the SS troops are available to the Wehrmacht. The form in which it is to be incorporated into this can only be decided in the A case on the basis of the internal political conditions and the military capabilities achieved by its regiments and battalions. In peace, the SS disposable troops will be prepared for their war tasks according to the instructions of the Reich Minister of War. For the preparation of this military use, the SS disposable troops are subordinate to the Reich Minister of War. "

The special commandos that had existed up to then were now grouped into three independent SS standards: SS Standard 1 "Adolf Hitler", also known as the "Adolf Hitler Standard", paraded in Berlin-Brandenburg. In southern Germany, the special commands were combined in SS standard 2 "Germany" and in northern Germany in SS standard 3 "Germania". But this numbering was changed on December 14, 1934, when the "Adolf Hitler Standard" was removed and reorganized into the "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler".

In view of the distrust of the Wehrmacht leadership, however, the available troops should essentially be formed as motorized infantry regiments. In terms of budget, they and the SS-Totenkopfverband were now subordinate to the police department of the Reich Ministry of the Interior . The military training of the available troops was carried out according to the general army regulations. But in addition to the military training, the political training of the available troops came to the fore, which was supposed to make the relatives a staunch SS man and pronounced National Socialist.

In March 1935, the Sonderkommandos and the political readiness were actually dissolved. Their guards were now affiliated to the SS-Totenkopfverband , the rest formed the available force. The members of the Hitler Youth were now encouraged to join the SS and their available troops. On March 16, 1935, Adolf Hitler announced the reintroduction of “general conscription”. He explained: "The German army comprises 36 divisions, including 1 division of the SS-Einsatzstruppe." Hitler now subordinated the disposable troops to the newly created " Command Office of the SS disposable troops ", which had its seat in Berlin .

The establishment of the defense sovereignty of the Reich had been planned by Hitler long in advance. The British Foreign Minister, Lord Simon , said weeks before the announcement in the British House of Commons: "Mr. Hitler's armament requests amount to 35 divisions and 1 division of militarized police and SS."

For the training of the later officer corps of the available troops, the "SS-Führerschule" was founded in Braunschweig in June 1935 and a little later that of Bad Tölz. But these leadership schools were quickly renamed " SS Junker Schools ". Before the training of the SS leadership corps took place in one of the concentration camps .

Way of the available troops to the Waffen SS

On August 8, 1935, the available troops were considered to have been formed. In addition to members of the SS leader corps, veteran Reichswehr and Wehrmacht officers and members of the police corps were also increasingly involved. The same pension and salary provisions now applied to members of the available troops as to members of the German armed forces.

Two types of "SS leaders" emerged in the available troops: On the one hand, the old professional officers of the police and the Reichswehr, who were mostly regarded as German national by their political attitudes and came from the upper and middle middle class. On the other hand, the younger SS leaders and Unterführer, who mostly came from the bourgeoisie and the lower classes of the population and who were educated to be staunch National Socialists through their training at the Junker schools of the SS. As a result, they were in contrast to the older SS leaders. A minimal consensus, however, united both groups: the desire to create an independent military from the available troops alongside the Wehrmacht and the replacement of the "state troop police character" of the troops with a purely military concept. In addition, service in the available troops should be recognized as completing military service.

In 1938 the armed SS units comprised the following units, in which around 23,000 men served:

  • Disposal Force (VT):
    • SS inspection / VT (Berlin)
    • Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler"
    • SS-Standarte "Deutschland" / VT, Commander SS-Standartenführer Felix Steiner
    • SS standard "Germania" / VT
    • SS standard "Der Führer" / VT
    • SS-Nachrichtensturmbann / VT
    • SS-Pioniersturmbann / VT
    • SS-Sturmbann Nuremberg
    • SS medical department / VT
  • Skull bandages (TV)
    • SS inspection / TV (Oranienburg)
    • SS skull standard "Upper Bavaria"
    • SS skull standard "Brandenburg"
    • SS skull standard "Thuringia"
  • SS Junker Schools
    • SS Junk School Tölz
    • SS Junk School Braunschweig
  • SS Sondersturmbann Main Command Office

On March 13, 1938, units of the SS standards “Germany” and “Germania” as well as the SS-Nachrichtensturmannes (formerly from Berlin-Adlershof , then Unna / Westphalia) took part in the occupation of Austria . There, the new SS standard “Der Führer” was immediately formed from members of the “Germany” standard . Its cadre no longer came from the General SS, but from the available troops.

In order to calm the armed forces leadership, Hitler issued on August 17, 1938 in a “secret decree delimiting the common tasks of the SS and the armed forces”:

“The SS disposable troops are neither part of the Wehrmacht nor the police. She is a standing armed force at my exclusive disposal. In the event of war, it should be used within the framework of the army or, if necessary, internally according to my instructions. "

On August 19, Hitler issued an order to the Wehrmacht High Command:

“With immediate effect, the units of the SS available troops will be placed under the command of the Wehrmacht . The Commander-in-Chief of the Army regulates their use according to the instructions I have given. "

Thus, the troops of the available troops were militarily subordinate to the Wehrmacht, while they - like later the Waffen-SS - remained politically part of the NSDAP and the SS.

With this, the military leaders of the available troops had achieved that service in this troop was now considered to be the fulfillment of compulsory military service and that they could pull their relatives through the Wehrmacht's collection points.

On September 17, 1938, the Wehrmacht High Command issued an order that, in the event of mobilization, the entire personnel of the armed forces who were to be transferred to the Wehrmacht should be regarded as (regular) part of the army for the duration of the transfer and integration. This would give the members of the available forces all the rights and obligations of a Wehrmacht soldier.

On October 10, 1938, the SS disposal force was used to occupy the Sudetenland .

On April 22, 1940, the daily order No. 1481 was issued by the SS Leadership Main Office to all departments of the available troops:

“On the orders of the RfSS , all SS units under arms are united in the Waffen-SS. (...) The terms "SS-Einsatzstruppe" and "SS-Totenkopfverbände" are no longer to be used. "

With this order, the disposable troops finally became part of the Waffen SS .

Structure of the available force

Up to June 1938 three regiments were set up, which were officially called "SS-Standarten deraffe" (SS-St./VT).

Adolf Hitler standard

The Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler" (first SS-Standarte 1 "Adolf Hitler" ) emerged in 1934 from the SS-Stabswache Berlin, which was set up on March 17, 1933 and had 120 selected members. Many of these had been members of the "Adolf Hitler raid" as early as 1923.

In the spring of 1933 the Berlin staff guard was increased and converted into the "SS-Sonderkommando Zossen". As early as June 1933, the "Sonderkommando Jüterbog " was set up, which was commanded by the leaders of the Zossener Sonderkommando. In September 1933, both special commandos were combined in SS-Standarte 1 "Adolf Hitler" at what was then the Nazi Party Congress. Their relatives were now entitled to wear a sleeve strip with the words "Adolf Hitler" on their uniforms. The main task of this standard was the personal protection of Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP leadership. So the Adolf Hitler Standard was finally renamed on November 9th of the same year to "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler". The standard was stationed in Berlin during the entire period of National Socialism .

According to the “Führer's Order” of May 5, 1934, the Leibstandarte was reorganized for political readiness and was now given a purely military organizational structure.

SS Standard 1 "Germany"

This SS standard (originally set up as SS standard 2 "Germany" ) essentially emerged from the political readiness "Württemberg". This was set up in May 1933 in the SS upper section "Southwest" and comprised the former "precommands" Oberndorf, Reutlingen and Trossingen. These were also joined by parts of the Ellwangen / Jagst NCO School.

The command center of this standard was located in Munich ( barracks Munich-Freimann ) and the standard was assigned to the SS upper section "South" on July 1, 1934. The SS relief camp in Schleissheim was also subordinate to her . This standard was also organized from a purely military point of view. After the renumbering, it was given the name SS-Standarte 1 "Germany" .

SS standard 2 "Germania"

Memorial plaque on the former SS barracks in Hamburg-Langenhorn

Heinrich Himmler had the then SS-Hauptsturmführer Wilhelm Bittrich set up the political readiness "Hamburg". However, this was renamed Germania a little later . Like all other armed SS standards, the standard established as SS-Standarte 3 "Germania" was organized according to military criteria.

After renumbering, it was given the name SS-Standarte 2 "Germania" . The stationing of their three battalions ('Sturmbanne') took place in spatially distant garrisons: regimental staff u. 1st battalion in Hamburg-Langenhorn , 2nd battalion in Arolsen , III. Battalion initially in Wolterdingen , from July 31, 1937 in Radolfzell .

SS Standard 3 "Der Führer"

After the annexation of Austria by the German Reich , a standard of the available troops was set up in Vienna in March 1938 . In contrast to the other standards of the available troops, their members did not come from the General SS, but had been taken over from cadres of the available troops.

In 1938 the available force consisted of 16,000 men, 1,500 SS-Unterführer (NCOs) and 500 SS-Führer (officers). In the course of time every member of the SS disposable troop became a non-commissioned officer and every third officer of the Waffen SS . The four-year service in the available troops has now also been recognized by the Wehrmacht as “fulfilling general conscription”.

Table with the regiments of the SS disposal troop (1938)
Standard name Seat Wehrmacht supplement office Remarks
Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler" Berlin-Lichterfelde Amendment I All applicants whose place of residence is in military districts I, II, III, IV and VIII. Furthermore, all applicants from the Reich who reach the minimum height of 180 cm.
SS standard 1 "Germany" / VT Munich Supplementary section III All applicants whose place of residence is in military districts V, VII and XII.
SS standard 2 "Germania" / VT Hamburg-Veddel Supplementary section II All applicants whose place of residence is in military districts VI, IX, X and XI.
SS standard 3 “Der Führer” / VT Vienna Supplementary section IV All applicants whose place of residence is in Ostmark .

SS inspection (available troops)

On October 1, 1936, the "Inspection of the SS Army Troops" was set up in the SS headquarters in Berlin . Its commandant was the then SS Brigade Leader Paul Hausser , who also directed the Braunschweig Junker School . This inspectorate was eventually converted into the "command office of the SS-disposal troops". The most important instructors of the SS Junker Schools were Paul Hausser, Felix Steiner and Cassius Freiherr von Montigny .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinz Höhne : The Waffen SS. A controversial elite group , DMZ special volume 1/2007 “Die Waffen-SS”, p. 17.
  2. ^ Hilde Kammer and Elisabeth Bartsch: Youth Lexicon National Socialism. Terms from the time of tyranny 1933–1945 , p. 227.
  3. ↑ Reinhart Oltmann: The available troops. The predecessor of the Waffen-SS , DMZ special volume 1/2007 “Die Waffen-SS”, pp. 44–46.
  4. ↑ Felix Steiner: The Army of the Outlaws , p. 56.
  5. ↑ Andrew Mollow and Hugh Page Taylor: Uniforms of the SS , Volume 3 "SS-Einsatzstruppe 1933–1939", p. 3.
  6. ↑ Felix Steiner: The Army of the Outlaws , p. 57.
  7. ↑ Heinz Höhne: The Waffen SS. A controversial elite troop , DMZ special volume 1/2007 “Die Waffen-SS”, p. 18.
  8. ^ Gordon Williamson: The Waffen SS 1933-1945. A manual , p. 35.
  9. ↑ Moritz Fink Choir: The Almighty. Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler , DMZ special volume 1/2007 “Die Waffen-SS”, p. 53.
  10. ^ Hilde Kammer and Elisabeth Bartsch: Youth Lexicon National Socialism. Terms from the time of tyranny 1933–1945 , p. 227.
  11. ^ Federal Association of Soldiers of the Former Waffen-SS e. V .: When all the brothers are silent. Large illustrated book about the Waffen-SS , p. 63.
  12. ^ Gordon Williamson: The Waffen SS 1933-1945. A manual , p. 37.
  13. ^ Gordon Williamson: The Waffen SS 1933-1945. A manual , p. 39.
  14. ↑ Ed. Brün Meyer: Seniority list of the Waffen SS. Status July 1, 1944 , p. 5, Biblio Verlag 1987.