member_of_political_party gunter d'alquen
Das Schwarze Korps ( German for " The Black Corps ") was the official newspaper of the " Schutzstaffel " ( SS ). This newspaper was published on Wednesdays and distributed free of charge . Each SS member was encouraged to read it . The chief editor was SS leader Gunter d ' Alquen ; the publisher was Max Amann of the Franz - Eher - Verlag publishing company . The paper was hostile to many groups , with frequent articles condemning the Catholic Church ( any act interfering with the state being denounced as " political Catholicism "), Jews , Communism , Freemasonry and others . The newspaper was published in close co - operation with the SS Security Service , which had substantial editorial control . The Schutzstaffel ( SS ; also stylized as with Armanen runes literally " Protection Squadron ") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German ___MASK61___ ( NSDAP ; ___MASK23___ ) in Nazi Germany . It began with a small guard unit known as the " Saal - Schutz " ( Hall - Protection ) made up of NSDAP volunteers to provide security for party meetings in Munich . In 1925 , Heinrich Himmler joined the unit , which had by then been reformed and given its final name . Under his direction ( 1929  45 ), it grew from a small paramilitary formation to one of the most powerful organizations in Nazi Germany . From 1929 until the regime ' s collapse in 1945 , the SS was the foremost agency of surveillance and terror within Germany and German - occupied Europe . Gunter d ' Alquen ( German pronunciation : ( dalkn ) ) ( October 24 , 1910 -- May 15 , 1998 ) was chief editor of the SS weekly , Das Schwarze Korps ( `` The Black Corps '' ) , the official newspaper of the Schutzstaffel ( SS ) , and commander of the SS - Standarte Kurt Eggers ( SS - Standarte Kurt Eggers . The honour title Kurt Eggers referred to the SS war correspondent and editor of the SS magazine Das Schwarze Korps , killed in 1943 ) .