Re: Marines Snipers Make Headlines..........again
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fritz24</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Shark0311</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fritz24</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Shark0311</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It seams that a lot of you are confusing the atrocities caused by the SS Totenkopfverbande with the Waffen SS.
Totenkopf Verband
This was the unit under Himmler and Eike that ran the concentration camps and was entirely separate from the rest of the SS. The "deaths head" units were responsible for the mass slaughter and torture of countless victims.
Marines in general pretty much see in green. Granted there are exceptions to the rule but most Marines could care less about race.
The SS is prevalent in the Marine sniper community and it is not to pay homage to the Nazi party. </div></div>
That's not exactly true. While there was originally a core of the Totenkopfverbande in the 3rd Waffen-ss Div "Toenkopf," including Eike of course, the bulk of that Division was no different than than the remainder of the Waffen-SS in form and function. Actually, by 1942, most of the Div. was all but wiped out on the Eastern Front. Shortly after a major re-fitting in '43(France), they returned to the East and were considered among the more effective and well-trained units in the SS-Panzer Division(under Gen. Paul Hausser)
Also, the Deaths-Head insignia was worn by all Waffen-SS units, not just the 3rd "Totenkopf" Div.
*as for the issue at hand - Lowlight sums up my own feelings on the subject...
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Except that the majority of the war crimes that were committed were perpetrated by the units under Eike's command and due to the scale and nature of the atrocities could account for the entirety of the Waffen SS being deemed a criminal organization. There were however units in the Waffen SS that were exonerated from war crimes.
Unlike the Totenkopfverbande the rest of the Waffen SS was made up of multiple ethnic groups and was by majority a conscript force. </div></div>
Again, with all due respect, that is not entirely true, though I agree with what you are saying with reagrd to the broader Waffen-SS being unfairly smeared as one giant "criminal organization." Still, you are making a few generalizations I just cannot agree with.
Whatever may have happened under Eike's comman(porbably as the much smaller Kampfgruppe-Eike), the bulk of the unit functioned no differently than any other Waffen-SS Division.
I am also curious as to what "war-crimes' in particular you are talking about that were specifically pinned on the 3rd-SS alone? And who was "exonerated" and of what? The ENTIRE Shutzstaffel, that is SSVT, allgemeine-SS, Waffen-SS, Gestapo, etc., were ALL officially declared part of a "criminal organization" at the war's end. Various individuals stood trial, etc., but no specific Waffen-SS units were either universally charged, or universally "exonerated" as such. In fact, the convictions of various individuals(ie. Sepp Deitrich, Kurt Meyer, Jochen Pieper, etc.)were later overturned or drastically reduced, but I have no idea what you mean by any universal "unit"(what do you mean by unit - Corps? Division? Regiment? Company?)
Finally, you seem to believe the Totankopfverbande to have been a much larger, much more significant organization than it was. The "rest" of the Waffen-SS was made up on multi-ethnics only after the war was in full vigor.(perhaps 55% of the whole Waffen-SS were not of exclsuively "German" ethnic origin) There were many German regiments and divisions that were altogether German from the outset - 1st SS- Liebstandarte, 2nd-SS Reich(later Das Reich), etc. The 5th Waffen-SS Div. Wiking was the first made up of various Germanic ethnics. And they were all volunteers, not conscripts.
As the war raged on and the ghastly attrition rates caused a dire necessity for manpower, all manner of individuals ended up fighting in Waffen-SS units, but this was only toward the very end, when the war was effectively lost already.
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Unfortunately it is quite impossible to summarize the actions of a complex military structure over a rather large and tumultuous time period with 100% accuracy. It's just not going to happen here.
I believe that it was the 11th SS Nordland and 6th SS Nord that were found to have not participated in war crimes and conscripts which at the time accounted for 60% or more of the troops were not subject to the trials at Nuremberg.
That being said Eike was evil incarnate and he as well as the men that served under him deserve special consideration and attention.
My point was to add a little information to the discussion so that people could focus their rage a bit more accurately. Like I said there is no way to hit every truth in this discussion.