SS_Main_Office

SS Main Office

SS Main Office

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The SS Main Office (German: SS-Hauptamt; SS-HA) was the central command office of the Schutzstaffel (SS) in Nazi Germany until 1940.

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Formation

The office traces its origins to 1931 when the SS created the SS-Amt to serve as an SS Headquarters staff overseeing the various units of the Allgemeine-SS (General SS). In 1933, after the Nazi Party came to power, the SS-Amt was renamed the SS-Oberführerbereichen and placed in command of all SS units within Nazi Germany. Its leaders were Ernst Bach (December 1932 to June 1933), Siegfried Seidel-Dittmarsch (June 1933 to February 1934) and Curt Wittje (from February 1934).[1] This agency then became the SS-HA on January 30, 1935. The organization oversaw the Allgemeine-SS, concentration camps, the SS-Verfügungstruppe (Special-purpose troops), and the Grenzschutz (Border Control regiments).[1]

During the late 1930s, the power of the SS-HA continued to grow becoming the largest and most powerful office of the SS, managing nearly all aspects of the paramilitary organization. This included the SS officer schools (SS-Junker Schools), physical training, communication, SS garrisons, logistics and support.[1] Shortly after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the SS-Verfügungstruppe expanded rapidly becoming the Waffen-SS in 1940. By this time, the office of the SS-Hauptamt could no longer administer the entire SS organization. As a result, the SS-HA was downsized losing much of its pre-war power to the SS Führungshauptamt (SS Leadership Main Office; SS-FHA) and the main offices of the Allgemeine-SS, such as the Reich Security Main Office.[2]

Recruiting members for the Waffen-SS was handled through the SS-HA and its chief, Berger. This caused overlapping jurisdiction and friction with the SS-FHA.[3] Berger's SS-HA had a problematic relationship with the SS-FHA, which was responsible for organising, training and equipping the Waffen-SS. The SS-FHA wanted the Waffen-SS to be a small elite corps, but Berger and Himmler knew that Adolf Hitler needed as many divisions as possible, even if that meant some Waffen-SS formations would be of lesser quality.[4] During the early war years, to meet the high casualty rates and expansion of Waffen-SS field divisions, members of the Allgemeine SS were used for compulsory recruitment drives by the SS-HA for both the Waffen-SS and the SS-Totenkopfverbände. The General SS members were especially seen as well suited for duty at the Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps.[5] From 1942, forward, other personnel working for SS organisations were also drafted into the Waffen-SS to meet its manpower needs.[5]

Organization

In 1940 the SS-Hauptamt remained responsible for SS administrative matters such as manpower allocation, supplies, personnel transfers, and promotions. The SS-HA had 11 departments (Ämter or Amtsgruppen):[6]

  • Amt Zentralamt (Central office)
  • Amt Leitender Arzt beim Chef SS-HA (Chief Medical Officer)
  • Amt Verwaltung (Administration)
  • Amt Ergänzungsamt der Waffen-SS (Waffen-SS Reinforcements)
  • Amt Erfassungsamt (Requisitioning)
  • Amt für Weltanschauliche Erziehung (Ideological Training)
  • Amt für Leibeserziehhung (Physical Training)
  • Amt für Berufserziehung (Trade Training)
  • Amt Germanische Leitstelle (Germanic Control)
  • Amt Germanische Ergänzung (Germanic Recruitment)
  • Amt Germanische Erziehung (Germanic Education)

The SS-HA was technically subordinate to the Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS, but in reality it remained autonomous.

Leadership

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Post-war

Gottlob Berger in the dock at the Nuremberg Trials in 1949.

After the end of World War II in Europe, members of the SS-HA were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Gottlob Berger, its former chief was arrested in May 1945 and tried in 1949. The trial against Berger and his co-defendants commenced on 6 January 1948,[8] and ended on 13 April 1949.[9] Berger was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, but received credit for the four years during which he had been in custody awaiting trial.[10] Berger was released from Landsberg prison in 1951.[11]

References

Citations

  1. [1]
    Yerger 1997, p. 13.
  2. [2]
    McNab 2009, pp. 36, 41.
  3. [3]
    Wegner 1990, pp. 296–298.
  4. [4]
    Weale 2010, pp. 118–119.
  5. [5]
    Wegner 1990, p. 306.
  6. [6]
    Yerger 1997, pp. 14–15.
  7. [7]
    Yerger 1997, p. 15.
  8. [8]
    Heller 2011, p. 79.
  9. [9]
    Heller 2011, p. 103.
  10. [10]
    NMT 1949, p. 867.
  11. [11]
    Maguire 2013, p. 206.

Bibliography

  • Heller, Kevin Jon (2011). The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal Law. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-162212-0.
  • Maguire, Peter H. (2013). Law and War: International Law and American History, Revised Edition. New York, New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-51819-2.
  • McNab, Chris (2009). The SS: 1923–1945. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906626-49-5.
  • Trials of War Criminals before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals, Volume XIV, "The Ministries Case". Nuremberg, Allied-occupied Germany: Nuernberg Military Tribunals. 1949. OCLC 874547741.
  • Weale, Adrian (2010). The SS: A New History. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-1-4087-0304-5.
  • Wegner, Bernd (1990). The Waffen-SS: Organization, Ideology and Function. Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-14073-5.
  • Yerger, Mark C. (1997). Allgemeine-SS: The Commands, Units and Leaders of the General SS. Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 0-7643-0145-4.
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