The Allgemeine-SS

50 Pages·8.235 MB·English

by  Robin Lumsden, Paul Hannon

The Allgemeine-55
OSPREY
Men-at-Arms· 266
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The Allgemeine-55
Robin Lumsden· Illustrated by Paul Hannon
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THE ALLGEMEINE-55
INTRODUCTION
g 55. an offshoot of the SA (sec MAA 220),
"oared 3S Ilitlcr's personal bodyguard, and after r
:"!azi consolidation of power in 1933 began to
-clop T:lpidly. Firstly, the bodyguard section grew
regimental strength and became the elite unit of
entire organisation, assuming the title
"bstandartc-SS 'AdolfIlitier'. Secondly, the SS
cnugungsrruppc werc formed as barrackcd Quasi-
•"tar),forces 10 bolsterthe new regimein rheevent
political turmoil or counter-revolution. Finally,
SS-TOIcnkopfvcrbandc were recruited to guard
TheStosstTUPPAdolf 'heImpcri:l/lI'aTnag.
growingnumberofconccnrr:nion camp inmatcs. IlitICT..2Scptcmbt:r'9.1J. UniformslilTofrhcIie/d-
joseflJcrchrold, theonit poe.'"Hcichs"'-ehrrype, ",-ith
esc three groupings ofthe SS were amalgamated
comrn:mdcr,stand... ,"'SOAPnrmb:mdsand
acertain extent during the war, becoming thefirst le:minl:onthealb,bcsillf: dc-.lth:..hc;lds.
divisions of the Waffcn-SS (sec MAA 34), alion, and particularly the police all came to be
'chexpandedasafourth br.:anchoftheWehrmacht dominated by the Allgemeine-SS. Inoccupied west
encompassalmost 40field divisionsb}' 1945. ern Europe local volunteer units, known as the
Thc purposcofIhis book is tocover, briefly, the Germanic-55, were set up in Fl::lnders, Iiolland,
ory, organisation and uniforms ofthe rest ofthe Norway and Denmark to SUppOrl the local police in
:those men;md women whocame tobe known by guarding the various I-lome Fronts. By 1943 the
blanket (and somewhat disparaging) term Allgemeine-55 had evolved from a pan-time pro
gcmeine-55,or'General 55'.Somehadtried,and vincial police reserve to a force which influenced,
ed, 10 gain cntry 10 the J.eibstandarte, Ver through its highly placed members, much of the
ngslruppe or TOIcnkopfverbiinde. Others, for political, racial, cultural and economic face of Eu
te\'er personal or dOlTlestil; reasons, chose to rope. rts toral active strength was at that stage less
.ain with the largely p;lrt-lime and usually unpaid than 4°,000 because of the demands of military
I units. rn any e\'ent, while the more visible conscription; yet it successfully operated across an
ed SS combat units naturally received all the areastretchingfrom theChannel Islandstothemack
blicity, especiallyduringthe war, it was the rather Sea and from the I\rcric Circle to the Mediter
less Allgemeine-55 which wielded the real ranean-an area with agenerally hostile population.
"cr. Right up until the collapse of the Nazi regime
Its membership included ,heentire spectrum of rhe tentacles of the Allgemeine-55 retained a firm
German civil population, from farm labourers to griponallaspectsoflife in theThird Reich.
bnded aristocracy and from small shopkeepersto
directors of national companies. Its academics
EARLY HISTORY
ged upon research projcclS and intelligence
","'"ing activities which had a great influence on
the domestic and foreign policies ofthe Third At the end of 1918, nationalist groups sprang up all
.The government, industry, commerce. rduc- overGermany with rheaim ofriddingthecountryof
J
demobilised right-wing [(OOPS who had banded
together on a voluntary basis {() smash riots, keep
order in the streets, and prevem Germany from
bccoming a Bolshevik regime. Freikorps leaders like
Ernst Rahm scm Hitleraconstantstream ofoflicers,
NeOs and men; and in Octobcr 1920thc veterans of
thc Ehrhardt Brigade and the Iron Division went
over cn masse lO the new party, raking with them
thcirswastikaand death's head badges.
ThemilitarynatureoftheNSDAPgrewwith the
setting up ofthe Sturmabtcilungor SA during 1921.
This was the work of Rahm and thc ex-naval
Leutnam Hans-Ulrich Klintzsch, who created the
SA as anew Freikorps to hammerthe Reds and fend
off opponents at political meetings. However,
although the SA was affiliatcd lO the pany, itdid not
initially come under Hitler's personal authority, for
its members had little respect for the finesse of
politics. By the time it paradcd before Ilitier at the
first national rallyoftheNSDAP inJanuary 1923 the
SA numbered 6,000menin four regimems,and therc
were sufficiem recruits during the next month alone
toform afifth. Inanefforttoimprovecontroloverthe
rapidlygrowingorganisation Hitler appointed a new
man ofpolitics, Hermann Goring, to lead it; but he
was by nature lazy and self-indulgent, and the true
driving force behind the SA remained Rohm. Frus
trated by Rohm'sambitionand independence, which
were upheld by the former leaders ofthe Freikorps,
,'lellorthenewlyfurmed 'Kriirzehen'lide/ClipSwith
55proueJlyelispfaylin massivecagleitl.~igtlilland Hitler was compelled to set up a small troop ofmen
NSIJAPFc:fdzcichctl, 1925. thcIlss(Jrtcdbeltbllckfcs. from outsidetheSA which would beentirelydevoted
Notc varit·tiesofdrcS!>',
p:lrfieuJarlytheshurr~/ivL-d tohim. Thusthe SS wasborn.
the 'November Traiwrs' who had brought the TheMunich Putsch
disgraceofthe dictatedpeaceat Versailles, and ofthe In March 1923 Hitler ordered the formation of the
Communists and Spartacists whose first loyalty was Munich-based bodyguard knownas the Stabswaehe,
to Russia. Nationalists came from every level of whose members swore an oath of loyalty to him
society; and at the lower end of the Munich social personally. Two months later, to avoid confusion
scale was Anton Drexler's tiny German Workers' with an SA unit of the same name which prolCcted
Pany, one ofwhose meetings AdolfHitler attended Rohm and Goring, the Stabswache was renamed the
as a military observer in September 1919. He joined SlOsstrupp AdolfIlitlcr and, like the German army
the party and, through his powers of oralOry, shock troops ofWorld War I, it adopted the death's
virtually took it over from the outset, changing its headasitsdistinctiveemblem.TheStosstruppHitler
name to the National Socialist German Workers' wasled byJuliusSchreckandJosefBerchlOld,and its
Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpar membership included Josef'Scpp' Dietrich, Rudolf
tei, orNSDAP). Hess, Julius Schaub, Ulrich Grafand Karl Fiehler.
Hitler's speeches soon found a loud echo in the The 30-man squad particip3ted in [he ill-fated
ranks of the Freikorps, the hastily formed units of Munich Putsch on 9 November 1923, when Hitler's
4
! allcmpt to seize power in Bnaria by force ended in trod) u~ the under their control for the most
disaSI'cr. During theepisode Grafsued the Fuhrer's dcmC2mng tasks such as distributing propaganda
,)
life, so fulfilling the primary duty ofthe SlOsstrupp. leafletsand recruiting subscribers tothe party news
liewaslaterrewarded withthetitle'desFiihrcrsaltcr paper, the 'Volkischer Bcobachter'. By the end of
Bcglcitcr', or 'The Fuhrer's Senior Bodyguard', and 1928morale in the55wasatanall-time low.
f his bravery that day left a lasting impression on
Himmlertakescontrol
Ilitlcr.
t
Following the Putsch the NSDAP was banned The watershed in the development ofthe S5 can be
and the SA dissolved. On his release from prison in traced to a single datc-6 January 1929. On that
December 1924Hitlerbegan torebuild hisparty,and fateful day Heinrich I-limmler took command ofthe
now categorically forbade the SA 10 hear arms or organisation at a time whcn the 5A was betoming
function asanyform ofpri\'3tearmy. Itspurposewas increasingly rebellious. From Ihen on SS progress
solely 10clear the streets ofhis political enemies-a became bound up with the career ofI-limmlcr, who
role hotlycontested by Rohm, whoalways envisaged obtainedoneimportant postafleranother;indeed,by
the SA as a citizen army which would ultimately 19-1-5 he had concentraled more power in his hands
upcrscde the Rcichs~chr. The disagreements be than any other man except Hitlcr, In April 1929
""cen thetwobecamesobitterthat Rohm eventually Himmlcr obtained approval for a rccruiting plan
r resigned from the NSDAP and quit Germany for a designedtocreateatrulyelitebodyoutofthe55;and
military advisor's post in Bolivia; however, his by 1930 it had grown 10a force of2,000 men. When
absence had such an impact that Ilitier was sub the 5A in northern Germany rebelled against the
sequently forced 10 reinstate him as SA chief in a bourgeois N5DAP hierarchy in [931, only the 55
strongerposition than ever. remained loyal to Hiller, The revolt collapsed, and
In April 1925 Hitler formed a new bodyguard Himmler was rewarded wilh his appointment as
commanded by Schaub, Schreck and his orher security chiefofthe NSD.>\P headquarters in Mun
tosstrupp favouritcs. Theguard, whichcamcunder ich. In effect, hewasmadc headofthe partypolice,
the auspices ofIhe SA High Command, was known
irst astheSchutzkommando, then asthe Sturmstaf
ld.; bUI on 9 Novcmber it adopted the title of
hUlZStaffel or Protcction Squad, soon commonly
abbreviated to SS. From thc stan it \\as laid down
2t the SS, unlikc thc SA, should ncver become a
aass organisation. Groups of Ten, or 'Zehnerstaf
n', weresct upacross Germany sothat the Fiihrer
uld have access to a local S5 bodyguard wherever
wentduring his political campaigning. Applicants
d to be between 25 and 35 years ofage, have two
nSOTS, beregistered with thepoliceasresidents of
~years'standing,and besober,disciplincd,strong
healthy.Theseedsofelitism weresown.
Despitethegradualextension ofilsnumbersand
tigc, the 5S remained a limited organisation
rdinated to the SA. The latter kept a jealouseye
55 expansion, and local SA commanders consis-
",ellprepllretosetlire slightdifferencesillcut
• roflcrtionofplt'Cllr/ls 'lIIdpo!>"it;onO(blitIOIIS,
IIIIGs!>'cized(rom IlIJdshou/dcrstrn~ hal'c
linCommunists, /lotyClOCcnintroduced.
'h 19JJ. rheL'tIrly (!IVM)
I.'lIniH/nllsrCH:IIJ
5
...dnadunClI(roma"
....Fi "und:lrre,
pnrakd~ Itsoondand
"..... ,musicians'
~umor'Jklltrc:c'
~e.I'J.f'
• Wrnnftnc-S5
\CO~m.n~pe-.JtedUlp.
TkI~ttern('aglelfnd
l~flnTITotcntopf
dIi,rdtlsollmpletoc.
I,.U 1Mlarger55-stylc
C/l.r:k_:asintroducedillthe
folJowUlf!.\Ojr.(LllmsdclJ
CDl""-o1
On 30January 1933 Hitler becameChancellorof time actually meant what n implied and made him
Germany, Less than a month later the Reichstag directly subordinale to Hukr. From the middle of
building was burned to the ground, and the blame 193-1 thetraditionalnon-mi.l.u.u1 •thebackboneof
put on the Communists. Hitler immediately ga\'e the organisation, began lO be l.no\lin as the
police powers to25,000 SA and 15.000SS men, who Allgemeine-55 to distirtgUbh It trum the newl)
lx:gan to arrest left-wing opponents of the new de\c1opingarmed branch
regime in large numbers and herd them inm make
shift prisons and camps. While the SS wasconsolidat ROLE OF THE 55
ing its position and controlling its membership and
rf,,'Cruitment by a consranl purging process, the 5A
bq"ran to throw its weight about noisily, Denied a The first and foremost dury of the 5 was the
position in theNazi Statetowhich it feil enlitled,the protection of Adolf Hitler..\fer the :ad\ent of the
SA talked of a 'Second Revolution' which would Leibstandarte, howe\er. _ members worked
sweep away both the bourgeois in the pany and the full-time to a rota and :acrompanied Hitler on his
reactionaries in the Reichswehr. The brawling, drin journeys through the Rcich. the part-time S5 men
king, violence and homosexual activities of the SA who had originally been raTU.ited un a local basis to
became an embarrassment; and on 30 June 1934 the protect the Fuhrerdurin~lllitnpsaround Germany
SA leadership was liquidated in operations carried found that aspect of their "'or ta. en from them.
out ruthlessly by the 55 and the army. With Rohm Consequently, it wasdeci&dthat13of193-1themain
dead, the SA suflcrcd alossofpowerand 'face' from day-tl?day function of that hig-hl) disciplined
whil:h it never fully recovered. Allgemeine-SS \'olunt~.ouId be to support the
On 20July '934, in thanks for itsscn'icesduring policein m:lintainingpubbcorder
the 'Night ofthe Long Kni\'cs', Ilitlcr dccJared the The SS rapidly expanded _lth the formation of
200,ooo-strong 5S an independent form.nion ofthe many new Allgemeine- "'Wldanen. trained and
i\SDAI)andremm"cditcompletel) from SAcontrol. equipped tocombat:lny UprblOgorcounter-
Its ascendancy was now assured; and it entered a re,"olution. In such an n :") \liould take over
period ofconsolidation during \\hich it de\c1oped a the operation of the , l12tional radio
new command structure and org;anisation under network, publicutiliti tn.nsport,as well
Hinunler,whoserankasReichsfuhrcr-SSfor thefirst as acting as police mm The anticipated
6
gOl'erned the behaviour ofevery 55 member. Ulti
malely, SS men were answerable only to special 55
and Police courts for any crimes or offences they
committed, and were, in cRw, put abovethe normal
jurisdictionoftheci\,ilcourts.
UnderHimmler,theSScame10regard itselfnot
merely as a temporary political organisation but as a
'Sippc', i.e. a tribe or clan. Thesame racial qualities
looked for in Ihe55 man werethereforealsorequired
of his wife. A special Marriage Order, dating from
1931,dictaled thaI55 men had toseck permission to
marry,and that Iheprospective wiveshad toundergo
elose scrutiny into their health, background and
civilunrcstncvercameaboul,andsothepoliceduties fertililY. Christian weddings were replaced by neo
ofthe Allgemeine-55 before the outbreak ofwar in pagan rites for the Allgemeine-SS, and couples were
1939 were generally restricted to overseeing crowd expeeled to raise at least four children, either
controlatpanyralliesand othercelebrations,includ naTurally or by adoption. A network of maternity
ing national holidays and state visits of foreign homes administered by the SS Lebensborn Society
dignilaries. wasseT up toassisl in that goal.
During World War II members of the
Allgemeine-55 .....ho had nOI been called up for The55 in Germany
mililaryservicetook an activerolein Ihewareffortat The Allgemeine-55 had a wide-ranging eflect on all
home. In many cities special 55 Wachkompanieand aspl'Ctsoflifein Nazi Germany. TheT:1cial policiesof
AJarmstiirme were detailed to prOleet factories, IheThird Reich werepUI intooperalion Ihrough 55
bridgl'S,roadsandotherstrategicpoints,and toassist agencil'S, primaril} Ihe Reichskommissariat fUr die
the Luftschutz or Civil Defence duringair raids. On Fl'Stigungdesdeutschen VoH:.stums or RKFDV, the
the Reich's borders, 55 men worked as Auxiliary Reich Commission for theConsolidationofGerman
Frontier Personnel in conjunction wilh the Customs ism, \\hich or~nised the resenlcmenl of racial
Service. Olhers helped wilh Ihe harvest, supervised Germansin theoccupiedeastern lerrilories. i\nother
foreign labourers, and engaged upon welfare work. 55 group, Ihe Volksdeursche Minelstelle or VO~'1I,
During 1944-45 lhe cadres of Ihe Allgemeine-55 played asignifiC',lIll part in infiltrating racial German
mroughoutGermany were trained (()C(HJrdinate the communities in Austria and Czechoslovakia during
shorr-livedguerrilla fighting which took placeagainst the late 19305, ultimately pa\'ingthe way for theNazi
Allied troops. occupalion ofthese states. In an e"()rt to prove the
Conditions ofservice in the SS highlighted the racial hypotheses ofNational Socialism by sl:ientifil:
dite nature ofthe formation. Recruiting .....as tightly means I-limmler set up Ahnencrbe, a body for the
controlled, most young 55 men ,Ilier 193+ coming research of ancestral heritage. The 55 duly carried
Crectly from the rJ.nks of the Hitler Yourh. Our of out archaeological excavationsthroughout Europe in
a'cry 100 applicants, only 10 to 15 were finally the sC<lrch for the origins of the Nordic race-an
.tmilled. Selection was based on T:1cial purity, good apparently innocent obsession which ultimately re
IIh and disciplined chaT:1cter. Training was car sulted in human experimentation using concen
ried OUI over a three-year period, with statutory Irationcamp inmatcs.
Weaks for obligatory sen-icc in Ihe armed forces and Theconcentrationcampsystemalsoga\'e Ihe55
the Labour 5enice. The confinned 55 man access 10 an unlimited supply ofcheap, expcndable
lCIlained intheactiveAllgemeine-55until hewas35 labour, which led toa thriving5S eCOllomy. Various
rsold, afler which hecould transfer toone ofthe manufacturingenterprises were sct up in the camps,
reserve units. Promotion was awarded on merit, and workers I(:ased out to prh'ate finns on sub
.d a slrict 55 Legal Code and Discipline Code contract. The acquisition of large fertile territories
7
during the war greatly enlarged the scope of these servants, theleaders oflocal govenmem, membersof
activities. Farmingand slOdbrccdingin Poland, and the military aristocracy, doctors, scientists and those
forestry, miningand fifOhing in Russia all entered the prominem in the fields of culture and charitable
field ofSScconomies.and between 19+1 and 1944the works. After the failed plot to assassinate Hitler in
55 exploited the \\eahh, resourcesand population of July 1944 thc 55 finally overcame the last bastion of
the conquered caSt on a ,m00assivc scale. Ilimmier the old traditional Germany, the armYi SS generals
e\'elUually controlled o\cr factories, producing, took over the Ilome Army and military adminis
forexample,7,u()ofGermany'ssoft drin1:sand9,00 tration,aswell astheSl..'crct weaponsprogramme.
ofthe country's furniture..~Iostofthc uoiforms and With itseyesclearlysct on Ihefuture, the 55 set
equipmem used by the Allgemeine-55, Waffen-55 out to control the education system at an early stage
and police \\ere manufactured in the concentration and with considerable success. The NPEA schools,
camps, alongside military armaments and leather whichexiSTedTOtrain thefuturee(jteoftheparty,fell
goods. The 55 r-J.n quarries, brid\\or1:s, cement under 55 dircction, asdid theStudents' League and
factories, bakeries, food research c..'Stablishmcnts and the Teachers' Association. Aoo\e aU, the Hider
proCl.-ssingplams,apublishinghouse,as\\ordsmithy Youth wor1:ed hand-in-glove with the55sothai the
and e\'cn a porcelain \\or1:5. The sums \\hich flowed racial and politiC:J1 thinkingofthei"\SDAP could be
into 55 l..'Offers as a result were \ast, and helped to transmitted to the young. Many of the uniform
strengthen the ReichsfUhrer's position and maintain accoutrements and rituals ofthe Hitler Youth were
thefinancial autonomyofhisorganisation. copied direct!} from thoseohheS .
Through it'S industrialconnections,the 55culti By theautumn of1944-.the 5 hadseized almost
vated and recruited hundreds ofcompany direcwTS, tmal political, mililary and economtc control of
businessmenand landowners. Man) oftheseinfluen Germany. At the lx--ginningof1945, ho.....e\-er, Him
tial men beC:J.me members ofthe CircleofFriends of mler failed in his post asmiliur} commanderoftwo
the ReichsfUhrer-55, or S5 Patron Members, and Army Groups on the Rhine and Vislula Fronls, and
made regular donations to 55 funds. In return, they even sought LO negotiate a pe2a= treaty with the
secured theprotectionand favourofthe Blad Corps. Western Allies. Hitlcr di m~ him, replacing him
Bymeansofaconscious policy ofinfihration, the 55 as ReiehsfUhrer-SS b} Karl Hanke. With the
thoroughly I>crmcated every bmnch of official and Flihrer'ssuicideon 30April theThird Reich rapidly
semi-official German life. By May 1944 no less than collapsed; and all factions ofthe Nazi regime were
25% of the leading personalities in Germany wcrc only too happy [0 heap the blame for their atrocities
members ofthe SS, some bcing regulars and others on the shoulders ofthe S .The entire organisation
st>-called 'EhrenfUhrer' or Iionorary Officers. They wasdeclared criminaJ b)' the\ictors,and itsmembers
included almost all ofHitler's immediate entourage, hunted down. I-limmler and scHonl ofhis generals
men in key party and government posts, top civil took their own lives r.lther than faa= the ordeal ofa
trial and acertain death sentence. LesserSS officers,
NCOsand mcnsimplymeltedmtothcb2ckgroundof
post-warGermany,orfled.abroad 'Aith theassistance
ofthe secretODESSA orpnbJ,(lOn, me used part
ofthc cstimated £900,000.000 .-orth ofmoney and
assets held by the S5in 1 ,I) [ablbhcommercial
companies throughout t~ •RUn) ofwhich are
still in existencetothi da.
Hinulllcr1)/m,:in!!Il"'reach IlcX:IKJUhrt:r.'Clf'Soneof
1fttheFddhcrruhl.lle" &..-.-nJJeathr:r
.l\!on:mber'934. TheBlood •na.n. TJH:.KlJ;lrdof
lJ:Jnncr,IJdd1)-,}td.ob ~pnscs
Grimmingl·r.SltlJldsintlw ~:J ordJc 17,
background. Thl' ~~'nbllld:.
8
..
ORGANISATION
_.-
-- .-=._.
The comm,md structure ofthe Allgemeine-55 con
tinually grew and developed during the 19305. By
19.P,subject toHimmlcr's controllingauthorityand -y-
$t~~~''';i.::'1B 3lI'j'3t~'ka;jN€""1,ii;j;]
that of his High Command the Rcichsfiihrung-SS,
the day-to-day work ofdirecting and administering ..Cft* ~"~..l"""
theS5 wascarriedout byeight main departments,or
_8~'.11
IIauptamtcr,aslisted below.
Hauploml PersiinlicherSlab RfSS (Pers. Stab RjSS)
This was (-limmlcr'spersonalstaffand comprised the
heads of the 55 Hauptamter, certain specialist
officials, and advisory or honorary officers. Its ad
Copyorthenewspaper member..'uptodrlreonSS
ministrative work was processed through the Kom '0:1...SchwarzeKorps' "n/I;r....(Lumsden
mandostab RfSS, which operated during the war pllb/i'~'hL-dweeklybytheSS Colleet;on)
higheommmld/()keep
under the title Fcldkommandostcllc RfSS or Field
Headquarters of the Rcichsflihrcr-SS. It was thcn
organised like a military J-IQ, with a signals section, agriculrural undertakings, carricd out housing and
escort battalion and flak detachment, and accom construction programmes, administered the finances
panied Himmler on his tours of the occupied orthe 5S and ran thcconcentration camps.
territories. Rasse-undSiedlungslltluptal1ll (NuSf/A)
SS Hatlp/aml (SS-HA) The Race and Settlement Department looked aftcr
The S5 Ccntral Office was mainly responsible Jor the racial purity of all 55 members, issued lineage
recruitmentand the maintenance ofrecords on non ccnificales, and was responsiblc for settling 55 men,
commissioned personnel. cspecially cx-scrvicemen, in the conquered eastern
SS Fiihrungshatlp/am/ (55-FHA) terriwries.
The55Operational Headquarters included asoneof III/lip/amI 55-Gerich! (JJA SS-Gerichl)
its main dcpartments the Kommandoamt der The55Legal Departmenradministered thediscipli
Allgemeinen-55, or Allgemeine-SS HQ, and co nary side of the special code of laws to which
ordinatcd training, the payment ofwages, the supply members of the SS and police were subject. It
of equipment, arms, ammunition and vehicles and controlled the 55 and Police courts, and the penal
the maintenance and repair of stocks. It was also camps to which convicted 55 and police offenders
responsiblefor thetransportorthe55and Police, 55 weresent.
mailcensorship,geology,wararchivcsanddentaland SS Persofw/hauplaml (Pers.HA)
medical services. The SS Personnel Department dealt with personnel
Neichssicherheitshallp/al1ll (RSHA or RSi-H) mattersand keptrecordson 55officers.
The Reich Central Security Ollice controlled the
Security Agencies ofthe Third Reich, including the Regional organisation
Kripo, the Gestapo and the SO. It was responsible On a level immediately below the 55 Ilauptiimter
for bothforeign anddomesticintelligenceoperations, were the Oberabschnitte (Oa.) or Regions, the bases
espionage ,md counter-espionage, combatting polit of the AlIgcmeine-S5 terriwrial organisation. Initi
ical and common law crime,and soundingout public ally there were five Oberabschnitte, formed in 1932
opinion on the Nazi regime. from theexisting5S Gruppcn.By 1944theirnumber
SS WirtschaJis- lIud Verl/ial/llugslulllptal1l/ (SS had risen to 17 within Gcrmany proper, and each
WVHA) corresponded almost exactly to a Wchrkrcis or
The S5 Economic and Administrative Department l'vlilitary District. The 5S Regions were generally
controlled a large number of 55 industrial and known by geographical names, but it was also
9