A question about the military aspect of the Third Reich?

Question

Hello. I am starting to get interested in WW2 after listening to my grandfather's tales but am a bit confused about the Nazi military structure, any help welcome!

So here goes: the standard German army wore a grey uniform and 'kettle' helmet, or a peaked cap for Officers. These were the conscripts and infantry soldiers.

The SS were the elite troops (like the Parachute Regiment or Royal Marines of the UK?) and wore an identical uniform to the army, but in black. Again, peaked caps for Officers.

The Waffen SS was just a subdivision of the SS and looked identical. Both were characterised by the 'Death Head' cap badge and were active military personnel.

The Gestapo were not military as such but dealt with intelligence and spying/ interrogation type things, like a paramilitary secret police. No uniform but commonly portrayed in black trenchcoats.

Have I got this right? I'm most confused about the SS/ Waffen SS; were they elite troops or more involved in intelligence?

Answer 1

Nazi uniforms of WWII are quite a complex subject.

The basic 'classic war movie' image is broadly correct for both early war German infantry and Waffen SS, grey uniform with a hint of green, coalscuttle helmet, black equipment, jackboots.

Luftwaffe troops and Fallschirmjagers (parachutists) wore a slightly bluer-grey uniform rather than the green-grey of the infantry. The paras had a different helmet design etc

Panzer (tank) crews officially wore a black uniform with raspberry ( I kid you not) piping.

Camouflaged clothing was, I think, adopted by the Waffen SS first, similar to the disruptive camouflage of modern soldiers. Towards the end of the war ordinary infantry also used camouflaged clothes.

As an aside, the Americans tried out camouflage gear in Normandy but found that the soldiers in the trial unit kept getting mistaken for Germans, with unfortunate consequences, so shelved the idea.

Naturally in the desert the Afrika Corps wore sandy-coloured uniforms and in snow the Germans were sometimes issued white capes etc for camouflage. There were lots of different uniform variations.

As for the SS, the Waffen SS were primarily supposed to be 'elite' soldiers, other branches of the SS seem to mostly have been involved in rounding up and shooting civilians and running the death camps. The Waffen SS carried out many massacres and the Heer (regular army) also participated especially on the Eastern Front.

The Gestapo generally wore civilian uniforms as far as I'm aware.

Answer 2

I'm not an expert on German uniforms either.. however I think you may upset some people by saying that the SS were the elite troops similar to the UK Parachute Regiment or Marines

The SS did wear black uniforms, and were more a political milita than a regular army of fighting unit. Their origins go back (I think) to being a military guard for Hitler (and presumably other German leaders).

The SS had an offshoot the Waffen SS which became a serious elite fighting army arguably similar to other elite forces and could be a formidable opponent in battle. The Waffen SS did not always wear the black uniforms of the SS they also used the regular German Army field grey

However the SS and the Waffen SS were tainted with numerous allegations of atrocities and brutality carried out largely by the SS but also by the Waffen SS. The SS ran the concentration camps, were responsible for much (but by no means all) of the atrocities in Eastern Europe in places such as Poland, Ukraine, when fighting the Russians and elsewhere. The Waffen SS were implicated in the brutal suppression of the Polish uprising, numerous atrocities against Russians (both army & civilians), as were the Russians on German forces and civilians, amongst other areas of combat

Answer 3

As another answerer noted - - - the SS were seperate from the German Wehrmarcht / Army - - - the SS was originally a group of loyal bodyguards placed under the command of Heinrich Himmler who swiftly made it a paralell army. In fact this is one reason why Germany lost the War. Instead of consolidating resources Hitler allowed Himmler the privillege of building up an army siphoning resources from the regular army.

The best article for a quick review is this one from the UK - - -

The SS liked to think of themselves as elite troops and many were brave fearsome fighters but they were also a gang of murderers who gave no value to human life other than that they deemed Aryan and that could be forfeted for any number of transgression. The embryo SS in 1934 earned praise from the German public and solified Hitler's ties to the German Army by ruthlessly murdering the many members of the orginal Nazi party military group the S A on the excuse that they were homosexuals....
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERss.htm
"""In 1925 Adolf Hitler formed his own personal bodyguard called the Schutzstaffel (SS). Four years later Hitler appointed Heinrich Himmler as the leader of the SS. By the time of Himmler's appointment the SS had only 280 members. They wore the same uniform as the SA except for a black cap with a silver death's head badge and a black tie.

Over the next year Himmler obtained the independence of the SS from the Sturm Abteilung (SA). Sepp Dietrich was put in charge of Hitler's bodyguard whereas Himmler concentrated on building up the organization.

With the agreement of Adolf Hitler, Himmler expanded the size of the SS. Himmler personally vetted all applicants to make sure that all were good 'Aryan' types. In 1932 Himmler introduced all-black uniform of the SS.

By the time the Nazi Party gained power in 1933 Himmler's SS had grown to a strength of 52,000. He was also made head of all German political police outside Prussia, where Hermann Goering was the minister of the interior.

Himmler agreed with Goering that the Sturm Abteilung (SA) posed a threat to the German Army and in June 1934, along with his loyal assistants, Reinhard Heydrich, Kurt Daluege and Walter Schellenberg, he arranged what became known as the Night of the Long Knives.

As a result of this purge the SS was now the principal instrument of internal rule in Germany. In 1936 the Gestapo also came under Himmler's control. Himmler was also able to put SS men in all the key posts in Nazi Germany.

In December, 1940 Heinrich Himmler established the Waffen SS. This new army grew rapidly and within six months grew to over 150,000 men.

During the Second World War the SS Death's Head Units were put in charge of Germany's Concentration Camps. The SS also followed the German Army into the Soviet Union where they had the responsibility of murdering Jews, gypsies, communists and partisans.

By June 1944 the SS had over 800,000 members: Hitler's Body Guard (200,000) Waffen (594,000) and Death Head Units (24,000).

At the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial the Schutzstaffel (SS) was declared a criminal organization and a large number of its leaders were executed.""""

Peace..... /// ------ O . !. O -------- \\\ .........................c

Answer 4

All security work in the Third Reich came under the RHSA. Reich's Hauptampt Sicher Arbiter. (Riechs Office for Security Work)
There was the Ordnung Polizie, they dealt with crown control, traffic offences and petty crime.
Kriminal Polizie (Kripo) dealt with burglaries and muggings etc.
Sicher Polizie, the dealt with more serious crimes, murder, rape etc
The Sicherheist Dienst (SD) dealt with major crime including internal corruption etc.
The Gestapo (Gehime Staats Polizie) Secret State Police dealt with Deportation, concentration camps, political dissidents and the like.
The Alegemiene SS were the military wing of the SS. These included Commandos, Panzers, Jaeger battalion, field security. The Waffen SS were the infantry divisions of the SS and included the Liebstandart Adolf Hitler, Hitlers personal body guard. Confused?? you will be.
Each division of the SS had it's own insignia and rank system. For instance the SD had a blank collar patch on the right with the rank shown on the left.
Gestapo had SS on the right and rank on the left. The division they belong to was indicated by colour around the epaulet. Green for Communications, Pink for veterinary etc.
Then the battalions were worn on their sleeves. Prinz Jugen, Wiking etc. No one knew who was who or what rank they were, it was mad.

Answer 5

They a multitude of uniforms, old school type they had so many orders? Rommel wore something similar to first world war? most generals of Hitlers army were established before the war under Kaiser so they had a look somewhat regal, fly boys created their own look with wings? army troopers were wide and far reaching so that had to simple look that was recognizable.
the SS and Waffen and Gestapo all established by Hitler had his signature on them to make them meaner!!?? and more Superior looking,black and death was there look...kinda racist!!?? Hitlers uniform simple to keep that everyman look a common corporal look of the man on front line also had flying death skull to show his feeling of superiority over everyone...the smartest was Luftwaffe's bright colored and stand out to show off!! kinda lt. blue like the sky! rank was another hting they had something of load of them 170 different one all the way up field marshals and old school rank from world war one higher than a general like 5 star?

Answer 6

As far as im aware, the waffen SS was the military wing of the SS...

Answer 7

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta informed Sen. Jeff Sessions that the US military is under the control of the UN and NATO, and Congress has no real say in the matter.

Answer 8

The SS didn't wear their famous black uniform after around 1937; around that time they started wearing a uniform very similar to that of the German Army (Heer). The exception was Waffen-SS panzer crews who wore a black uniform that was very similar to the Army panzer uniform.