History and role of the SS in Nazi Germany

NARRATOR: The SS and its leader Heinrich Himmler, blindly following Hitler’s will, executing his commands - the organisation with the runic insignia represents the elite of the Nazi regime, sworn to fight and destroy every declared enemy.

PATER GEREON GOLDMANN: "We are the race that must dominate the world. That is what we have been told. And all others must bow to the Nordic race, for they are only slaves. We are the masters of the world."

NARRATOR: Members of the SS can go far. Belonging to a select fellowship, fulfilling a select mission, is elevated to a veritable cult.

HANS MÜNCH: "It was their religion. Thus, we are the chosen. We are permitted to do that which must be done, albeit hard. We are saving the German people."

NARRATOR: More than any other, those wearing the uniform of the SS have the power over life and death.

KAREL STOJKA: "It was not Hitler, Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, or whatever the others were called, who had me dragged away and beaten. No, it was the cobbler, the neighbor, the old man, the milkman, the postman, those without form suddenly given armbands and a cap on their heads and then they were the master race."

NARRATOR: The SS commands a network of concentration camps where hundreds of thousands of enemies of the state and the people are interned.

HEINZ JUNGE: "Fear was a permanent state. It was normal for the prisoners to be constantly aware that death was imminent."

NARRATOR: In the Summer of 1941 the systematic mass-extermination of the Jews begins. From deportation to arrival in the camps, the SS commands a huge machinery of willing helpers and executioners.

HERMANN LANGBEIN: "You are already one of the master race. You can profit by it. You yourself can be a small fuehrer, at least in your own small circle. And such corruption is effective."

NARRATOR: Many SS men come from the mainstream of society, even in the camps. But they are drilled to overcome every moral inhibition and turned into murderers.

ARTUR BRAUNER: "For me, the SS is the most terrible word, the most frightening entity and, when it comes to people, the most horrific fiends in the world. To me, the SS is no different from an executioner, standing behind you with an axe, ready at any moment to chop off your head."

NARRATOR: Supporting the front were the mobile killing squads. Their mission: to eliminate civilians, mainly Jews.

MÜNCH: "They said, you perform the hardest service any soldier has to carry out. Namely, exterminating the Jews. The Jews are our misfortune and you can say: we were there, we got through it, we were courageous, we did all that."

NARRATOR: The SS becomes a synonym for the systematic annihilation of people.

BENJAMIN FERENCZ: "I had been a liberator of many concentration camps as a soldier in the American army. I had seen the product of mass murder in Buchenwald, in Ebensee, in Mannhausen. I certainly was shocked by that experience. I was traumatized by that experience, which has not left me to this day."

NARRATOR: Masses of people made compliant to murder. The SS led many into dark places.