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→History: Became a part of the German Government in 1933
==History==
==History==
The Nazi Party created the SS in 1925 as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard (Stabswache or Staff Guard), before the Nazis came to national power in January 1933. The SS was originally only a sub-branch of the [[Brownshirts|SA]]. It was a small exclusive group who only had loyalty to Adolf Hitler, not the Nazi Party or the SA. The SS superceded the SA after the [[Night of the Long Knives]]. Heinrich Himmler was the fourth leader of the SS, having obtained command in January 1929. He went on to become its longest and most influential leader. By the time he took over, it was made up of only 280 men. By 1933 Himmler had expanded its ranks to 52,000.
The Nazi Party created the SS in 1925 as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard (Stabswache or Staff Guard), before the Nazis came to national power in January 1933. The SS was originally only a sub-branch of the [[Brownshirts|SA]]. It was a small exclusive group who only had loyalty to Adolf Hitler, not the Nazi Party or the SA. The SS superceded the SA after the [[Night of the Long Knives]]. When the Nazi Party came to power in 1933, the SS became a part of the German Government.<ref>[http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks4/the-nazification-of-germany/the-nazis-consolidate-power/the-role-of-the-ss-and-gestapo/#.WGUZKXpOlhE The role of the SS and Gestapo]</ref><ref>[Reinhard Heydrich: The Biography, Volume 1], p. 77</ref>
[[Image:THE_SS.jpg|right|250px]]
[[Image:THE_SS.jpg|right|250px]]
Heinrich Himmler was the fourth leader of the SS, having obtained command in January 1929. He went on to become its longest and most influential leader. By the time he took over, it was made up of only 280 men. By 1933 Himmler had expanded its ranks to 52,000.
The SS was made up of several different branches. The main branch was the Allgemeine-SS (General SS) and under it was the SS security, intelligence and police services. These directly included the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service) or SD, [[Gestapo]] (Secret State Police), Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) or Kripo and the leadership over the uniformed police known as the Ordnungspolizei (Order Police) or Orpo. The second main SS branch was the Totenkopfverbände (Death's Head units) or (SS-TV) which made up the Concentration Camp and [[Holocaust#The death camps|death camp]] staffs and guards. The third main SS branch was what became known as the Waffen-SS (Armed SS). This was the military branch of the SS.<ref>McNab (2009)</ref>
The SS was made up of several different branches. The main branch was the Allgemeine-SS (General SS) and under it was the SS security, intelligence and police services. These directly included the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service) or SD, [[Gestapo]] (Secret State Police), Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) or Kripo and the leadership over the uniformed police known as the Ordnungspolizei (Order Police) or Orpo. The second main SS branch was the Totenkopfverbände (Death's Head units) or (SS-TV) which made up the Concentration Camp and [[Holocaust#The death camps|death camp]] staffs and guards. The third main SS branch was what became known as the Waffen-SS (Armed SS). This was the military branch of the SS.<ref>McNab (2009)</ref>