High Command of the SS
The highest and most powerful SS office, essentially theSS high command. This office was run bythe second most powerful person in the Third Reich, Heinrich Himmler, andas commander of the RF-SS, Himmler had control of the entireSS. Himmler answered to Hitler, as did all German commanders andleaders, but above all others, Himmler seemed to be a leader unto himself.
The Reichsführung-SS was composed of two main parts, theKommandostab Reichsführung-SS and the Personlicher StabReichsführung-SS. The Kommandostab Reichsführung-SS was an executiveadministrative staffwhich was located at Himmler’s personal headquarters. During the War, theKommandostab Reichsführung-SS acted on a mobile basis under the titleFeldkommadostelle Reichsführung-SS and was organized like amilitary headquarters. As such, it acted more-or-less as the WaffenSS High Command, in the way the Oberkommandos were thehigh commands for the other arms of the military. A number of independent combat and combat support units were attached to theFeldkommandostelle, such as signals, flak, and police units. Duringthe War, the Feldkommadostelle Reichsführung-SS was organized with thefollowing units.
Personlicher Stab Reichsführung-SS
The Personlicher Stab Reichsführung-SS was the second mainpart of the Reichsführung-SS and was basically Himmler’s personalstaff. The Personlicher Stab Reichsführung-SS was initially an organization consisting ofadvisory officials, the heads of the main SS departments and members ofother important offices. It acted as an advisory body to Himmler and theReichsführung-SS, and also took care of any area not covered specifically by one of the other main departments. The Personlicher StabReichsführung-SS was to become a specific main office within theRF-SS after 1940.
The day-to-day management of the SS was run by the SS Hauptamter or main departments. The Hauptamter were under the direct control of the Reichsführung-SS and The Reichsführer-SS Himmler but were otherwise in control of managing and running a particular aspect of the SS. All of the Hauptamt are listed in the previous table.
The SS Hauptamt was the primary SS command organization before the War. It was formed on January 30th, 1935 from the original SS Amt (SS office) which controlled the SS in its early years. The SS Hauptamt controlled all areas of the SS not specifically controlled by any of the other main offices. The SS-HA initially controlled the Allgemeine SS, the concentrationcamps, the frontier and border personnel, and the political readiness detachments (which evolved into the SSVerfugungstruppe and latter into the Waffen SS). From these, the SS-HA went on to control an even greater number of duties within the SS. In the late 1930’s, the SS Hauptamt was the largest and most powerful office of the SS, managing nearly all aspects of the SS. The title of Hauptamt, meaning simply, the main office, shows the importance that this position held within the administration of the SS. With no other qualification in its title, this office was understood to be the most important of those in the SS. Before 1940 the SS-HA consisted of the following.
Zentralkanzlei (Central Chancellery)
When the SS grew much larger after 1940, the administration of the SS as a whole became more than the SS-HA could manage alone. As a result, the SS-HA was split up creating a number of new main offices. The structure of the SS-HA after 1940 whenits importance was reduced was as follows.
Zentralamt (Central office)
The Rasse-und Siedlungshauptamt was the Race and Settlement Department of the SS. It was made into the main office onJanuary 3Oth, 1935 from the earlier Race and Settlement Office. The name was thus changed from office to department, along with other various structural changes. This department was also known as RuSHA, and it acted as the supreme authority on matters dealing with the purity of SS members, on genealogy, lineage, marriage, and on matters dealing with the settlement of Germans into conquered areas. Before 1940 the RuSHA consisted of the following.
Organisation und Verwaltungsamt (Organisation and Administration)
This main office was the Reich Central Security Main Office or RSHA. The RSHA was formed on September 27th, 1939, and was by far the most feared and the most sinister of all the main offices in the RF-SS. The RSHA was formed from two otherexisting main offices, the Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police Main Office) and the Sicherheits Hauptamt(Security Service Main Office). The Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei controlled what was known as the Sipo, which consistedof the Geheime Staatspolizei or Gestapo (The Secret State Police) and the Kriminalpolizei or Kripo (The CriminalPolice). The Sicherheitspolizei Hauptamt controlled the Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführer-SS or SD (SecurityService of the Reichsführer-SS). The above two offices and the security forces they controlled (Sipo consisting of the Gestapo and Kripo, and the SD), all became a part of the RSHA in 1939. The RSHA also formed and manned the most infamous”security” groups of the War, the Einsatzgruppen (Special Action Groups). The Einsatzgruppen were formed to gatherJews, partisans, and other peoples from the areas the armed forces conquered, and to murder them. During the War, the RSHAwas always growing, adding new offices to its structure. During the War, the RSHA consisted of the following.
Hauptamt Personlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS
This main office was formed from the Personlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS that was a part of the Reichsführung-SS.When formed into the main office, the Hauptamt Personlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS continued much the same as it had before it was the main office, taking care of protocol, matters of interest to Himmler, awarding decorations to SS men, and taking care of Himmler’s personal correspondence. Matters that were important to Himmler consisted of his personal areas of interest,and these were things like press relations, Germanic cultural research, and the Lebensborn agency.
Hauptamt SS Gericht
This main office was the officer in charge of legal matters as they pertained to the SS and police. This main office was expanded from the original SS Gerichtsamt (SS legal office) that was originally attached to the SS Hauptamt. This office controlled the SS and police courts, the SS and police penal camps. It was responsible for preparing and prosecuting cases and for theexecution of penal and disciplinary sentences, and for the remission or reprieve of such sentences. It dealt with all areas relatedto law and legal matters within the SS.
This main office was formed on June 1st, 1939 from Himmler’s personal staff. This office was in charge of the records for SSpersonnel and was the ultimate authority responsible for all questions regarding SS Personal. The primary focus of this main office was with officers though.