Editing Schutzstaffel (section)

==Pre-war Germany==
[[File:HimmlerAndHeydrich 1938.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.0|[[Reinhard Heydrich]] (right) was Himmler's protégé and a leading SS figure until his assassination in 1942.]]
After Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power on 30 January 1933, the SS was considered a state organisation and a branch of the government.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=77}} Law enforcement gradually became the purview of the SS, and many SS organisations became ''[[de facto]]'' government agencies.{{sfn|Buchheim|1968|p=157}}

The SS established a [[police state]] within Nazi Germany, using the secret state police and security forces under Himmler's control to suppress resistance to Hitler.{{sfn|Hein|2015|pp=66–71}} In his role as [[Minister President of Prussia]], [[Hermann Göring]] had in 1933 created a Prussian [[secret police]] force, the ''Geheime Staatspolizei'' or [[Gestapo]], and appointed [[Rudolf Diels]] as its head. Concerned that Diels was not ruthless enough to use the Gestapo effectively to counteract the power of the SA, Göring handed over its control to Himmler on 20 April 1934.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=54}} Also on that date, in a departure from long-standing German practice that law enforcement was a state and local matter, Hitler appointed Himmler chief of all German police outside Prussia. Himmler named his deputy and protégé [[Reinhard Heydrich]] chief of the Gestapo on 22 April 1934. Heydrich also continued as head of the ''[[Sicherheitsdienst]]'' (SD; security service).{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=61}}

The Gestapo's transfer to Himmler was a prelude to the [[Night of the Long Knives]], in which most of the SA leadership were arrested and subsequently executed.{{sfn|Hildebrand|1984|pp=13–14}} The SS and Gestapo carried out most of the murders. On 20 July 1934, Hitler detached the SS from the SA, which was no longer an influential force after the purge. The SS became an elite corps of the Nazi Party, answerable only to Hitler. Himmler's title of ''Reichsführer-SS'' now became his actual rank&nbsp;– and the highest rank in the SS, equivalent to the rank of [[Generalfeldmarschall|field marshal]] in the army (his previous rank was ''[[Obergruppenführer]]'').{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=313, 316}} As Himmler's position and authority grew, so in effect did his rank.{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=9, 17, 26–27, 30, 46–47}}

On 17 June 1936, all police forces throughout Germany were united under the purview of Himmler and the SS.{{sfn|Buchheim|1968|p=157}} Himmler and Heydrich thus became two of the most powerful men in the country's administration.{{sfn|Reitlinger|1989|p=90}} Police and intelligence forces brought under their administrative control included the SD, Gestapo, ''[[Kriminalpolizei]]'' (Kripo; criminal investigative police), and ''[[Ordnungspolizei]]'' (Orpo; regular uniformed police).{{sfn|Dear|Foot|1995|pp=814–815}} In his capacity as police chief, Himmler was nominally subordinate to Interior Minister [[Wilhelm Frick]]. In practice, since the SS answered only to Hitler, the de facto merger of the SS and the police made the police independent of Frick's control.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=77}}{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=204}} In September 1939, the security and police agencies, including the ''[[Sicherheitspolizei]]'' (SiPo; security police) and SD (but not the Orpo), were consolidated into the [[Reich Security Main Office]] (RSHA), headed by Heydrich.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=470}} This further increased the collective authority of the SS.{{sfn|Hein|2015|pp=70–71}}

During ''[[Kristallnacht]]'' (9–10 November 1938), SS security services clandestinely coordinated violence against Jews as the SS, Gestapo, SD, Kripo, SiPo, and regular police did what they could to ensure that while Jewish synagogues and community centres were destroyed, Jewish-owned businesses and housing remained intact so that they could later be seized.{{sfn|Read|2005|pp=512–514}} In the end, thousands of Jewish businesses, homes, and graveyards were vandalised and looted, particularly by members of the SA. Some 500 to 1,000 synagogues were destroyed, mostly by arson.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=584}} On 11 November, Heydrich reported a death toll of 36 people, but later assessments put the number of deaths at up to two thousand.{{sfn|Read|2005|p=515}}{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=590}} On Hitler's orders, around 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps by 16 November.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=591}} As many as 2,500 of these people died in the following months.{{sfn|Read|2005|p=515}} It was at this point that the SS state began in earnest its campaign of terror against political and religious opponents, who they imprisoned without trial or judicial oversight for the sake of "security, re-education, or prevention".{{sfn|Hildebrand|1984|pp=61–62}}{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=85}}

In September 1939, the authority of the SS expanded further when the senior SS officer in each military district also became its chief of police.{{sfn|Hildebrand|1984|p=61}} Most of these [[SS and police leader]]s held the rank of SS-''[[Gruppenführer]]'' or above and answered directly to Himmler in all SS matters within their district. Their role was to police the population and oversee the activities of the SS men within their district.{{sfn|Koehl|2004|pp=144, 148, 169, 176–177}} By declaring an emergency, they could bypass the district administrative offices for the SS, SD, SiPo, ''[[SS-Totenkopfverbände]]'' (SS-TV; concentration camp guards), and Orpo, thereby gaining direct operational control of these groups.{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=165}}

===Hitler's personal bodyguards===
{{Main|Adolf Hitler's bodyguard}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H15390, Berlin, Kaserne der LSSAH, Vergatterung.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Troop inspection of the ''[[1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler|Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler]]'' in Berlin, 1938]]
As the SS grew in size and importance, so too did Hitler's personal protection forces.{{sfn|Spielvogel|1992|pp=102–108}} Three main SS groups were assigned to protect Hitler. In 1933, his larger personal bodyguard unit (previously the [[1st SS-Standarte]]) was called to Berlin to replace the Army Chancellery Guard, assigned to protect the [[Chancellor of Germany]].{{sfn|Cook|Bender|1994|pp=8, 9}} [[Sepp Dietrich]] commanded the new unit, previously known as SS-Stabswache Berlin; the name was changed to ''SS-Sonderkommando Berlin''. In November 1933, the name was changed to ''Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler''. In April 1934, Himmler modified the name to ''[[1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler|Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler]]'' (LSSAH). The LSSAH guarded Hitler's private residences and offices, providing an outer ring of protection for the Führer and his visitors.{{sfn|Cook|Bender|1994|pp=9, 12, 17–19}} LSSAH men manned sentry posts at the entrances to the old [[Reich Chancellery]] and the new Reich Chancellery.{{sfn|Hoffmann|2000|pp=157, 160, 165}} The number of LSSAH guards was increased during special events.{{sfn|Hoffmann|2000|p=166}} At the [[Berghof (residence)|Berghof]], Hitler's residence in the [[Obersalzberg]], a large contingent of the LSSAH patrolled an extensive cordoned security zone.{{sfn|Hoffmann|2000|pp=181–186}}

From 1941 forward, the ''Leibstandarte'' became four distinct entities, the ''Waffen-SS'' division (unconnected to Hitler's protection but a formation of the ''Waffen-SS''), the Berlin Chancellory Guard, the SS security regiment assigned to the Obersalzberg, and a Munich-based bodyguard unit which protected Hitler when he visited his apartment and the [[Brown House, Munich|Brown House]] Nazi Party headquarters in Munich.{{sfn|Cook|Bender|1994|pp=17–19}}{{sfn|Hoffmann|2000|pp=157, 160, 165, 166, 181–186}} Although the unit was nominally under Himmler, Dietrich was the real commander and handled day-to-day administration.{{sfn|Cook|Bender|1994|pp=19, 33}}

Two other SS units composed the inner ring of Hitler's protection. The ''[[SS-Begleitkommando des Führers]]'' (Escort Command of the Führer), formed in February 1932, served as Hitler's protection escort while he was travelling. This unit consisted of eight men who served around the clock protecting Hitler in shifts.{{sfn|Hoffmann|2000|pp=32, 48, 57}} Later the ''SS-Begleitkommando'' was expanded and became known as the ''Führerbegleitkommando'' (''Führer'' Escort Command; FBK). It continued under separate command and remained responsible for Hitler's protection.{{sfn|Hoffmann|2000|pp=36–48}} The ''Führer Schutzkommando'' (''Führer'' Protection Command; FSK) was a protection unit founded by Himmler in March 1933.{{sfn|Joachimsthaler|1999|p=288}} Originally it was only charged with protecting Hitler while he was inside the borders of [[Bavaria]]. In early 1934, they replaced the ''SS-Begleitkommando'' for Hitler's protection throughout Germany.{{sfn|Hoffmann|2000|p=32}} The FSK was renamed the ''[[Reichssicherheitsdienst]]'' (Reich Security Service; RSD) in August 1935.{{sfn|Hoffmann|2000|p=36}} [[Johann Rattenhuber]], chief of the RSD, for the most part, took his orders directly from Hitler.{{sfn|Hoffmann|2000|p=36}} The current FBK chief acted as his deputy. Wherever Hitler was in residence, members of the RSD and FBK would be present. RSD men patrolled the grounds and FBK men provided close security protection inside. The RSD and FBK worked together for security and personal protection during Hitler's trips and public events, but they operated as two groups and used separate vehicles.{{sfn|Felton|2014|pp=32–33}} By March 1938, both units wore the standard field grey uniform of the SS.{{sfn|Hoffmann|2000|pp=36, 48}} The RSD uniform had the SD diamond on the lower left sleeve.{{sfn|Felton|2014|p=18}}

===Concentration camps founded===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H26996, KZ Dachau, Verbrennungsofen.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Crematorium at [[Dachau concentration camp]], May 1945 (photo taken after liberation)]]
The SS was closely associated with Nazi Germany's concentration camp system. On 26 June 1933, Himmler appointed SS-''[[Oberführer]]'' [[Theodor Eicke]] as [[commandant]] of [[Dachau concentration camp]], one of the first Nazi concentration camps.{{sfn|Padfield|2001|pp=128–129}} It was created to consolidate the many small camps that had been set up by various police agencies and the Nazi Party to house political prisoners.{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=95}} The organisational structure Eicke instituted at Dachau stood as the model for all later concentration camps.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=85}} After 1934, Eicke was named commander of the ''SS-Totenkopfverbände'' (SS-TV), the SS formation responsible for running the concentration camps under the authority of the SS and Himmler.{{sfn|Hilberg|1985|p=222}} Known as the "Death's Head Units", the SS-TV was first organised as several battalions, each based at one of Germany's major concentration camps. Leadership at the camps was divided into five departments: commander and adjutant, political affairs division, protective custody, administration, and medical personnel.{{sfn|Hein|2015|p=63}} By 1935, Himmler secured Hitler's approval and the finances necessary to establish and operate additional camps.{{sfn|Wachsmann|2010|p=22}} Six concentration camps{{efn|[[Buchenwald concentration camp|Buchenwald]], [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]], [[Flossenbürg concentration camp|Flossenbürg]], [[Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp|Mauthausen]], [[Ravensbrück concentration camp|Ravensbrück]], and [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp|Sachsenhausen]].{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=106–108}} }} housing 21,400 inmates (mostly political prisoners) existed at the start of the war in September 1939.{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=108}} By the end of the war, hundreds of camps of varying size and function had been created, holding nearly 715,000 people, most of whom were targeted by the regime because of their race.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=366–367}}{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=108–109}} The concentration camp population rose in tandem with the defeats suffered by the Nazi regime; the worse the catastrophe seemed, the greater the fear of subversion, prompting the SS to intensify their repression and terror.{{sfn|Ayçoberry|1999|p=273}}