Extracts from SS Soldiers Friend [Der Soldatenfreund] 1943

[David Thompson]

Here are a series of informational extracts for Waffen-SS soldiers prepared by the SS Main Office. They are taken from "Document 2825-PS: SS Soldiers Friend [Der Soldatenfreund]: Pocket Diary For The German Armed Forces With Calendar For 1943: Edition D: Waffen-SS [partial translation]", in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume V: US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: GPO, 1946. pp. 462-464.

[Composed by the Reich Fuehrer SS -- SS Main Office, 23rd year, concluded with 8/1/1942 by: Adolf Sponholtz publishing house, Hanover. Pages 20-40.]

The Main Office of the Reich Leader SS and its Tasks.

It is the task of the SS Main Office to create a strictly organized elite order. Therefore it is charged with the selection of suitable men of the SS [Ergaenzungswesen] and with the recording of the SS members and their families, furthermore with the ideological and political guidance, schooling, and education of the entire SS and police as well-as the care of the organizations committed within the frame of the SS and police [Truppenbetreuung]. A further task is the physical education and the physical training of the SS before and after military duty. Of special importance is the selection, the establishment, and the leadership of the SS in the Germanic countries, and the prevailing of the Germanic idea in all spheres of life.

In the Reich security main office [Reichssicherheitshauptamt] all affairs of organizational, personnel, economical and technical nature, security police, and the security service [SD] are being handled. Besides, it represents the operational center of the state police and criminal police as well as the administrative of the intelligence network of the SD.

The SS race and settlement main office [Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt] handles through its offices the racial selection of the SS coming generation, directs the choosing of mates of the SS men, and promotes the creation of child-rich families, valuable from a hereditary and biological point of view. SS men capable and willing to farm will get the means for their own land.

Duty spheres of the main office of the uniformed regular [Ordnungs-Polizei] are police administration as well as care and guidance of the municipal police [Schutzpolizei] of the Reich, the rural police [Gendarmerie], the municipal police of the communities, river police [Wasserschutzpolizei], the fire protection police, the protective teams [Schutzmannschaften] in the occupied territories, the colonial police, the volunteer fire department, the regular and youth fire department, the technical emergency corps [Technische Nothilfe], and the technical SS and police academy.

The main administration of economics [Wirtschaftsverwaltungshauptamt] supervises the entire financial and administrative work of the SS.

The seat of the personal staff of the Reich Leader SS is the central main office. It developed from the adjutants office of the Reich leader SS, and all administrative offices charged with the realization of special plans of the Reich leader SS are subordinate to it.

The main personnel office comprises the following departments: Handling of affairs of all leaders of the SS, general SS, as well as SS Armed Forces and SD, as far as inductions, promotion, and discharge are concerned. Furthermore it handles the SS seniority list, the issuance of deathhead rings and honor swords, as well as filling the positions in general SS.

The main office SS court [Hauptamt SS Gericht] handles cases of discipline and complaints as well as affairs of honor for the Reich leader SS. Furthermore it is the central office and the ministerial office for the special court martial of the SS and police (the SS and police supreme court); and 30 SS and police courts are among others subordinated to it. The main office SS court handles also other cases transferred to it by the Reich leader SS.

In the headquarters main office [Fuehrunghauptamt] the command office of the Waffen SS handles tasks of military leadership: Training and organization of the units with SS armed forces, supply of the troops with arms, equipment and ammunition, procurement of motor vehicles and supplies for Waffen SS and General SS, personnel and disciplinary affairs, the command office of the general SS in the SS headquarters main office is competent for, conduct and commitment of the general SS, organization new organization in the higher sector, mobilizing affairs.

The headquarters for the Reich commissar for the strengthening of German Nationalism [Das Stabshauptamt des Reich Kommissars fuer die Festigung Deutschen Volkstums] is charged with the entire planning of settlement and construction and its execution in the Reich and in the district under the supremacy of the Reich, including all questions of administration and economics connected with the settlement, especially the commitment of men for the purpose of the settlement.

The main office for Germans in other countries [Hauptamt Volkdeutsche Mittelstelle] handles questions of "Volkstum" (racial nationalism), especially affairs of the German "Volkstum". It executes "Volkstum"-Political order of the Reich leader SS, with emphasis on the strengthening of the solidarity of all Germans and the resulting practical "Volkstum" political consequences.

The administrative office of main office SS Lieutenant General Heissmeyer has the mission to care for the national-political education, establishments for their new development and further extension, and organize furthermore the transformation of the boarding schools [Heimschulen] to expand these further and to re-orient them. These German national schools will accept chiefly children of dead soldiers, officials, and all those Germans who, because of frequent official transfers of their offices, would not otherwise have the opportunity to give their children an orderly education.

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Honor Law of the SS

1. It is the right and duty of every SS man to defend his honor with his weapon.

2a. Every member who has, prior to 11/9/1935, attained the rank of SS Fuehrer, i.e. at least that of SS Untersturmfuehrer, or has had three years of service in the SS by 1/30/1936, is an SS man.

b. In the future every candidate who, after the completion of his service time as SS candidate and SS expectant, after having taken his oath to the Fuehrer, after honorable completion of his labor and military service, will become an SS man on the 9th November of every year by the awarding of the SS dagger and thus be granted full membership in the SS.

c. After three years of service in the SS, all those SS members who have entered the SS in the years 1933-1935, shall become SS men without fulfilling the requirements of b provided their age at the time of their admission into the SS was at least 23 years. All those SS men who have not entered the SS in the years 1933-1935, but were not 23 years of age at the time of their admission into the SS, can become SS men only after the completion of their military service.

3. As of 11/9/1935, the courts of honor of the SA of the NSDAP are no longer competent for the SS.

4. As of 11/9/1935 the courts of arbitration and honor shall become competent for the SS.

The Reichsfuehrer SS
signed H. Himmler.

******************************************************************************

Founding of the Organization "Lebensborn e.V.", 9/13/1936

As early as 12/13/1934, I wrote to all SS leaders and declared that we have fought in vain if political victory was not to be followed by victory of births of good blood. The question of multiplicity of children is not a private affair of the individual, but his duty towards his ancestors and our people.

The SS has taken the first step in this direction long ago with the engagement and marriage decree of 12/1931. However, the existence of sound marriage is futile if it does not result in the creation of numerous descendants.

I expect that here, too, the SS and especially the SS leader corps, will serve as guiding example.

The minimum amount of children for a good sound marriage is four. Should unfortunate circumstances deny a married couple their own children, then every SS leader should adopt racially and hereditarily valuable children, educate them in the spirit of national socialism, let them have education corresponding to their abilities.

The organization "Lebensborn e.V." serves the SS leaders in the selection and adoption of qualified children. The organization "Lebensborn e.V." is under my personal direction, is part of the race and settlement central bureau of the SS, and has the following obligations:

1. Support racially, biologically, and hereditarily valuable families with many children.

2. Place and care for racially and biologically and hereditarily valuable pregnant women, who, after thorough examination of their and the progenitor's families by the race and settlement central bureau of the SS, can be expected to produce equally valuable children.

3. Care for the children.

4. Care for the children's mothers.

It is the honorable duty of all leaders of the central bureau to become members of the organization "Lebensborn e.V.". The application for admission must be filed prior to 9/23/1936.

The dues of the SS leaders of the central bureau, from the Hauptsturmfuehrer on are determined in the enclosed tables.

I shall personally keep myself informed of the success of my appeal.

Let me remind every SS leader once more that only sacrifices of a personal and material nature have brought us success in the times of the battle, and that the further construction of Germany, to last hundreds and thousands of years, will not be possible unless each and every one of us is ready to keep doing his share in the fulfillment of his obvious duty.

Reichsfuehrer SS
signed H. Himmler.

******************************************************************************

Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior Berlin, 10/28/1939

SS Order for the Entire SS and Police

Every war causes the best blood to be shed. Many a victory of arms meant for a people at the same time a disastrous loss of living strength and blood. But unfortunately inevitable death of its best men, deplorable as that may be, is not the worst. Of much more disastrous consequences is the lack of those who were not begotten by the living during, and by the dead after the war.

The old saying that only those who have children can die in peace must again become an acknowledged truth in this war, especially for the SS. Only those who know that their kind, that all for which they and their ancestors have striven, is continued in their children, can die in peace. The possession most prized by the widow of a fallen soldier is always the child of the man whom she loved.

Though it may perhaps be considered an infraction of necessary social standards and convention in other times, German women and girls of good blood can fulfill a high obligation even out of wedlock by becoming mothers of children of soldiers going to the front, whose eventual return or death for Germany lies entirely in the hands of fate not because of promiscuity, but because of the deepest sense of ethics. It is the sacred duty also of these men and women whose place has been determined by the state to be on the home front, to become parents of children again, especially now.

Let us never forget that the victory of the sword and of the spilled blood of our soldiers remains fruitless if it is not succeeded by the victory of the child and the colonizing of conquered soil.

In past wars, many a soldier has decided, out of a deep sense of responsibility, to beget no more children during the time of war, so as not to leave his wife and an additional child in want and distress in case of his death. You SS men need not have such worries; the following regulations eliminate them.

1. Special commissioners, personally appointed by me, shall be entrusted in the name of the Reich Leader with the guardianship of all legitimate and illegitimate children of good blood whose fathers were killed in action. We shall support these mothers and humanely assume the responsibility for the education and upbringing of these children so that no mother and widow need to have any material worries.

2. During the war the SS will care for all legitimate and illegitimate children begotten during the war and for pregnant mothers in cases of need and distress. After the war, the SS will generously grant additional material aid should these fathers who return request so. SS men and you mothers of these children, the hope of Germany show that in your belief in the Fuehrer and your willingness to do your share in the perpetuation of our blood and people, you are just as willing to continue the life of Germany you have had the courage to fight and die for it.

The Reichsfuehrer SS
signed H. Himmler.

******************************************************************************

Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior

Berlin 1/30/1940

TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE SS AND THE POLICE

You are all familiar with my order of 10/28/1939, in which I reminded you of your duty to become fathers of children if possible during the war.

This proclamation, which has been made in all decency and which considers, if correctly interpreted, problems to be faced in the future, has been greatly misunderstood by some people. I therefore deem it necessary for each and every one of you to know fully what doubts and misunderstandings have come up and what has to be said about them.

1. People are always shocked by the clearly expressed fact that there exist illegitimate children and that a number of unmarried women and girls have become mothers of such children, outside of matrimony. There is nothing to be discussed about that.

2. The greatest misunderstanding, however, resulted from the following statement: "Though it may perhaps appear an infraction of necessary social standards and convention in other times German women and girls of good blood can fulfill a high obligation even out of wedlock, by
becoming mothers of children of soldiers going to the front, whose eventual return or death for Germany lies entirely in the hands of fate -- not because of promiscuity, but because of the deepest sense of ethics.

Many have misconstrued this statement and think it is an encouragement for SS men to approach wives of soldiers who are in the field. Impossible as it is for this thought to be understood, it must nevertheless be cleared up.

a. That no one approach the wife of a soldier who is in the field is as much matter of fact to us SS men as it is to every other German. This is a simple and natural law of ethics and comradeship.

b. I further assert that out of the app. 250000 SS men before the war, 175000 are under arms today, mostly with the Wehrmacht in the front lines, others with the SS units and regiments of Verfuegungstruppen, SS Death Head Units, military police, and with the SS Death Head Units on the Eastern front. That should be more than ample proof that the majority of SS are themselves at the front and not at home.

c. It is also feared that this order would tend to destroy family and honor, and that this order would cause men to be unwilling to marry. This can be refuted clearly by the following data: The percentage of married SS men on 1/1/1939, was 39%, while a year later it was 44%. These data speak for themselves and have not been surpassed by anyone so far as we know.

d. Another point comes up in connection with this question: What do these people who spread or repeat such opinions, think of the German women? Even should some one man out of a population of 82 millions have the baseness or the human weakness to approach a married woman, then there are still two prerequisites necessary for seduction: the one who does the seducing and the other who lets herself be seduced.

We do not only believe that it is unethical to approach the wife of a comrade but also that the German woman herself is probably the best guardian of her marriage. Any other opinion should be regarded by all men as an insult to German women.

e. The question why, according to the order of 10/28/1939, the women of the SS and the policemen are accorded special care which is not being granted to other women, is also being raised.

The answer is very simple: because the comradeship and the will to sacrifice has induced SS leaders and men to make voluntary contributions which incidentally have been paid for years to the organization "Lebensborn" -- thus raising the necessary means.

This should have cleared up all misunderstandings. It is up to you SS men, however, to make all German men and women understand the full implication of this so vital and sacred a question so much above any frivolity and ridicule, as must always be done in epochs where people are representatives of ideologies.

The Reich Leader of the SS
signed H. Himmler.

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SS ORDERS TO THE LAST SONS C.P.8/15/1942

1. You SS men have been withdrawn from the front lines by order of the Fuehrer because you are the last sons. This measure has been taken because the people and the state have an interest in seeing that your families do not die out.

2. It has never been the nature of the SS men to submit to a fate without attempting to effect a change. It is your duty to see to it that you are no longer the last sons by producing as many children of good blood as possible.

3. Strive to guarantee the continuation of your ancestors and families within a year, so that you will again be able to do your share in the front lines.

signed. H. Himmler.

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THE WAY TO THE ARMED FORCES SS [WAFFEN SS]

It is always the same beautiful picture that presents itself to the commission of physicians and examiners during one of the examinations for acceptance into the Waffen SS, the huge mass of militarily trained, hopeful young men with strong bodies hardened by the exertions of physical sport, who have voluntarily decided to join the ranks of the Waffen SS.

The stream of candidates of the youth of great Germany flowing into the SS is unceasing. No wonder that the greatest variety of professions is assembled for these examinations. One is a mason, another a student, a third a smith. We see the high school graduate next to the mechanic, the store helper next to the stone mason apprentice. They all belong to the Hitler Youth and those who are physically best qualified desire to enroll in the Body Guard SS "Adolf Hitler", for they know that in this troop proven on all fronts, they would be especially close to the Fuehrer and his ideals

Today at last is the longed-for day of the entrance examination when the examiners and physicians decide whether or not the candidate is ideologically and physically qualified to do service in the Armed Forces SS.

Everyone has acquainted himself with the comprehensive manual for the Waffen SS, the principal points of which are as follows:

1. Service in the Armed Forces SS counts as military service. Only volunteers are accepted.

2. The divisions of the Armed Forces SS, which are fully motorized, comprise all branches of the military service (except for air force and navy). The volunteer, whose personal preference shall be given due consideration, can choose between the following: infantry, cavalry, artillery, tanks and tank destroyers, engineers, motorcycle troops, antiaircraft, mountain troops, signal and medical corps, etc.

3. Every pure-blooded German in good health between the ages of 17 and 45 can become a member of the Armed Forces SS. He must meet all the requirements of the SS, must be of excellent character, have no criminal record, and be an ardent adherent to all national socialist doctrines. Members of the Streifendienst and the Landdienst of the Hitler Youth will be given preference because their aptitudes, qualities and schooling are indicative that they have become acquainted very early with the ideology of the SS.

Men examined for admission into the Wehrmacht can also apply, provided they have not been drafted.

4. Minimum height is 1.7 m; in exceptional cases for men up to 20 years of age 1.68 m.

5. By agreement with the supreme commander of the Wehrmacht, the following are eligible for membership in the Armed Forces SS:

a. Volunteers for the duration of the war as minimum length of service who are between the ages of 17 and 4; between 17 and 25 only for infantry, tank troops, and signal corps.

b. Volunteers with minimum length of service (4 1/2 years) between the ages of 17 and 3.

c. Volunteers with minimum length of service (12) years between the ages of 17 and 23.

Completion of the labor service is not required at present. All volunteers who have reported for the examination have filled out the application contained in the manual and forwarded it to the recruiting department (Ergaenzungsamt). This establishes the first relationship between them and the Waffen SS. Meanwhile the commission has begun the examination. Roll calls are taken, and the person called advances and remains facing the SS ideological examiner who makes remarks on an index card. His judgment is favorable. The volunteer passed on overjoyed with shining eyes. He knows that the first danger point is passed. But not every applicant is able to pass the decision of the ideological examiner who is severe and impartial in his judgment.

THE LAW OF SELECTION

The law of selection, which is one of the most important basic principles of the SS, requires a severely critical attitude. Even those who come to the entrance examination with the highest of hopes and now have to return disappointed because the uncompromising and impartial laws of the SS are enforced even in war. They can still serve our great country in many different ways and offer their mental and physical qualities to the nation. Those, however, who after the initial stages also pass the examination of the SS dentist and SS physician, and whose physical condition has proven to be faultless after a thorough examination and who have been granted unqualified admission, can be proud that they are now carriers of the Death Head emblem and soldiers of the Armed Forces SS, servants to the Fuehrer's great work of reconstruction.

In all cases of doubt and difficulty the recruiting offices of the Armed Forces SS will advise and aid the volunteer. They have branches over the entire Reich, always at the seat of the service command headquarters and work closely with the recruiting of the Armed Forces SS in the Main Office [SS Hauptamt] of the Reichsfuehrer SS. From here the replacement depots receive all their instructions.

The recruiting offices of the Reich, in close cooperation with the different national and military offices, effect the release of the applicant from the employment office and the service command headquarters after the completion of the examination. After that, the candidate receives a certificate of acceptance bearing the control stamp of the service command headquarters.

The recruiting procedure is now taken over by the SS as the centralized responsible office for the fulfillment of replacement tasks of the Armed Forces SS.

The SS Main Office of Operations [Fuehrungshauptamt] Command Headquarters [Kommandoamt] of the Waffen SS, which is directly connected with the field units, holds in readiness in the replacement battalions all needed reserves. It is the duty of the recruiting department to reinforce these reserves, to execute the replacement orders according to the need, and to forward them to the volunteer by way of the district service commands.

[Timo]

Super info David! Thanks for sharing it. Does somebody know where to get the original German text?

Regards,
Timo

[Tolga Alkan]

It is superb first hand source to explain position of a Waffen-SS soldier.It should be remedy for confusions that never ending discussings on Waffen-SS in the forum.Thanks for sharing it!

Best Regards
Tolga

[David Thompson]

Thanks, guys. I'll post more as I find it.

[Sbf.Koch]

Superb. Thanks.

Regards,
Sbf.Koch

[Vikki]

Fascinating primary material, David, and thanks for posting the texts! They are very informative in several areas. And although those concerning the Lebensborn organization show the lengths of meddling in peoples’ lives to which Himmler was willing to go to ensure the continuation of “German blood,” a careful reading of them lays the idea of that organization as an organized brothel system for SS men to rest. On the other hand, an uncritical reading of one of them out of context of all of the correspondence shown here, or of certain parts of one document out of context of the rest of the text, may account for that mistaken idea.

In the text Founding of the Organization "Lebensborn e.V.", 9/13/1936, Himmler refers to the foundation of this organization in the context of the “engagement and marriage decree of 12/1931,” and specifies the purpose for the foundation of the Lebensborn:

The minimum amount of children for a good sound marriage is four. Should unfortunate circumstances deny a married couple their own children, then every SS leader should adopt racially and hereditarily valuable children, educate them in the spirit of national socialism, let them have education corresponding to their abilities.

The organization "Lebensborn e.V." serves the SS leaders in the selection and adoption of qualified children…

The organization’s stated purpose is that of an adoption agency. However sinister the implications of that, it’s a far cry from the organized “Aryan Brothel” for SS-men that some have alleged.

Perhaps the confusion comes from Himmler’s order of 10/28/1939, of which one paragraph, since it was included in an order about the Lebensborn, might be taken (very far afield from the content of all of the correspondence shown here taken as a whole) to support the homes' serving as “brothels”:

Though it may perhaps be considered an infraction of necessary social standards and convention in other times, German women and girls of good blood can fulfill a high obligation even out of wedlock by becoming mothers of children of soldiers going to the front, whose eventual return or death for Germany lies entirely in the hands of fate not because of promiscuity, but because of the deepest sense of ethics. It is the sacred duty also of these men and women whose place has been determined by the state to be on the home front, to become parents of children again, especially now.

It’s a statement of the Reichsführer-SS’s views on the value of “German” blood even over conventional marriage and legitimacy, and an indirect defense of the Lebensborn organization by bestowing honor on the illegitimate pregnancies of the women taken in by it. (And perhaps also a personal defense---didn’t Himmler himself have illegitimate children by his mistress?) Still, a far cry from saying that the Lebensborn homes were to be “breeding centers” for the SS.

And Himmler’s 1/30/40 rebuttal to attacks on this very paragraph addresses the perception that it gave SS men encouragement to “snipe” the wives of soldiers who were in the field---NOT any perception that Lebensborn homes were being used as brothels for SS men and Aryan women:

Many have misconstrued this statement and think it is an encouragement for SS men to approach wives of soldiers who are in the field.

And the reference to married women---wives of soldiers in the field, not the unwed mothers of the Lebensborn homes---is repeated later in the memorandum:

d. Another point comes up in connection with this question: What do these people who spread or repeat such opinions, think of the German women? Even should some one man out of a population of 82 millions have the baseness or the human weakness to approach a married woman…

I think that a cursory and sloppy reading of the 10/28/1939 document, or some authors' intentionally taking it completely out of the context of the whole document and other correspondence shown here, may be in large part responsible for portrayals of the Lebensborn homes as brothels for SS men. One per cent out-of-context quote, ninety-nine per cent sensationalism.

Again, David, thanks for the post!

~FV

[David Thompson]

Fraulein Valkyrie -- Thanks for that perceptive and informative post on an often-misunderstood subject.

Timo -- I'm sorry I overlooked your question. My guess is that the original is probably on US National Archives and Records Administration microfilm of captured German records. I'll have a look at some of my finding aids to see if I can't narrow the search.

[sterlingsmith]

Does anyone know the value of this little pocket book in really good condition?

[andrek]

Here are a series of informational extracts for Waffen-SS soldiers prepared by the SS Main Office. They are taken from "Document 2825-PS: SS Soldiers Friend [Der Soldatenfreund]: Pocket Diary For The German Armed Forces With Calendar For 1943: Edition D: Waffen-SS [partial translation]", in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume V: US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: GPO, 1946. pp. 462-464.

[Composed by the Reich Fuehrer SS -- SS Main Office, 23rd year, concluded with 8/1/1942 by: Adolf Sponholtz publishing house, Hanover. Pages 20-40.]

The Main Office of the Reich Leader SS and its Tasks.

It is the task of the SS Main Office to create a strictly organized elite order. Therefore it is charged with the selection of suitable men of the SS [Ergaenzungswesen] and with the recording of the SS members and their families, furthermore with the ideological and political guidance, schooling, and education of the entire SS and police as well-as the care of the organizations committed within the frame of the SS and police [Truppenbetreuung]. A further task is the physical education and the physical training of the SS before and after military duty. Of special importance is the selection, the establishment, and the leadership of the SS in the Germanic countries, and the prevailing of the Germanic idea in all spheres of life.

In the Reich security main office [Reichssicherheitshauptamt] all affairs of organizational, personnel, economical and technical nature, security police, and the security service [SD] are being handled. Besides, it represents the operational center of the state police and criminal police as well as the administrative of the intelligence network of the SD.

The SS race and settlement main office [Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt] handles through its offices the racial selection of the SS coming generation, directs the choosing of mates of the SS men, and promotes the creation of child-rich families, valuable from a hereditary and biological point of view. SS men capable and willing to farm will get the means for their own land.

Duty spheres of the main office of the uniformed regular [Ordnungs-Polizei] are police administration as well as care and guidance of the municipal police [Schutzpolizei] of the Reich, the rural police [Gendarmerie], the municipal police of the communities, river police [Wasserschutzpolizei], the fire protection police, the protective teams [Schutzmannschaften] in the occupied territories, the colonial police, the volunteer fire department, the regular and youth fire department, the technical emergency corps [Technische Nothilfe], and the technical SS and police academy.

The main administration of economics [Wirtschaftsverwaltungshauptamt] supervises the entire financial and administrative work of the SS.

The seat of the personal staff of the Reich Leader SS is the central main office. It developed from the adjutants office of the Reich leader SS, and all administrative offices charged with the realization of special plans of the Reich leader SS are subordinate to it.

The main personnel office comprises the following departments: Handling of affairs of all leaders of the SS, general SS, as well as SS Armed Forces and SD, as far as inductions, promotion, and discharge are concerned. Furthermore it handles the SS seniority list, the issuance of deathhead rings and honor swords, as well as filling the positions in general SS.

The main office SS court [Hauptamt SS Gericht] handles cases of discipline and complaints as well as affairs of honor for the Reich leader SS. Furthermore it is the central office and the ministerial office for the special court martial of the SS and police (the SS and police supreme court); and 30 SS and police courts are among others subordinated to it. The main office SS court handles also other cases transferred to it by the Reich leader SS.

In the headquarters main office [Fuehrunghauptamt] the command office of the Waffen SS handles tasks of military leadership: Training and organization of the units with SS armed forces, supply of the troops with arms, equipment and ammunition, procurement of motor vehicles and supplies for Waffen SS and General SS, personnel and disciplinary affairs, the command office of the general SS in the SS headquarters main office is competent for, conduct and commitment of the general SS, organization new organization in the higher sector, mobilizing affairs.

The headquarters for the Reich commissar for the strengthening of German Nationalism [Das Stabshauptamt des Reich Kommissars fuer die Festigung Deutschen Volkstums] is charged with the entire planning of settlement and construction and its execution in the Reich and in the district under the supremacy of the Reich, including all questions of administration and economics connected with the settlement, especially the commitment of men for the purpose of the settlement.

The main office for Germans in other countries [Hauptamt Volkdeutsche Mittelstelle] handles questions of "Volkstum" (racial nationalism), especially affairs of the German "Volkstum". It executes "Volkstum"-Political order of the Reich leader SS, with emphasis on the strengthening of the solidarity of all Germans and the resulting practical "Volkstum" political consequences.

The administrative office of main office SS Lieutenant General Heissmeyer has the mission to care for the national-political education, establishments for their new development and further extension, and organize furthermore the transformation of the boarding schools [Heimschulen] to expand these further and to re-orient them. These German national schools will accept chiefly children of dead soldiers, officials, and all those Germans who, because of frequent official transfers of their offices, would not otherwise have the opportunity to give their children an orderly education.

******************************************************************************

Honor Law of the SS

1. It is the right and duty of every SS man to defend his honor with his weapon.

2a. Every member who has, prior to 11/9/1935, attained the rank of SS Fuehrer, i.e. at least that of SS Untersturmfuehrer, or has had three years of service in the SS by 1/30/1936, is an SS man.

b. In the future every candidate who, after the completion of his service time as SS candidate and SS expectant, after having taken his oath to the Fuehrer, after honorable completion of his labor and military service, will become an SS man on the 9th November of every year by the awarding of the SS dagger and thus be granted full membership in the SS.

c. After three years of service in the SS, all those SS members who have entered the SS in the years 1933-1935, shall become SS men without fulfilling the requirements of b provided their age at the time of their admission into the SS was at least 23 years. All those SS men who have not entered the SS in the years 1933-1935, but were not 23 years of age at the time of their admission into the SS, can become SS men only after the completion of their military service.

3. As of 11/9/1935, the courts of honor of the SA of the NSDAP are no longer competent for the SS.

4. As of 11/9/1935 the courts of arbitration and honor shall become competent for the SS.

The Reichsfuehrer SS
signed H. Himmler.

******************************************************************************

Founding of the Organization "Lebensborn e.V.", 9/13/1936

As early as 12/13/1934, I wrote to all SS leaders and declared that we have fought in vain if political victory was not to be followed by victory of births of good blood. The question of multiplicity of children is not a private affair of the individual, but his duty towards his ancestors and our people.

The SS has taken the first step in this direction long ago with the engagement and marriage decree of 12/1931. However, the existence of sound marriage is futile if it does not result in the creation of numerous descendants.

I expect that here, too, the SS and especially the SS leader corps, will serve as guiding example.

The minimum amount of children for a good sound marriage is four. Should unfortunate circumstances deny a married couple their own children, then every SS leader should adopt racially and hereditarily valuable children, educate them in the spirit of national socialism, let them have education corresponding to their abilities.

The organization "Lebensborn e.V." serves the SS leaders in the selection and adoption of qualified children. The organization "Lebensborn e.V." is under my personal direction, is part of the race and settlement central bureau of the SS, and has the following obligations:

1. Support racially, biologically, and hereditarily valuable families with many children.

2. Place and care for racially and biologically and hereditarily valuable pregnant women, who, after thorough examination of their and the progenitor's families by the race and settlement central bureau of the SS, can be expected to produce equally valuable children.

3. Care for the children.

4. Care for the children's mothers.

It is the honorable duty of all leaders of the central bureau to become members of the organization "Lebensborn e.V.". The application for admission must be filed prior to 9/23/1936.

The dues of the SS leaders of the central bureau, from the Hauptsturmfuehrer on are determined in the enclosed tables.

I shall personally keep myself informed of the success of my appeal.

Let me remind every SS leader once more that only sacrifices of a personal and material nature have brought us success in the times of the battle, and that the further construction of Germany, to last hundreds and thousands of years, will not be possible unless each and every one of us is ready to keep doing his share in the fulfillment of his obvious duty.

Reichsfuehrer SS
signed H. Himmler.

******************************************************************************

Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior Berlin, 10/28/1939

SS Order for the Entire SS and Police

Every war causes the best blood to be shed. Many a victory of arms meant for a people at the same time a disastrous loss of living strength and blood. But unfortunately inevitable death of its best men, deplorable as that may be, is not the worst. Of much more disastrous consequences is the lack of those who were not begotten by the living during, and by the dead after the war.

The old saying that only those who have children can die in peace must again become an acknowledged truth in this war, especially for the SS. Only those who know that their kind, that all for which they and their ancestors have striven, is continued in their children, can die in peace. The possession most prized by the widow of a fallen soldier is always the child of the man whom she loved.

Though it may perhaps be considered an infraction of necessary social standards and convention in other times, German women and girls of good blood can fulfill a high obligation even out of wedlock by becoming mothers of children of soldiers going to the front, whose eventual return or death for Germany lies entirely in the hands of fate not because of promiscuity, but because of the deepest sense of ethics. It is the sacred duty also of these men and women whose place has been determined by the state to be on the home front, to become parents of children again, especially now.

Let us never forget that the victory of the sword and of the spilled blood of our soldiers remains fruitless if it is not succeeded by the victory of the child and the colonizing of conquered soil.

In past wars, many a soldier has decided, out of a deep sense of responsibility, to beget no more children during the time of war, so as not to leave his wife and an additional child in want and distress in case of his death. You SS men need not have such worries; the following regulations eliminate them.

1. Special commissioners, personally appointed by me, shall be entrusted in the name of the Reich Leader with the guardianship of all legitimate and illegitimate children of good blood whose fathers were killed in action. We shall support these mothers and humanely assume the responsibility for the education and upbringing of these children so that no mother and widow need to have any material worries.

2. During the war the SS will care for all legitimate and illegitimate children begotten during the war and for pregnant mothers in cases of need and distress. After the war, the SS will generously grant additional material aid should these fathers who return request so. SS men and you mothers of these children, the hope of Germany show that in your belief in the Fuehrer and your willingness to do your share in the perpetuation of our blood and people, you are just as willing to continue the life of Germany you have had the courage to fight and die for it.

The Reichsfuehrer SS
signed H. Himmler.

******************************************************************************

Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior

Berlin 1/30/1940

TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE SS AND THE POLICE

You are all familiar with my order of 10/28/1939, in which I reminded you of your duty to become fathers of children if possible during the war.

This proclamation, which has been made in all decency and which considers, if correctly interpreted, problems to be faced in the future, has been greatly misunderstood by some people. I therefore deem it necessary for each and every one of you to know fully what doubts and misunderstandings have come up and what has to be said about them.

1. People are always shocked by the clearly expressed fact that there exist illegitimate children and that a number of unmarried women and girls have become mothers of such children, outside of matrimony. There is nothing to be discussed about that.

2. The greatest misunderstanding, however, resulted from the following statement: "Though it may perhaps appear an infraction of necessary social standards and convention in other times German women and girls of good blood can fulfill a high obligation even out of wedlock, by
becoming mothers of children of soldiers going to the front, whose eventual return or death for Germany lies entirely in the hands of fate -- not because of promiscuity, but because of the deepest sense of ethics.

Many have misconstrued this statement and think it is an encouragement for SS men to approach wives of soldiers who are in the field. Impossible as it is for this thought to be understood, it must nevertheless be cleared up.

a. That no one approach the wife of a soldier who is in the field is as much matter of fact to us SS men as it is to every other German. This is a simple and natural law of ethics and comradeship.

b. I further assert that out of the app. 250000 SS men before the war, 175000 are under arms today, mostly with the Wehrmacht in the front lines, others with the SS units and regiments of Verfuegungstruppen, SS Death Head Units, military police, and with the SS Death Head Units on the Eastern front. That should be more than ample proof that the majority of SS are themselves at the front and not at home.

c. It is also feared that this order would tend to destroy family and honor, and that this order would cause men to be unwilling to marry. This can be refuted clearly by the following data: The percentage of married SS men on 1/1/1939, was 39%, while a year later it was 44%. These data speak for themselves and have not been surpassed by anyone so far as we know.

d. Another point comes up in connection with this question: What do these people who spread or repeat such opinions, think of the German women? Even should some one man out of a population of 82 millions have the baseness or the human weakness to approach a married woman, then there are still two prerequisites necessary for seduction: the one who does the seducing and the other who lets herself be seduced.

We do not only believe that it is unethical to approach the wife of a comrade but also that the German woman herself is probably the best guardian of her marriage. Any other opinion should be regarded by all men as an insult to German women.

e. The question why, according to the order of 10/28/1939, the women of the SS and the policemen are accorded special care which is not being granted to other women, is also being raised.

The answer is very simple: because the comradeship and the will to sacrifice has induced SS leaders and men to make voluntary contributions which incidentally have been paid for years to the organization "Lebensborn" -- thus raising the necessary means.

This should have cleared up all misunderstandings. It is up to you SS men, however, to make all German men and women understand the full implication of this so vital and sacred a question so much above any frivolity and ridicule, as must always be done in epochs where people are representatives of ideologies.

The Reich Leader of the SS
signed H. Himmler.

******************************************************************************

SS ORDERS TO THE LAST SONS C.P.8/15/1942

1. You SS men have been withdrawn from the front lines by order of the Fuehrer because you are the last sons. This measure has been taken because the people and the state have an interest in seeing that your families do not die out.

2. It has never been the nature of the SS men to submit to a fate without attempting to effect a change. It is your duty to see to it that you are no longer the last sons by producing as many children of good blood as possible.

3. Strive to guarantee the continuation of your ancestors and families within a year, so that you will again be able to do your share in the front lines.

signed. H. Himmler.

******************************************************************************

THE WAY TO THE ARMED FORCES SS [WAFFEN SS]

It is always the same beautiful picture that presents itself to the commission of physicians and examiners during one of the examinations for acceptance into the Waffen SS, the huge mass of militarily trained, hopeful young men with strong bodies hardened by the exertions of physical sport, who have voluntarily decided to join the ranks of the Waffen SS.

The stream of candidates of the youth of great Germany flowing into the SS is unceasing. No wonder that the greatest variety of professions is assembled for these examinations. One is a mason, another a student, a third a smith. We see the high school graduate next to the mechanic, the store helper next to the stone mason apprentice. They all belong to the Hitler Youth and those who are physically best qualified desire to enroll in the Body Guard SS "Adolf Hitler", for they know that in this troop proven on all fronts, they would be especially close to the Fuehrer and his ideals

Today at last is the longed-for day of the entrance examination when the examiners and physicians decide whether or not the candidate is ideologically and physically qualified to do service in the Armed Forces SS.

Everyone has acquainted himself with the comprehensive manual for the Waffen SS, the principal points of which are as follows:

1. Service in the Armed Forces SS counts as military service. Only volunteers are accepted.

2. The divisions of the Armed Forces SS, which are fully motorized, comprise all branches of the military service (except for air force and navy). The volunteer, whose personal preference shall be given due consideration, can choose between the following: infantry, cavalry, artillery, tanks and tank destroyers, engineers, motorcycle troops, antiaircraft, mountain troops, signal and medical corps, etc.

3. Every pure-blooded German in good health between the ages of 17 and 45 can become a member of the Armed Forces SS. He must meet all the requirements of the SS, must be of excellent character, have no criminal record, and be an ardent adherent to all national socialist doctrines. Members of the Streifendienst and the Landdienst of the Hitler Youth will be given preference because their aptitudes, qualities and schooling are indicative that they have become acquainted very early with the ideology of the SS.

Men examined for admission into the Wehrmacht can also apply, provided they have not been drafted.

4. Minimum height is 1.7 m; in exceptional cases for men up to 20 years of age 1.68 m.

5. By agreement with the supreme commander of the Wehrmacht, the following are eligible for membership in the Armed Forces SS:

a. Volunteers for the duration of the war as minimum length of service who are between the ages of 17 and 4; between 17 and 25 only for infantry, tank troops, and signal corps.

b. Volunteers with minimum length of service (4 1/2 years) between the ages of 17 and 3.

c. Volunteers with minimum length of service (12) years between the ages of 17 and 23.

Completion of the labor service is not required at present. All volunteers who have reported for the examination have filled out the application contained in the manual and forwarded it to the recruiting department (Ergaenzungsamt). This establishes the first relationship between them and the Waffen SS. Meanwhile the commission has begun the examination. Roll calls are taken, and the person called advances and remains facing the SS ideological examiner who makes remarks on an index card. His judgment is favorable. The volunteer passed on overjoyed with shining eyes. He knows that the first danger point is passed. But not every applicant is able to pass the decision of the ideological examiner who is severe and impartial in his judgment.

THE LAW OF SELECTION

The law of selection, which is one of the most important basic principles of the SS, requires a severely critical attitude. Even those who come to the entrance examination with the highest of hopes and now have to return disappointed because the uncompromising and impartial laws of the SS are enforced even in war. They can still serve our great country in many different ways and offer their mental and physical qualities to the nation. Those, however, who after the initial stages also pass the examination of the SS dentist and SS physician, and whose physical condition has proven to be faultless after a thorough examination and who have been granted unqualified admission, can be proud that they are now carriers of the Death Head emblem and soldiers of the Armed Forces SS, servants to the Fuehrer's great work of reconstruction.

In all cases of doubt and difficulty the recruiting offices of the Armed Forces SS will advise and aid the volunteer. They have branches over the entire Reich, always at the seat of the service command headquarters and work closely with the recruiting of the Armed Forces SS in the Main Office [SS Hauptamt] of the Reichsfuehrer SS. From here the replacement depots receive all their instructions.

The recruiting offices of the Reich, in close cooperation with the different national and military offices, effect the release of the applicant from the employment office and the service command headquarters after the completion of the examination. After that, the candidate receives a certificate of acceptance bearing the control stamp of the service command headquarters.

The recruiting procedure is now taken over by the SS as the centralized responsible office for the fulfillment of replacement tasks of the Armed Forces SS.

The SS Main Office of Operations [Fuehrungshauptamt] Command Headquarters [Kommandoamt] of the Waffen SS, which is directly connected with the field units, holds in readiness in the replacement battalions all needed reserves. It is the duty of the recruiting department to reinforce these reserves, to execute the replacement orders according to the need, and to forward them to the volunteer by way of the district service commands.

What is the ORIGINAL source of your translations?
If you translate something, it must be possible to verify the translation. Sorry but learned that from de.wikipedia.org which is different to en.wikipedia.org otherwise it could be neo-nazi propaganda or homemade nazi stories.

[David Thompson]

andrek -- Sorry to take so long to respond. I hadn't revisited this thread since 2004, and just found out about your question and comments by PM.

(1) You asked:

What is the ORIGINAL source of your translations?

The translation is not mine, but is that of the US government. The original source is given in the note at the top of the translation:

"Document 2825-PS: SS Soldiers Friend [Der Soldatenfreund]: Pocket Diary For The German Armed Forces With Calendar For 1943: Edition D: Waffen-SS [partial translation]", in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume V: US Government Printing Office, District of Columbia: GPO, 1946. pp. 462-464.

If you want to follow up on the reference Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. V, pp. 462-464, the full set of NCA volumes is available online and free, in pdf format, at the US Library of Congress website at http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/ ... iracy.html

If you go further and look at p. 462 of vol. V, you will see that there is more information on the source of the document:

Composed by the Reich Fuehrer SS-SS Main Office, 23rd year, concluded with the 1st August, 1942 by: Adolf Sponholtz publishing house, Hanover. Pages 20-40

The original German text is given in vol. 31 of the IMT proceedings, pp. 172-195. The full set of IMT volumes is available online and free, in pdf format, from the US Library of Congress website at http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/ ... inals.html

(2) You also remarked:

If you translate something, it must be possible to verify the translation. Sorry but learned that from de.wikipedia.org which is different to en.wikipedia.org otherwise it could be neo-nazi propaganda or homemade nazi stories.

As I noted above, the translation is not mine, but is contained in an official publication of the US government. If you want to verify the translation personally, I've given you all the information you need to compare the English and German texts. Whatever you may have learned from de.wikipedia.org about neo-nazi propaganda or homemade nazi stories, this captured document was used as evidence against the SS at the International Military Tribunal trial of major war criminals in 1945-1946, and was accepted as genuine by the court and the defense lawyers for the SS.

If you want to see a microfilm or digital copy of the original exhibit, you can find it in Record Group (RG) 238 at the US National Archives and Records Administration. There is a finding guide to captured German records here:

Captured German Records at US NARA
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=62798

The original "Soldier's Friend" pocket diary from which the text was taken may still be at NARA, or may have been returned to the German government archives by now. You can ask either institution for details.

There is more information on the origins of the Anglo-American IMT documentary exhibits on this thread:

Provenance: American & British IMT documentary exhibits
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=63082