Robin Lumsden-Himmler's Black Order_ A History of the SS, 1923-45-The History Press (2005).pdf

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I
A HISTORY OF THE SS,
1
923-45
ROBIN
LUMSDEN
SUTTON PUBL
lSI! lNG
Fir~t
publto;hed
m
1997
in
rhe
United Ktngdom
Sutton Publishmg
L1mited
·
Phoenix Mill
f
hrupp · Stroud · Gloucesrershirc
·
GLS
2BU
hy
Th1 paperback cdnion
fir~r
published
Copyright ©
Robin Lumsden,
1997
10
2005
CONTENTS
Introduction
1.
VII
..
All
righrs resc.-vcd.
No parr
of
thts publication may be reproduced, !>cored
m a
retncval
-;ysr..:m,
or
rran~mitrcd,
in any form,
or
by
any means, electronic, mechanical, phnrocopying, rewtdmg
or
orherwi~c,
without rhe prior permission of rhe publisher and
copyri(;!ht
holder.
0RlG1NS
AND
EARLY D
EVELOPMENT
TH
E
ALLGEMEINE-5S
General Organisation of
th
e
Allgemeine-55
55
Duties
a
nd
Conditio
n
of Service
The Racia l
Elite
Guardians
of
the
Sta
re
The
Ind ustrial
Empire
The 55
Society
oble Ancestors
The
Next
Generation
The
Germanic-55
Symbolism and
Regalia
of
the Black Order
19
BrilJ<;h
J
ihrary
Cataloguing
in
Publicntion Data
A
catalogue
rc~.:ord
for rhis book is available
from
the
Brtmh
I
ihran·
2.
ISBN
0 7509
4050
6
19
45
64
79
100
108
11
5
126
134
142
3.
TH
E
WAfFEN-SS
Origins and
Orga nisation
of
th
e
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS at
War
Waffen-55
Uniforms
Epilogue
Bibliogra ph
y
f)
pe!)el
trl
I
0/13
pt
~a
bon.
T>
pe
errm~
anJ origination
by
utton
Publt ...
htng limired.
Great
Bntatn
by
J.H. Hayne<;
&
Co.
1
td,
Sp.Hkford
tn
171
L7 L
184
214
267
281
284
In
de'=
Primed
and
bound
v
INTRODUCTION
The
one of the hcsr known,
)Ct
ltasr
under~rood.
organisations in history. To most
people, it was s1mply a brutal arm nf rhe N.1z1
'>tate wh1ch had
~ubjugatwn
b) terror ,,.,
it.,
'
olt:
purpo~c
.
Consequently, 1 \\Ill
for~·H·r
he
1
equated with concenrrarion camps, rorture
and
mao;s
extermination, and on that basic; is
fated
w
be almost universal!) loathed and
dcte'>ted for generations to come.
Yet this dark side is onl} pan of
th~
S
<,ton.
The "hole saga is considerabh more
~omple"\
and,
10
many \vays
,
almo't dehc'>
behd.
In
ten years.
the
S gre\\ from a
-.mall.
unpaid bodyguard for
.1.
mmor pohuct.ln
to
.1
force
which
dominated
the ractal, cultur.tl
;1nd
profec;,tonal c;pheres
of
the mo<;t
powerful empt
rc
m.1inl.wd Europe
h.t.,
e'er
-.ccn
. \
II tlll' domestic poliCe agenc1es of the
occupied territories were controlled
by
the
and
a
network
of
monopolistic bus1nco;s
enterprio;es
ga' e
the organisation\ hundreds
of factoriec, di
rect
access to their own r.l\\
matcrtals, labour and internal markets.
People
in all walks of
life,
from farmers and
c;oldier'i
to
acndemics and
member~
of rhe
a
ri-.rucracy,
flocked
ro
join rhc
SS
lor
thetr
own sclfi-;h en&;.
\
r
the
centre
was
H
immler,
a rurhlco;sh
amhntous 1dealisr. From the
dJ) he rook
comm:.1nd.
H
immler
\\ilS
the SS and the
SS
tl
immler. The orgamsarion's progress bec,une
b<.lund up wit h the career of irs
Reich~fuh
rer.
'' ho
obtained
one
imporranr posr afrcr
,lnother unnl hy
1945
he had concentrated
more
prl\\
er m
lw;
pcr<.on
rhan
an~
orher
nun
c'\..-cpt
I i
itler.
\XIht>r~,·er
H
immk·r
sccurl"d
.1
positton, he rook the SS "'Hh htm
.
The
~
~~
t<;
borh the has1s and rhc msrrumcnr oi
h1s
~rrength.
At the height of his influence,
H
immler \·vas
ChJCf
of
Polil.e, Reich
~1imster
o
f
the
l
ntl
ranr. ·"' 1'-SDA
P
R
eic.:h~leiter,
,1
~!cmlH·
r
of
the
R
cich~taA,
Rc1ch
Com·
mlo;stom•r tor the Consolidation
()(
Ger
manism.
Commander-in·Chief
of
rhc
Home
Arm).
Chu~f
of
~
t
iiltary
Armament
.1nd Commander
of
Army Grca1p<,
on
the
Rhme and
\
istula.
In
effect, hl' and his !>S
~.onrrollcd
all torces,
military,
paramilitan
and pollee. on the German home
from
dunng
rhc Secnnd
\X
orld
\X'ar.
'
Yet,
w1th hts
cripplin~
fascmatton for
gl'nealog\, medle,·alism and Gcrmamc lore.
the Retcho;fuhrer·
S
exerc..,ed coral
control
mer a Juggernaut "h11.h he regarded not
.1~
.1
pohu~.1l
vc.:hide
bur
3'>
a
racial Order.
So far
as
llimmler
was concerned, rhe SS was first
,1nd torcmost a mul
ri·national
fam1ly, a
nord11.
dJn
whith "ould eventually unite the
C.ermantc
people<. of
~. urope ~o
rhar
tht'~
would
n~"er
agam
wmc
mto mutu.tl confltct.
H
immlcr plnnned rha
r
after
t
he \ icrorious
condu!.ion
of the
war,
rha r lasr
great
war
nf
.:"\termination
10
which rhe SS
wou
ld
pro'e
lt~elf
through the
Jt:
h
icvcmcnr~
of its own
bank·held
unit~,
he
and
his successors would
hulld up the Order .1nd produce the leaders ro
Jireu
indu.;rr~,
agnculture, politics and the
.11.:uvmes
of
rhe mmd m a new pagan
Europe,
policed and
gu,udcd
by
rhe SS.
~or
has parr, Adolf
Hitler
was content to
.tllm\
hi' lm
al
folhw.er'o; fancte<, tree retn,
''nt:e he ne\ er needed
m
threaten
"ould·hl'
uuubkm.tkl·r'>
"ith
.111~
thing
<lthcr
th.w
bc1ng 'l1<1ndcd
O\
cr ro
ll
immlcr·. The
h~c.1mc
VII
~IMMLER'S
BLACK
ORDER
respecrecl
artd,
in
,nmc
C:•l'C'•
i."\'cn
rC'\
~··~·d.
SS
memhcrshtp was
somerhtng tt,
he:
htghh
valued, and che carefull)'
Jc,rgned
ur11torms
and
accourrcmcnts intended
to
,~r
rhc
nc\\
elite apart
bc~.-ame
lOStant
'>[;."\[US
symtmJ\
lll
rhe emerging empire.
f
he exm:mc:l) rowcrful
influence of badges and rcgalta should
nt'H.'r
be forgotrcn
when trying
w
\cck 41nc,wers to
che
often-a)ked question of wh} orJ1n,an,
law-a hiding
cititcns
happily
subscribed ro
w·hac
i)
now
generally
regarded
a<;
,1
murderous
organ1sarion.
Robin Lumsdtm
Camzeyhi/1.
March
1997
knowledg<.·
rha[
the
all-powerful
Reichsfi.ihrer
wal>
lurkmg
around as a son of
bogeyman
wal>
usuall
y
enough
ro ensure that Hider
recet,ed only
fawning
adulauon
from
all
but
rhe
strongest wtlled.
As a
result, Himmler's
person:~!
hopes
and
dreams for the
SS
however
unreali
ric,
were
permitted
ro
sha~
the
devdnpmenr of
the
enrire organjsarion.
In writing this
book,
I
hope to clear up
some
misconception~
and show
that the
SS
had
many more facets than those
generally
known. Wirhtn Germany
itself
during the
Third
Reich,
rhe
SS held
a
unique position.
It
was
feared, Yl't
it was also genuinely
1.
ORIGINS AND EARLY
DEVELOPMENT
f'hc
origins
of
the SS are
linked
inexmcabl~
wirh
the
evenrs and afrermarh of
the First
World
War. Thi)
epic conflicr
had a
profound
effect
upon Adolf Hicler, who. afrer
years of
.timles.; drifting in Vienna and Munich,
suddenly
found
his rrue vocarion
fighting on
the western front.
From the
vcr) beginning
the German army.
unlike
rhat of Great
BrirJin, actively encouraged iniriati'e on the
pare of ire; COs and pnvare soldrers, su
Gefreirer
Hider was more chan
accusromed ro
maktng front-line
decisions
in
his
'depurv
officer' capacity. As a
trench messenger.
he
conc;rantly ran
the
gaunrler of
Hritish
and
french
machine guns. receiving the
Bav.:man
Md1t.H~
l.ross of
.\tcrit
3rd (.lass and a
Rt"gimcntal
Citation for
Braverr
in
the Face
of
the Enemy.
H
e was wounded
rwic.e,
gas'ied,
temporarily
blinded and emerged
w1rh
the
fron
Cross
1
t
Class, an
unusually
high decoration for
an
enlisted man
anJ
t)ne
which
he wore proud
ly
until the day
of
hi
death.
Once
the
sta
lemate
<Jf
rrench warfare had
-.et
in, Germany
was
quick
to
reali
e
rhc
porenrwJ
Of
JcvcJoping elite
UOitS
of hand-
picked
infantrymen
ro act
as
assault
parnes
and trench
raiders.
Earl>
in 1915
MaJor
Eugen
Kaslow,
a
ptoneer
officer,
was tasked
with ('valuating experimental steel helmets,
body armour and a new
light
cannon.
To do
so,
he formed a small assault
detachment
which came
to be
known
35
t;rurmabredung
Ka<.low.
Under
his leadership and that
of
hts
s
uc~c
..sor, Hauptmann Willi Rohr, the
turmabreilung
evolved new
tactics
co
break
inro
an enemy
rrench
system. Combat
operations in
rhe Vosges mountains rhat
anrumn
...
u~gc~ccd
rhar
these ideas were
oumJ
.tnd.
in
Janu.u~
19
16,
~Htrmabreilung
Rohr
was duly
transferred
ro Verdun.
At
rhar rime,
the derachmenr
comprised rhree-nun
reams
~.-ailed
Sro'istruppe,
or
-.hod.
troop'>, whose
method of Jtt.1ck
mvolved
stormmg a trench
m fh10k.
'I
he
fin.r of the
trio was armed with
a sharpened enrrenchmg rool and a shteld
made trom
a
machine
gun
mounting.
I
Ie
wa!>
folJCiwecl
by
rhe
second
man
carrying
havl'rsacks full of shun-fused stick grenades,
and
the third
oldicr armed with a
knife,
ba) oner
or
club
The
rossrruppe
rechntque
proved so c;ucccsc;ful
that
a number of
Sturmkomp~mtc,
or
as
aulr companies. were
soon formed and attached
ro division
on a
permanent
basis. By
19 1
8,
most German
armtes on
the wesrern
front
had
expanded
units kn1Jwn as
Srurmba
ratllone
or assault
h;Ht;lltom.
each comprismg
an
HQ
company.
four as5ault companies, an
mfantrr
artillery
compan} armed
\vith rhe
37
mm
SturmkJnone, a malhtne gun company, a
light trench
mortar detachment and
a
flamethrower detachment.
The
storm troops, ac;
the) became l..nown
ro their Bmish
ad\ersanes, were accorded rhe
status
uf romanril
heroes
by
the German
popular
pre)!>.
Unlike
o
rdinary infanrrymen,
the~
spent
lirrle
nme
skulking
in filthy
crenlhes.
ln)tead, rhey
attacked
-.uddenly rhen
returned
w
ha
e
w1th the tne\ ttable
each~
of
VIII
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