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Tyler Young
Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
6 April 2015
Research Review
The Schutzstaffel in Nazi Germany
My topic of inquiry has been the Schutzstaffel. I chose this topic because growing up in
school I have always learned about World War II but I have always learned more about the allies.
Since I have always learned more about the allies I wanted to learn about the other side so I
decided to research the Schutzstaffel. We had many topics to choose from for our inquiry
research, but I choose the Schutzstaffel because I wanted to learn more about a topic that had
soldiers fighting in the war. I am not saying that everyone in the war was not a soldier but I
wanted to learn about a unified group that was fighting for their country. After looking at all of
my options I decided that the Schutzstaffel would be the most interesting to me.
The Schutzstaffel was founded in 1925, the word Schutzstaffel is German for Protective
Echelon. The Schutzstaffel initially served as Adolph Hitlers personal bodyguards, but they
would later become one of the most powerful and feared organizations in all of Nazi Germany.
Heinrich Himmler became head of the Schutzstaffel in 1929 and expanded the groups role and
size. Under Himmlers guidance, the SS evolved over the next four years into a first-rate
paramilitary unit. To qualify for the SS, prospective members had to prove that none of their
ancestors were Jewish and agree to marry only with the consent of their superior officers. By the
start of World War II the SS had 250,000 members and multiple subdivisions. The first
subdivision was the SS-VT which was a military unit whose members were quartered in

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barracks. The second subdivision was the Totenkopfverbande also known as the Death Heads
Unit. . The Totenkopfverbande was so named because the caps worn by its members were
decorated with an insignia that featured the image of a skull. This emblem was not meant to
imply that the Totenkopfverbande was carrying out murderous acts. Rather, it symbolized that
the unit was committed to remaining faithful to Hitler to the death. As Germany was going down
in defeat during the end of World War II so did the Schutzstaffel. Heinrich Himmler was
captured by Allied soldiers and he committed suicide on May 23rd 1945. After World War II
there was the Nuremburg military tribunals which were in session from 1945 to 1949. The
tribunal declared the Schutzstaffel a criminal organization because of its direct involvement in
committing war crimes.
My first source talks about the different stages in development of the Schutzstaffel and
the importance of age within the Schutzstaffel. There was not any argument made in this article,
this article is analysis of the age of the men and the time periods of the Schutzstaffel. There are
three main phases the Schutzstaffel goes through. The first phase is called the infancy period
which takes place from April 1925 through December 1930. The first phase is called the infancy
phase because it was during these years that the basic characteristics of the Schutzstaffel were
developed. There were two main characteristics that were focused on during the infancy period
which were, emphasis on racial selectivity of its members and the adoption of the role of
security organization, at first for the party, later for the regime (Boehnert 5). The second phase
is called the developmental period which takes place from January 1931 through June 1934. It is
called the developmental period because it is during this phase that the major branches of the
Schutzstaffel were developed. The SD had its beginnings in 1931, while the
Totenkopfverbande were established soon after Hitler came to power. The beginnings of the

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Verfugungstrupe can also be traced to the renewed formation of a Stabswache in March 1933
(Boehnert 5). The third phase is called the functional period from July 1934 through September
1939. It is called the functional period because it is during these years that the Schutzstaffel
really begins to function as an independent organization. Also age was very important within the
Schutzstaffel, at first only men between the ages 23 to 35 could apply. The reason there was this
rule was because the Schutzstaffel wanted to be the elite of the elite. The leaders proclaimed on
many occasions that their party, more than any other, represented a mission of the younger
generation in contrast to the rotten and crumbling world of yesterday (Boehnert 8). I thought it
was important to include these quotes to show where the Schutzstaffel started to what it became.
I also thought showing the age was important because this was a big belief of theirs. It was a big
belief in their organization so they could be the elite of the elite like they wanted to be.
The second source in my opinion talks about some of the harsh punishments the
Schutzstaffel enforced on some of its own soldiers. What this next source talks about is the
introduction of the death penalty for homosexual behavior within the Schutzstaffel. A member
of the SS or police who commits indecency with another man or allows himself to be abused in
an indecent manner will be punished with death (Giles). To me this shows another side of the
Schutzstaffel not only were they brutal to others but they were brutal to some of their own. The
death penalty was applied to some but the rulings carried were rare and inconsistent. The reason
this rule was created was so that the Schutzstaffel could clean themselves up some. During this
time Germany was looking for a pure race. The pure race did not believe in homosexuals so this
was the Schutzstaffels way of making themselves part of the pure race. If you let him have his
way, the whole state would become an organization of homosexuality in the long run (Giles).
This quote goes to show how Hitler though being homosexual would ruin his idea of a pure race.

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The homosexual, on the other hand, does not assess other men according to their achievement;
he rejects the most competent men if or even because they are not homosexual and gives
preference to homosexuals. We've experienced it unfortunately in the case of Rhm, as well as
other cases, that a homosexual will fill all crucial positions with other homosexuals (Giles).
The Schutzstaffel really believed that a homosexual would just absolutely ruin what they were
trying to accomplish. I find this quote interesting because it shows exactly how brutal the
Schutzstaffel could be.
The way these sources relate to my inquiry is I was able to find these sources after I had
raised some more questions about the Schutzstaffel. After I learned about some background
knowledge I realized there was a lot more I want to learn about the Schutzstaffel. The first thing
I wanted to learn was some key points of the creation of the Schutzstaffel and I also wanted to
learn about what the requirements were to join the Schutzstaffel. Asking myself these questions
is what led me to finding my first source. Another requirement I found once you were in the
Schutzstaffel is you were not allowed to partake in political debate because in the Schutzstaffel
because you had to profess undying loyalty to Hitler. What led to me to my second source is I
wanted to find out how brutal the Schutzstaffel really was. I know they were very extreme
because I learned growing about all of the death camps, but I had never realized how extreme
they were within their own organization. I was very surprised when I found out they had
implemented a death penalty for SS soldiers for homosexuality behavior.

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Works Cited Page

Boehnert, Gunnar. "Analysis of the Age and Education of the SS Fuhrerkorps 1925-1939."
Historical Social Research 12 (1979): 15. JSTOR. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/>.
Giles, Geoffrey. "The Denial of Homosexuality: Same-Sex Incidents in Himmler's SS and
Police." Journal of the History of Sexuality 12.11.1 (2002). JSTOR. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/>.