Rise Of The Ss Essay Research Paper

Rise Of The Ss Essay, Research Paper

The Rise of The SSThe rise of the SS can be traced to the need for an elite body guard for Adolf Hitler. The SS developed into the elite soldiers in the different areas of the armed services. How did the rise of the SS, particularly the training and creation, lead to their brutal effectiveness.The SS was an offspring of the SA, the “Sturmabteilung–Storm Detachment” (H hne 17). The SA, originally designed as a guard for Hitler, developed into a strong force with definite military implications. Hitler’s specific body guards were called the Sturmabteilung Hitler. Germany’s Chief of Staff, Joachim Hoffman made the decision that the SA was too powerful a unit to just protect Hitler, and it had higher aspirations. Loyal followers of Hitler remained with him and formed the Stabswache, headquarters guard, which was to wear the black uniforms that would later characterize the SS. A new guard the Stosstrupp Adolf Hitler, assault squad, headed by former SA members sprang up to take the place of the Stabswache (H hne 16-21). After the failed Beer Hall Putsch, R hm expanded the SA to about 30,000 men. Hitler “categorically refused” (H hne 22) to allow theM to be under the control of the SA leaders by the political leaders. R hm did not agree and therefore he and Hilter split. Hitler felt that there was a need for there to be a bodyguard unit of such unending loyalty that they would be willing “to march against their own brothers” (H hne 23). Hitler’s choice for the leader of the new guard was Julius Schreck, a former member of the Assault Squad. They named the new guard the Schutzstaffel, the SS. Together, they picked the other members from the old rosters of the Assault Squad and the headquarters guard (H hne 22-24). The SS was thus created. The SS was known for its brutal methods that it undertook to achieve its goal with little or no regard for the people that it hurt. These brutal methods were a result of the intense discipline that the German army strived to have. The intense discipline could be traced back to the corporal punishment in the Prussian army. The German army prided itself on its discipline, and the discipline was praised as the stepping stone for the German army’s ability to accomplish very difficult maneuvers and tactics with little trouble. (Bartov 59). The German army had a history of discipline. They were built upon it and were known for it. They placed great faith in the ability of the army to work together towards a common goal with a minimal amount of disobedience or disagreement. The army of Kaiser developed the ability of the soldiers to stand up against their superiors. Instances occurred when the soldiers flatly refused to follow the orders of their commanding officers during “the Great War” (Bartov 60). Hitler greatly feared this happening again so he set out from the beginning to ensure total loyalty for the soldiers to their commanding officers and for the commanding officers to Hitler. The soldiers were imbued with such fear that they did not ever think of disobeying their orders even in the face of extreme danger. This also had the effect of making the soldiers a brutal entity (Bartov 60-61). The SS’s training taught them two main things. The first was to totally trust Hitler. His motivations, commands, and actions were never to be questioned. Secondly, he set forth in their minds a monolith of evil in all that opposed Hitler and Nazism. They were therefore able to act without thinking in their horrible crimes because Hitler had placed the idea in their mind that their enemies were a great evil and anything, no matter how much against their morals it seemed, was tolerable (Bartov 118). The soldiers, being forced to follow orders, held a bottled up resistance to their commanding officers, but they feared the punishment that would follow disobedience. They might have taken it out on the allies, but they were unable to defeat the allies. They therefore turned their anger and energy towards the prisoners and people (Bartov 61). Kampfugruppe Peiper was an example of the fierce brutality that some SS commanders desired. In one incident, after capturing more than eight soldieries at a position south of Bastogne at Malmedy, he massacred the prisoners after they removed their vehicles from the road. The men were machine-gunned down with only a few escapings from the horrid episode (Weingartner 127-128). In a similar incident, soldiers of the 2d Royal Norflok were massacred after surrendering under the white flag. They had been protecting a retreat and fought until running out of ammunition. They then surrendered only to be massacred by machine-guns after they were searched. Survivors were shot at close range or disposed of using a bayonet (Constable 156). One of the reasons that the SS was able in their mind to murder so many Jews was that they were simply inferior. In their eyes, as taught by the Furher in their training, inferiority was to be purged. The question arises though of how were the SS able to murder Americans or Slavs. This also goes back to their training. The SS creed held high combat and killing just for the sake of killing and, more importantly, for the sake of Hitler. Another and perhaps the strongest reason was that the creed of the SS held the attainment of the objective to be the highest possible goal. Anything that stood in the way of that attainment should be dealt with in whatever manner seems most efficient. The