The topic of the Waffen-SS remains fresh; more remains to be said without simply rehashing what has come before. Many works exist which are rehashes. The result is that much misinformation has been spread, with the Waffen-SS order of battle suffering greatly in this regard. The Waffen-SS was a multinational European front line combat organization under the direct tactical control of the OKW, the German High Command of the Armed Forces, not to be confused with the notorious SS-Totenkopfverbände or the political Allgemeine-SS. For example, the Waffen-SS had its own recurring section and had nothing to do with the criminal activities of the Allgemeine-SS. Former Waffen-SS frontline soldiers routinely inveighed against Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler personally. Undoubtedly, this hatred was seen all throughout the ranks of the Waffen-SS, even as high as SS-Oberstgruppenführer Paul Hausser, who had specifically been recruited in the mid 1930‘s to found the precursor of the Waffen-SS, the SS-Verfügungstruppe. Hausser proclaimed that Himmler had deceived the troops by grouping them with the concentration camp personnel. This combination chained the actual Waffen-SS to the fate of those SS men who are responsible for the incidents in the concentration camps. Wiking veteran SS-Unterscharführer Richard Fuchs asserted: The Waffen-SS had no love for Himmler. To us he was more or less a stranger. At best, his connection with the Waffen-SS was nominal. The testimony of SS-Obergruppenführers Richard Hildebrandt and Karl von Eberstein corroborated this claim regarding the relationship between Himmler and the Waffen-SS. They and several other high ranking officers reported that Himmler's opinions were not taken seriously by the Waffen-SS. The history of the Waffen-SS began to be recorded before and during World War II, and many accounts were understandable biased, as they were written by pro-Nazi sources or wartime enemies. The atrocities committed by certain units made investigators ready to believe the worst about the entire Waffen-SS. These factors contributed to many incorrect concepts being taken into historiography as accepted truths. Credit: Assoc. Prof. of History Dr. Amy Beth Carney and Waffen-SS historian
Marc Rikmenspoel. Top image: Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler inspects the Leibstandarte SS on arrival at Nürnberg on Sept. 10 1935. Photo taken during the 7th Reich Party Congress called the
Rally of Freedom. "Freedom" referred to the German liberation from the Treaty of Versailles. The Leibstandarte's role in these ceremonies was a symbol of the close bond between Hitler and his personal guard, reflecting their significance within the Nazi power structure. Credit: GPFI. FU. Second image: the feared and disliked Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer of the SS and Chief of the German Police, during his visit to Warszawa in Feb. 1939, seven months before the German Reich and the Soviet Union invaded and
partitioned Poland. He is accompanied by Hans von Moltke, German Ambassador to Poland and General Kordian Józef Zamorski, Chief of the Polish State Police. Credit: Olga Shirnina. c. Bundesarchiv. Third image: Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel and Waffen-SS General Paul
Papa Hausser, two exceptional commanders of World War II. Hausser became the
father of the Waffen-SS and was in charge of the troop's military and ideological training. Credit: Ghermán Mihály. Bottom image: Panzer III's from the famous Waffen-SS Panzer elite division – Das Reich. Credit: Julius Backman. c. Bundesarchiv.
Everyone has some kind of place that makes them feel transported to a magical realm. For some people it’s castles with their noble history and crumbling towers. For others it’s abandoned factories, ivy choked, a sense of foreboding around every corner. For me, there has always been something about photographs from World War II, particular photographs from the Axis Point of View. I love any collection of shared knowledge concerning the truth and falsehood of our ideas. Therefore, I highly recommend this site to anyone.
ReplyDeleteAs a son from a former radioman in a Panthertank from the 5th Wiking Panzerdivison Waffen-SS I was informed by my father about the discrepancies in the stories about WW2 and more specific about the Waffen SS. He served in Russia from 1941 until his surrender to the Americans in Austria and his biography that he left me tells the same story as all the other volunteers. My father died in 2003. I grew up, torn apart between the history lessons on school and the stories of my dad. Everything looked so black and white in the opinion of most people and if you look deeper you will see that the world is not black and white but mostly gray. Black and white are on the far ends of a large field of gray. More and more people discover the truth about the Waffen SS, for instance this website where you can find facts and figures of this legendary army part. This is an extremely informative, enjoyable and above all valuable website. Many thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe truth is always immensely different from the victor’s war propaganda. It would be almost impossible to deconstruct the gibberish because it is so fundamentally wrong on so many levels. Any account that challenges the happy account requires a great deal of confirmation from official documents, interviews, letters, diaries, and memoirs, and even that won’t be enough.
DeleteI first came across this webpage accidently in a Google search for The Donets Campaign. Concerning the controversy surrounding the waffen ss I would consider this an apolitical webpage concerned more with individual volunteers and the military actions of the ss rather than looking at its politics or ideology. Overall an excellent webpage.
DeleteAwesome site for anyone interested in the Waffen-SS. I have been a WW2 history buff for 40 plus years. Highly recommended.
ReplyDeleteI agree, this is excellent military history, extensively and thoughfully put together, backed up with extensive research and great detail. Highly recommended to any military historian.
DeletePaul Hausser is known for having said regarding the relations between the Allgemeine SS and their subgroups and the Waffen-SS "Where crime starts, comradeship ends." Even Himmler was aware of this mindset in the Waffen-SS community.
ReplyDelete