Allgemeine SS - Formation and Service

Formation and Service

After the Machtergreifung (seizure of power) by the NSDAP, the SS began to expand into a massive organization. By March 1933 it included over 52,000 registered members. By December 1933 the SS had increased to over 204,000 members and Himmler ordered a temporary freeze on recruitment. Himmler ordered that "no one else is taken on, from the end of 1933 to the end of 1935, who is not suited for the SS."

On 20 April 1934, Göring and Himmler agreed to put aside their differences (largely because of mutual hatred of the SA). Göring transferred control of the Gestapo to Himmler, who was also named chief of all German police forces outside Prussia. The SS was further cemented when both it and the Gestapo participated in the destruction of the SA during the Night of the Long Knives from 30 June to 2 July 1934. They either killed or arrested every major SA leader – above all Ernst Röhm. Himmler was later named the chief of all German police in June, 1936. Therein, the Gestapo was incorporated into the SiPo with the Kripo (Criminal Police). Heydrich was made head of the SiPo and continued as chief of the SD.

In August 1934, Himmler received permission from Hitler to form a new organisation from the SS Sonderkommandos and the Politischen Bereitschaften, the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT). This was a standing armed military force, which in war was to be subordinate to the Wehrmacht ("Armed Forces"), but remained under Himmler's control in times of peace and under Hitler's personal control regardless. According to this restructure, the SS now housed three different subordinate commands:

1. Allgemeine-SS,
2. SS-Verfügungstruppe
3. SS-Totenkopfverbände

Himmler further conducted additional purges of the SS to include those deemed to be opportunists, alcoholics, homosexuals, or of uncertain racial status. This "house cleaning" removed some 60,000 SS members by December 1935.

By 1938, the Allgemeine SS numbered 485,000 members with 13,867 active SS-officers. In May 1939, the Totenkopfverbände was declared to be a part of the Allgemeine-SS, adding 50,000 new members to the organization (the Totenkopfverbände would later be absorbed by the Waffen-SS in 1942).

Upon the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the SS had solidified into its final form, mainly two large contingents, these being the Allgemeine-SS and Waffen-SS. With Himmler as Chief of the German Police, the SS also controlled the Ordnungspolizei, which over the course of World War II would be increasingly overshadowed and infiltrated by the SS.