WAFFEN SS IN ACTION: Rare, Unseen Pictures: Part 2

"Meine Ehre heißt Treue"("My honour is loyalty")

Waffen SS Motto 

Literary it means "My honour is called loyalty" but the meaning is closer to "My honour is loyalty". The Motto comes from Hitler's letter to SS kommendant Kurt Daluegelle in 1931. There was sentence-ending "...SS-man, your loyalty is your honour" and Heinrich Himmler took that sentence from letter and came up with that motto. That motto is forbidden and punishable by law in Germany and Austria even today.
From Military-quotes.com

SS soldiers in action on the western front in 1940

SOME DOPE ON WAFFEN SS

The best Waffen SS Divisions were Liebstandarte and Das Reich, along with Totenkopf. In other words the 3 divisions that made up the II SS Panzer Korps. Up until mid 1944 they could be considered as elite status divisions and were well regarded by German commanders as 'fire brigade' formations. In other words, formations that could be reliably used to plug holes and prevent Soviet breakthroughs. 

The Totenkopf were certainly not just fancy concentration camp guards. As part of II SS Panzer Korps they formed the main offensive wedge of 4th Panzerarmee at Kursk, and along with the other two SS divisions achieved the furthest penetration of any German formation. This was mainly due to the tactics of Hausser but make no mistake, Totenkopf in 1943 were as good as any other Panzer Division in the German Army and better than a good many of them. 

Many of the other Waffen SS units you mentioned were formed towards the end of the 3rd Reich and were not of the same quality as the big 3. Hitlerjugend for example was formed by transferring a core of veteran NCO's from Liebstandarte to look after largely green troops, most of them Hitler Youth, hence the name. The Hitlerjugend did actually fight very well, but it was no elite formation.

military-quotes.com

 Milching a Dutch cow in 1940. Netherlands.

THE SPIRIT OF EQUALITY

The elite esprit de corps so commonly found in the Waffen SS compared to other Wehrmacht units was as much a product of leadership as selection. The relationship between officers and enlisted men in the Waffen SS differed greatly from the class separation found within the German Army. In the Wehrmacht, less than two percent of the officers were of ‘peasant stock', whereas 90% of the Waffen SS commanders had been brought up on the land. Waffen SS officers deliberately fostered a close relationship between themselves and their men. Expected to rise from the ranks, Waffen SS officers earned the respect and loyalty of their men by leading from the front and never asking them to do anything that they would not do themselves. For many, this bond between brothers in arms was the most memorable aspect of serving as part of the Waffen SS. "My most enduring memory of the Waffen-SS", according to SS Veteran Gerd Rommel, "was the spirit with which we were all filled. We were all just around 18 years old, and our officers just 20 to 30 years old. Our Divisional commander, SS-Brigadefuhrer Heinz Harmel was then just 38 years old. The troops never addressed him as ‘Herr General', just as ‘Brigadefuhrer'. It was this spirit of equality which made us all feel so proud."

From Militaryhistoryonline

 SS soldiers on a truck on the western front in 1940. They carry the standard Wehrmacht issue, K98k Mauser rifles

THE K98K MAUSER RIFLE

The Karabiner 98 Kurz (often abbreviated Kar98k, K98, or K98k) was a bolt action rifle chambered for the 8x57mm IS/7.92×57mm IS cartridge that was adopted as the standard service rifle in 1935 by the German Wehrmacht. It was one of the final developments in the long line of Mauser military rifles. Although supplemented by semi- and fully automatic rifles during World War II, it remained the primary German service rifle until the end of World War II in 1945.

For example, General Eberhard von Mackensen, commander of the IIIrd panzer Corps, wrote of the Leibstandarte, "Every division wishes it had the Leibstandarte as its neighbor. They are a genuine elite formation that I am happy and proud to have under my command." The Waffen SS divisions had indeed achieved the goals set by their Fuhrer. They had proven themselves in combat and gained the prestige and confidence of the German Army. In view of this, the Leibstandarte, the Totenkopfdivision, Wiking and the Das Reich were reorganized into panzer grenadier divisions, complete with tank battalions. Hitler also authorized the creation of more SS divisions and the SS Panzer Corps. As the tide began to turn against Hitler, with the fall of Stalingrad and the loss of North Africa, he placed a greater demand upon the men of the SS who where, "an extraordinary body of men, devoted to an idea, loyal unto death."

With the German defeat at Kursk, the Soviets gained the strategic initiative for good. The subsequent Soviet offensive during the summer of 1943 proved devastating for the Wehrmacht . During the retreat, the SS formations became the "fire brigades" in the East. As motorized divisions, they were routinely rushed to the critical points on the front to seal a breach in the German lines or slow down the Soviet onslaught long enough for other formations to escape. They had in the words of General Wohler, commander of the 8th Army, "stood like a rock in the Army, while the enemy broke through in neighboring sectors."

A Waffen SS soldier hurries forward with his MG 34 machine gun. 1940


 IT WAS SAID OF THE SS TOTENKOPF....

"The SS man's ability to remain calm in the face of disaster, his willingness to fight on against impossible odds, his lust for killing Russians, and most important, his readiness to perish rather than retreat and appear weaker than his racial enemy were all qualities that proved crucial throughout the war in retrieving hopeless situations; they became hallmarks of the Totenkopf divisions's performance wherever it fought."

1944. Karl Ullrich (Center) with Kurt Franke (Right). Men of the 6th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Theodor Eicke


WHO WERE THESE GUYS?

Karl Ullrich was awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class for bravery during the Battle of France, then transferred to the Totenkopf on the Eastern Front in 1941. He was awarded the Knight's Cross for his leadership and bravery during the battles of the Demyansk pocket in February 1942 and in October 1944 was given command of the 6th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Theodor Eicke and was awarded the Oakleaves while in command. Promoted to Standartenführer (Colonel) he was given command of the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking for the final battles of the war in Hungary. A short time before the end of the war he was promoted to Oberführer and he surrendered to the Russians in May 1945.

Kurt Franke was a Obersturmführer (First Lieutenant) in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II. He was also one of only 631 men to be awarded the very rare Close Combat Clasp in Gold

These guys are from the Hitler Youth (HitlerJugend) Division. One of them tends to a comrade.

 WAFFEN SS DELAYED THE ALLIED ADVANCE IN THE WEST

The Waffen SS divisions were once again nearly bled white during these terrible battles. They were unable to stop the advancing tide of the Allies overwhelming personnel and materiel superiority. What they did accomplish was to significantly delay the Allied advance. It is doubtful that the German defenses in France would have held as long as they did without the courage, determination, and overall combat power of the Waffen SS divisions. General Eisenhower remarked that, "while the SS elements as usual fought to annihilation, the ordinary German infantry gave themselves up in ever-increasing numbers." This reckless fanaticism in the face of defeat was exactly what Hitler needed from the troops who were to execute his planned counter offensive in the West.

 This SS man smilingly poses for the camera.

EVEN FIGHTING SPIRIT GOES ONLY SO FAR....

In describing the Ardennes offensive, one grenadier remarked that, "Three years ago we would probably have stormed forward during the night in order not to allow the enemy any time to recover. But now after nearly five years of savage fighting things move much more slowly . . . The men are all right but tanks and guns need fuel and shells and it does not matter how much fighting spirit there is, without those two things nothing much can be achieved."

Men from the SS Division 'Deutschland'. The sergeant in the front carries a Schmeisser MP 28.II machine gun

FRENCHMEN IN WAFFEN SS: FOUGHT TO THE LAST IN BERLIN
 (Source)

Three other members of the Assault Battalion Charlemagne would receive the Knight's Cross, on the evening of April 29. By this time, 108 Soviet tanks had been destroyed in the city's center; 62 of them by Charlemagne soldiers. These French survivors spent April 30 repelling flame-throwing Soviet tanks, which kept lumbering toward the Führer Bunker. 

Adolf Hitler may have been surprised to learn that not all of his last personal defenders were Germans. In addition to the Frenchmen, a few Danes, Norwegians, Latvians, Swedes, Spaniards and Balkan ethnic Germans, along with Hitler Youth, policemen and middle aged to elderly Volkssturm (People's Militia) were among those who fatefully joined in the final scenes of bravery and pathos. 

To the north of Berlin, SS Battalion 58 and other Charlemagne troopers who had not gone into the city conducted a fighting withdrawal to Schleswig-Holstein. Their objective was to reach Denmark and link up with the remains of Leon Degrelle's 28th SS Division Wallonien. But the British Army got in the way, and on May 2 the last Charlemagne commander, Stubaf. Boudet-Gheusi, attempted to surrender his command. 

Under a white flag, Boudet-Gheusi and his adjutant, (2nd Lieutenant) Radici crossed the Allied lines to speak with a British officer. The officer flatly rejected any official surrender, stating that the Frenchmen had to be turned over to the Russians for "punishment." At that point the two French SS junior officers were disarmed and taken into custody. They were then placed on an armored personnel carrier and driven to the Soviet lines. Both managed to jump off en route and escape. Subsequently, Boudet-Gheusi would be forced to serve a long prison sentence in France. Radici was executed by France's postwar government.

Part of the Charlemagne Wildflecken Regiment had been incorporated into the new SS-Panzergrenadier Division "Nibelungen" in Bavaria. This division had been formed late in the war from all sorts of available personnel. There were many French SS officer candidates and other European volunteers in its ranks. These were probably the only French SS troops to fight against the western Allies; in late April and early May, 1945. The Nibelungen Division surrendered to the Americans on May 9, two days after Germany's unconditional surrender at Reims, France. One would think this a much more preferable alternative for Waffen-SS volunteers than capitulation to the Red Army. But such was not necessarily the case. The Nibelungen POWs were severely abused by their captors. Many were beaten and even murdered in captivity. The bulk of the Nibelungen survivors would go into the cruel and infamous "open air" POW camps described in detail in James Bacque's book Other Losses. They definitely were not treated according to the rules of the Geneva Convention. 

The soldiers of the Charlemagne Division had marched into history. Of the more than 10,000 French volunteers in the Waffen-SS, more than half had been killed or missing at the front, or would die in captivity. Like tens of thousands of their European SS comrades, the French volunteers were drawn from all walks of life, from laborers to aristocrats. They strongly believed they were fighting for the preservation of European civilization, national integrity and the destruction of Communism. They literally fought to the last bullet, with few survivors having any regret about the course they took.

 Waffen SS soldiers in France, 1940 gingerly try and cross the small stream.

THE ALLIED SOLDIERS FEARED AND RESPECTED THE WAFFEN SS...
(Source)

Allied casualties were generally much higher whenever they were thrown into combat opposite seasoned SS troops. Consequently the SS were both feared and admired for their military prowess. The allies feared that the SS would continue to offer armed underground resistance to the occupational authorities, therefore they determined to thoroughly disband and discredit this able military force before the eyes of not only the world, but of the German people as well. Consequently, the members of the SS received the most brutal treatment at the hands of the allied forces. Often accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the allies sought to expunge the very memory of this elite Nazi formation. The truth of the matter is that the Waffen SS was no more criminal than any other fighting unit, allied OR axis, and the treatment it’s members received at the hands of the allies was unjust and often criminal. Since SS members were stationed at concentration camps as guards, the allies took advantage of this fact and used it to condemn the members of the SS as a whole. Of course it should go without saying that simply because someone was a guard at a camp does not mean he or she was a criminal.

 Western Front. 1940. Peer cautiously round a corner.

 A little chat after fighting

 This man is waiting for an order to move

Preparing to fire a Pak 35/36 anti-tank gun. 1940

 A rare moment of respite for these fighting men

 SS machine gunners take up position

 The one on the left is an Unterscharführer SS (in camouflage shirt)

This soldier rushes with a box of ammo

 Waffen SS men report on the situation

 Machine gunners from the Waffen SS 'Deutschland' Division

 1940. Western front. SS soldiers fire away with their MG 34

1940. Western Front. SS men on motorcycles wait for orders.

 Sepp Dietrich with his charcoal-painted boys from the Hitler Youth Division

 SS soldiera about to cross the river on a rubber dingy. The man second from left carries a range-finder

 These men relaxedly sprawled on the tank are from the 12th SS Panzer Hitler
Jugend Division

 Conference with maps by officers and men of the Waffen SS

 These guys are from the Hitler Youth Division

 RELATED.....

WAFFEN SS IN ACTION: Rare, Unseen Pictures: Part 1

WAFFEN SS: Training Made Them The Best: Personal Narrative Of A Recruit

WAFFEN SS IN ACTION: Rare, Unseen Pictures: Part 1 (LARGE IMAGES)

Waffen SS soldiers crouch in a trench. Spring 1944

WHY HAS WAFFEN SS BECOME A CULT?

It was way back in 1945 that the last gun  of a Waffen SS soldier fell silent. One wonders why they still live in our collective consciousness. 

Some of the things that some of them did was downright evil. Following blindly the dictates of a man possessed with a mad but twisted love for Germany.

But surprisingly in an online poll nearly 48% of the respondents said that Waffen SS soldiers were great warriors. Of the rest only 22% said that they were mere fanatics. 30% said they were something between; an admixture of great fighting men and fanatics.

The question remains, why? Why this fascination for the men of the Waffen SS?

May be the answer lies in the fact that today we live in times bereft of any values and beliefs. Making money. And more money, seems to be only mantra of life. Owing to this a certain weariness, an emptiness has crept in. We are at times sick of this materialistic life.

Waffen SS. Driven men. Strongly bonded together. Led by capable, equally driven capable leaders in a structure that was less rigid, less formal and more comradely than the Wehrmacht. Men who thought nothing of their own lives. To fight. Fight for their country.

This appeal, I think, will remain timeless. It is not the appeal of Nazism. But of these men who fought many, many years ago.

 The group of SS men from the 8th Cavalry Division of the Waffen SS "Florian Geyer". Hidden behind a black Soviet T-34/76 tank, the men are watching the progress of the battle. One of them holds an anti-tank mine

THE SS FLORIAN GEYER DIVISION

The 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer was a Waffen-SS cavalry Division during World War II. It was formed in 1942 from a cadre of the SS Cavalry Brigade which was involved in anti partisan operations behind the front line and was responsible for the extermination of tens of thousands of the civilian population. About 40% of the division were Volksdeutsche from Siebenbürgen (Transylvania) and Banat (Serbia). The Training and Replacement Battalion of the 8th SS Cavalry Division was involved in suppressing the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In March 1944, it was named after Florian Geyer (1490–1525), the Franconian nobleman who led the Black Company during the Peasants War. The Division was destroyed during the fighting in Budapest in early 1945.

A soldier from the 8th Cavalry Division of 'Florian Geyer' Waffen SS Division lays a telephone cable

Untersturmfuhrer SS  of the SS brigade of "Langemarck". Untersturmfuhrer ( a rank in the Waffen SS) was the equivalent of second lieutenant in other armies. 

The 27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck was a German Waffen-SS volunteer division comprising volunteers of Flemish background. It saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The formation started as the 6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Langemarck and in September 1944 the Sturmbrigade was raised in status to a division, but its strength never reached more than a brigade.

A soldiers from the Waffen SS Nord Division shakes hands witha wounded Finnish soldier.

THE 6TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION NORD

The 6th SS Mountain Division "Nord" was a German unit of the Waffen SS during World War II, formed in February 1941 as SS Kampfgruppe Nord (SS Battle Group North).The Division was the only Waffen SS unit to fight in the Arctic Circle when it was stationed in Finland and northern Russia between June and November 1941. It fought in Karelia until the Finnish armistice in September 1944 when it marched on foot 1,600 km through Finland and Norway. It arrived in Denmark in December and then transferred to western Germany. It fought in the Nordwind offensive in January 1945, where it suffered heavy losses and surrendered to the American forces in Austria at the end of the war.

Motorcyclists from Waffen SS. The goggles hang around his neck

VIDEO: WAFFEN SS IN ACTION

THE WAFFEN SS

Elite Waffen-SS was a formidable opponent on the battlefield. Many a time, they saved the German army from total destruction. Their reputation was formed mainly on the eastern front at the beginning of the war. They also behaved heroically in the west in 1944-1945. However, they were one of the most unpopular regimes in history. The members of the elite Waffen-SS were mostly volunteers and the fanatical Nazi. They firmly believed in the justice of their cause and fought with the fervor usually absent from the Allies. However, this passion existed not only in the elite divisions. In a million (or thereabouts) of people who served in the Waffen-SS, a third died in the fighting. This is - an unprecedented level of loss is not characteristic for any other army (except, of course, the Imperial Japanese Army). However, military professionalism, fighting spirit and zeal of the Waffen-SS units were unable to resist the military superiority of the Soviet Union, Britain and the United States.

War on the Eastern Front was the decisive battle for the Waffen-SS.This elite force of Nazi Germany had the most difficult and most important battles to fight. But the superiority of the enemy was too great, and, finally, the Red Army prevailed. The collapse of the Eastern Front was only a matter of time, conscious of the fact that the Soviet Union produced three times more tanks than Germany. But still, it was not a question of numbers (that is a common explanation of reasons for the defeat of Germany). In addition, Stalin was fortunate to have amazingly talented generals. Some key points were Russian advantage, make the right strategic decisions, such as the operation "Citadel" Kursk meant to challenge for her participation in the armored divisions of the Waffen-SS in Kharkov front before the Soviet summer offensive in August 1943. 

During the war in the Eastern Front the Waffen-SS proved itself as a formidable force, caused severe damage to the Allies in Normandy in the summer of 1944 and later - in Arnhem and the Ardennes. Tactics and operations, used on the eastern front, were a real shock to the British and American armies, when they landed in Europe and when they first encountered the tanks of the Waffen-SS. The Western allies were so impressed with the new tank tactics that after the war they used them, and many German tactical decisions become the basis of plans developed by NATO repel the Soviet invasion of Western Europe. 

Soldiers from the 3rd Armored 'Totenkopf' SS Division fire anti-aircraft gun at enemy airplanes

TOTENKOPF DIVISION

The SS Division Totenkopf ("Death's Head"), also known as 3. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf and 3. SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf, was one of the 38 divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS during World War II. Prior to achieving division status, the formation was known as Kampfgruppe Eicke. The division is infamous due to its insignia and the fact that most of the initial enlisted soldiers were SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS concentration camp guards). The Totenkopf division was numbered with the "Germanic" divisions of the Waffen-SS. These included also the SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, SS-Panzer Division Das Reich, and SS-Panzer Division Wiking.

 Men from the 7th Volunteer Mountain Division 'Prinz Eugen' on a mission against partisans

The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. was formed on March 1942 from Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) volunteers from Vojvodina, Croatia, Hungary and Romania, it was initially called the SS-Freiwilligen-Division Prinz Eugen. (SS-Volunteer Division Prinz Eugen). It was engaged in anti-partisan operations in the Balkans during World War II

 SS and Italian soldiers share a smoke in the Balkans. 1943. The SS man has a 9mm MR 28 rifle slung around his shoulder

Soldiers of the Waffen-SS during World War II committed many atrocities, not only on the battlefield. They were the first soldiers of the Third Reich for the purity of race and despised by all those whom Nazi ideology declared to be of an inferior race. Not highly valuing their own lives, they did not consider the value of the lives of their enemies. The outstanding military skill of elite tank divisions of the Waffen-SS is rarely questioned. They really were a formidable fighting force.  However, part of the Waffen-SS in the massacres across Europe during the war cast a shadow on honest military victory. Defenders of the Waffen-SS usually portray themselves as separate and isolated military branch of a large organization, the SS, had not participated in the genocide of Jews and other races that were considered by Hitler and his racial ideology of the "subhuman."

Though the Waffen SS were not part of the Nazi killing machine, they knew what was going on.

The war in Russia showed the Waffen-SS in its true light. The armed forces of Hitler's SS were the vanguard of the race war . They showed no mercy to the racial and political opponents of Nazism. Lives of the Jews and the Russian did not have any value, according to Nazi ideology, they could only be used for forced labor for the benefit of Germany. Russian citizens were treated with contempt by the SS, their property, crops and dwellings were seized, even if it led to the death of the owners, given the harsh climate of the country. The Soviet officers and commissioners at the hands of representatives of the Waffen-SS. in accordance with the "commissar order" issued by Fuhrer, simply shot. To the Soviet soldiers captured the Waffen SS, did not  apply the Geneva Convention. They were usually left hungry and did not receive medical care. The execution of hundreds of Soviet prisoners of war was commonplace in parts of the Waffen-SS. Once more than 4 thousand prisoners were killed in four days by the Division "Leibstandarte." Killings of thousands of civilians as an act of revenge for the attack guerrillas was also common practice for the Waffen-SS.

Waffen SS soldiers pull a cart with arms

HOW A WAFFEN SS SOLDIER WAS MADE

In preparation of  a Waffen-SSsoldier, the emphasis was on physical endurance and moral superiority over the enemy. This was drilled into them. Even before the new recruits set about learning, they had to go through a very serious racial and ideological selection. Hitler insisted that potential soldiers of the divisions of the Waffen-SS were to be aged 17-22 years, had to have a growth of at least 1.8 meters and were in good physical shape. Each recruit had to be proportional in their constitution, without any kind of imbalance between the tibia and femur, or between the legs and torso, which should enable them to carry heavy loads over long distances. Also, the recruits were to have true Aryan appearance. Himmler said: "The main thing is that in their attitude to the discipline of a person not acting like a wimp. His gait, his hands - all must conform to the ideal that we have set ourselves." Aryan recruits should not have in no case a drop of Jewish or other subhuman blood. Verification led to ancestors since 1800 - for the soldiers and up to 1750 - for the officers. Those who were found to have  "junk" blood, were refused. And if the lack of racial purity was detected after the start of the service, the man was fired. Potential brides for these men had similar requirements to make sure future offspring were pure Aryans. With the number of Waffen-SS was limited to the army to join the armed forces of the Nazi party as a result it was very difficult to find recruits in large numbers. But so appealing was a kind of mystical aura created around the Waffen-SS, it was not difficult to convince young people to serve in this elite formation. In contrast to the army conscripts, soldiers of the Waffen-SS recruits were to serve at least 4 years, non-commissioned officers - 12 years, and officers - for 25 years.

SS men on the march. The soldier behind is a "Unterscharführer" SS. A rank in the SS equivalent to corporal or sergeant in other armies

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WEHRMACHT AND WAFFEN SS

The relationship between the SS and German Army wAS complex and often antagonistic. In the course of the war, when Germany was forced onto the defensive there began an increasing split between senior officers of the Waffen-SS Himmler and the highest levels Allgemeine-SS (SS-arms) - the main administrative and political branch of the SS. 

By the beginning of 1944 the Waffen-SS veterans - military generals, such as Paul Hausser, "Sepp" Dietrich, Willy Bittrih and Felix Steiner, had already lost their illusions about Hitler's military strategy. They lost thousands of men in bloody battles on the Eastern Front, and realized that Hitler's strategy of "no retreat" and "fight to the last" was leading to the defeat of Germany. Hausser's retreat from Kharkov in early 1943 was the first sign of Waffen SS leaders getting rid of illusions. It seemed obvious that the creator of the Waffen-SS did not want to sacrifice his best people in the senseless struggle for a city that had no strategic importance. 

Heavy fighting in winter 1943/44, when tens of thousands of German soldiers, including SS men, escaped death just because Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, organized breakouts and did not obey the orders of Hitler, also opened the eyes of many. The senior commanders of the Waffen-SS gradually began to see clearly. They were convinced that they had more in common with the officers of the Wehrmacht, such as Manstein than to toadies who surrounded Hitler, or the SS bureaucracy, which worked for Himmler. 

Army and Waffen-SS were fierce rivals in the 1930s, but by the middle of war, their relations had lost their tension. This particularly applies to commanders of tank units. Field commanders of tank units of the Waffen-SS and the Wehrmacht fought shoulder to shoulder in the bloodiest battles on the Eastern front - it was there was born and was strengthened their mutual respect. Hitler for a time very graciously looked at the favorite commanders of the Waffen-SS Dietrich and others, but by 1944, and they too were treated with a high degree of suspicion. Himmler, too, was delighted with the views of Dietrich and Hausser. In political debate he openly sided with the army commanders.

An Officer and a rider from the SS prepare to transport a prisoner of the Red Army  to headquarters for questioning. Interestingly, the number is either lost on the motorcycle, or specifically removed, in order not  to give out the presence of the Waffen SS units in the area

'A small band of the best and most determined is far more valuable than a large mass of camp followers.'
Adolf Hitler in 1926 

'First, there is loyalty, God be praised, we have never had a single case of treason in our ranks.'

'Every man who joins the SS must know, that at any moment, he may be mortally wounded.' 
Heinrich Himmler, speaking to SS generals at Poznan 4 October 1943 

'Men like Steiner and later Eicke . . . These were the people I most identified with and we often discussed how we could organize a soldierly force, an army along very different lines who would be superbly trained in a new way.' 
Sepp Dietrich post-war

 It is true. When the German soldiers entered the USSR in 1941, in many parts they were hailed as liberators and welcomed. In the image a Russian peasant woman gives the SS soldiers milk to drink.

WAFFEN SS WERE NOT CRIMINALS: THEY WERE SOLDIERS

At the post-war Nuremberg Trials the Waffen-SS was condemned as a criminal organization over its essential connection to the Nazi Party and involvement in war crimes. Waffen-SS veterans were denied many of the rights afforded to veterans who had served in the Heer, Luftwaffe (air force) or Kriegsmarine (navy). The exception made was for Waffen-SS conscripts sworn in after 1943, who were exempted because of their involuntary servitude. In the 1950s and 1960s, Waffen-SS veteran groups successfully fought numerous legal battles in West Germany to overturn the Nuremberg ruling and win pension rights for their members.

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The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish insurgency that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto from 19 April to 16 May, an effort to prevent the transportation of the remaining population of the ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp. The only units involved from the Waffen-SS were 821 Waffen-SS Panzergrenadiers from five reserve and training battalions and one cavalry reserve and training battalion.

THE MOTIVATED FIGHTERS

Events during the Invasion of Poland raised doubts over the combat effectiveness of the SS-VT. Their willingness to fight was never in any doubt; at times they were almost too eager. The OKW reported that the SS-VT had unnecessarily exposed themselves to risks and acted recklessly, incurring heavier losses than Army troops.

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The Leibstandarte had now crossed into Greece, and on 10 April, 1940, engaged the 6th Australian Division in the Battle of the Klidi Pass. For 48 hours they fought for control of the heights, often engaging in hand-to-hand combat, eventually gaining control with the capture of Height 997, which opened the pass, allowing the German Army to advance into the Greek interior. This victory finally gained praise from the OKW: in the order of the day they were commended for their "Unshakable offensive spirit" and told that "The present victory signifies for the Leibstandarte a new and imperishable page of honour in its history."

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The war in the Soviet Union proceeded well at first, but the cost to the Waffen-SS was extreme: the Leibstandarte by late October was at half strength due to enemy action and dysentery that swept through the ranks. Das Reich had lost 60% of its strength and was still to take part in the Battle of Moscow, and was decimated in the following Soviet offensive. The Der Führer Regiment was reduced to 35 men out of the 2,000 that had started the campaign in June. Altogether, the Waffen-SS had suffered 43,000 casualties.

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The Hungarian Third Army had been besieged in Budapest along with the IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian) (8 SS Florian Geyer and 22 SS Maria Theresia). The siege lasted from 29 December 1944 until the city surrendered unconditionally on 13 February 1945. Some idea of the intensity of the fighting can be had by the fact that only 170 men of the 22 SS Maria Theresia made it back to the German lines.

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BERLIN 1945: Under pressure from the most intense shelling, the SS troops put up stiff resistance as the Red Army raced to take the Reichstag and Reich Chancellery. This condemned the SS troops to bitter and bloody street fighting. By 26 April, the Nordland defenders in the centre government quarter were pushed back into the Reichstag and Reich Chancellery. There over the next few days, the survivors (mainly French SS troops from the former 33 SS Charlemagne) held out against overwhelming odds.

 Waffen SS men heavily camouflaged

WHY WERE (ARE?) WAFFEN SS SOLDIERS THE BEST IN HISTORY?

The Waffen SS were fierce fighters because of tough training, and racial beliefs. They were ideologically motivated unlike any other soldier during the war. They were also extremely loyal to Hitler and would die for him without a second hesitation. Besides training and motivation which made them deadly cold blooded efficient killers, they were also driven by Hitlers racial beliefs and laws. Every SS soldier was a die hard believer of the whole "Aryan being superior to all other races" thing. Their ideology and racial views fueled the holocaust in which the SS were in charge. This forever linked SS with racial hatred and hideous war crimes. Training and racial ideology practice made the SS devoted to Hitler in battle which made retreat or defeat not an option. They were the most feared para-military organization in history. What made them so good was the environment in which they trained. Waffen SS training was the hardest in the world at that time. They were the elite at that time. SS training was harder than modern USMC. What was hardest was Himmlers tough racial purity laws. Recruits have to be 5'10", no defective teeth, you couldn't wear spectacles, and had to trace your arian purity back to 1700. One third of canidates would fail physical inspections. All the training both physical and ideological turned men into the ruthless, skilled soldiers that were the Waffen SS. Intense physical and mental training, racial beliefs, and a brutal, fearless reputation that they earned themselves are what made the Waffen SS such a successful fighting force. 

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 A GERMAN VIDEO

 3rd SS Armored Division of the Totenkopf. A soldier signals to the motorcycle rider that an ambulance is needed for the injured.

The curtain of silence fell on the Waffen SS after the war but now more and more young people somehow know of its existence, of its achievements. The fame is growing and the young demand to know more. In one hundred years almost everything will be forgotten but the greatness and the heroism of the Waffen SS will be remembered. It is the reward of an epic. 

LEON DEGRELLE, FORMER BELGIAN WAFFEN SS OFFICER 

Source: ihr.org

 Soldiers of the 7th Mountain Division of the Waffen SS "Prinz Eugen" wave to a  Luftwaffe plane flying above

Normandy 1944. Soldiers of the 12th Armored Division of the Waffen SS "Hitler Youth" closely watch the sky, swarming with enemy aircraft.

THE HITLERJUGEND WAFFEN SS DIVISION

The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend ("Hitler Youth") was a German Waffen SS armoured division during World War II. The Hitlerjugend was unique because the majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from members of the Hitler Youth, while the senior NCOs and officers were generally veterans of the Eastern Front. The division, with 20,540 personnel, first saw action on 7 June 1944 as part of the German defense of the Caen area during the Normandy campaign. The battle for Normandy took its toll on the division and it came out of the Falaise pocket with a divisional strength of 12,000 men. Following the invasion battles, the division was sent to Germany for refitting. On 16 December 1944, the division was committed against the US Army in the Battle of the Bulge. After the failure of the Ardennes offensive the division was sent east to fight the Red Army near Budapest. The 12th SS eventually withdrew into Austria; on 8 May 1945, the surviving 10,000 men surrendered to the US Army at Enns.

 The SS soldiers are in a trench while their radio-man is trying to communicate

A SS officer gives instructions to his men

A picture that would have had Stalin fuming. A Russian peasant woman offers to darn the sock of a Waffen SS  soldier

SS soldiers calculate and aim their mortar

The men cross the river on a boat

A SS soldier plays the piano after the fight. The men belong to the 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler". Kharkov, 1943

 Machine-gun crew from the 3rd Armored Division of the SS "Totenkopf"

Soldiers of 3rd Armored Division of the SS "Totenkopf" in the trenches.

 SS men fire away with a MG 42 machine gun

Firing a 8cm GrW 34 mortar

The 8 cm Granatwerfer 34 (8 cm GrW 34) was the standard German medium mortar throughout World War II. It gained a reputation for extreme accuracy and rapid rate of fire, although much of the credit should go to the training of the crews.

 A Waffen SS soldier in Russia during winter in a M42 pullover.

Waffen-SS winter combat clothing was developed independently for the army and resulted in a pullover fur-lined anorak.Improvements to this garment were made during the war, leading to several variants. The most common type was the M42 pullover type with its large hood to accommodate the steel helmet. Included with this anorak was a white removable shell. Although the fur-lined anorak was used until the end of the war, the Waffen-SS found the army reversible insulated winter suit to be superior in many aspects and copied its design. However they produced the printed camouflaged side in Waffen-SS patterns. In the winter of 1942-43, to supplement the shortage of fur-lined anoraks, Waffen-SS troops were also supplied with the new army field gray/white reversible insulated winter suit

From White Hell - The German Army Faces the Russian Winter by Gordon Rottman, Stephen Andrew

Soldiers from the 3rd SS Division 'Totenkopf' at the start of the war

 The men take a break. One of them holds a Soviet TT pistol

 A SS orderly gives a wounded soldier a drink of water

 This SS soldier darts to a forward position with a MG 42 machine gun

Firing at the enemy with a MG 42 machine gun

 SS men about to fire a MG 34 machine gun

 Two Waffen SS soldiers

 Carrying the wounded comrades. Men of the 7th Volunteer Mountian 'Prinz Eugen' Division

 SS soldiers stuck in the mud. They are riding a BMW R75 motorcycle

 Riding the Horch 901

 The famous soldier from the SS Hitlerjugend Division Otto Funk. He was 15 when he destroyed a Churchill tank with a MG 42 machine gun. He was awarded the Iron Cross class 2 for that.He was wounded on June 26, 1944 but continued fighting till May 8, 1945

Waffen SS soldiers in action in the Soviet Union

SEE ALSO....
WAFFEN SS IN ACTION: Rare, Unseen Pictures: Part 2

WAFFEN SS: Training Made Them The Best: Personal Narrative Of A Recruit

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