The Ss And The Nazi World War II - 1117 Words

The SS, or Schutzstaffel, played a variety of roles before and during World War II, showing their loyalty to Hitler and patriotism. From their beginning as personal bodyguards of about eight men, to being an elite organization with police units and special forces, these â€Å"men in black† used their power to become the most powerful men in Germany. The SS proceeded with mass killings and watched over concentration camps. They did Hitler’s â€Å"dirty work.† In 1929, Heinrich Himmler took control of the SS as Reichsfuhrer. Himmler was the second most powerful man in Germany during World War II. Given overall responsibility for the security of the Nazi empire, Himmler was the key and senior Nazi official responsible for conceiving and overseeing†¦show more content†¦Not only was the Holocaust the attempted extermination of six million Jews in Germany’s Third Reich, but it was the Systematic destruction of any racial, political, or cultural group because they wanted to Maintain the purity of the Aryan- nordic- Germanic blood. This was all because of the thought of antisemitism, or the hostility and discrimination against Jews. Anti- semitism has occurred throughout the centuries and was not only enforced during the holocaust but it extended back hundreds of years. Anti semitism swept through germany as soon as hitler became chancellor. Adolf hitler was the individual who was the most responsible for the destruction of europe’s jews. The SS controlled the government. They controlled the concentration camps. SS officers commanded all concentration camps in Germany and in German-occupied territory. Units known as SS Death s-Head Units guarded and administered the camps. The SS was determined that the Thousand-Year Reich would be ruled by its self-selected, â€Å"racially pure† elite. (SS and the Holocaust) The SS not only took part in controlling the government, but they were going to carry out the final solution. Final Solution was their plan to finally annihilate the jewish peoples It was going to be the final mass genocide. Hitler wanted to â€Å"free† Germany of the Jews. After noticing that they had 11 million jews under their control, they deciding shooting the jews was costly. This is when they brought up the idea of