The "Reich" Panzer Division was one of Germany's elite units in World War II, and the earliest unit in the Waffen-SS, sending a large number of officers and non-commissioned officers to the other SS divisions that followed, which can be described as the cradle of the Waffen-SS. From the outbreak of World War II until the surrender of Germany, this force went through the main battles on the eastern front and the two fronts, opening up the territory for Nazi Germany, but also committing numerous war crimes, known as the "Black Death".
This book details the formation of the unit and is of great help to readers who study the early history of Nazi Germany and the history of the development of the SS. The book also provides a detailed description of the main battles and battles in which the unit participated, providing a complete reproduction of the unit's journey throughout World War II.
Excerpt - Prologue: SS Special Mobile Unit
After the Nazis came to power in January 1933, the rift between Hitler and the leader of the Sa. Hitler began to fear that the SA would not only disrupt his rule in the future, but might also affect his authority. Therefore, Hitler said: "I thought at the time, I needed a guard, no matter how small it was, it had to obey me unconditionally, even towards their own brothers." It would be better to have 20 people from a city — on the condition that they can be fully trusted — than a large group of unreliable people. Later, the team was named "Schutzstaffel", or SS, according to his wishes.
The original "purpose" of the SS could be said to be to act as Hitler's bodyguard when necessary. In early 1933, Hitler's bodyguard and driver, Seep Dietrich, was ordered to form a personal guard to keep Hitler safe. Soon after, Dietrich personally selected 117 men from the Stosstrupp Adlof Hitler to form this private guard. The 117 men were all models of the SS ideal: 25 years old, 1.8 meters tall and without a criminal record. The Prussian State Police Department is responsible for providing logistical support to the Berlin Headquarters Guard. This unit later became the famous SS 1st "Adolf Hitler Guard Flag" Panzer Division (1. SS-Panzer Division“Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler”）。
Hitler's most trusted veteran, Zepp Dietrich, personally selected 117 men to form a personal guard dedicated to Hitler's security. This Guard can be said to be the predecessor of the SS to some extent.
But Hitler's ambitions of Heinrich Himmler, the national leader of the SS, did not stop there, and he constantly lobbied Hitler that the Personal Guard needed an immediate expansion. Hitler, who had doubts about the loyalty of the Army Officer Corps, had been considering how to establish a military organization of the Nazi Party in the hope of replacing the Wehrmacht. In September 1934, Hitler took a huge step by approving the creation of the SS-Verfugungstruppe, which was subordinate to Hitler himself, whose members were mainly members of the independent SS brigades.
These brigades are descendants of the "Political Reserve" (Politische Bereitschaften) that was set up in the main German city in 1933 and are now merged: the "Deutschland Standarten" (the flag group equivalent to the Army's "regiment" in Munich) and the Germannia flag in Hamburg Standarten) and the Adolf Hitler Flag Corps (the predecessor of the Adolf Hitler Guard Flag Corps) responsible for the security of the Führer. Although Adolf Hitler's flag was incorporated into the SS Special Mobile Unit, Commander Zepp Dietrich maintained a certain autonomy by virtue of his close personal relationship with Hitler, and even Himmler could not do anything about him.
Zepp Dietrich. This is an early signed photograph of him, note the early collar style of SS in the photo.
In terms of the selection of commanders of the SS Special Mobile Units, Himmler preferred Paul Hausser, an old Wehrmacht officer, who was arguably the best candidate for the job, and who was one of the few former senior officers in the SS. Hauser was born in 1880, a tall, thin Brandenburg an der Havel. Coming from an orthodox Prussian military family, he was dignified and well-behaved, showing Prussian officer demeanor and joking at every turn, which made him a little enemy in the hierarchical Wehrmacht.
Paul Hauser, arguably the father of the SS Special Mobile Unit, was the one who really created the Waffen-SS. Note the SS early collar badge worn by Hauser in the photo.
His military career fully demonstrates his solid theoretical knowledge and practical ability: he was trained as an infantryman, attended military academies, and held various positions in the First World War, including regimental commander and staff officer of the General Staff. After the war, Hauser also served as chief of staff of the 2nd Military Defense Zone and head of the 10th Infantry Regiment. On 31 January 1932, he was eventually discharged from the army as an honorary lieutenant general for political reasons.
After retiring from the army, Hauser joined the right-wing organization in Germany at the time, the Stahlhelm, and even briefly joined the STORM Troopers. Soon after, through an introduction from an old comrade of the 10th Infantry Regiment, Hauser became acquainted with Himmler. The latter hoped that he would be able to join the SS to guide the SS Special Mobile Unit on various issues in military training and conferred on him the rank of SS flag captain (colonel). According to Himmler, what the SS fighters lacked, Hauser should instill in them—discipline, obedience, the courage to fight, in short, all military knowledge. This is also what the SS is most lacking at this stage.
In early 1935, Hauser opened an SS officer school in the ducal residence of Braunschweig (note that in fact, before the name Waffen-ss, or SS officially appeared in official German documents, the correct name should be SS Officers' School) and served as principal. Soon after, he set about setting up a systematic training mechanism at the two SS "Juncker" schools in Braunschwick and Bad Tolz, with the aim of training the military backbone of the future Waffen-SS (and it turned out that many SS officers came from this system).
The gate of the SS Officers' School in Bad Törz. Together with its sister schools in Braunschweig, the academy produced a large cadre of cadres for the Waffen-SS forces.
On 1 October 1936, Himmler formally appointed Hauser as commander of the SS Special Mobile Units, as well as inspector of both colonels. In his new post, Hauser plans to apply the effective training methods of the Officer Training School to the entire SS mobile unit: "The SS must build a unit modeled first on the Wehrmacht training curriculum, because this tutorial proves to be effective. Throughout the process, he gradually molded the SS Special Mobile Unit into a commendable unit in the image of The Regular German Armed Forces. The SS Special Mobile Unit was initially proud of its elitism.
In 1938, the Adolf Hitler Flag Corps, because of its peculiarities, was separated from the SS Special Mobile Unit. As a result of Germany's successful annexation of Austria that year, the SS established a third flag in Vienna: der Fuhrer Standarten. Eventually, the three flags formed the SS Special Mobile Unit, which later became known as the Imperial Division (Das Reich). Hauser was finally able to do what he had always wanted to do as a general in the command team.