“The Order of the Death’s Head: The Story of Hitler’s SS”, by Heinz Höhne, translated by Richard Barry

 

704 pages, Penguin Books, ISBN-13: 978-0141390123 

Heinz Höhne’s The Order of the Death’s Head: The Story of Hitler’s SS was first published in 1967 but, for all that, remains one of the greatest works on the history of the SS – the Nazi Schutzstaffel; literally “Protection Squadron” – and an important tool in the study of Hitler’s infamous Third Reich. Höhne, a journalist by training, included in his work all of the major personages and divisions that this demonic organization produced, such as: Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Müller, Adolf Eichmann, Arthur Nebe, Wilhelm Höttl, Paul Blobel and Herbert Lange, amongst too many others; and the Allgemeine SS (General SS), Waffen-SS (Armed SS), Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police), Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office, or RSHA), SS-Sonderkommandos (Special Units), Einsatzgruppen (Task Forces) and Hauptamt SS-Gericht (SS Court Main Office), although these are only partial lists.

Höhne does more than just record dates and events, or give a laundry list of names and crimes; he reveals several interesting facts about this grand criminal organization that managed to remain hidden for so long. For instance, if you (like me) thought that the Nazi state was a well-oiled machine of terror that was a meticulous top-to-bottom, command-and-control kinda deal, you (like me) would be surprised to learn that Nazi Germany was a chaotic hodgepodge of competing institutions that were each “Working Towards the Führer”; that is, several cults of personality – of which the SS was the foremost – were established by the focus of their adoration (that would be the Bohemian Corporal himself) in order to foster rivalries between competing forces on the lower rungs of power and, thus, rule by dividing and conquering. When you consider all this, I find it absolutely amazing that the chaotic atmosphere this regime established almost conquered all Europe. Even though this book is, at the time of this review, over 50-years-old, it is perhaps the most comprehensive look at the SS that I have read so far, for Höhne went through the organization with a fine-tooth comb to give one a thorough look at this octopusian state-within-a-state.

Höhne also delves deeper than most histories of the SS, as when he asks some, I think, pretty basic questions, such as why would someone join the SS in the first place. His answers are many, but the principle reason was for the prestige of wearing the double-runic “SS” and, thus, the standing that membership in this neo-Praetorian Guard gave one within the Nazi regime. Many professional men joined the SS so that they would be able to advance in their careers within the framework of the Nazi State, even though they were philosophically opposed to the organization (or so they claimed after the war). This, of course, didn’t apply for every member, but it would appear that the SS’s principle recruits were True Believers, although Himmler had both practical and philosophical problems between keeping his organization “pure” and raising enlistment numbers for the SS so he could gain more power and influence. Himmler at first had strict requirements for joining his racial elite task force, amongst them that all were to be German nationals who could prove their pure Aryan ancestry dating back to 1800, were unmarried and without a criminal record. A four-year commitment was required for the SS-Verfügungstruppe (Dispositional Troops) and 1. SS-Panzerdivision Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), recruits had to be between the ages of 17 and 23 and be at least 5’9” tall, or 5’10” for the LSSAH; these standards began to be relaxed as the war began to be lost and recruits – even “impure” recruits – were needed like never before.

The author lastly does a good job describing what was happening during the regime’s Götterdämmerung: Himmler’s pipe dreams of leading the SS on the battlefield to save the Third Reich, to his belief that he could take over and negotiate terms with the allies (and not be held to account for the horrible crimes committed under his authority) were the SS’s driving ambitions as the world came tumbling down around them. From Hitler’s belief in miracle weapons, to Göring’s pining for his (stolen) fine art collection, or Himmler’s (unfounded) belief in his military genius, at the end the leadership of the Third Reich was rarely in touch with reality.  The SS certainly wasn’t the only criminal organization within the Third Reich, nor was it solely responsible for the operation of Germany’s police state, concentration camp system or program of mass murder, but it had the leading role in all of them. The Order of the Death’s Head, while occasionally offering a dated perspective on one or two minor points, is still the definitive study of Hitler’s “finest”.