Waffen SS Trivia

1. Waffen SS men were sometimes called 'asphalt soldiers' by the Wehrmacht. Why was that?

From Quiz Soldiers Like Other Soldiers? The Waffen SS

Answer: the Wehrmacht thought they lacked real martial skills

Wehrmacht soldiers called the Waffen SS men 'asphalt soldiers' as a slight; it implied they were only good for parades on asphalt and lacked any real skill as soldiers.

From Quiz Otto Skorzeny:The Most Dangerous Man in Europe?

Answer: the SS

Otto Skorzeny served in the Waffen SS. He was noted as being the innovator for 'special operations'.

From Quiz The Leibstandarte: 1st SS Panzer Division

Answer: burning villages

The Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler was imfamous for burning Polish villages. This was relatively mild by comparison with things that were to come.

From Quiz Waffen SS Atrocities in the West

Answer: the Royal Norfolk Regiment

On 27 May 1940 elements of the 2nd battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment were cut off at Le Paradis in the Pas de Calais and forced to surrender after running out of ammunition. Ninety seven officers and men were taken captive during this engagement and murdered by the Waffen SS.

From Quiz Waffen SS Ranks

Answer: Scharfuehrer

'Der Scharfuehrer' held the equivalent rank of sergeant in the Waffen SS. The Wehrmacht (regular army) equivalent was 'Feldwebel'.

From Quiz The SS

Answer: Julius Schreck

Schreck became the first commander of the SS when it was formed as a protection squad for Nazi leaders at rallies. At that stage it was sometimes referred to as 'Stosstruppe Adolf Hitler'. A little later also became Hitler's chauffeur. Schreck later died from meningitis in 1936 and at his state funeral Hitler gave his eulogy.

From Quiz History of the Waffen-SS

Answer: Julius Schreck

Julius Schreck was Hitler's bodyguard and chaffeur. The "Stosstrupp Adolf Hitler" was formed in 1923 to protect Hitler at public events, and initially was a very small body of men and was a part of the SA (Stormtroopers).

From Quiz Hitler's Samurai - The Waffen SS

Answer: Schutzstaffel

Literally, 'die Schutzstaffel' means 'protective squad'.

From Quiz Hitler's "Elite" - the SS

Answer: The Night Of Long Knives

In June, 1934 during the Night of the Long Knives, the purge of the Sturmabteilung (SA) began and was finished, with nearly all of its leadership purged, (read: dead) at the hands of the SS. In addition, the occasion was used to kill some perceived enemies of the Nazis.

From Quiz Soldiers Like Other Soldiers? The Waffen SS

Answer: class and traditions

The major reason traditional German officers disliked Waffen SS officers were class and tradition. Prussian style German officers tended to be better educated and well versed in military theory and tactics. Whereas SS officers generally lacked both of these attributes. They were also considered 'lower class'. In fact, the SS included a number of highly educated men. For example, SS-Gruppenführer Otto Rasch, the original commanding officer of one of the 'Einsatzgruppen' (mobile killing units) on the Soviet Front had two doctorates! The mobile killing units played a key part in carrying out the Holocaust on Soviet territory behind German lines.

From Quiz Otto Skorzeny:The Most Dangerous Man in Europe?

Answer: a dueling scar on his face

Whenever Skorzeny was seen there were two things that stood out about him; the dueling scar on his face and the fact that he was 6'-6".

From Quiz The Leibstandarte: 1st SS Panzer Division

Answer: Kurt Student

General Kurt Student was seriously wounded by the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler at Rotterdam. He was wounded while they were firing on Dutch soldiers who were stacking their arms after they had surrendered. From that day on, he considered them a bunch of 'trigger happy madmen'.

From Quiz Waffen SS Atrocities in the West

Answer: SS Totenkopf

Members of the number 4 company, 1st battalion of the 2nd SS Totenkopf were responsible for this atrocity. Two men, Bill O'Callaghan and Bert Pooley survived this massacre and the war to testify against the perpetrators of this crime.

From Quiz Waffen SS Ranks

Answer: SS-Mann

A private soldier in the Waffen SS was called an 'SS-Mann'. 'Jaeger', 'Soldat' and 'Reiter' were corresponding ranks in the Wehrmacht.

From Quiz The SS

Answer: Theodor Eicke

Eicke is best known for having personally executed SA Chief Ernst Roehm. In 1934 Eicke took command of Dachau and made changes that included: establishing new guarding provisions, which included strict obedience of orders, as well as tightening disciplinary and punishment regulations for prisoners, which were later adopted by all of the Third Reich concentration camps.

From Quiz History of the Waffen-SS

Answer: Hermann Goering

Goering got the name from the time he spent in Richthofen's fighter squadron at the end of World War I. The "Schutz-Staffel" were aircraft that flew escort duties for bomber aircraft over the front lines.

From Quiz Hitler's Samurai - The Waffen SS

Answer: 1925

The SS title became official on 9 November 1925. Hitler's bodyguard had previously known as "Stosstrupp (Shock Troop) Adolf Hitler" and was led by Julius Schreck, Hitler's bodyguard/driver and a veteran of the Erhardt Brigade. (The forerunner, the "Stosstrupp Adolf Hitler" was founded in mid 1923).

From Quiz Hitler's "Elite" - the SS

Answer: Jews

Sonderkommandos, 'special units' (in the euphemistic language of Nazi Germany), were work units that were comprised of Jewish death camp prisoners who were forced (on threat of their own deaths), to help with the disposal of the bodies of gas chamber victims by placing their bodies into the waiting ovens. Usually, once these prisoners grew mentally weary, lost their minds, or simply became physically unable to carry out their tasks, they too were sent on to the gas chambers and the ovens and replaced. Thus the cycle of execution repeated itself with true Nazi efficiency. 'Sonderkommandos' were quite different from the 'SS Sonderkommandos' in that the former consisted of Jewish inmates held within the extermination camps, while the latter was comprised of Nazi SS troops.

From Quiz Soldiers Like Other Soldiers? The Waffen SS

Answer: their uniform

Early in the war, the Waffen SS were the only formations that wore a camouflage smock and helmet cover over the field grey uniform.

From Quiz Otto Skorzeny:The Most Dangerous Man in Europe?

Answer: click his heels and bow

Upon meeting Hitler for the first time, Skorzeny clicked heels together and bowed, which obviously impressed Hitler.

From Quiz The Leibstandarte: 1st SS Panzer Division

Answer: it made the swiftest and farthest advance

The one positive note about the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler is that it made the swiftest and farthest penetration into France before the French surrendered. However, it was also responsible for the massacre at Wormhoudt.

From Quiz Waffen SS Atrocities in the West

Answer: Fritz Knoechlein

Fritz Knoechlein was tried and found guilty of the Le Paradis massacre. He was executed in 1949.

From Quiz Waffen SS Ranks

Answer: Rottenfuehrer

'Der Rottenfuehrer' was the equivalent rank to corporal. The corresponding rank in the Wehrmacht was 'der Gefreite'.

From Quiz The SS

Answer: Das Schwarze Korps

All SS members were required to read it and encourage others to read it as well.

From Quiz Soldiers Like Other Soldiers? The Waffen SS

Answer: Danish and Norwegian

The 5th SS Panzer Division (Viking) was made up of Danes and Norwegians. This formation served on the Eastern Front until the end of the war.

From Quiz Otto Skorzeny:The Most Dangerous Man in Europe?

Answer: 'I'm an Austrian'

When this question was put to Skorzeny his reply was,'I'm an Austrian'. Nothing further needed to be said because of the enmity that existed between Austria and Italy from the First World War. This, too, impressed Hitler, a fellow Austrian.

From Quiz The Leibstandarte: 1st SS Panzer Division

Answer: he threw a live grenade at them

Captain Kurt Meyer, the battalion commander, threw a live hand grenade at his own men in order to get them to advance under fire at Kleisoura Pass, - and yes, it worked.

From Quiz Waffen SS Atrocities in the West

Answer: the British used dum dum bullets

The excuse the Waffen SS gave for the Le Paradis Massacre was the charge that British soldiers were using dum dum rounds in their rifles, a violation of the Hague Convention. That charge was never proved. The misuse of a flag of truce was a secondary charge that also was never proved. The casualties that Totenkopf sustained were not severe, but their advance was halted by an understrength company that cost them time, which was valuable.

From Quiz Waffen SS Ranks

Answer: Oberscharfuehrer

'Der Oberscharfuehrer' corresponded to the British rank of CSM, or Company Sergeant Major. The equivalent rank in the Wehrmacht was 'der Oberfeldwebel'.

From Quiz The SS

Answer: SS-Brigadeführer Kurt Meyer

"Panzermeyer" and his division escaped through the Falaise Pocket but was wounded and captured by Belgian partisans. He was eventually turned over to the British as a prisoner of war.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:52 AM

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