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Creation
of the first three SS-Standarte. The official history of the
SS (Schuetz Staffel, security staff) could be sort back to the date of
1929 when Hienrici Himmler was appointed as commander of the SS. The SS
was originated as a political formation which provided personal security
for important members of the Nazi party in the early 1930s. After Adolf
Hitler siezed the power in 1933, he ordered to establish the Stabswache
(headquarter guard) as his personal security staff. The personnel of the
Stabswache was carefully selected from the SS member and Sepp Dietrich,
one of the Hitler's favorite officer, was appointed as commander of the
Stabswache. The Stabswache was later officially renamed as "Leibstandarte
SS Adolf Hitler" (LSSAH) on 3rd Sep 1933. The "LSSAH" became
the very first Standarte (equal to the Regiment in Heer) of the SS. Meanwhile
the "Politische Bereitschaften" was also established in major
cities in Germany during 1933. They were the "political police"
to suppress the anti-Nazi power in Germany. They were reorganized and
renamed as "SS-VT" (SS-Verfuegungs truppe, SS special duty troops)
in 1935. Paul Hausser, the inspector of SS-VT, further organized the SS-VT
units into two Standarte, SS-Standarte "Deutschland" and SS-Standarte
"Germania" in 1936. A third SS-Standarte "Der Fuehrer"
joined the SS-VT in 1938. The SS-VT became the second groups of SS-Standarte
of the SS. In addition, the "SS Totenkopf verbaende" (SS deaths
head uints) were also raised in 1933. They were recruit from the guards
of the concentration camps or political prisons. Several Standarte were
raised in the period before 1939. They were under the command of Theodor
Eicke. The Totenkopf became the third groups of SS-Standarte of the SS.
The first three groups of SS-Standarte began a slow but steady expansion
since 1933 and they grew far beyond the requirement of a simple armed
security staff. Finally they became a military group with 38 divisions
and over a half million men. Generally speaking, all of them were originated
from the first three groups of SS-Standarte: LSSAH, SS-VT and Totenkopf.
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