SS Flashcards
(10 cards)
What does SS stand for?
Schutzstaffel, meaning “Protection Squadron.”
When was the SS founded and why?
Founded in 1925 as Hitler’s personal bodyguard unit, initially a subdivision of the SA.
Who led the SS from 1929?
Heinrich Himmler, who expanded its size and influence.
How did the role of the SS change after 1934?
After the Night of the Long Knives, the SS replaced the SA as the Nazi Party’s main security force and gained independence.
What were the three main branches of the SS?
Allgemeine SS – general duties, including policing and enforcing Nazi ideology.
Waffen SS – armed military wing, fought alongside the regular army.
Totenkopfverbände – managed concentration camps and later death camps.
What was the SS’s role in the police state?
It controlled the Gestapo (secret police), SD (intelligence), and concentration camps, enforcing Nazi rule through terror and surveillance.
How did the SS contribute to Nazi racial policy?
The SS played a central role in implementing racial purity laws, persecution of Jews, and running the Holocaust.
What was the SD (Sicherheitsdienst)?
The intelligence service of the SS, responsible for identifying enemies of the state, led by Reinhard Heydrich.
What values and qualities did the SS look for in its members?
Absolute loyalty to Hitler, racial purity (Aryan ancestry), physical fitness, and ideological commitment to Nazism.
Why was the SS important for Nazi control?
It was the core of the Nazi terror apparatus, enabling repression, surveillance, ideological control, and ultimately genocide.
