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Volume V · Page 213
| German Order of Men (Deutscher Maennerorden). Selection for membership in the SS was based on the doctrine of "race and blood." Himmler once said: |
"I am a convinced supporter of the idea that what matters in the world ultimately is only good blood * * *. I have approached my task from this angle. It means that actually the only good blood, according to our reading of history, is the leading creative element in every state, and in particular, the blood engaged in military activity and, above all, Nordic blood." |
| At the time of the seizure of power by the
Nazi Party in January 1933, this self-proclaimed "racial elite" was 52,000
strong. Not, however, until the Roehm purge of 30 June 1934 did the SS become
the ruling caste within, the Party. On that bloody "Night of the Long Knives,"
it was the brutalized and ever obedient SS which murdered Roehm and his
important collaborator in the SA who were said to be dissident elements in the
Party. Thenceforth, the SS assumed the duty of ensuring the continued power of
the Nazi regime or, as it was officially stated, of "protecting the internal
security of the Reich." The subsequent development of the SS was based primarily upon the tremendous increase in power of Himmler. Wherever Himmler went, the SS went with him. In June 1936, he was appointed chief of the German police in the Ministry of Interior with authority over the regular uniformed police as well as the Security Police, which was defined to include both the criminal police and the notorious Gestapo or Secret State Police. In this connection, mention should also be made of the Sicherheitsdienst of Reich Leader SS or SD which worked closely with the Gestapo. The SD was the espionage agency, first of the SS, and after June 1934 of the whole Nazi Party. Reinhard, or as he was known abroad, "Hangman" Heydrich, was the chief of the SD. Himmler, in his capacity as Reich Leader SS and Chief of the German Police, appointed Heydrich as chief of the Security Police on 26 June 1936. This amalgamated the Security Police, a State organization, with the SD, a Party organization. By a decree of 27 September 1939, the various State and Party offices under Heydrich as chief of the Security Police and SD were united into one administrative unit, the Reich Security Main Office or RSHA, which was at the same time both one of the Main Offices of the SS Supreme Command under Himmler as Reich Leader SS and an office in the Ministry of Interior under Himmler as chief of the German police. On a regional level, Himmler appointed a Higher SS and Police for each Wehrkreis [SS Oberabschnitt — SS Main Sector] who coordinated the activities of the Security Police and SD, |
