Special Sub-Topic: Hitler's Samurai - The Waffen SS Click Here To Play: Hitler's Samurai - The Waffen SS

What do the initials SS stand for?

Schutzstaffel. Literally, 'die Schutzstaffel' means 'Protective Squad'.

When was the SS title first used?

1925. The SS title became official on 9 November 1925. Hitler's bodyguard had previously known as "Strosstruppe (Shock Troop) Hitler" and was led by Julius Schreck, Hitler's bodyguard/driver and a veteran of the Erhardt Brigade.

The Death's Head (Totenkopf) emblem which was to become synonymous with the SS was designed by Adolf Hitler.

f. The Totenkopf emblem was adopted by the SS from the German Freikorps (Volunteer Corps), a loose coalition of disenchanted WWI veterans, mercenaries and German citizens who were vehemently anti-Communist, whom Hitler professed to admire.

To join the SS in the early days, candidates had to be able to trace back their 'Aryan' ancestry to what year?

1750. This requirement was watered down somewhat in later years!

A branch of the SS used the Totenkopf (Death's Head) device on its collar patches as well as its caps instead of the Sigrunen. This branch was known as the Totenkopfverbande and was formed in 1933 at Dachau to guard the newly established Concentration Camps. Who was the first Totenkopf unit commander?

Theodor Eicke. Theodor Eicke was an ex-policeman and a long time friend of Hitler. It was Eicke who shot Ernst Roehm during the infamous 'Night of the Long Knives'.

The SS 'Sigrunen' (Nordic lightning runes) badges signified what?

victory. Hitler (and more particularly Himmler) used a number of old and novel symbols which were intended to suggest the creation of a new order that was nonetheless rooted in the Germanic past.

Heinrich Himmler firmly believed that a trained SS man could survive on a diet of porridge and mineral water alone.

t. Himmler was a vegetarian and believer in homeopathic and herbal medicines. Germany's entire mineral water bottling and distribution industry was nationalized under the SS economic administration department.

What was Hitler's pet name for Himmler?

My Ignatius Loyola. Hitler called him this because of Himmler's admiration of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Though Himmler was not a religious man, he did admire the structure and moral code of the Jesuits, who had adopted the Japanese warrior code of Bushido.

On what date did the Waffen SS candidates take their oath to Adolf Hitler?

20 April. There were annual oath ceremonies on Hitler's birthday.

Heinrich Himmler served with distinction in the Bavarian Artillery during WWI.

f. Himmler volunteered for service but was too young to serve. He joined the Freikorps after WWI.