Editing Schutzstaffel (section)

===Ideology===
{{Main|Ideology of the SS}}
The SS was regarded as the Nazi Party's elite unit.{{sfn|Höhne|2001|pp=146, 147}} In keeping with the [[racial policy of Nazi Germany]], in the early days all SS officer candidates had to provide proof of [[Aryan race#Nazism|Aryan ancestry]] back to 1750 and for other ranks to 1800.{{sfn|Stackelberg|2002|p=116}} Once the war started and it became more difficult to confirm ancestry, the regulation was amended to proving only the candidate's grandparents were Aryan, as spelled out in the [[Nuremberg Laws]].{{sfn|Jacobsen|1999|pp=82, 93}} Other requirements were complete obedience to the ''Führer'' and a commitment to the German people and nation.{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=62–67}} Himmler also tried to institute physical criteria based on appearance and height, but these requirements were only loosely enforced, and over half the SS men did not meet the criteria.{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=63–65}} Inducements such as higher salaries and larger homes were provided to members of the SS since they were expected to produce more children than the average German family as part of their commitment to Nazi Party doctrine.{{sfn|Langerbein|2003|p=19}}

[[File:Gruft der Wewelsburg (10573265394) b.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The crypt at [[Wewelsburg]] was repurposed by Himmler as a place to memorialise dead SS members.{{sfn|Yenne|2010|p=115}} Artwork commemorating the Holocaust hangs on the walls (2013).]]

Commitment to SS ideology was emphasised throughout the recruitment, membership process, and training.{{sfn|Höhne|2001|pp=148–149}} Members of the SS were indoctrinated in the racial policy of Nazi Germany and were taught that it was necessary to remove from Germany people deemed by that policy as inferior.{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=65–66}} [[Esoteric Nazism|Esoteric]] rituals and the awarding of regalia and insignia for milestones in the SS man's career suffused SS members even further with Nazi ideology.{{sfn|Höhne|2001|pp=150–151}} Members were expected to renounce their Christian faith, and Christmas was replaced with a [[Christmas in Nazi Germany|solstice celebration]].{{sfn|Yenne|2010|p=93}} Church weddings were replaced with SS ''Eheweihen'', a pagan ceremony invented by Himmler.{{sfn|Yenne|2010|p=94}} These pseudo-religious rites and ceremonies often took place near SS-dedicated monuments or in special SS-designated places.{{sfn|Laqueur|Baumel|2001|p=608}} In 1933, Himmler bought [[Wewelsburg]], a castle in [[Westphalia]]. He initially intended it to be used as an SS training centre, but its role came to include hosting SS dinners and neo-pagan rituals.{{sfn|Yenne|2010|pp=111–113}}

In 1936, Himmler wrote in the pamphlet "The SS as an Anti-Bolshevist Fighting Organisation":
{{blockquote|We shall take care that never again in Germany, the heart of Europe, will the Jewish-Bolshevik revolution of subhumans be able to be kindled either from within or through emissaries from without.{{sfn|Himmler|1936}}}}

The SS ideology included the application of brutality and terror as a solution to military and political issues.{{sfn|Langerbein|2003|p=21}} The SS stressed total loyalty and obedience to orders unto death. Hitler used this as a powerful tool to further his aims and those of the Nazi Party. The SS was entrusted with the commission of war crimes such as the murder of Jewish civilians. Himmler once wrote that an SS man "hesitates not for a single instant, but executes unquestioningly..." any ''Führer-Befehl'' (''Führer'' order).{{sfn|Himmler|1936|p=134}} Their official motto was ''"[[Meine Ehre heißt Treue]]"'' (My Honour is Loyalty).{{sfn|Weale|2012|pp=60–61}}

As part of its race-centric functions during World War II, the SS oversaw the isolation and displacement of [[Jews]] from the populations of the conquered territories, seizing their assets and deporting them to concentration camps and [[Jewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany|ghettos]], where they were used as slave labour or immediately murdered.{{sfn|Jacobsen|1999|pp=82, 93}} Chosen to implement the [[Final Solution]] ordered by Hitler, the SS were the main group responsible for the institutional murder and [[democide]] of more than 20 million people during the Holocaust, including approximately 5.2 million{{sfn|Rummel|1992|pp=12–13}} to 6 million{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=318}} Jews and 10.5 million [[Slavs]].{{sfn|Rummel|1992|pp=12–13}} A significant number of victims were members of other racial or ethnic groups such as the 258,000 [[Romani people|Romani]].{{sfn|Rummel|1992|pp=12–13}} The SS was involved in murdering people viewed as threats to [[Nazi eugenics|race hygiene]] or Nazi ideology, including the mentally or physically disabled, homosexuals, and political dissidents. Members of trade unions and those perceived to be affiliated with groups that opposed the regime (religious, political, social, and otherwise), or those whose views were contradictory to the goals of the Nazi Party government, were rounded up in large numbers; these included clergy of all faiths, [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]], [[Communism|Communists]], and [[Rotary International|Rotary Club]] members.{{sfn|Rummel|1992|p=12}} According to the judgements rendered at the [[Nuremberg trials]], as well as many war crimes investigations and trials conducted since then, the SS was responsible for the majority of Nazi war crimes. In particular, it was the primary organisation that carried out the Holocaust.{{sfn|International Military Tribunal|1946}}