Waffen-SS Officer Candidates at ϟϟ-Junkerschule Bad Tölz

Waffen-SS recruits at SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz 

Knight's Cross holder Fritz Klingenberg at Bad Tölz

Knight's Cross holder Ludwig Kepplinger at Bad Tölz

Training in the Waffen-SS placed high emphasis on physical standards of attainment which are only paralleled today by those of élite units. Each young man who was accepted into the Waffen-SS, a veteran recalled, was very proud of this. Out of 500 volunteers in my group, only 28 qualified. Being accepted at all was a great honor because such a strict selection process. Only the best applicants were accepted. Of those, only the most promising were selected for officer training, and only 60% of these passed their courses. Those men who became battalion and higher-level commanders in the SS-VT after beginning their careers as simple enlisted men were in many ways the “best of the best”, and in that light, it is not surprising that so many were highly considered. Credit: Marc Rikmenspoel. Clips: Waffen-SS volunteers at SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz. One cadet in three was eliminated from the course during examinations. One of the goals of the SS-Schule Tölz was to produce fighting officers, and classes were given in assault tactics, which built on the mobile tactics. The school adjutant and Wiking commander Felix Steiner is reported to have said: We require a supple adaptable type of soldier, athletic of bearing and capable of more than the average endurance. The timetable of SS-Schule Tölz was as follows: tactics, terrain and map reading, combat training and weapons training, weapons technology, shooting training, war exercises, religious education, military, SS and police, administration, physical training, weapons doctrine, pioneer teaching, current events, tank tactics, vehicle maintenance, sanitary engineering, air force doctrine. Footage from a German propaganda film. Fair use.