The Waffen-SS ("Armed SS") was the military arm of the Schutzstaffel, the quintessential feature of the Nazi empire. While the SS eventually burgeoned into a massive economic and political powerhouse, fattened primarily on what it could steal in conquered territories (particularly in the East), Waffen-SS never enjoyed quite the same level of power and influence. It remained a relatively small organization: While 13.6 million served in the Heer, only 900 000 did in the Waffen-SS, and by the end one third of them were conscripts forced to fight on the front.
The Waffen-SS was nonetheless one of the pets of Hitler's regime, as it went beyond being a simple military formation: The military arm was supposed to become the nucleus of a new Aryan elite, with stringent requirements posed of all applicants in the beginning of its formation in 1934 (as SS-Verfügungstruppe), and relaxed only with the expansion of its size in 1938. With the outbreak of the war in 1939, the fledgling Waffen-SS participated in the invasion of Poland, committing numerous atrocities and embarrassing itself in actual combat. The LSSAH was particularly notable, as it preferred to murder civilians, rather than fight against people who could fight back.
The experience of the Polish campaign led to widespread reforms and the formation of the first Waffen-SS divisions, subordinated to Wehrmacht commanders. Hitler wanted the SS to remain distinct from the regular military, as his armed force, but without alienating his officers. These first divisions were created in October 1939, and were expanded from a little under 20 000 men to over 100 000, all to be supplied from Wehrmacht reserves.
The Waffen-SS would participate directly in the 1940 offensives against the Low Countries and France. It performed better than in Poland, spearheading numerous attacks, but could not resist the temptation to commit atrocities, including slaughtering prisoners of war. With the occupation of western Europe, the Waffen-SS also took on a new role, taking on foreign volunteers and eventually conscripts from Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, France, and other countries across Europe.
This would set a pattern that would continue as the war went on. The invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 was a harsh experience for the Waffen-SS. While ferocious fighters, the SS suffered extreme casualties, leaving it at half strength. In one instance, a regiment was virtually wiped out, losing over 1950 men out of 2000 it started with. However, the situation was different with rear echelons: Police units of the Waffen-SS rampaged across the Soviet Union in a bloodthirsty slaughter, murdering civilians, prisoners of war, and Jews in accordance with Nazi ideology.
While it expanded in 1942, the Waffen-SS steadily lost its elite status as well-trained soldiers died in battles, some of them ill-advised, such as the Demyansk Pocket of 1942. Meanwhile, their ranks filled with conscripts and replacements from all over Europe, organized into distinct foreign legions. By 1944, the Waffen-SS comprised not just ethnic Germans (volunteer and conscripted from the Volksdeutsche), but also Bosniaks, Croats, Ukrainians, Latvians, Estonians, becoming an eclectic mix of nations and ethnicities united by their hatred of communism.
Many conscripts were poorly trained and could only be depended on for policing actions, such as RONA and ROA. Some units, like the LVF, were the exception, but the rule was that as time went on, the quality of SS units declined. The most notorious example of Waffen-SS' conduct was the Warsaw Uprising, when units under Oskar Dirlewanger butchered the city in an orgy of violence. Their bestial behavior was so extreme that Himmler had to send military police to keep Dirlewanger's troops from turning on fellow Germans. No consideration was given to their victims, and Himmler did, in fact, encourage indiscriminate terror and violence against the Poles.
In the last months of the war, the Waffen-SS was a shell of its former self, with its forces exhausted by constant fighting against the Soviets, the Allies, and everyone in between. Sent in increasingly desperate counter-attacks, what remained of its potential was exhausted in piecemeal fighting. Ever fond of murdering prisoners of war and civilians, SS-men were particularly despised by Soviets, Poles and Canadians, and couldn't count on any lenience.
Ultimately, the Waffen-SS was disbanded and declared a criminal organization due during the Nuremberg Trials, due to its systemic involvement in the worst atrocities of the Nazi regime. The only exception was made for people who were conscripted and forced to serve in its foreign legion.
Available elements
Divisions
Units
- SS-Aufklärer
- SS-Spähtrupp
- SS-Stoßtrupp (MP 44)
- SS-Schupo, representing Schutzpolizei units.
- SS-Schupo Füh.
- SS-Legionari
- SS-Pz.Gr. Füh.
- SS-Pz.Grenadier
- SS-Pz.Grenadier (PzF)
- SS-s.MG 42