Editing Waffen-SS (section)

==Origins (1929–39)==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 119-01-03, Berlin, Parade zum dritten Jahrestag LSSHA crop.jpg|thumb|left|Parade for the third anniversary of the [[1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler|LSSAH]] on the barracks' grounds with [[Sepp Dietrich]] at the lectern, May 1935]]
The origins of the ''Waffen-SS'' can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men on 17 March 1933 by [[Sepp Dietrich]] to form the ''Sonderkommando'' Berlin.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=144}} By November 1933 the formation had 800 men, and at a commemorative ceremony in Munich for the tenth anniversary of the failed [[Beer Hall Putsch]] the regiment swore allegiance to [[Adolf Hitler]]. The oaths pledged were "Pledging loyalty to him alone" and "Obedience unto death".{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=144}} The formation was given the title {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} ({{translation|Bodyguard Regiment}}) ''Adolf Hitler'' (LAH).{{sfn|Cook|Bender|1994|pp=17, 19}} On 13 April 1934, by order of Himmler, the regiment became known as the ''[[1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler|Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler]]'' (LSSAH).{{sfn|Cook|Bender|1994|pp=17, 19}}

The {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} demonstrated their loyalty to Hitler in 1934 during the "[[Night of the Long Knives]]", when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders and the purge of the {{lang|de|[[Sturmabteilung]]}} (SA).{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=144}} Led by one of Hitler's oldest comrades, [[Ernst Röhm]], the SA was seen as a threat by Hitler to his newly gained political power. Hitler also wanted to appease leaders of the ''[[Reichswehr]]'' (the Weimar Republic's armed forces) and conservatives of the country, people whose support Hitler needed to solidify his position. When Hitler decided to act against the SA, the SS was put in charge of killing Röhm and the other high-ranking SA officers.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=306–313}} The Night of the Long Knives occurred between 30 June and 2 July 1934, claiming up to 200 victims and murdering almost the entire SA leadership, effectively ending its power. This action was largely carried out by SS personnel (including the {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}}) and the [[Gestapo]].{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=309–313}}

In September 1934, Hitler authorised the formation of the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party and approved the formation of the {{lang|de|[[SS-Verfügungstruppe]]}} (SS-VT), a special service troop under Hitler's overall command.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=144}} The SS-VT had to depend on the German Army for its supply of weapons and military training, and its local draft boards responsible for assigning conscripts to the different branches of the ''Wehrmacht'' to meet quotas set by the German High Command ({{Lang|de|Oberkommando der Wehrmacht}} or OKW in German); the SS was given the lowest priority for recruits.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=145}}

Even with the difficulties presented by the quota system, Heinrich Himmler formed two new SS regiments, the {{lang|de|SS Germania}} and {{lang|de|SS Deutschland}}, which together with the {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} and a communications unit made up the SS-VT.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=145}} At the same time Himmler established two [[SS-Junker Schools]] (SS officer training camps) that, under the direction of former Lieutenant General [[Paul Hausser]], prepared future SS leaders.{{sfn|Westemeier|2007|p=25}} In addition to military training, the courses aimed to instill a proper ideological worldview, with antisemitism being the main tenet. Instructors such as [[Matthias Kleinheisterkamp]], or future war criminals, such as [[Franz Magill]] of the notorious [[SS Cavalry Brigade]] were of questionable competence.{{sfn|Parker|2014|pp=14–17}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-061-38, Berlin, vor Krolloper, Hitler mit Leibstandarte.jpg|thumb|The {{lang|de|Leibstandarte SS}} ''Adolf Hitler'' on parade in Berlin, 1938]]
In 1934, Himmler set stringent requirements for recruits. They were to be German nationals who could prove their Aryan ancestry back to 1800, unmarried, and without a criminal record.{{sfn|Weale|2012|p=202}} A four-year commitment was required for the SS-VT and LSSAH. Recruits had to be between the ages of 17 and 23, at least {{convert|1.74|m|ftin}} tall ({{convert|1.78|m|ftin}} for the LSSAH). Concentration camp guards had to make a one-year commitment, be between the ages of 16 and 23, and at least {{convert|1.72|m|ftin}} tall. All recruits were required to have [[Visual acuity|20/20 eyesight]], no dental fillings, and to provide a medical certificate.{{sfn|Weale|2012|pp=201–204}} By 1938, the height restrictions were relaxed, up to six dental fillings were permitted, and eyeglasses for astigmatism and mild vision correction were allowed. Once the war commenced, the physical requirements were no longer strictly enforced, and any recruit who could pass a basic medical exam was considered for service.{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=204}} Members of the SS could be of any religion except [[Judaism]], but atheists were not allowed according to Himmler in 1937.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=220}} Hitler expounded on the attitude he wanted during a talk in the [[Wolf's Lair]]: "I have six divisions of SS composed of men absolutely indifferent in matters of religion. It doesn't prevent them from going to their deaths with serenity in their souls."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Trevor-Roper |first=Hugh |title=HITLER'S TABLE TALK 1941–1944 His Private Conversations |publisher=Enigma Books |year=2000 |pages=143}}</ref>

Historian [[Bernd Wegner]] found in his study of officers that a large majority of the senior officers corps of the {{lang|de|Waffen-SS}} were from an upper-middle-class background and would have been considered for commissioning by traditional standards. Among later {{lang|de|Waffen-SS}} generals, approximately six out of ten had a "university entrance qualification (Abitur), and no less than one-fifth a university degree".{{sfn|Wegner|1990|pp=240 – table 14.2, 243–244, 247, 248 – table 14.4, 261, 262}}

Hausser became the Inspector of the SS-VT in 1936.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=146}} In this role, Hausser was in charge of the troops' military and ideological training but did not have command authority. The decision on deployment of the troops remained in Himmler's hands. This aligned with Hitler's intentions to maintain these troops exclusively at his disposal, "neither [a part] of the army, nor of the police", according to Hitler's order of 17 August 1938.{{sfn|Tauber Volume I|1967|pp=335–336}}

On 17 August 1938, Hitler declared that the SS-VT would have a role in domestic as well as foreign affairs, which transformed this growing armed force into the rival that the army had feared.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=147}} He decreed that service in the SS-VT qualified to fulfill military service obligations, although service in the {{lang|de|[[SS-Totenkopfverbände]]}} (SS-TV) would not. Some units of the SS-TV would, in the case of war, be used as reserves for the SS-VT, which did not have its own reserves.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=148}} For all its training, the SS-VT was untested in combat. In 1938, a battalion of the {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} was chosen to accompany the army troops in occupying [[Federal State of Austria|Austria]] during the ''[[Anschluss]]'', and the three regiments of the SS-VT participated in the occupation of the [[Sudetenland]] that same year in October. In both actions no resistance was met.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=148}}{{sfn|Windrow|Burn|1992|pp=7–8}}

Recruiting ethnic Germans from other countries began in April 1940, and units consisting of non-Germanic recruits were formed beginning in 1942.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=500, 674}} Non-Germanic units were not considered to be part of the SS, which still maintained its racial criteria, but rather were considered to be foreign nationals serving under the command of the SS.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=769}} As a general rule, an "SS Division" was made up of Germans or other Germanic peoples, while a "Division of the SS" was made up of non-Germanic volunteers and conscripts.{{sfn|Gerwarth|Böhler|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QYKuDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 200]}}