Third Reich & the Holocaust, Week Three: Organization of Forces & Kindertransport

If you've ever watched any documentary or clip or if you notice in this class concerning the Third Reich, you will inevitably come across terms like the SA, the SS, the SD, the Gestapo, the Einsatzgruppen, etc. This can be confusing as far as each group's purpose and where they fit in to the grand scheme of the Nazi power structure. I never found anything online or in my books that described or looked the way I wanted it to, so I subjected the students to my mad white board skills. This is a brief, not in depth look at the major groups you hear the most about with this subject.

Many times, there is confusion between the SS and SA and their role in the Wehrmacht (German armed forces consisting of the Luftwaffe (air force), Kriegsmarine (navy), and Heer (army). They are actually all three separate entities. Before Hitler came to power, in the interwar years, the German armed forces were the Reichswehr. Then, once he became Führer, it became the Wehrmacht. Under Hitler was Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the Armed Forces High Command (Obercommando der Wehrmacht). He was the chief of the army, but once he was the Chief, the Commander-in-Chief of the army went to Walther von Brauchtisch (not written on the board). The Chief of the Navy was Karl Dönitz (pronounced like a combination of darn it and donuts). The Luftwaffe was helmed by the more familiar name of Hermann Göring. As with any military force, the objectives of these three branches were the invasion and conquests for Hitler's Lebensraum (living space). They were, for the most part, completely separate from the actions of the SA and the SS.

In the days following the First World War, returning German veterans were disillusioned and dismayed at their failures and the nothingness they returned home to: unemployment and breadlines, an unstable political scene, and a plethora of ideas of how life should be. Those men who were not ready to lay down their arms-- the thugs, brutes, and malevolent characters--wanted a purpose. The Treaty of Versailles had curtailed the military numbers, so these men could not maintain their military status. They created for themselves the Freikorps (Free Corps), a free army that was not connected to the regular army; otherwise known as a paramilitary group. They were virulently anti-Communist, antisemitic, and anti anyone else that fell into the "stab in the back" category of post WWI. This group grew into the fascist group called the SA-- sturmabteilung-- or Stormtroopers. Also known as the "brown shirts" in homage to the fascist paramilitary in Mussolini's Italy who were the "black shirts".  This SA was led by a man named Ernst Röhm and in the early days of the Nazi Party, was friends with Hitler and shared the passion for Nazism. The SA were excessively violent and took it upon themselves to enforce Nazi Party ideology and influence politics, like elections. They provided military protection for those like Hitler who spoke in promotion of the ideology and organized various public disturbances, such as the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923 in Munich-- the same failed Putsch that landed Hitler in jail and afforded him the time to write Mein Kampf.

Hitler had many plans in his quick ascension to Führer. And Röhm would quickly found himself in the way. Röhm's first problem was that he was obsessively loyal to Nazi ideology and less loyal to Hitler. His second problem was he made plans to replace the German Reichswehr with his SA. He demanded the removal of German elites from power and replaced with fanatical Nazis. Hitler knew this wouldn't work in the big picture of consolidating his power and popularity within Germany. Hitler was backed into a corner on how to deal with Röhm, but finally had to make use of the opportunity to show that the SA under Röhm was too "revolutionary." On 30 June to 2 July 1934, the SS carried out the "Röhm Purge" or what would be better known as the Night of the Long Knives. Röhm was executed and the SS took the opportunity to kill other political opponents (100-150 dead) and take 1100 others into custody. As a consequence, Hitler was able to gain the backing of the German army who swore an oath to Hitler, not to Germany. After this purge and the death of President von Hindenburg, there was nothing in the way of Hitler becoming Führer. The SA still existed just without the influence it once had within the Nazi Party.

The SS-- Schutzstaffel-- had three main branches.  The Allgemeine SS (General SS), the Waffen-SS (armed SS), and the SS-Totenkopfverbände. The Allgemeine SS enforced Nazi policy on racial purity (with subgroups like the SD).  The Waffen-SS were combat units (specifically the Einsatzgruppen) that followed behind the army to take care of the civilians that didn't fall into the Nazi system of acceptable genetic breeding. After the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa), their duties were looting, confiscating property, and mass murdering Soviet Jews, Roma, and political opponents. In summer of 1941, Himmler, noting the "psychological burden that mass shootings produced on his men, requested a more convenient mode of killing be developed." This led to the mobile gas chambers or mobile killing units. Victims were put in vans and poisoned with carbon monoxide. The SS- Totenkopfverbände, the Death's Head Units, ran the concentration camps. Two smaller sub groups were the Gestapo and the SD (Sicherheitsdienst). The Gestapo were the Secret Police under Hermann Göring and later Heinrich Himmler. The director of the Gestapo was Reinhard Heydrich (he would become director of the SD) and later Heinrich Müller, who had the infamous Adolf Eichmann working for him. The SD was created by Himmler in 1931 to gather intelligence on Hitler's opponents within the Nazi Party, the leaders and activities of other political parties, and federal and local government officials. Once Hitler was Führer, he gave Himmler the power to carry out ideological Party policies.

The structure here is wildly confusing, and many times their roles changed throughout the 1920s and 30s. By the war years, new groups were formed from all three branches and the chain of command was questionable at times as it was constantly in flux and chaotic.

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The Nazi antisemitic policies were gradual, moving to block the basic rights of life and then locking them into a doomed future. The Path to Nazi Genocide: Part 3/4 covers the Nuremberg Laws of the 1930s.

But then Kristallnacht... 9 November 1938.

Goebbels en Kristallnacht

For many it was too late to get out of Germany and German occupied territories, but there came a chance for families to part with their children, sending them off to safety on the Kindertransport.

Journeys to Safety: Memories of the Kindertransport is a short documentary from those now old children of the Kindertransport. As much as I can, I seek first hand accounts. It's not often to hear from the children who lived through such times.

Sir Nicholas Winton was the hero to 669 children who were able, with his assistance, get to England. There are dozens of videos and documentaries dedicated to the work this man did just prior to war breaking out. What Will Your Legacy Be?

For additional information on the Kindertransport and what the children did once getting to England, click this link: Kindertransport: A Journey to Life