Germanic SS

Germanic-SS

The Germanic-SS were the foreign branches of the Allgemeine-SS.
Agency overview
Formed	September, 1939
Dissolved	May 8, 1945
Jurisdiction	Germany Occupied Europe
Headquarters	SS-Hauptamt, Prinz-Albrecht-Straße, Berlin
Employees	~35,000 c.1943
Minister responsible	Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, (1939-1945)
Parent agency	Schutzstaffel

The Germanic SS (German: Germanische-SS) was the collective name given to SS groups which arose in Occupied Europe between 1939 and 1945.

The units were modeled on the Allgemeine-SS in Nazi Germany. The Germanic-SS were not raised as military units like the Waffen-SS, although many Germanic SS members did join the foreign combat divisions in the Second World War.

Duties

The flag of the Dutch SS.

The purpose of the Germanic SS was to enforce Nazi racial doctrine and Anti-Semitic ideals. They typically served as local security police augmenting units of the Gestapo, Sicherheitsdienst, and other commands of the RSHA.

One of the most notorious groups was in the Netherlands where the Germanic-SS was employed to carry out Jewish round-ups. Those arrested were deported to Nazi concentration camps and death camps. Of the 140,000 Jews that had lived in the Netherlands prior to 1940, only 30,000 survived the war.

Germanic-SS Organizations

The following countries raised active SS detatchments:

• Netherlands: Germaansche SS in Nederland (before 1942: Nederlandsche SS)
• Flanders (Belgium): Germaansche SS in Vlaanderen (before 1942: Algemeene-SS Vlaanderen)
• Norway: Germanske SS Norge (before 1942: Norges SS)
• Denmark: Schalburg Corps

An underground Nazi organization also existed in Switzerland, known as the Germanische SS Schweiz. It had very few members and was considered merely a splinter Nazi group by Swiss authorities.

France did not maintain a Germanic-SS group but the police forces, and the paramilitary Milice of the Vichy Government assisted local SS police and security services.

The British Free Corps (German: Britisches Freikorps), which was classed as a division of the Waffen-SS Foreign Legions, was not a Germanic-SS group. The BFC never saw action; it was used mainly for propaganda purposes by the Nazi Ministry of Information.

Post war

After World War II, many Germanic SS members were tried by their respective countries as traitors. Independent war crimes trials (outside the jurisdiction of the Nuremberg Trials) were conducted in several European countries, such as the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark.

Germanic-SS ranks

The Germanic SS maintained an insignia system based on the ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel. The various names of the ranks were slightly modified depending upon the particular country in which they were used.

The following is a comparison of regular SS and Germanic-SS rank titles.

Equivalent SS Rank	Netherlands	Norway	Denmark	SS Insignia
SS-Obergruppenführer	SS-Oppergroepsleider	----	----
SS-Gruppenführer	SS-Groepsleider	Stabsleder	----
SS-Brigadeführer	SS-Brigadeleider	SS-brigadefører	----
SS-Oberführer	SS-Opperleider	SS-nestbrigadefører	----
SS-Standartenführer	SS-Standaardleider	SS-standartfører	Oberst
SS-Obersturmbannführer	SS-Opperstormbanleider	SS-neststandartfører	Oberstløjtnant
SS-Sturmbannführer	SS-Stormbanleider	SS-stormbannfører	Major
SS-Hauptsturmführer	SS-Hoofdstormleider	SS-høvedsmann	Kaptajn
SS-Obersturmführer	SS-Opperstormleider	SS-stormfører	Overløjtnant
SS-Untersturmführer	SS-Onderstormleider	SS-neststormfører	Løjtnant
SS-Sturmscharführer	----	----	Fændrik
SS-Hauptscharführer	SS-Hoofdschaarleider	SS-troppfører	Stabsvagtmester
SS-Oberscharführer	SS-Opperschaarleider	SS-nesttroppfører	Obervagtmester
SS-Scharführer	SS-Schaarleider	SS-lagfører	Vagtmester
SS-Unterscharführer	SS-Onderschaarleider	SS-nestlagfører	Obertropsfører
SS-Rottenführer	SS-Rottenleider	SS-rodefører	----
SS-Sturmmann	SS-Stormman	SS-stormmann	Tropsfører
SS-Mann	SS-Man	SS-mann	Schalburgman
SS-Anwärter	SS-Maat			No Insignia

See also

• Schutzmannschaft
• Jonas Lie (government minister)
• Meinoud Rost van Tonningen
• Christian Frederik von Schalburg