SS

The SS (Schutzstaffel, or Protection Squads) was originally established in 1925 as Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard unit. It later become both the elite guard of the Nazi Reich and Hitler’s executive force prepared to carry out all security-related duties, without regard for legal restraint. In 1939, the SS assumed responsibility for “solving” the so-called Jewish Question and after 1941, coordinated and directed the so-called Final Solution of the Jewish Question.  As such, the SS assumed control of the German police forces and the concentration camp system.

For more information, please see: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The SS.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/ss. Accessed 2 June 2021.