Allgemeine SS - Hierarchy and Structure

Hierarchy and Structure

The term Allgemeine-SS referred to the "General-SS", meaning those units of the SS considered "main, regular, or standard". By 1938, the Allgemeine-SS was administratively divided into these main sections:

• Full-time officers and members of the main SS departments, including the RSHA
• Part-time volunteer members of SS regional units
• SS security forces, e.g., the Gestapo and Sicherheitsdienst (SD)
• Concentration Camp staffs of the Totenkopfverbande
• Reserve, honorary or otherwise inactive SS members

After World War II began in 1939, the lines between the Allgemeine-SS and the Waffen-SS became increasingly blurred, due largely to the Allgemeine-SS headquarters offices having administrative and supply command over the Waffen-SS. By 1940, all of the Allgemeine-SS had been issued grey war-time uniforms and by 1941 the black SS uniform had been taken out of circulation by most of the SS.