Waffen-SS Soldiers Guarded the Nuremberg Trials

Seriously dude? Which particular divisions had this "good reputation of treatment"?



The 9th and 10th have excellent reputations. During Market Garden the commander of the 9th SS suspended the battle for hours so that the British paratroopers could tend to their wounded.

They also took over 150 of the worst cases and treated them and in fact saved their lives.

The 10th was likewise chivalrous during the battle.
 
The 9th and 10th are both Panzer Divisions, Frundsberg and Hohenstaufen. Both were formed in 1943 from conscripts, and did not have the early Eastern Front experiences, nor the same indoctrination.


Yes, both SS PANZER DIVISIONS.. ALL SS divisions were formed from volunteers. And 5th SS ONLY fought on the eastern front and likewise has no atrocities associated with it. And, as you can see, the 9th also fought in the east, Ukraine to be exact.


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DURRRRRRRRRRR
 
I know they are both SS Panzer divisions, stupid. They were also small, less than 20,000 soldiers in each. That's a small sample size, but not small enough for you to keep from a little revisionist history.

DURRRRRRRRR


Ummm, that's because they were PANZER DIVISIONS. Stupid. Tank units are ALWAYS smaller than infantry units, moron, because they use TANKS! Dipshit!

I am revising nothing. I am reporting factual history, which you are quite ignorant of, idiot.
 
ALL SS divisions were formed from volunteers.

Only those initial units formed in Germany, and occupied Western Europe.

However, that was not the case of the Waffen SS units formed in occupied countries like Latvia, Estonia, Croatia, Ukraine, Russia, and other Eastern European nations.
 
Only those initial units formed in Germany, and occupied Western Europe.

However, that was not the case of the Waffen SS units formed in occupied countries like Latvia, Estonia, Croatia, Ukraine, Russia, and other Eastern European nations.


Actually, it is. The Estonian volunteers were particularly noteworthy. To get into the SS you had to volunteer, and they had to accept you. Remember, they had standards.

Towards the end of the war they lowered their standards and even offered condemned prisoners Pardons if they volunteered for suicide missions like the two penal battalions that made up the SS Parachute Battalions that went after Tito.
 
Actually, since a typical division only numbers from 10-15,000, I would argue that a 20,000 man division is exceptionally large.


Yup. SS divisions had 6 instead of 4 infantry battalions as standard. The one exception was the German Army Division Grossdeutschland, which was almost double the strength of a normal division.
 
Yup. SS divisions had 6 instead of 4 infantry battalions as standard. The one exception was the German Army Division Grossdeutschland, which was almost double the strength of a normal division.

Of course, most people also have no idea how many people are actually in a "division", let alone a "corps" or "army" when talking about field units.

One other that tends to be higher than normal is a US Marine Division. That is because they are self-contained, heavy (2-3 regiments of 4-5 battalions each) and include more organic support than a similar sized organization in the Army.

However, it is not the divisions, as a division with 4 (or even 6) battalions would be not even really be a division. That is actually the size of most regiments. Most divisions are much larger than "6 divisions". For example, a current US Marine Division is composed of 17 battalions.

For example, the 1st Panzer Division SS was composed of a panzer regiment, 2 panzergrenadier regiments, an artillery regiment, an assault gun regiment, and 6 battalions ranging from recon and tank destroyer to anti-aircraft and rocket. The Panzergrenadier regiments would be the equivalent of an "Infantry Regiment", so of course that would be normally 6 Battalions.

But also, the Panzer Divisions were a unique thing.

But more traditional "Infantry" organizations like the 5th SS Wiking (a "Panzer Division" with no tanks) had 3 regiments of panzergrenadiers. Germania, Nordland, and Westland each of 3 battalions making a total of 9 infantry battalions. In addition to a regiment of artillery and all the other support battalions.
 
Of course, most people also have no idea how many people are actually in a "division", let alone a "corps" or "army" when talking about field units.

One other that tends to be higher than normal is a US Marine Division. That is because they are self-contained, heavy (2-3 regiments of 4-5 battalions each) and include more organic support than a similar sized organization in the Army.

However, it is not the divisions, as a division with 4 (or even 6) battalions would be not even really be a division. That is actually the size of most regiments. Most divisions are much larger than "6 divisions". For example, a current US Marine Division is composed of 17 battalions.

For example, the 1st Panzer Division SS was composed of a panzer regiment, 2 panzergrenadier regiments, an artillery regiment, an assault gun regiment, and 6 battalions ranging from recon and tank destroyer to anti-aircraft and rocket. The Panzergrenadier regiments would be the equivalent of an "Infantry Regiment", so of course that would be normally 6 Battalions.

But also, the Panzer Divisions were a unique thing.

But more traditional "Infantry" organizations like the 5th SS Wiking (a "Panzer Division" with no tanks) had 3 regiments of panzergrenadiers. Germania, Nordland, and Westland each of 3 battalions making a total of 9 infantry battalions. In addition to a regiment of artillery and all the other support battalions.


Wiking had a panzer regiment as part of of its TOE. IIRC it was 5th SS Panzer Regiment, and there are some pretty well known pictures of their Panther tanks on operations.
 
Wiking had a panzer regiment as part of of its TOE. IIRC it was 5th SS Panzer Regiment, and there are some pretty well known pictures of their Panther tanks on operations.

They did, but unlike a "traditional" Panzer Division which had Panzer Regiments, the 5th had a Panzer Battalion, rarely having more than 2 dozen tanks.

And again, this is akin to a US Marine Division, which until recently also had just a single tank battalion.

I often wondered on the 5th SS, and find it curious. As it was named a "Panzer Division", but was actually organized and equipped like an Infantry Division. Was that because of lack of equipment and experienced people to run it? Disinformation (akin to "Seal Team 6" - when there were only 2 SEAL teams prior), or plans to make it so that never developed I really don't know. But it also must be remembered that unlike traditional Army infantry units, the Wiking was a "Motorized Infantry" unit. So even the Regiments had organic mechanized transport and light tanks.

Which would make it more akin to a modern Cavalry unit than a traditional infantry one of WWII.
 
I find that hard to believe. Ukraine had it bad in WW2. They didn't fight like the Poles.

My Ukrainian relative came here in 1933.
They were guards at Treblinka and Sobibor among other places, they were known as Trawniki men because of where they trained, they also took part in the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, see the Stroop report.
 
One thing people should realize when reading the title of this thread or watching the video is that they were from the foreign legions of the Waffen SS.

The Waffen SS was not the "SS". They actually had a rather good reputation of treatment of others, and not taking part in the war crimes of the SS. And most of those that came from the territory of the USSR were either conscripts, or joined not for racial reasons but because they were anti-communists. And not being Germans, there was less question as for their trustworthiness. Plus, they simply had nowhere else to go as returning home they would have been executed by the Soviets.

And yes, I have long enjoyed watching Mark Felton videos.
They had a good rep for for treatment of others and not taking part in war crimes? they carried out war crimes from day one, an SS unit murdered some British Soldiers who were a rear guard for the Dunkirk evacuation.
Sorry, I would like some verification of that, because I have never heard of that. Because by obvious logic, that also means that no member of the party could serve or be drafted. And it is not unknown that most of the senior officers were all party members.

That makes about as much logical sense as saying members of the Communist Party could not serve in the Red Army.
It's nonsense, every Wehrmacht recruit swore an oath not to the German Reich but to Adolf Hitler.
 
Not to say that I buy into 'all' of that, but just to say that this could become contagious!

I know some WW2 secrets too but I'm not sure if the members here are ready yet?
Nazis & Off & On ( Under Surface ) World Aliens Won the war ( We surrendered to them after they kicked our asses in “ Operation High Jump “ in 1946 ) ?
 
One thing people should realize when reading the title of this thread or watching the video is that they were from the foreign legions of the Waffen SS.

The Waffen SS was not the "SS". They actually had a rather good reputation of treatment of others, and not taking part in the war crimes of the SS. And most of those that came from the territory of the USSR were either conscripts, or joined not for racial reasons but because they were anti-communists. And not being Germans, there was less question as for their trustworthiness. Plus, they simply had nowhere else to go as returning home they would have been executed by the Soviets.

And yes, I have long enjoyed watching Mark Felton videos.
They had a good rep for for treatment of others and not taking part in war crimes? they carried out war crimes from day one, an SS unit murdered some British Soldiers who were a rear guard for the Dunkirk evacuation and many more, the Malmedy massacre in the Ardennes, Oradour Sur Glane where a company from the 2nd SS Das Reich wiped the village out on the 10th of June 1944, Canadian POW murdered in Normandy by the 12th SS Hitler Jugend, the list goes on.
 

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