The Himmler's SS (10 page)

NCOs of the SS-VT signals battalion in October 1935. All wear the ‘SS/lightning bolt' collar patch, which from a distance looks like three Sig-Runes side by side, and the blank cuff title sported by personnel of this unit until the introduction of the ‘SS-Nachrichtensturmbann' title in 1937.

The Röntgensturmbann SS-HA, or SS Hauptamt X-Ray Battalion, was formed by SS-Obersturmbannführer Konrad Perwitzschky and was later commanded by SS-Oberführer Dr Hans Holfelder, Professor of Medicine at the University of Frankfurt (Main). It comprised around 350 full-time SS men and toured all the Allgemeine-SS Oberabschnitte, carrying out routine health checks on SS personnel. It utilised portable X-ray equipment and was primarily employed to detect pulmonary diseases among factory workers who were also parttime SS members. The only unit of its kind in Germany, its services could be summoned in times of epidemic by any of the NSDAP Gauleiters and it also co-operated with local officials of the German Labour Front. During the war, the Röntgensturmbann was absorbed into the medical branch of the Waffen-SS.

In addition to the Röntgensturmbann and the Sanitätsstaffel attached to every Sturmbann, each Abschnitt contained at least one Sanitätssturm or medical company. A group of several such Stürme, or a single large Sturm, was often termed a Sanitätsabteilung (medical detachment). These units were referred to by the Roman numeral of the Abschnitt in which they were located.

The SS Kraftfahrstürme, or Motor Transport Companies, were composed of Staffeln, or squads, one Kraftfahrstaffel being allocated to each Abschnitt. They were responsible for the motorised transport of SS personnel within the district. In addition, a motorcycle company was at the disposal of each Oberabschnitt commander to be used for relaying urgent despatches. Kraft-fahrstürme were numbered from 1 to 19, prefixed by the letter ‘K'. The areas they covered are listed below:

No record remains of the location of Kraftfahrsturm no. 18.

The first SS-Fliegerstaffel, or SS Air Squadron, was formed in October 1931 at Munich. It was joined by SS-Fliegerstaffel Nürnberg-Furth nine months later, and both of these units were thereafter renamed SS-Fliegerstürme and consolidated into an SS-Fliegersturmbann under Eduard Ritter von Schleich, the famed ‘Black Knight' of the First World War. The SS Air Squadrons were responsible for flying Hitler and other senior Nazi personalities around Germany, and they remained active until absorbed by the Deutscher Luftsport Verband (DLV), the forerunner of the Luftwaffe, in September 1933.

From 1935, each Oberabschnitt commander could form a Streifendienst, or Patrol Service, as and when required. Streifendienst units were fairly small and mobile and their members were specially selected from among the most reliable SS men. They patrolled areas temporarily out of bounds to SS personnel and policed the SS contingents at party rallies. During the annual 9 November celebrations in Munich, for example, only a few SS men in possession of specially issued passes valid for the day could enter the restricted areas around the Feldherrnhalle and Königsplatz where Hitler and his hierarchy congregated. It was the Streifendienst who checked these passes and ensured that no unauthorised SS ‘spectators' slipped through. All members of a Streife wore a nickel-plated gorget bearing the legend ‘SS Streifendienst' while on duty. This item of regalia was similar to that which identified the military police, and highlighted the fact that the Streifendienst was, in effect, an internal police force of the Allgemeine-SS.

Each Oberabschnitt contained a Sportabteilung, or Sports Detachment, which was responsible for the physical fitness of SS personnel. It also trained with the Hitler Youth and the Allgemeine-SS Reserve. From the outset, sports and physical fitness had been accorded a high priority by both the SA and SS, and indeed the earliest Nazi paramilitaries disguised their true identity by calling themselves Turn- und Sport-abteilungen, or Gymnastic and Sports Detachments. Prior to 1939, SS sports instructors were trained at the SA Sport School in Hamm, Westphalia, but after the occupation of Czechoslovakia an SS Reichssportschule was established at Prague. It duly ran courses for Oberabschnitt sports officers, and issued SS physical training manuals for the reference of all SS personnel.

In addition to the regular and specialist SS units, and the first-line reserve of those between the ages of thirty-five and forty-five, each Oberabschnitt also contained an independent Stammabteilung, or Supplementary Reserve Detachment, composed partly of unfit or older men over the age of forty-five, and partly of younger men whose duties to the state or party debarred them from taking an active part in the SS. For example, it was customary for fulltime regular police officers to be assigned to the Stammabteilung upon receiving SS membership. The Stammabteilung carried the name of the corresponding Oberabschnitt and was divided into Bezirke or sub-districts, each Bezirk working in conjunction with a Standarte and bearing the Arabic numeral of the latter. As their title indicated, these additional second-line reservists supplemented the rest of the Allgemeine-SS in the various functions where normal duty personnel and first-line reserves might be overtaxed, as in the case of large national parades and celebrations, or major disasters. They were readily distinguishable by the fact that a reverse colour scheme was employed on their uniform insignia, i.e. a light-grey background to collar patches and cuff titles with black or silver numbers and script. For a short time, members of the Stammabteilungen also wore light grey rather than black borders on their armbands.

SS Helferinnen, or Female SS Auxiliaries, were first recruited in 1942 to relieve male SS personnel who were more urgently needed at the front. During the war, German women were called to ‘do their bit' in all spheres of life, and in this respect the SS was no exception, despite Himmler's view that his Schutzstaffel was essentially an ‘Order of German Men'. As more and more SS men were conscripted, their work places were taken over by women. The designation SS Helferin was used only for those who had been accepted as SS members proper and trained at the Reichsschule-SS at Oberehnheim in Elsass, primarily for the communications branches of the Allgemeine-SS and Waffen-SS. All other female auxiliaries engaged by the SS, i.e. those who were not full SS members, were termed Kriegshelferinnen, or War Auxiliaries. Originally, the SS Oberabschnitte were responsible for recruiting SS Helferinnen, but in May 1944 that responsibility was transferred to the SS Hauptamt. Enrolment as an SS Helferin was on a voluntary basis. Official recruiting through newspaper advertisements, radio and cinema was forbidden, since careful selection was necessary. Close co-operation was maintained with the Reichsjugendführung and most of the recruiting was done through the Bund Deutscher Mädel or BDM, the female equivalent of the Hitler Youth. All women between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five were eligible to apply. Upon enrolment, the applicant was interviewed by the Senior SS and Police Commander of the Oberabschnitt in which she resided, in the presence of the BDM Liaison Officer, and a medical examination took place the same day. Next, the applicant signed a statement declaring that she had not observed any signs of pregnancy or serious illness, as well as a statement of her racial suitability. No individual could be accepted until a thorough investigation into her family background had been completed by the Sicherheitsdienst. The Reichsschule-SS had the task of training the successful applicants as teleprinter operators, telephonists and wireless operators. Instruction was also given in domestic science so that SS Helferinnen would be capable of assuming responsibility for SS nurseries and similar establishments if and when necessary. Upon satisfactory completion of the course, the girls were presented with SS rune insignia to be worn on the left breast of their uniform, and were assigned in groups to the various headquarters of the SS in Germany, France, Luxembourg, Holland, Poland and Russia. During 1943 alone, 422 SS Helferinnen were trained at the Reichsschule.

The strict physical, mental and racial qualifications for entry into the SS meant that not all who desired to do so could become members. However, almost anyone who wished, for public or private reasons, to stand well with the new élite and who could afford to pay for the privilege were allowed to become Fördernde Mitglieder (FM), or Patron Members. The FM organisation developed as a fund-raising body during the mid-1920s, with Hitler himself holding FM membership no. 1. All Aryan Germans of both sexes were eligible to join, and NSDAP membership was not a necessary qualification. When accepted, each patron was presented with an FM membership book and badge, and bound himself or herself to pay a monthly subscription to SS funds. The contribution varied with the income of the member and could be as low as 1 Reichsmark. The money thus levied from bankers, industrialists, businessmen and shopkeepers strengthened the economic base of the SS, and at the same time the contacts secured in German society enlarged SS influence. The FM members themselves were promised the protection of the SS against ‘revolutionary tendencies'. In effect, the FM organisation became a sort of ‘old boys' network' through which members could secure business deals, promotion or employment, and in the Third Reich virtually replaced the outlawed Society of Freemasons. By 1935, there were 500,000 Fördernde Mitglieder and there were probably over 1 million in 1943. The practice of appointing selected members of the government or important public figures to high rank in the SS, as Ehrenführer or Honorary Officers, was a natural extension of the FM organisation. While these appointments had no functional significance, they bought for the SS even more extremely influential and well-placed allies who, once they had taken the SS oath in return for the right to wear the prestigious black uniform, suddenly found themselves bound to obey Himmler in terms of the SS discipline code.

The medium which united all these facets of the SS organisation, and kept them in touch with each other, was the SS-Presse. A magazine entitled
Die Schutzstaffel
was published as early as December 1926, but it was short-lived and it was not until 1935 that the Reichsführung-SS began to publish a weekly newspaper called
Das Schwarze Korps
or ‘The Black Corps'. Set up on Heydrich's initiative and directed by SS-Standartenführer Gunter d'Alquen, descendant of a Huguenot family, it was printed by the NSDAP publishing house of Eher Verlag, Munich, and had its editorial offices at 88 Zimmerstrasse, Berlin. By 1939, circulation had reached 500,000 copies.
Das Schwarze Korps
was a sharply written paper, very neo-pagan, and specialised in the exposure of those the Reichsführung-SS considered social miscreants whom the courts could not reach. It was the only organ of the German press which was not censored and, although rigorously orthodox at the ideological level, was also the only newspaper that gave any indication of having a critical or nonconformist spirit. From its very first issue, the originality of
Das Schwarze Korps
was emphasised by its aggressiveness to the rest of Goebbels' press. It took sides against leaders of the NSDAP, attacked ministers of state such as Alfred Rosenberg, who had been short-sighted enough to shun Himmler's offers of honorary SS rank, and denounced inadequacies in the administration. Private enterprise and initiative were favoured by the paper because they aided progress, particularly in wartime. After 1939, the publicising of SS and police military heroes became an increasingly important feature, especially when d'Alquen was made commander of the SS War Correspondents' Regiment and Kurt Eggers took over the paper. As the war progressed and the need grew for all sections of the régime to be seen to act as one, the old criticisms of the excesses of the party leaders disappeared. By 1944,
Das Schwarze Korps
and its sister paper for Patron Members, the
FM-Zeitschrift
, had degenerated from lively and controversial publications to propaganda sheets expounding the exploits of Waffen-SS soldiers on the battlefront. In this way, the path of the SS-Presse paralleled that of the entire SS organisation.