The 1st SS-Standarte was a regimental command of the Allgemeine-SS and one of the units in the General-SS order of battle.
The 1st SS-Standarte was a regimental command of the Allgemeine-SS and one of the units in the General-SS order of battle.
The unit was formed on 1 August 1928. It was reorganized from previous Schutzstaffel (SS) units, known as SS-Gaus. Based in Munich, the 1st SS Standarte was charged with protection of top Nazi Party leaders, including Adolf Hitler. Its first commander was Josef "Sepp" Dietrich. For most of its existence, the command was known by the honor title "Julius Schreck". Schreck had been the co-commander of the first Stabswache bodyguard unit for Hitler in 1923 and later the first leader of the SS. [1] [2]
By 1929, Hitler had re-formed a personal bodyguard unit known as the Stabswache, which would eventually become the nucleus of the future 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. At this stage, the Stabswache and the 1st SS Standarte were practically one and the same. By 1930, however, Dietrich began to be seen strictly as the commander of the Stabswache, with the day-to-day running of the 1st Standarte handled by then SS- Standartenführer Heinrich Höflich.[ citation needed ]
When Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Dietrich traveled with the Führer to Berlin to set up a new SS-Guard for the German leader. It was mostly made up of men from the 1st SS-Standarte. [3] The unit replaced the army guards assigned to protect the Chancellor of Germany. [4] Dietrich went on to command the new unit known as the "SS-Stabswache Berlin". Later it became known as the SS-Sonderkommando Berlin. In November 1933, the Sonderkommando received the title Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (LAH). [5] Finally, Himmler modified that title to Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) on 13 April 1934. [6]
In the summer of 1933, leadership of what remained of 1st Standarte in Munich was taken over by SS-Standartenführer Emil Wäckerle. By the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, the SS had solidified itself with new headquarters' in Berlin. The 1st SS Standarte lost most of its operational importance and became a unit attached to the Munich Nazi Party headquarters, known as the "Brown House" for which the SS was in charge of security. [3] [7]
The next commander of the 1st SS Standarte, after the Night of the Long Knives, was Julian Scherner, later known as the SS and Police Leader of Krakau, who was depicted in the Steven Spielberg film Schindler's List . After Scherner's tour as the Standarte commander, leadership passed through two more leaders, until eventually command was assumed by SS-Standartenführer Erich Buchmann, who held the command until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. [8]
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich was a German politician and a general in the Schutzstaffel (SS) during the Nazi era. He joined the Nazi Party in 1928 and was elected to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic in 1930. Prior to 1929, Dietrich was Adolf Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard.
Theodor Eicke was a senior SS functionary and Waffen SS divisional commander during the Nazi era. He was one of the key figures in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the second commandant of the Dachau concentration camp from June 1933 to July 1934, and together with his adjutant Michael Lippert, was one of the executioners of SA Chief Ernst Röhm during the Night of the Long Knives purge of 1934. He continued to expand and develop the concentration camp system as the first Concentration Camps Inspector.
The uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel (SS) served to distinguish its Nazi paramilitary ranks between 1925 and 1945 from the ranks of the Wehrmacht, the German state, and the Nazi Party.
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of the first commissioned NSDAP ranks and was bestowed upon those SA and SS officers who commanded a unit known as a Standarte, a unit equivalent to an army battalion and comprising 300–500 personnel.
The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH, began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding the Führer's person, offices, and residences. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into an elite division-sized unit during World War II.
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Reichsführer-SS was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS). Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest rank of the SS. The longest-serving and most noteworthy office holder was Heinrich Himmler.
Wilhelm Mohnke was a German military officer who was one of the original members of the SchutzstaffelSS-Stabswache Berlin formed in March 1933. Mohnke, who had joined the Nazi Party in September 1931, rose through the ranks to become one of Adolf Hitler's last remaining general officers at the end of World War II in Europe.
Eduard Deisenhofer was a German commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany. He was an early member in the SS, and served with the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and at the Dachau concentration camp in 1930s. During World War II, Deisenhofer served with several combat divisions on both the Eastern and Western fronts, earning the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He held a PhD in political economy.
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The 6th SS-Standarte was a regimental command of the Allgemeine-SS situated in the city of Berlin. As the command was located in the capital of Germany, the 6th Standarte was considered one of the more important SS units in Nazi Germany. The members of the Standarte themselves, however, were non-paid mustering troops of the "General-SS" as was the practice for most Allgemeine-SS regiments.
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In Nazi Germany, the Standarte was a paramilitary unit of Nazi Party (NSDAP), Sturmabteilung (SA), NSKK, NSFK, and Schutzstaffel (SS). Translated literally as "Regimental standard", the name refers to the flag paramilitary formations carried in formations and parades.
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