Units and commands of the Schutzstaffel


Units and commands of the Schutzstaffel were organizational titles used by the SS to describe the many groups, forces, and formations that existed within the SS from its inception in 1923 to the eventual fall of Nazi Germany in 1945.
The SS unit nomenclature can be divided into several different types of organizations, mainly the early titles used by the SS, SS unit titles of the Allgemeine SS, the military formation titles used by the Waffen-SS, titles of commands associated with the SS Security Police, and special units titles used by such SS organizations as the mobile death squad units of the Einsatzgruppen.

Early SS commands

1920–1925

From 1920 through 1925, several early paramilitary terms were used to describe the various groups which would eventually become the SS. Among the most were:
In September 1925, the then fledgling SS established its first organizational structure, using the following titles:
In January 1929, after Heinrich Himmler took over leadership of the SS, old organizational titles were done away with and the following terms came into being:
In 1931, as SS membership began to surpass 100,000, Himmler again reorganized the SS and created these new command titles:
The core of the "General-SS" were the mustering formations spread throughout Germany, divided into several division sized formations and extending downwards into brigade, regiment, battalion, company, and squad like formations. Most of these formations were "part time" and mustered weekly or monthly without pay. The Allgemeine SS used unique names for these formations which were different from standard military terms in use by the German military.
Initially, General-SS formations were operated strictly in Germany and Austria but were later formed in occupied countries during World War II. Most often, Allgemeine SS units in occupied territories were "paper commands", formed under the authority of an SS and Police Leader in order to give senior SS officers in occupation commands a command billet within the General-SS.
The Allgemeine SS also formed several cavalry commands, which were mainly intended to attract German nobility into the ranks of the SS. These formations were little more than equestrian riding clubs and, by the start of World War II, the General-SS Cavalry had mostly ceased to exist except for a handful of members. The command names of the General-SS cavalry were modeled after those of the regular mustering SS formations and were separate from the military cavalry terms of the Waffen-SS.
The Waffen-SS used standard Army military unit titles, in the following hierarchy.
By the mid-1930s, the SS leadership had grouped itself into two major senior commands which would last throughout World War II. The two most senior positions in the SS, apart from the Reichsführer-SS, were the SS and Police Leaders and the SS Main Office Commanders.

SS and Police Leaders

A wartime office which was granted considerable power was that of the SS and Police Leader. This unique position was a command authority of every SS unit in a given geographical area. SS and Police leaders had control over administrative SS commands, Nazi concentration camps, security forces, and certain units of the Waffen-SS.
There were three levels of SS and Police Leaders, these being:
By 1942 all activities of the SS were managed through twelve main offices.
The hierarchy of command in the main offices was:
Below the level of Department heads existed a plethora of administrative and bureaucratic titles to indicate positions as Assistant Department Heads, staff officers, and other clerical duties within the various main offices.

Security police commands

The offices of the Gestapo in major towns and cities were known as "Stapo-Leitstellen". Smaller towns and some villages maintained smaller Gestapo offices known simply as "Stapostellen". The Sicherheitsdienst was organized in a different manner, grouped in SD-Abschnitte with smaller SD-Unterabschnitte commands. Both the Gestapo, SD, and the similarly organized Kriminalpolizei were overseen by an SS Police official known as Inspektor des Sicherheitspolizei und SD. In occupied territories, this commander was known by the alternate title Befehlshaber.

Death's Head commands

The Totenkopfverbände maintained a hierarchy of Nazi concentration camp titles, in the following order:
The Einsatzgruppen were regimental sized death squads which were further sub-divided into Einsatzkommandos, which were company-sized formations.

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