Waffen SS

According to its commander, Oberstgruppenfuehrer Paul Hauseer, the Waffen SS (armed SS) was created in the fall of 1939. Its initial strength was three divisions, drawn from the Verfuegungstruppe, Totenkopf SS, and from men who had been trained for the Police.

It grew to over 35 divisions, as well as corps formation, due to an unplanned factor: all racially Germanic volunteers, who were not German citizens, served in the Waffen SS. Its eventual strength was approximately 900,000 men, of whom only half to one third came from the German Reich itself.

Direction

The Waffen SS was under an administrative, but not operational, office in Berlin, which reported to Heinrich Himmler. All operational matters were under the direction of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. Himmler's authority, with respect to the Waffen SS, was limited to "matters dealing with personnel and replacements, with judicial questions and fundamental problems of organization."

Conduct

Hauser denied the prosecution accusation that the Waffen SS used cruelty and terror, and carried out mass exterminations. He said he told Himmler, who once mentioned terrorist measures, that "was completely wrong, that we had not gained our successes through terror methods but only through the courage of officers and men who were ready to sacrifice themselves to the last man if necessity arose." Nevertheless, atrocities were associated with units such as the Das Reich Division, as at Oradour-sur-Glane, France.