SS Officers
The Schutzstaffel (, translated to Protection Squadron or defence corps, abbreviated SSβor with stylized "Armanen" sig runes) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP). It began at the end of 1920 as a small, permanent guard unit known as the "Saal-Schutz" (Hall-Protection) made up of NSDAP volunteers to provide security for Nazi Party meetings in Munich. Later in 1925, Heinrich Himmler joined the unit which had by then been reformed and renamed the "Schutz-Staffel". Under Himmler's leadership (1929β45), it grew from a small paramilitary formation to one of the largest and most powerful organizations in Nazi Germany. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II (1939β45). The SS, along with the Nazi Party, was banned in Germany as a criminal organization after 1945.
Read more about SS Officers: Background, History, After The Nazi Seizure of Power, During World War II, SS Units and Branches, SS Special Purpose Corps, Postwar Activity and ODESSA, See Also
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“No officer should be required or permitted to take part in the management of political organizations, caucuses, conventions, or election campaigns. Their right to vote and to express their views on public questions, either orally or through the press, is not denied, provided it does not interfere with the discharge of their official duties. No assessment for political purposes on officers or subordinates should be allowed.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)