THE WAFFEN-S.S.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 13772, 15 October 1942, Page 3

THE WAFFEN-S.S.

fflgß’S HAND-PICKED I ,|TL guards , V3 ,..Time Development Fuehrer’s Personal Defenders

The Waffen-S-S. has paraded " T th e heart of Paris .. . ' S !° T te Waffen-S.S- has been raised .'ii 000 men . • • 'I is to hove its ~ force for close-quarter ,1 D al ‘

‘ i political gendarmery. whose rhs head badge is meant to daunt Led Germans, has lately been P the news, writes G. tfard fin the “Overseas Daily Mail.” , cryptic name means “Armed „ rity Detachment,” and the null prominence it has recently Ved can only mean that things 1 n ot going too well in the vast Kories that Hitler now dominjies p or the function of the blackunifornied Praetorian Guard of the ~a zl p ar ty is to crush internal re-

bellion. The Waffen-S.S. is a war-time derelopment of the original Schutzgjjfei, or Security Detachment, deli Himmler began to form, on Hitlers' orders in 1929. Till then the only Nazi uniformed formation had been the Storm-troop-ers, or Brown Shirts. As the party ?rWi this organisation became so b i g that Hitler decided to pick out tie sturdiest and most reliable of Its younger men to serve as an escort (or himself and other Nazi leaders on public occasions. So the all-black uniform with the death's-head badge and the letters S.S. written in ancient runic characters, made its first appearance. It teas regarded as a high distinction lor late-comers to the Nazi ranks, like Ribbentrop or Baron Neurath, to be given rank as officers of this

party elite. After the Nazis got to power offshoots of the S.S. began to come into existence, The first was the Yerfuepngstruppe, best translated as "Operations Corps.” Chosen from the ranks of the S.S., its members bad to join up for seven years. They we equipped as soldiers and specially trained in street-fighting. At ibe start of the war there were about 200,000 of them spread, about Germany for the purpose of keeping order,

hi "S.S. Security Service” was jljo form ed, to act as a military Nice inside the larger formation.

from these, in turn, a super-corps "as created to be the Fuehrer’s per•«l bodyguard, known as the Adolf Mlei Leibstandarte. In phyisque, a natieism,»and ferocity its members | fe the Picked paladins of Germany, r ' Ilne 'l to suc h toughness that they 'Wirt fii e 011 their own families. tis the “Operations Corps” and J Hltler Lifeguards” that to'tfter make up the Waffen-S.S. hlei lealised that, if they were ol 'l their authority as an anti--2 ? ary in Germany, they “‘‘•l e ni he s sllare ot tlie " sluinß ji on , So representative divionifnpo thom exchan sed their black 5? TO. and were hob- hi . t 0 Russia — wh nre they were » as "J preserv ed as carefully as M r tenl siting up a , Sl " ce they are Hitler's them ’ l6 18 not like ly to waste

-e him r° UCe invite(l I} y Himmler to -gla nt G ? eW the Hitler Lifeguards %ledth° ° tS whose white facings Haiu nif em ° ut from the rest of the s - s - For “* Jay ar y Were unsurpassed in Great em^ 0t Since Frederick the GSardstue, ° y 2 ag6nts to ™cruit tall trnni ? ° Ver Eur °Pe has so Joiners 6 I)6en tnken to select

°t Prlnn 2 (1 t 0 be at least Gf tS an,| '£“** P °"’ ei lul pl,y*„nT“T t * ’ ar ance.” ca 1 of good apl!lose of hi,. 13 poli tical views and Hd. , f Parents were then invesS fa2 r this ’ he bad to pro- ? rS ’ as Proof 168I 68 f ° r the past 150 l ' h bloo d i n ~ lat he hacl no Jew--s>aUnati o r V6ins; aud to Pass ° n 0n hi * general intelli-

• men ? D,ent a Liebe standarte una flythi n o. 1 t^ ry trainin S stiffer J 6 "’ th e & n 16 British Army 'Jtei C °mmanclos were in- • offl tV"' Ol tte th hM „ all ‘>“"c courses C Slt| er i s r t e ' : Junkei '” castles, <>' "ami ' g "ot,s to T“ dUCe 3 ii,- t'Uai-fjo ts ■ b us - This synthe g Pack °f foxlfo d 0 ° f Germany Pr. ° Ver «Uent ndS provided by W ith t ; and each officer was The U ; 6Wald ForesT ** ag ’jj unts in hl Sh miiH ar Be ffiin. tary quality of the

Waffen-S.S. has probably deteriorated with the expansion of their numbers since the war began. But thej are Hitler’s personal defenders, and when we hear of them taking up position we are entitled to draw oui own conclusions.