Archive/File: imt/nca/nca-02/nca-02-15-criminality-05-04
Last-Modified: 1996/12/28


(3) Unity of the Organization.

Each of the various components described above played its
part in carrying out one or more functions of the SS. The
personnel composing each differed. Some were part-time
volunteers; others were professionals enlisted for different
periods of time. But every branch, every department, every
member was an integral part of the whole organization. Each
performed his assigned role in the manifold tasks for which
the organization had been created. No better witness to this
fact could be called upon than the Reichsfuehrer SS, whose
every endeavor was to insure the complete unity of the
organization. The following words are taken from his Posen
speech:

     "It would be an evil day if the SS and police fell out.
     It would
     
                                                  [Page 187]
                                                            
     be an evil day if the Main Offices, performing their
     tasks well meaningly but mistakenly made themselves
     independent by each having a downward chain of command.
     I really think that the day of my overthrow would be
     the end of the SS. It must be, and so come about, that
     this SS organization with all its branches -- the
     General SS which is the common basis of all of them,
     the Waffen-SS, the regular uniformed police
     (Ordnungspolizei), the SIPO (with the whole economic
     administration, schooling, ideological training, the
     whole question of kindred), is, even under the tenth
     Reichsfuehrer-SS one bloc, one body, one organization."
     
     "The regular uniformed police and SIPO, General-SS and
     Waffen-SS must now gradually amalgamate too, just as
     this is and must be the case within the Waffen-SS. This
     applies to matters concerning filling of posts,
     recruiting, schooling, economic organization, and
     medical services. I am always doing something towards
     this end, a bond is constantly being cast around these
     sections of the whole to cause them to grow together.
     Alas, if these bonds should ever be loosened -- then
     everything -- you may be sure of this -- would sink
     back into its old insignificance in one generation, and
     in a short space of time." (1919-PS)

C. Selection, Training, and Obligations of Members.

To understand this organization, the theories upon which it
was based must be kept clearly in mind. The underlying
philosophy of the SS, the principles by which its members
were selected, and the obligations imposed upon them furnish
the key to all its activities. It is necessary, therefore,
to consider them in some detail.

(1) The Racial Basis of the SS.

(a) The SS as a racial and biological elite.

The fundamental principle of selection was what Himmler
called that of Blood and Elite. The SS was to be the living
embodiment of the Nazi doctrine of the superiority of Nordic
blood, and of the Nazi conception of a master race. In
Himmler's own words, the SS was to be a "National Socialist
Soldierly Order of Nordic Men" (1992-A-PS). In describing to
the Wehrmacht the reasons behind his emphasis on racial
standards of selection and manner in which they were carried
out, he said:

     "*** Accordingly, only good blood, blood which history
     has proved to be leading and creative and the
     foundation
     
                                                  [Page 188]
                                                            
     of every state and of all military activities, only
     Nordic blood, can be considered. I said to myself that
     should I succeed in selecting from the German people
     for this organization as many people as possible a
     majority of whom possess this desired blood, in
     teaching them military discipline and, in time, the
     understanding of the value of blood and the entire
     ideology which results from it, then it will be
     possible actually to create such an elite organization
     which would successfully hold its own in all cases of
     emergency." (1992-A-PS)
     
Further on in this same speech, Himmler described the
selection of candidates for his organization:
     
     "***They are extremely thoroughly examined and
     checked. Of 100 men we can use on the average of 10
     or 15, no more. We ask for the political reputation
     record of his parents, brothers and sisters, the
     record of his ancestry as far back as 1750 and
     naturally the physical examination and his records
     from the Hitler Youth. Further, we ask for a record
     of hereditary health showing that no hereditary
     disease exists in his parents and in his family.
     Last, but perhaps most important, is a certification
     of the race commission. This examining commission is
     composed of SS leaders, anthropologists and
     physicians." (1992-A-PS)
     
This same strict selection process for the SS was somewhat
similarly described in the Organizations Book of the Nazi
Party for 1943:

     "Selection of Members
     "For the fulfillment of these missions a homogenous
     firmly welded fighting force has been created bound
     by ideological oaths, whose fighters are selected out
     of the best Aryan humanity.
     
     "The conception of the value of the blood and soil
     serves as directive for the selection into the SS.
     Every SS man must  be deeply imbued with the sense and
     essence of the National Socialist Movement. He will be
     ideologically and physically trained so that he can be
     employed individually or in groups in the decisive
     battle for the National Socialist ideology.
     
     "Only the best and thoroughbred Germans are suited for
     commitment in this battle. Therefore it is necessary
     that an uninterrupted selection is retained within the
     ranks of the SS, first superficially, then constantly
     more thoroughly." (2640-PS)
 
 The creation of a racial and biological elite had some
 very practical reasons behind it. The conspirators'
 plans for conquest and exploitation of the conquered
 territories required the development
                                               [Page 189]
                                                         
 of a Nazi aristocracy which would dominate Germany and
 Europe for centuries to come. That purpose was
 explicitly stated by Himmler in his Posen speech:

    "One thing must be clear, one thing I would like to
    say to you today: the moment the war is over, we will
    really begin to weld together our organization, this
    organization which we have built up for 10 years,
    which we imbued and indoctrinated with the first most
    important principles during the 10 years before the
    war. We must continue to do this -- we, -- if I may
    say I may say so, we older men --for twenty years full
    of toil and work, so that a tradition 30, 35, 40
    years, a generation, may be created. Then this
    organization will march forward into the future young
    and strong, revolutionary and efficient to fulfill the
    task of giving the German people, the Germanic people,
    the superstratum of society which will combine and
    hold together this Germanic people and this Europe,
    and from which the brains which the people need for
    industry, farming, politics, and as soldiers,
    statesmen and technicians, will emerge. In addition
    this superstratum must be so strong and vital that
    every generation can unreservedly sacrifice two or
    three sons from every family on the battle-field, and
    that never-the-less the continued flowing of the
    bloodstream is assured."  (1919-PS)
    
He forcibly made the same point in his address to officers
of the SS Leibstandarte "Adolph Hitler" on the "Day of
Metz:"
     
     "The ultimate aim for these 11 years during which
     I have been the Reichsfuehrer SS has been
     invariably the same: To create an order of good
     blood which is able to serve Germany Which
     unfailingly and without sparing itself can be made
     use of because the greatest losses can do no harm
     to the vitality of this order, the vitality of
     these men, because they will always be replaced.
     To create an order which will spread the idea of
     nordic blood so far that we will attract all
     nordic blood in the world, take away the blood
     from our adversaries, absorb it so that never
     again, looking at it from the viewpoint of grand
     policy, nordic blood in great quantities and to an
     extent worth mentioning will fight against us. We
     must get it and the others cannot have it. We
     never gave up the ideas and the aim conceived so
     many years ago. Everything we did has taken us
     some distance further on the way. Everything we
     are going to do will lead us further on the way."
    
Since the SS was to be made a Nazi aristocracy which would
dominate not only Germany but the world for centuries to
come,

                                                  [Page 190]
                                                            
it was essential that the SS stock be perpetuated. To insure
the continuance of this good blood, the first step was to
limit marriages of SS men to women meeting the same
requirements as to health, descent, and ideological
background as the SS man himself. This was accomplished by
an order of the Reichsfuehrer SS issued on 31 December 1931.
This SS marriage law is set out in full in d'Alquen's Book,
"The SS," (2284-PS). But proper marriages were not enough
without children. A series of orders took care of that. On
13 September 1936, Himmler issued an order entitled
"Foundation of the Organization 'Lebensborn e.V.'",
published in the SS manual, "The Soldier Friend":

     "As early as 13 December 1934, I wrote to all SS
     leaders and declared that we have fought in vain if
     political victory was not to be followed by victory of
     birth of good blood. The question of multiplicity of
     children is not a private affair of the individual but
     his duty towards his ancestors and our people. "The SS
     has taken the first step in this direction long ago
     with the engagement and marriage decree of December
     1931. However, the existence of sound marriage is
     futile if it does not result in the creation of
     numerous descendants."
     
                         *******

     "The minimum amount of children for a good sound
     marriage is four. Should unfortunate circumstances deny
     a married couple their own children, then every SS
     leader should adopt racially and hereditarily valuable
     children, educate them in the spirit of National
     Socialism, let them have an education corresponding to
     their ability."

The drive for perpetuation of SS stock was continued. A
further order of Himmler, issued on 28 October 1939,
directed to the entire SS and the Police, is also published
in the SS manual, "The Soldier Friend":

     "The old saying that only those who have children can
     die in peace must again become acknowledged truth in
     this war, especially for the SS.

                           *******

     "Though in other times it may perhaps be considered an
     infraction of necessary social standards and
     conventions, German women and girls-of good blood can
     fulfill a high obligation by bearing children out of
     wedlock to soldiers going to the front, whose eventual
     return or death for Germany lies entirely in the hands
     of fate not out of promiscuity but out of a deep sense
     of ethics."
     
     ******* "Let us never forget that the victory of the
     sword and of the
     
                                                  [Page 191]
                                                            
     spilled blood of our soldiers remains fruitless, if it
     is not succeeded by the victory of the child and the
     colonizing of conquered soil." (2825-PS)

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