'I swear to thee, Adolf Hitler, as Führer and Chancellor of the German Reich, loyalty and bravery. I vow to thee, and to the superiors whom thou shalt appoint, obedience unto death, so help me God.'-SS Oath of Loyalty The divisions of the Waffen-SS were the elite of Hitler's armies in World War II.SS-Leibstandarteis an in-depth examination of the first Waffen-SS unit to be formed, the SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. The book explores the background of the unit's formation, including its origins as the Führer's bodyguard, the men it recruited, the key figures involved in the division, its organization, training, uniforms and insignia.SS-Leibstandartealso provides a full combat record of the division, which fought on both fronts during World War II. The book outlines the unit's involvement in the fall of France, its service on the Eastern Front, the desperate attempts to throw the Allies out of Normandy after D-Day, and the final, fruitless attempts to relieve Budapest and save Vienna from the Red Army.Illustrated with rare photographs and written by an acknowledged expert,SS-Leibstandarte
Contingents of theLeibstandarte assemble as their Führer’s Guard of Honour during the Nuremberg Rally of 1937, notable for Hitler’s assurance that the Third Reich would last for 1000 years.
CHAPTER ONE
FOUNDATION
After her defeat in World War I, Germany was ripe for revolution, with various gangs fighting for power on the streets. Cocooned by bodyguards and followers addicted to ongoing violence, Adolf Hitler sought protection in the creation of a new elite, theLeibstandarte Adolf Hitler.
Newsreel propaganda films produced in Nazi Germany during the life of the Third Reich featured footage of elite members of Heinrich Himmler’sSchutzstaffel (SS Protection Squad), immaculate in their black and silver uniforms, standing like robots before the Berlin Reich Chancellery. These were the troops of theLeibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, responsible for the safety of their Führer, a bodyguard contingent destined to rise under the clash of arms to become the premier panzer division of theWaffen-SS.
Those who served in theLeibstandarte and in the armed SS as a whole enjoyed a special status and glamour, the remnants of which, even amid the ashes of defeat, the dwindling number of veterans are keen to preserve. There is some justification for this. The armed echelons of theSchutzstaffel, with their double-S runic sleeve flash and belt buckles inscribed with the mottoMeine Ehre heisst Treue (‘My Honour Is Loyalty’) fought with considerable bravery on the front line during World War II. What this does not take into account, however, and what apologists to this day conveniently ignore, are the many crimes of brutality which can be laid directly at the door of theLeibstandarte.
ORIGINS
To reach the truth means taking a look beyond the popular image of the immaculate uniforms and marching bands of these SS paragons. The origins lie deep in a Germany still in the shadow of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 1918. Kaiser Wilhelm II, who had vainly intended to abdicate only as German Emperor, but still retain his rights as King of Prussia, had finally taken his withered arm and shattered imperial ambitions into exile. For the army, rich in the traditions of battle triumphs stretching back to the days of Frederick the Great, there was a legacy of shame and submission at its enforced emasculation by the victors, following the Treaty of Versailles. But for many whose husbands, brothers and sons had perished on the battlefields of France and Flanders, there was weary resignation and a longing to be rid of militarism. There was little sympathy for those that found the Allied terms unacceptable and even less for the notion that, in the words of Philipp Scheidemann, first Chancellor of the Weimar Republic, the ‘hand sho
