1.
Hermann Fegelein
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Hans Otto Georg Hermann Fegelein was a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany. He was a member of Adolf Hitlers entourage and brother-in-law to Eva Braun through his marriage to her sister, Fegelein joined a cavalry regiment of the Reichswehr in 1925 and transferred to the SS on 10 April 1933. He became a leader of an SS equestrian group, and was in charge of preparation for the events of the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936. He tried out for the Olympic equestrian team himself, but was eliminated in the qualifying rounds, in September 1939, after the Invasion of Poland, Fegelein commanded the SS Totenkopf Reiterstandarte. They were garrisoned in Warsaw until December, in May and June 1940, he participated in the Battle of Belgium and France as a member of the SS-Verfügungstruppe. For his service in these campaigns he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 15 December 1940, units under his command on the Eastern Front in 1941 were responsible for the deaths of over 17,000 civilians during the Pripyat swamps punitive operation in the Byelorussian SSR. Fegelein was seriously wounded in September 1943, and was reassigned by Heinrich Himmler to Hitlers headquarters staff as his liaison officer, Fegelein was present at the failed attempt on Hitlers life on 20 July 1944. He was on duty at Hitlers Führerbunker in Berlin in the months of the war. Historians William L. Shirer and Ian Kershaw characterise him as cynical, Albert Speer called him one of the most disgusting people in Hitlers circle. Fegelein was an opportunist who ingratiated himself with Himmler, who granted him the best assignments, Fegelein was born in Ansbach, Bavaria, to the retired Oberleutnant Hans Fegelein. As a boy working at his fathers school in Munich, he became proficient in riding skills. During this period he met Christian Weber, a member of the Nazi Party. Weber later sponsored Fegeleins entry into the Schutzstaffel, in 1925, after studying for two terms at Munich University, Fegelein joined the Reiter-Regiment 17. On 20 April 1927, he joined the Bavarian State Police in Munich as an officer cadet, in 1929 he left the police service when he was caught stealing examination solutions from a teaching superiors office. The official communication at the time was that he resigned for family reasons, Fegelein later stated that he had left the police on his own account to better serve the Nazi Party and SS. His father had started the Reitinstitut Fegelein in 1926, in Munich Fegelein came into contact with National Socialism and the SS. His father had made the institute available to the SS as a place. Fegelein joined the Nazi Party and the SA in 1930 and he transferred to the SS on 10 April 1933, with membership number 66,680
2.
Military colours, standards and guidons
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The Roman Empire also made battle standards a part of their vast armies. It was formalized in the armies of Europe in the High Middle Ages, as armies became trained and adopted set formations, each regiments ability to keep its formation was potentially critical to its, and therefore its armys, success. In the chaos of battle, not least due to the amount of dust and smoke on a battlefield, Regimental flags are generally awarded to a regiment by a head-of-State during a ceremony. They were therefore treated with reverence as they represented the honour, Colours may be inscribed with the names of battles or other symbols representing former achievements. Regiments tended to adopt colour guards, composed of experienced or élite soldiers, as a result, the capture of an enemys standard was considered as a great feat of arms. They are never capriciously destroyed – when too old to use they are replaced and then laid-up in museums, religious buildings and other places of significance to their regiment. However, in most modern armies, standing orders now call for the Colours to be destroyed if they are ever in jeopardy of being captured by the enemy. Due to the advent of modern weapons, and subsequent changes in tactics, Colours are no longer carried into battle, but continue to be used at events of formal character. The Armed Forces of the Argentine Republics military Colours of the Argentine Army, Argentine Navy and Argentine Air Force are the Flag of Argentina as the National War Colour and the Unit Colour. The National War Colour is a variation of the Argentine national flag made for use, while the Unit Colour differs per service arm. Only the Regiment of Patricians uses company colors, cadet squadron colours are used by the Argentine Air Force Academy. Units of the Brazilian Armed Forces carry a stand of two Colours, differing per service, the standard of the Army measures 80 ×120 cm, white with the Army coat of arms in the centre, trimmed with gold fringe. The name of the service is inscribed in letters on a green scroll beneath the shield. Above the shield is a helmet with red and sky blue mantling. The staff is topped by a nickel-plated lance-head finial,32 cm high, ten red streamers with campaign honours inscribed in sky blue letters are also attached below the lance-head. The staff is 212 cm long, not including the lance-head and it is covered in sky blue velvet with a red spiral strip. The colour belt is 10 cm in width, covered with sky blue velvet with red velvet stripes, the Navys flag uses dark blue colours, the Air Force flag ultramarine blue. Brazilian military units also carry the flag as a National Colour
3.
Nazi Party
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Its precursor, the German Workers Party, existed from 1919 to 1920. The party emerged from the German nationalist, racist, and populist Freikorps paramilitary culture, the party was created as a means to draw workers away from communism and into völkisch nationalism. Pseudo-scientific racism theories were central to Nazism, the Nazis propagated the idea of a peoples community. Their aim was to unite racially desirable Germans as national comrades, while excluding those deemed either to be political dissidents, to maintain the supposed purity and strength of the Aryan race, the Nazis sought to exterminate Jews, Romani, and the physically and mentally handicapped. They imposed exclusionary segregation on homosexuals, Africans, Jehovahs Witnesses, the partys leader since 1921, Adolf Hitler, was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. Hitler rapidly established a regime known as the Third Reich. The term Nazi derives from the name given in German to a party member Nationalsozialist and was coined in response to the German term Sozi, members of the party referred to themselves as Nationalsozialisten, rarely as Nazis. The term Parteigenosse was commonly used among Nazis, with the feminine form Parteigenossin used when it was appropriate, the term was in use before the rise of the party as a colloquial and derogatory word for a backward peasant, characterising an awkward and clumsy person. It derived from Ignaz, being a version of Ignatius, a common name in Bavaria. Opponents seized on this and shortened the name in intentional association to the long-time existing Sozi to the dismissive Nazi. In 1933, when Adolf Hitler assumed power of the German government, usage of the designation Nazi diminished in Germany, the use of Nazi Germany, and Nazi regime, was popularised by anti-Nazis and German exiles abroad. Thereafter, the spread into other languages and eventually was brought back to Germany after the Second World War. The party grew out of political groups with a nationalist orientation that formed in the last years of World War I. In 1918, a called the Freien Arbeiterausschuss für einen guten Frieden was created in Bremen. On 7 March 1918, Anton Drexler, an avid German nationalist, Drexler saw the situation of political violence and instability in Germany as the result of the new Weimar Republic being out-of-touch with the masses, especially the lower classes. These were all well-known themes popular with various Weimar paramilitary groups such as the Freikorps, though very small, Drexlers movement did receive attention and support from some influential figures. Supporter Dietrich Eckhart brought military figure Count Felix Graf von Bothmer, later in 1918, Karl Harrer, convinced Drexler and several others to form the Politischer Arbeiterzirkel. The members met periodically for discussions with themes of nationalism and racism directed against the Jews and they became one of many völkisch movements that existed in Germany at the time
4.
Sturmabteilung
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The Sturmabteilung, literally Storm Detachment, functioned as the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitlers rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s, the SA have been known in contemporary times as Brownshirts from the color of their uniform shirts, similar to Benito Mussolinis blackshirts. The SA developed pseudo-military titles for its members, the SA ranks were adopted by several other Nazi Party groups, chief amongst them the Schutzstaffel, which originated as a branch of the SA before being separated. The SA became disempowered after Adolf Hitler ordered the purge of 1934. This event became known as the Night of the Long Knives, the SA was effectively superseded by the SS, although it was not formally dissolved until after the Third Reichs final capitulation to the Allied powers in 1945. The term Sturmabteilung predates the founding of the Nazi Party in 1919, originally it was applied to the specialized assault troops of Imperial Germany in World War I who used Hutier infiltration tactics. Instead of large mass assaults, the Sturmabteilung were organised into small squads of a few soldiers each, on 2 October 1916, Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff ordered all German armies in the west to form a battalion of stormtroops. They were first used during the 8th Armys siege of Riga, wider use followed on the Western Front in the Spring Offensive in March 1918, where Allied lines were successfully pushed back tens of kilometers. The DAP was formed in Munich in January 1919 and Adolf Hitler joined it in September of that year. His talents for speaking, publicity and propaganda were quickly recognized, and by early 1920 he had gained authority in the party, the precursor to the SA had acted informally and on an ad hoc basis for some time before this. Some 70 people attended, and a second meeting was advertised for 13 November in the Eberlbrau beer hall. Some 130 people attended, there were hecklers, but Hitlers military friends promptly ejected them by force, the next year, on 24 February, he announced the partys Twenty-Five Point program at a mass meeting of some 2000 people at the Hofbräuhaus. Protesters tried to shout Hitler down, but his former companions, armed with rubber truncheons. The basis for the SA had been formed, a permanent group of party members who would serve as the ruffian Saalschutzabteilung for the DAP gathered around Emil Maurice after the February 1920 incident at the Hofbräuhaus. There was little organization or structure to this group, the group was also called the Ordnertruppen around this time. More than a later, on 3 August 1921, Hitler redefined the group as the Gymnastic and Sports Division of the party. It was by now recognized as an appropriate, even necessary. By September 1921 the name Sturmabteilung was being used informally for the group, Hitler was the official head of the Nazi Party by this time
5.
Schutzstaffel
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The Schutzstaffel was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Party in Nazi Germany. It began with a guard unit known as the Saal-Schutz made up of NSDAP volunteers to provide security for party meetings in Munich. In 1925, Heinrich Himmler joined the unit, which had by then been reformed, under his direction, it grew from a small paramilitary formation to one of the most powerful organizations in Nazi Germany. From 1929 until the collapse in 1945, the SS was the foremost agency of security, surveillance. The two main constituent groups were the Allgemeine SS and Waffen-SS, the Allgemeine SS was responsible for enforcing the racial policy of Nazi Germany and general policing, whereas the Waffen-SS consisted of combat units of troops within Nazi Germanys military. A third component of the SS, the SS-Totenkopfverbände, ran the concentration camps, additional subdivisions of the SS included the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst organizations. The SS was the organization most responsible for the killing of an estimated 5.5 to 6 million Jews. Members of all of its branches committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during World War II, the SS was also involved in commercial enterprises and exploited concentration camp inmates as slave labor. After Nazi Germanys defeat, the SS and the NSDAP were judged by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg to be criminal organizations, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the highest-ranking surviving SS officer at the time, was found guilty of crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg trials and hanged in 1946. By 1923, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler had created a volunteer guard unit known as the Saal-Schutz to provide security at their meetings in Munich. The same year, Hitler ordered the formation of a bodyguard unit dedicated to his personal service. He wished it to be separate from the mass of the party, including the paramilitary Sturmabteilung. The new formation was designated the Stabswache, originally the unit was composed of eight men, commanded by Julius Schreck and Joseph Berchtold, and was modeled after the Erhardt Naval Brigade, a Freikorps of the time. The unit was renamed Stoßtrupp in May 1923, the Stoßtrupp was abolished after the failed 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, an attempt by the NSDAP to seize power in Munich. In 1925, Hitler ordered Schreck to organize a new bodyguard unit and it was tasked with providing personal protection for Hitler at NSDAP functions and events. That same year, the Schutzkommando was expanded to an organization and renamed successively the Sturmstaffel. Officially, the SS marked its foundation on 9 November 1925, the new SS was to provide protection for NSDAP leaders throughout Germany. Hitlers personal SS protection unit was enlarged to include combat units
6.
National Socialist Motor Corps
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The National Socialist Motor Corps was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party that officially existed from May 1931 to 1945. The group was an organization to the older National Socialist Automobile Corps. The NSKK served as an organization, mainly instructing members in the operation. The NSKK was further used to transport NSDAP and SA officials/members, the NSKK also served as a roadside assistance group in the mid-1930s, comparable to the modern-day American Automobile Association or the British Automobile Association. With the outbreak of World War II NSKK ranks were recruited to serve in the corps of various German military branches. There was also a French section of the NSKK which was organized after the German occupation of France began in 1940, the NSKK was the smallest of the Nazi Party organizations. The National Socialist Motor Corps was an organization to the older National Socialist Automobile Corps. Martin Bormann founded the NSAK, which itself was the successor to the SA Motor Squadrons, Hitler made the NSAK an official Nazi organization on 1 April 1930. The NSAK was responsible for co-ordinating the donated use of vehicles belonging to party members. Adolf Hühnlein was appointed the leader of the NSAK which was to primarily as a motorized corps of the Sturmabteilung. The organizations name was changed to the National Socialist Motor Corps and it was essentially a paramilitary organization with its own system of paramilitary ranks and the smallest of the NSDAP organizations. Despite its relatively smaller size, when the Nazis celebrated Braunschweiger SA-day on 18 October 1931, the primary aim of the Corps was to educate its members in motoring skills or what the NSKK called fitness in motoring skills, but it also transported NSDAP and SA officials. In the mid-1930s, the NSKK also served as a roadside assistance group, membership in the NSKK did not require any prior knowledge of automobiles. It was thought that training in the NSKK would make up for any lack of knowledge. The NSKK did, however, adhere to Nazi racial doctrine, under the guidance of the police, numerous NSKK men were stationed at traffic junctions and trained in traffic control. On 20 July 1934, three weeks after the major purge the SA suffered during the Night of the Long Knives, from 1935 onward, the NSKK also provided training for Panzer crews and drivers of the German Army. The NSKK had two branches within the organization known as the Motor-Hitler Youth and Naval NSKK. The Motor-HJ branch was formed by Youth Leader Baldur von Schirach after he became a member of the NSKK and it operated 350 of its own vehicles for educational and training purposes
7.
National Socialist Flyers Corps
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The NSFK organization was based closely on the organization of the Sturmabteilung and maintained a system of paramilitary ranks closely associated with the SA. A similar group was the National Socialist Motor Corps, during the early years of its existence, the NSFK conducted military aviation training in gliders and private airplanes. General der Flieger Friedrich Christiansen was NSFK Korpsführer from April 15,1937 until June 26,1943, the National Socialist Flyers Corps continued to exist after the Luftwaffe was founded, but to a much smaller degree
8.
Adolf Hitler
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Adolf Hitler was a German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party, Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and Führer of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. As dictator of the German Reich, he initiated World War II in Europe with the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and was central to the Holocaust, Hitler was born in Austria, then part of Austria-Hungary, and raised near Linz. He moved to Germany in 1913 and was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I and he joined the German Workers Party, the precursor of the NSDAP, in 1919 and became leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923 he attempted a coup in Munich to seize power, the failed coup resulted in Hitlers imprisonment, during which he dictated the first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto Mein Kampf. Hitler frequently denounced international capitalism and communism as being part of a Jewish conspiracy, by 1933, the Nazi Party was the largest elected party in the German Reichstag, which led to Hitlers appointment as Chancellor on 30 January 1933. Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany and establish a New Order to counter what he saw as the injustice of the post-World War I international order dominated by Britain, Hitler sought Lebensraum for the German people in Eastern Europe. His aggressive foreign policy is considered to be the cause of the outbreak of World War II in Europe. He directed large-scale rearmament and on 1 September 1939 invaded Poland, resulting in British, in June 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union. By the end of 1941 German forces and the European Axis powers occupied most of Europe, failure to defeat the Soviets and the entry of the United States into the war forced Germany onto the defensive and it suffered a series of escalating defeats. In the final days of the war, during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, Hitler married his long-time lover, on 30 April 1945, less than two days later, the two killed themselves to avoid capture by the Red Army, and their corpses were burned. Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians, in addition,29 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the European Theatre of World War II. The number of civilians killed during the Second World War was unprecedented in warfare, Hitlers father Alois Hitler Sr. was the illegitimate child of Maria Anna Schicklgruber. The baptismal register did not show the name of his father, in 1842, Johann Georg Hiedler married Aloiss mother Maria Anna. Alois was brought up in the family of Hiedlers brother, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, in 1876, Alois was legitimated and the baptismal register changed by a priest to register Johann Georg Hiedler as Aloiss father. Alois then assumed the surname Hitler, also spelled Hiedler, Hüttler, the Hitler surname is probably based on one who lives in a hut. Nazi official Hans Frank suggested that Aloiss mother had been employed as a housekeeper by a Jewish family in Graz, and that the familys 19-year-old son Leopold Frankenberger had fathered Alois. No Frankenberger was registered in Graz during that period, and no record has been produced of Leopold Frankenbergers existence, Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau am Inn, a town in Austria-Hungary, close to the border with the German Empire. He was one of six born to Alois Hitler and Klara Pölzl
9.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
10.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
11.
Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel
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Unit, role or rank badges or other insignia are carried on it instead of being stitched into the actual clothing. The term is originally French, deriving from bras meaning arm, brassards worn by military police and Red Cross personnel fall under this category. Brassard is also used to refer to pieces of armour worn to cover the entire arm, the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Insignia of the 20th Century. New Jersey, Chartwell Books Inc. p.69
12.
Uniforms and insignia of the Sturmabteilung
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The uniforms and insignia of the Sturmabteilung were Nazi party paramilitary ranks and uniforms used by SA stormtroopers from 1921 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. The titles and phrases used by the SA were the basis for paramilitary titles used by several other Nazi paramilitary groups, early SS ranks were identical to the SA, since the SS was originally considered a sub-organization of the Sturmabteilung. The brown shirted stormtroopers of the Sturmabteilung gradually come into being within the Nazi Party beginning in 1920, by this time, Adolf Hitler had assumed the title of Führer of the Nazi Party, replacing Anton Drexler who had been known as the more democratically elected Party Chairman. The most common of these were World War I uniforms with full medals, also common were uniforms of the Freikorps as well as uniforms of veteran groups such as the Stahlhelm. Nazi Party members would also mix components from all three types of uniforms with little to no standardization except a swastika armband worn on the left arm. It was at point that the very first SA titles came into being. At the start of the existence, the SA had four primary titles, Oberster SA-Führer SA-Oberführer SA-Führer SA-Mann In 1923. The group was refounded two years later in 1925, from 1923 to 1925, the SA did not officially exist since Adolf Hitler had been imprisoned for his actions in the Munich Putsch and the Nazi Party banned in Germany. Underground cells of SA men did continue to meet in secret, in 1925, the SA was re-founded as part of the new Nazi Party which Hitler had put together following his release from prison. The reborn SA then received its first formal uniform regulations and also using the first recognizable system of rank insignia. Along with a brown uniform, SA members would wear swastika armbands with a kepi cap. Originally, the SA used its pre-1923 rank titles, but this changed in 1926 when local SA units began to be grouped into larger regiment sized formations known as Standarten, each SA regiment was commanded by a senior SA officer called a Standartenführer. At the same time, to differentiate from the SA rank and file, under this system, a Standartenführer wore one oak leaf, an Oberführer two, and the Supreme SA Commander wore three. The lower ranks of SA-Führer and SA-Mann still wore no insignia, in 1928, an expansion of SA enlisted ranks was required in response to the growing rank and file membership of the SA troopers. These new titles and ranks were denoted by a system which consisted of silver pips pinned to a wearers collar. The pip system was adopted from the Stahlhelm veterans group which was connected to the SA both in dual membership and ideological design. A further change in 1928 was the creation of the rank of Gruppenführer and this unit insignia patch was worn by those holding the rank of Sturmbannführer and below, the higher officer ranks wore oak leaf insignia on both collars. Röhms appointment was as the result of Adolf Hitler personally assuming command of the SA as the Oberster SA-Führer
13.
Waffen-SS
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The Waffen-SS was the armed wing of the Nazi Partys SS organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers, the Waffen-SS grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, and served alongside the Heer, Ordnungspolizei and other security units. Prior to the war, it was under the control of the SS Führungshauptamt beneath Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, initially, in keeping with the racial policy of Nazi Germany, membership was only open to people of Germanic origin. The rules were relaxed in 1940, and later the formation of units composed largely or solely of foreign volunteers. These SS units were made up of men mainly from among the nationals of Nazi-occupied Europe, despite relaxation of the rules, the Waffen-SS was still based on the racist ideology of Nazism, and ethnic Poles were barred specifically from the formations. At the post-war Nuremberg trials the Waffen-SS was judged to be a criminal organisation due to its connection to the Nazi Party, former Waffen-SS members were denied many of the rights afforded to the military veterans. An exception was made for Waffen-SS conscripts, who were exempted because they were not volunteers, about a third of the total membership were conscripts. The origins of the Waffen-SS can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men in March 1933 by Sepp Dietrich to form the Sonderkommando Berlin. By November 1933 the formation had 800 men, and at a ceremony in Munich for the tenth anniversary of the failed Munich Putsch the regiment swore allegiance to Adolf Hitler. The oaths pledged were Pledging loyalty to him alone and Obedience unto death, the formation was given the title Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. On 13 April 1934, by order of Himmler, the regiment became known as the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, led by one of Hitlers oldest comrades, Ernst Röhm, the SA was seen as a threat by Hitler to his newly gained political power. Hitler also wanted to conciliate leaders of the Reichswehr and conservatives of the country, when Hitler decided to act against the SA, the SS was put in charge of eliminating Röhm and the other high-ranking SA officers. The Night of the Long Knives occurred between 30 June and 2 July 1934 and saw the killing of up to 200 people and this included almost the entire SA leadership, effectively ending its power. This action was carried out by SS personnel, and the Gestapo. In September 1934, Hitler authorized the formation of the wing of the Nazi Party and approved the formation of the SS-Verfügungstruppe. The SS was given the lowest priority for recruits, at the same time Himmler established the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz and SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig for military training of SS officers. Both schools used regular army training methods and mainly used former army officers as instructors, Himmler initially in 1934 set stringent requirements for recruits. They were to be German nationals who could prove their Aryan ancestry back to 1800, unmarried, a four-year commitment was required for the SS-VT and LSSAH
14.
Oberst
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Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway, the Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti and the Icelandic rank ofursti. In the Netherlands the rank overste is used as a synonym for a lieutenant colonel, Oberst is the highest staff officer rank in the German Army, German Air Force. On the shoulder there are three silver pips in silver oak leaves. Spelled with a capital O, Oberst is a noun and defines the military rank of colonel or group captain. Spelled with a lower case o, or oberst, it is an adjective, meaning top, topmost, uppermost, highest, chief, head, first, principal, both usages derive from the superlative of ober, the upper or the uppermost. As a family name, Oberst is common in the southwest of Germany, the name is also concentrated in the north-central cantons of Switzerland. Here the Swiss version of Oberst is spelled Obrist, the name first appeared in the thirteenth century in the German-Swiss border area, and early forms were Zoberist and Oberist. The name most likely refers to the tribe that lives the highest on the mountain or the family that lives the highest in the village, with the emergence of professional armies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, an Oberst became the commander of regiment or battalion-sized formations. By the eighteenth century, Obersten were typically afforded aides or lieutenants and this led to formation of the modern German rank of the same name, translated as lieutenant colonel. Oberst was used in the militaries of Germany and Austria during both World Wars, Oberst was also used as the prefix of the now obsolete SS rank of Oberstgruppenführer. The SS Standartenführer was equivalent to an Oberst, a colonel general during the World Wars was called Generaloberst. Again, rather than literally meaning colonel general, its more accurate translation is supreme general as it was normally the highest peacetime military rank, the rank of Oberst is known in American cinema, since several popular movies have featured characters holding the rank. Luftwaffe Colonel Klink of the television series Hogans Heroes was a caricature of such a character
15.
German Army (Wehrmacht)
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The German Army was the land forces component of the Wehrmacht, the regular German Armed Forces, from 1935 until it was demobilized and later dissolved in August 1946. The Wehrmacht also included the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe, during World War II, a total of about 13 million soldiers served in the German Army. Only 17 months after Adolf Hitler announced publicly the rearmament program, during the autumn of 1937, two more corps were formed. In 1938, four corps were formed with the inclusion of the five divisions of the Austrian Army after the Anschluss in March. During the period of its expansion by Adolf Hitler, the German Army continued to develop concepts pioneered during World War I, combining ground, the German Army entered the war with a majority of its infantry formations relying on horse-drawn transport. The infantry remained foot soldiers throughout the war, artillery also remained primarily horse-drawn, however their motorized and tank formations accounted for only 20% of the Heers capacity at their peak strength. The armys lack of trucks was a handicap to infantry movement especially during. Panzer movements also depended upon rail, driving a tank over 150 kilometers wore out its tracks, the Oberkommando des Heeres was Germanys Army High Command from 1936 to 1945. In theory the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht served as the military General Staff for the German Reichs armed forces, in practice OKW acted in a subordinate role as Hitlers personal military staff, translating his ideas into military plans and orders, and issuing them to the three services. However, as the war progressed the OKW found itself exercising increasing amounts of direct command authority over military units and this created a situation where by 1943 the OKW was the de facto command of Western Theatre forces while the Army High Command is the same on the Eastern Front. The Abwehr was the Army intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944, the term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germanys post-World War I intelligence activities be for defensive purposes only. After 4 February 1938, its title was Overseas Department/Office in Defence of the Armed Forces High Command, the method OKW adopted was to separate the Field Army from the Home Command, and to entrust the responsibilities of training, conscription, supply and equipment to Home Command. The German Army was mainly structured in Army groups consisting of several armies that were relocated, restructured or renamed in the course of the war, Forces or allied states as well as units made up of non-Germans were also assigned to German units. The army used the German term Kampfgruppe which equates to the English combat group or battle group and these provisional combat groupings ranged from an Army Corps size such as Army Detachment Kempf to commands composed of several companies and even platoons. They were named for their commanding officers, German operational doctrine emphasized sweeping pincer and lateral movements meant to destroy the enemy forces as quickly as possible. This approach, referred to as Blitzkrieg, was an operational doctrine instrumental in the success of the offensives in Poland, the military strength of the German army was managed through mission-based tactics, and an almost proverbial discipline. Once an operation began, whether offensive or defensive, speed in response to changing circumstances was considered more important than careful planning and coordination of new plans. These technologies were featured by propaganda, but were only available in small numbers or late in the war, as overall supplies of raw materials
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Shoulder mark
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A shoulder mark, also called an epaulette, shoulder board, rank slide, or slip-on, is a flat cloth sleeve worn on the shoulder strap of a uniform. It may bear rank or other insignia, the newer Auscam uniform design lacks shoulder marks, instead opting for a vertical strap in the middle of the chest region of the uniform. Rank insignia tags are slipped onto this strap, unlike the older uniform designs, there are slip-ons for every rank in the Australian Defence Force. The older Auscam uniform designs featured shoulder straps, upon which slip-on rank insignia of Commissioned Officers could be affixed, and non-commissioned officers in the Air Force and Navy only. No shoulder-strap slip-ons are available for enlisted members of the army and this older design is no longer issued, but may still be seen on personnel whose most recent uniform issue pre-dates the use of the new design. In the Canadian Forces, slip-ons displaying rank insignia and shoulder titles are worn on the straps of the No. The slip-ons are worn on a similar-style strap located in the centre of the chest of the CADPAT shirt, jacket, parka, slip-ons are not worn on the Service Dress jacket, or with Mess Dress. Canadian Forces slip-ons include, Army Service Dress, rifle green slip-on with a regimental or branch title, or the word CANADA, in cotton thread, called CF gold. Officers wear their rank insignia embroidered on their slip-ons, non-commissioned members slip-ons do not display rank insignia, Air Force Service Dress, Air Force blue slip-on with CANADA in pearl grey thread at the bottom. Officers ranks are in RCAF pearl grey on black braid, non-commissioned members are embroidered in pearl grey, Navy Service Dress and Naval Combat Dress, black slip-ons with CANADA and rank insignia in CF gold. Navy CADPAT TW, slip-ons are in green fabric with black embroidery. The word CANADA is stitched near the bottom, with rank insignia above, Army CADPAT TW, slip-ons are in CADPAT TW fabric with high-visibility silver thread. The word CANADA or a branch, regimental, or air unit title is stitched near the bottom. Air Force CADPAT TW and Flying Suit, slip-ons are in green fabric with blue embroidery. The word CANADA or a branch, regimental, or air unit title is stitched near the bottom. CADPAT AR, slip-ons are CADPAT AR fabric with tan embroidery for all 3 elements, the word CANADA or an applicable branch, regimental, or air unit title is stitched near the bottom, with rank insignia above. Olive green combat uniform, olive drab slip-on with CANADA or regimental title on the edge in a lighter olive thread. Based on the boards used by the United States Navy, the United States Army and Air Force developed the shoulder mark
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Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
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Gorget patches
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Gorget patches are an insignia, paired patches of cloth or metal on the collar of the uniform, that is used in the military and civil service in some countries. Collar tabs sign the rank, the rank of civil service, the military unit, the office or the branch of the armed forces. Gorget patches were originally gorgets, pieces of armour worn to protect the throat, with the disuse of armour they were lost. The cloth patch on the collar however evolved from contrasting cloth used to reinforce the buttonholes at the collar of a uniform coat, the patches were introduced as insignia during the South African War. They have been used ever since, in Austria collar patches of the Federal Army report the rank and the arm of service. They are also used in the police, traditional, corps colours dominate the basic colours of the rank insignia. In the Austro-Hungarian Army, collar patches with rank insignia, appliquéd on the gorget of uniform coat, or jacket and the battle-dress blouse, were designated Paroli. In the St John Ambulance Australia First Aid Services Branch gorget patches designate State Staff Officers, in Bangladesh Armed Forces officers of the rank of Colonel equivalent and above wear ‘Gorget Patches’. They are respectively Red, Sky Blue & Black in color, for Colonel and equivalent it exhibits a Shapla. Each flag rank adds a star to it onwards, with the restoration of historical nomenclature and features to the Canadian Army in 2013reinstated insignia included traditional gorget patches for colonels and general officers. For combat branches these are in scarlet with gold embroidery for generals, however the gorget patches worn by senior officers of the Medical Branch are dull cherry, the Dental Branch emerald green and the Chaplain Branch purple. In the French Army collar patches were used on tunics and greatcoats since the eighteenth century, usually in contrasting collars to the collar itself, they came to carry a regimental number or specialist insignia. With the adoption of a new dress uniform for all ranks in the 1980s. Collar patches / gorget patches, are to be worn on the gorget of uniform in German speaking armed forces. However, collar insignia for General officers of the Heer are traditional called Arabesque collar patch, also Larish embroidery, Old Prussian embroidery. In the German Empire, generals, some officers, guardsmen and seamen wore Kragenspiegel, in the Weimar Republic such patches were introduced throughout the army in 1921, where they indicated the rank and the arm of service, but were not used in the navy. Some Nazi-era civil services wore uniforms with collar tabs, similar to the armed forces tabs, new tabs were also introduced for the political leaders of the NSDAP, for the new Nazi organisations. The GDR used similar collar tabs to those of the Wehrmacht for its army, Collar tabs were also worn by some personnel of the navy
19.
Military camouflage
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Military camouflage is the use of camouflage by a military force to protect personnel and equipment from observation by enemy forces. The French slang word camouflage came into common English usage during World War I when the concept of visual deception developed into a part of modern military tactics. In that war, long-range artillery and observation from the air combined to expand the field of fire, as such, military camouflage is a form of military deception. Camouflage was first practiced in simple form in the mid 18th century by jäger- or rifle units and their tasks required them to be inconspicuous, and they were issued green and later other drab colour uniforms. Many modern camouflage textiles address visibility not only to light but also near infrared. Camouflage is not only visual, heat, sound, magnetism and even smell can be used to target weapons, some forms of camouflage have elements of scale invariance, designed to disrupt outlines at different distances, typically digital camouflage patterns made of pixels. Camouflage for equipment and positions was extensively developed for use by the French in 1915. In both world wars, artists were recruited as camouflage officers, ship camouflage developed via conspicuous dazzle camouflage schemes during WWI, but since the development of radar, ship camouflage has received less attention. Aircraft, especially in World War II, were painted with different schemes above and below, to camouflage them against the ground. Military camouflage patterns have been popular in fashion and art from as early as 1915, Camouflage patterns have appeared in the work of artists such as Andy Warhol and Ian Hamilton Finlay, sometimes with an anti-war message. In fashion, many designers have exploited camouflages style and symbolism. Military camouflage is part of the art of military deception, the main objective of military camouflage is to deceive the enemy as to the presence, position and intentions of military formations. Camouflage techniques include concealment, disguise, and dummies, applied to troops, vehicles, vision is the main sense of orientation in humans, and the primary function of camouflage is to deceive the human eye. Camouflage works through concealment, mimicry, or possibly by dazzle, in modern warfare, some forms of camouflage, for example face paints, also offer concealment from infrared sensors, while CADPAT textiles in addition help to provide concealment from radar. While camouflage tricks are in principle limitless, both cost and practical considerations limit the choice of methods and the time and effort devoted to camouflage, paint and uniforms must also protect vehicles and soldiers from the elements. Units need to move, fire their weapons and perform tasks to keep functional. No single camouflage pattern is effective in all terrains, the effectiveness of a pattern depends on contrast as well as colour tones. Terrain-specific camouflage patterns, made to match the terrain, may be more effective in that terrain than more general patterns
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Ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS
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This table contains the final ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS, which were in use from April 1942–45, in comparison to the Wehrmacht. The highest rank of the combined SS was that of Reichsführer-SS, however, details, conditions, and prerequisites for SS-Candidates, aspirant or volunteers for full membership to the Allgemeine SS are described in the main articles SS-Bewerber and SS-Anwärter. The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich, cook, Stan and Bender, R. James. Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler – Volume One, Uniforms, Organization, san Jose, CA, R. James Bender Publishing,1994. ISBN 978-0-912138-55-8 Hayes, A. SS Uniforms, Insignia and Accoutrements, Uniforms of the SS, Collected Edition Vol. 1–6. ISBN 978-1-85915-048-1 Personnel Service Records of the S. S, national Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland German WWII Army & SS Rank & Insignia
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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Junker (SS rank)
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SS-Junker or Standartenjunker was a paramilitary Nazi rank that was used by the Schutzstaffel between the years of 1933 and 1945. The rank was a position held by those aspiring for officer commissions in the armed wing of the SS, first known as the SS-Verfügungstruppe. The SS rank of Junker was a position with an SS member required to enlist in the SS for at least six months to a year before consideration could be given for officer training. SS-Junker was also strictly a rank of the Verfügungstruppe and Waffen-SS and was not used by the Allgemeine-SS, if accepted into the SS officer program, an SS member would be assigned to one of several Junkerschulen and would be appointed to the rank of SS-Junker upon arrival. The rank of SS-Junker was divided into four levels, those being Junker, Oberjunker, Standartenjunker, upon passing this final exam, the Standartenoberjunker would be promoted to the rank of SS-Untersturmführer usually in an elaborate ceremony. The entire process for an SS-Junker to become an SS officer usually took between 18 and 24 months to complete, the SS had planned, once World War II had ended, to establish SS academies which would be four-year institutions much like the present day United States service academies. Junker as a military rank ceased to exist in the German armed forces in 1945 with the downfall of Nazi Germany, the rank of Fahnenjunker is used in the Bundeswehr for officer candidates in the army and navy. Loyalty is My Honor, Personal Accounts from the Waffen-SS SS service record of Joachim Peiper
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Sturmmann
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Sturmmann was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in the year 1921. The rank of Sturmmann was used by the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel, the word originated during World War I when Sturmmann was a position held by soldiers in German pioneer assault companies, also known as shock troops. In 1921, Sturmmann became a title of the Nazi Partys private army. Sturmmann would eventually become a basic paramilitary rank of almost every Nazi organization, the rank of Sturmmann was bestowed upon those members of the SA and SS who had served for six months in the organization and had demonstrated basic abilities and competence. Sturmmann was senior to the rank of Mann, except in the Allgemeine-SS where a junior rank of SS-Obermann was created and used from 1942 to 1945. In organizations which did not use the rank of Mann, the rank of Sturmmann was the equivalent of a private, within the Waffen-SS, a SS-Sturmmann was senior to an SS-Oberschütze. The rank of Sturmmann was junior, in both the SS and SA, to the rank of Rottenführer, the insignia for Sturmmann consisted of a bare collar patch with a single silver stripe. The field grey uniforms of the Waffen-SS also displayed the sleeve chevron of a Gefreiter, the term and rank has not been used in Germany since World War II. Table of ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS
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Volkssturmmann
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Volkssturmmann was a paramiltiary rank of the Volkssturm, the German militia created to defend the German homeland in the last months of World War II. The rank of Volkssturmmann carried no special uniform or insignia and the title was held by any person who was drafted to serve in the Volkssturm. The next senior rank of Volkssturmmann was that of Gruppenführer, Nazi Germanys last-ditch effort to defend the fatherland during World War II was dependent on the Volkssturmmann ranks. The Volkssturmmann, or peoples army took any able body, man or boy, in most cases the Volkssturmmann was elderly men and Hitler Youth fanatics. Unfortunately, for Nazi Germany, the Volkssturmmann was a force that was inadequately equipped, trained or disciplined. In the closing months of World War II, the Volkssturmmann forces were most prominent along the defenses at the Rhine River and during the Battle of Berlin. Even though the use of the Volkssturmmann was an indication of a defeated nation. Hitler would proclaim that although the once vast Nazi empire had diminished the fatherland could never be penetrated, joseph Goebbels also contributed heavily to Nazi propaganda. Goebbels numerous speeches and opportunistic outlook called upon the German people to take up arms during the last months of World War II, the Volkssturmmanns main objective was to halt the advance of allied forces. During the last months of World War II, the front faced American. By 1945, both western and eastern fronts had reached or entered the German homeland, since the Volkssturmmanns goal was to halt the advance of enemy infantry and armored forces, the Volkssturmmann was trained to use the panzerfaust, an anti-tank weapon, and the machine gun. The use of weapons was simple and required little training. Furthermore, the panzerfaust and machine gun were some of the last munitions that the German war machine had in vast supply, although glorified by the Nazi Party as the defenders of the fatherland, the Volkssturmmann was Germanys failed attempt to replenish their depleted forces. Grandfathers and boys took up arms and fought to the death under the belief that, in the last months of the war and this disillusionment continued the war and established the Volkssturmmann as the peoples army
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