Panzer Divisions of the Waffen-Ss

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 34. Chapters: 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, 3rd SS Division Totenkopf, 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich, 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen, 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg. Excerpt: The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) was Adolf Hitler's personal Bodyguard Regiment ("Leibstandarte" being a somewhat archaic German expression for the personal bodyguard of a military leader). The LSSAH independently participated in combat during the Invasion of Poland. The LSSAH was amalgamated into the Waffen-SS together with the SS-VT and the combat units of the SS-TV prior to Operation Barbarossa in 1941. By the end of World War II it had been increased in size from a regiment to a Panzer division. The elite division was a component of the Waffen-SS which was found guilty of war crimes in the Nuremberg Trials. Members of the LSSAH participated in numerous atrocities and it is estimated that they murdered at least 5,000 prisoners of war in the period 1940-1945, mostly on the Eastern Front. In the earliest days of the NSDAP, leaders realized that bodyguard units composed of trustworthy and loyal men would be a wise development. Ernst R hm formed a guard formation from the 19.Granatwerfer-Kompanie, and from this formation the Sturmabteilung (SA) soon evolved. Adolf Hitler, realizing the potential threat the SA presented, in early 1923 ordered the formation of a bodyguard for himself. Originally, the tiny unit was composed of only eight men (and commanded by Julius Schreck and Joseph Berchtold). It was designated the Stabswache (Staff Guard). The guards of the Stabswache were issued badges that showed their difference from the SA (despite the fact that at this stage the Stabswache still was under overall SA control): Schreck resurrected the use of the Tote...