Germanic-SS

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The Germanic SS (Germanische-SS) was the collective name given to paramilitary groups which arose in conquered and subject nations of Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1945 and which were modeled on designs of the German Schutzstaffel (SS). The Germanic SS was founded on principals identical to the Allgemeine-SS and its purpose was considered to be enforcement of Nazi racial doctrine and Anti-Semitic ideals.

The Germanic-SS typically engaged in such duties as serving as local security police and augmenting units of the Gestapo, Sicherheitsdienst, and other commands of the RSHA. The group was most notorious in the Netherlands where the Germanic-SS was employed to a great extent in Jewish roundups for deportations to death camps.

After the close of World War II, most members of the Germanic SS were branded as traitors to their countries and several independent war crimes trials were conducted by the nations in which the Germanic-SS had existed.

It should be noted that the Germanic-SS was not the same as the Foreign Legions of the Waffen-SS, although many Germanic SS members would join this sister organization in the last years of the Second World War.

[edit] List of Germanic-SS Organizations

Though many Norwegians fiercely resisted the Germans, some also sympathized with the Germans because of a shared Nordic heritage and a few aided German soldiers in small battles against the Red Army in Finnmark. Though Sweden was neutral during the war, many Swedes were friendly towards, and very supportive of the Germans. The fact that Germans shared a common Nordic heritage with the Swedes prompted many Swedish people to form Swedish SS divisions and some Swedes volunteered directly with the Waffen-SS and were the first to join the Germans in the invasion of the Soviet Union, where the Swedes fought ferociously with their German partners against the Soviets. Swedish SS divisions and Swedish Waffen-SS volunteers also fought in varied battlefields; from Ingermanland's snow-clad hills, to the defense of the historic town of Narva. Then further over Latvia's billowing landscape against the Soviet armored thrusts that were threatening Riga. Later on, the battalion fought in the muddy trenches in Kurland and on the plains of Pomerania. Despite the neutrality of Sweden during the war, Swedish volunteers to the SS fought alongside the Germans with tremendous fervor and comradery. In Sweden, the civilian population also had favorable view of Germany and the Germans up until 1944, when German defeat loomed.

An underground Nazi organization also existed in Switzerland, known as the Germanische SS Schweiz. It had very few members and was considered merely a splinter Nazi group by Swiss authorities.

France, which isn't a country of Nordic origins like Germany or any of the Scandinavian nations, did not maintain a Germanic-SS group, but the police forces of the Vichy Government assisted local SS authorities. The British Free Corps did not maintain a Germanic-SS group either as the British are not a Nordic people, but later became (at least on paper) a division of the Waffen-SS Foreign Legions.

[edit] Germanic-SS ranks

The Germanic SS maintained an insignia system identical to the ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel. The various names of the ranks was slightly modified depending upon the particular country in which they were used. The following is a comparison of regular SS and Germanic-SS rank titles.

Equivalent SS Rank Netherlands Norway Denmark Collar Insignia Shoulder Insignia
SS-Anwärter SS-Maat No Insignia No Insignia
SS-Mann SS-Man SS-mann Schalburgman
SS-Sturmmann SS-Stormman SS-stormmann Tropsfører
SS-Rottenführer SS-Rottenleider SS-rodefører ----
SS-Unterscharführer SS-Onderschaarleider SS-nestlagfører Obertropsfører
SS-Scharführer SS-Schaarleider SS-lagfører Vagtmester
SS-Oberscharführer SS-Opperschaarleider SS-nesttroppfører Obervagtmester
SS-Hauptscharführer SS-Hoofdschaarleider SS-troppfører Stabsvagtmester
SS-Sturmscharführer ---- ---- Fændrik
SS-Untersturmführer SS-Onderstormleider SS-neststormfører Løjtnant
SS-Obersturmführer SS-Opperstormleider SS-stormfører Overløjtnant
SS-Hauptsturmführer SS-Hoofdstormleider SS-høvedsmann Kaptajn
SS-Sturmbannführer SS-Stormbanleider SS-stormbannfører Major
SS-Obersturmbannführer SS-Opperstormbanleider SS-neststandartfører Oberstløjtnant
SS-Standartenführer SS-Standaardleider SS-standartfører Oberst
SS-Oberführer SS-Opperleider SS-nestbrigadefører ----
SS-Brigadeführer SS-Brigadeleider SS-brigadefører ----
SS-Gruppenführer SS-Groepsleider Stabsleder ----
SS-Obergruppenführer SS-Oppergroepsleider ---- ----

[edit] See also