Waffen-SS Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

The Waffen-SS was the armed wing of the SS. Its roots lay with various German right-wing paramilitary organizations that formed the Freikorps and those of the Nazi party such as the SA and that were later absorbed into the SS-Verfügungstruppe and Hitler's personal guard, the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (LAH), the direct predecessors of Waffen-SS. Its main task was to implement the political will of Hitler with force.

The Waffen-SS Order of Battle eventually included numerous units ranging in size from small detachments to entire corps. In addition to the all-German units there were the SS Freiwilligenverbände (SS Volunteer Units) from countries and regions such as Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia, Britain and the Commonwealth (Britisches Freikorps), Bulgaria, Belorussia, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France (Charlemagne Division), Finland, Georgia, Hungary, India, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, North Caucasus, Norway, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sudetenland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tibet, Turkistan and the Ukraine.

Examples of SS units are the SS Division Nordland, formed from Norwegian, Danish and Baltic volunteers; an SS Hitlerjugend Division (enlisted ranks were volunteers from the Hitlerjugend); and an SS Totenkopf Division, formed from excess guard detachments who had almost all died out by 1942 in the Valdai Hills of Russia (these were replaced by volunteers not affiliated with the concentration camps).

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At the outset of World War II, the Waffen-SS was generally an elite and respected military force, but its effectiveness waned as the war went on and as German manpower needs grew desperate. Many of the so-called volunteer units did actually consist of volunteers. However, Germany also drafted conscripts from occupied territories in Eastern Europe, making the term Freiwilligenverbände a ridiculed misnomer among them.

A large army of Waffen-SS soldiers fought in the Battle of Kursk and the Battle of the Bulge.

Waffen-SS troops committed numerous war crimes, most notoriously at Oradour, Marzabotto and in the Malmedy massacre.

See also: Comparative military ranks of World War II

References

• Williamson, Gordon (1995). Loyalty is my Honor.  Motorbooks International. 192 pp. ISBN 0760300127.
• Quarrie, Bruce (1983). Hitler's samurai: The Waffen-SS in action. Arco Pub. 161 pp. ISBN 0668058056.
• Munoz, Antonio J. (1991). Forgotten Legions: Obscure Combat Formations of the Waffen-SS. Axis Europa, Inc. ISBN 0739408178.

External links

• Axis History Factbook, Waffen-SS part – By Marcus Wendel and contributors;  site also contains an apolitical forum about the Axis nations
• Feldgrau.com – By Jason Pipes, Stanford University/University of California at Berkeley; research on the German armed forces 1918–1945
• Waffen-SS.com – By Thomas Wilhelm (webmaster) et.al.; a site exploring the combat role of the Waffen-SS in WWII; also includes forum
• Germanic Volunteers of the Waffen-SS – Book excerpt, translated from the German WWII-era original (Germanische Freiwillige im Osten)

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