Waffen SS and the KZ system

[tomalbright]

To put this well-worn topic in perspective and put an empircal spin on this debate, lets put some numbers into the mix from my research on the SS-TV and KZ officer corps.

Of approximately 26,000 Waffen SS officers who served from 1939-45, around 500 or so either served in the prewar or wartime KZ system; this represents 2% of the total W-SS officer corps.

Of the 500, approximately 33% were medical personnel; of the non-medical officers, 50% served in the prewar system, mostly in the guard battalions (only 8% served in camp administration at some point in their SS-TV service, this being representative of the overall ratio of administrative-to-guard personnel in the prewar camps), and never came back to the camp system; amongst this group were famous and highly decorated commanders like Simon, Becker and Bochmann. 25% of the non-medical SS officers served in both the pre-war and wartime KZ system (examples: Paul-Werner Hoppe, Richard Baer and Anton Kaindl) , with the remaining 25% having served only in the wartime KZ system (example: Otto Foerschner (served in the prewar SS-VT, SS-Wiking Division). Any questions, please e-mail me, my data base is a work in progress, but my work on W-SS officers who served in the KZ system is well along.

regards
Tom

[Starinov]

Could you give any source for your numbers?

[tomalbright]

My sources:

Berlin Document Center SS Officers personnel files at National Archives in College Park, MD

John Moore's Comprehensive list of Waffen SS officers on CD-ROM

French Maclean's "The Camp Men", which I used as the basis of my initial research,; it is error-laden at times, but a great starting point.

regards

Tom