Two

THE SS SYSTEM AND NAZI IDEOLOGY

In a well-known but now aging book, Gerald Reitlinger claimed that the key for understanding the origins of the SS lay in the Freikorps: to him, there were no clear-cut boundaries between the end of the Freikorps and the beginning of SA and SS (Reitlinger, 1957, p. 4). This claim had the merit to stress some ideological continuities in a defeated and humiliated Germany, given that the Freikorps were animated by the same spirit that would give rise to Nazism. To some extent, however, the origins of the SS were a by-product of some of the Great War’s field tactics. Per se, they had little to do with ideology. 1. The Origins of the SS Late in the Great War, General Erich Ludendorff envisaged a series of attacks, in order to break through the Western front. To that purpose, he set up his assault divisions, spearheaded by shock units: the Stosstruppen, made of fighters able to use all kinds of weapons. These units were inspired by a model that had appeared empirically, on the battlefield, in 1915 (Jardin, 2005, p. 182). And precursors of such units had existed already in 1914. In fact, the inspiration for the SS came from that battlefield culture with which many people were familiar at that time. According to an official account prepared by the Archivamt des SS- Hauptamtes (SS Archive Office), early in the history of the movement, the necessity arose to create a small elite troop, made of tough and trustworthy elements. In this perspective, in March 1923, a Stabswache was set up, under the authority of Marine Lieutenant Klintzsch. After Klintzsch had gone back to his Navy Brigade, Josef Berchtold created the “Stosstrupp Hitler”, which included the Stabswache. The Stosstrupp was made of seasoned veterans, on whom Hitler could count. In 1925, after the re-foundation of the Party, the Schutzstaffel (Protection Squad) proper was created, with a limited number of reliable and faithful Party comrades. The founder and first leader was Julius Schreck, who, in 1926, handed his leadership over to Berchtold. The numbers stood around 200, and growth was slow (BA NSD 41 / 77 a). According to Heinz Höhne, Julius Schreck had undertaken to increase SS unit numbers, but he had imposed restrictions on recruiting, so as to preserve the elitist character of the new Protection Squad, before he was replaced with Berchtold. The latter could use the title of Reichsführer SS, although he remained nominally subordinated to SA Supreme Leader Franz 22 SS THINKING AND THE HOLOCAUST

Pfeffer von Salomon. Berchtold would have a hard time trying to protect his organization against Party hacks who were discontent with the “aristocratic” claims of the SS. Ultimately, he had to resign. In March 1927, he was replaced with his assistant Erhard Heiden, who showed some concern for ethics, by issuing instructions about the correct behavior expected from SS members during meetings (Höhne, 1972, pp. 22-25). On 6 January 1929, Heinrich Himmler was appointed Reichsführer SS by Hitler, over a troop of 270 men. Later in the year, at the Party Congress in Nuremberg, Himmler could display twice that number. Under Himmler, the SS had to put out some revolts within the Party, including the Stennes incident, when it received its motto from Hitler: “SS-Mann, Deine Ehre heisst Treue” (SS man, your honor is your faithfulness). Early in 1933, the Leibstandarte (body-guard regiment) was created, followed by units of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (troop at disposal). And schools were set up, in Tölz and Braunschweig (BA NSD 41 / 77 a, pp. 9-13). Himmler lost no time in asserting his vision of the SS, based on the key role devoted to ideology. He was quick to issue a few basic principles. According to him: “only noble blood, only real race could guarantee real performances, in the long run”. Whence, the necessity of selection for recruiting the best in terms of blood and character. And selection had to be guided by four principles and virtues: the racial idea proper, bound to attract those who were as close as possible to Nordic humanity, in height and general look; the fighter’s spirit or the commitment to struggle; faithfulness and honor; plus, of course, obedience. SS men were essentially committed to protect Nazi thinking inside, as well as toward the outside (BA NSD 41 / 61, pp. 9, 11-13). Himmler changed drastically the small SS force, not only because he was a skilled organizer who carried a vision, but also and mostly because he saw himself as a thinker, especially in the field of natural philosophy and ethics. In his mind, the SS was bound to become a powerful organization, which would command respect and admiration in society at large, and especially in Hitler. But it would be devoted also to develop the Nazi way of thinking, with the explicit intent to actualize Nazi thinking into praxis. 2. Himmler and the Great War Like Hitler and most Nazis of the early days, Heinrich Himmler was also a by-product of the Great War, although in a different sense. His political engagement and his ideological roots stemmed from an imaginary World War I, from a mental system of fantasies about the war and about his own relationship to it. Many SS top leaders, born also in the early twentieth century, would display a comparable set of mind. According to Guido Knopp, Himmler had experienced a normal childhood in a normal well-to-do family, under the strong influence of