What does waffen ss mean

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Browse A-Z Find articles, photos, maps, films, and more listed alphabetically. The SD gathered intelligence on Hitler's opponents within the Nazi party, leaders and activities of other political parties, as well as on government officials, both federal and local. In August , Nazi party deputy leader Rudolf Hess announced that the SD would henceforth be the only agency authorized to gather and analyze political intelligence in the Third Reich.

Such a determination could, at a minimum, mean a job and better rations for a resident in German-occupied territory during World War II. When the Nazis seized power in January , members of the SS numbered more than 52, As SS chief, Himmler received authority directly from Hitler to carry out ideological policies that the laws of the state might not permit.

Nazi leaders justified this extra-legal chain of command and the policies initiated under its authorization by the national emergency decrees following the Reichstag Fire in and, after , by the intensified emergency created by the war.