Who was the worst of the SS?

[marcus69x]

Been reading a bit about the Holocaust today and having seen Schindlers list, I thought I'd read a bit about the evil Amon Goth who was in charge of Plaszow.

Quote, "In Płaszów, Göth tortured and murdered prisoners on a daily basis. During his time at Płaszów, Göth allegedly shot over 500 Jews himself; Poldek Pfefferberg, one of the Schindler Jews, famously said, "When you saw Göth, you saw death."

Sounds like a nice bloke!

Anyway, I'm off to watch it now, but I thought I'd ask the forum:

Who was the worst of the SS?

[von Poop]

How long is a piece of string?

[marcus69x]

Originally Posted by Von Poop

How long is a piece of string?

From one end to the other.

[Owen]

Anyway, I'm off to watch it now,

Sleep well when it's finished.

[von Poop]

This thread might start you off Marcus:
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/history...hlight=evility

(Forgive my earlier glibness mate, just watching 'The World at War' on the camp liberations, makes me think at this precise moment; "All of 'em". )

[Ollie Garchy]

Originally Posted by marcus69x

Been reading a bit about the Holocaust today and having seen Schindlers list, I thought I'd read a bit about the evil Amon Goth who was in charge of Plaszow.

Quote, "In Płaszów, Göth tortured and murdered prisoners on a daily basis. During his time at Płaszów, Göth allegedly shot over 500 Jews himself; Poldek Pfefferberg, one of the Schindler Jews, famously said, "When you saw Göth, you saw death."

Sounds like a nice bloke!

Anyway, I'm off to watch it now, but I thought I'd ask the forum:

Who was the worst of the SS?

That all depends on what you mean. War crime? Crime against humanity? Planning? Actually killing? Killing style? etc.

The Death Camps: Hitler delegated authority to Himmler. Himmler did the same. Men like Höss and Eichmann built the death camps or organized the transfer of Jews. There were many "grunts" at these camps, recruited from various countries, who gassed or shot the Jews. Your question is difficult to answer without mega-research.

The Einsatzgruppen: These groups, numbering about 4,000 men at the beginning of the invasion of Russia, witnessed a high degree of transfers and replacements. SS and Wehrmacht anti-partisan actions also escalated throughout. So, your question is, again, a tough one.

I doubt we will ever know your answer.

The strange thing about Goth is that he was institutionalized by the Nazis for mental illness -- hey, I thought the Nazis euthenized mental patients?

[T. A. Gardner]

Let's not forget the luminary Waffen SS units under Dr. Dirlewanger variously, Brigade Dirlewanger, Dirlewanger abt, and finally 36th SS Grenadier Division Dirlewanger.
Composed primarily, if not completely, of felons, criminals, and other miscreants and used as an "anit-partisan" unit in the East. The dear doctor, described as a rapist, murderer, and possible pedipholie who was a drinking buddy of Gottlob Berger head of SS recruiting, was given this unit to command to get him out of the German civil police's hair.
Shifted around the East front regularly it gained a reputation for unexceeded depravity and violence against the local populace. Several higher German commanders threatened to have the whole unit shot if it were not moved.
One author described their performance in putting down the Warsaw uprising as "having brought scenes to a European city not seen since the Middle Ages." The overall SS command was so reviled by their wanton actions the unit was pulled from the operation and sent back to the Eastern front.
Oscar Dirlewanger ended his days in a military hospital dying from "complications" to a wound he recieved (my guess is severe lead posioning...). The unit itself was captured by the Red Army at the end of the war who massacred them on the spot putting an end to one of the worst of the worst of Nazi excesses.

[Za Rodinu]

Originally Posted by T. A. Gardner

The unit itself was captured by the Red Army at the end of the war who massacred them on the spot ...

Incredile how some Russians can be so hasty.

[Ollie Garchy]

Recently I watched a Chinese semi-propaganda production on the Rape of Nanking. Even if half of it was true, the Dirlewanger boys -- legend has it that they played soccer with decapitated heads -- had some stiff competition. The video is brought to you by the boys and girls at Google. A warning, however, is in order. The descriptions of Japanese atrocities reminded me of Hellraiser films.

As far as the Russian "military" was concerned, they didn't need any "special" Dirlewanger-style formations. I remember reading somewhere that certain Russian officers became terrified of their own men during the rape and pillage of eastern and central Europe in 1944/45. They just tried desperately to get out of their way.

[marcus69x]

Just a quicky that I've noticed. Don't you think Amon Goeth or Goth
Photos, Amon Goeth and the Holocaust

looks very similar to Lee Harvey Oswald?
Lee Harvey Oswald -- Lone Assassin or Patsy?