The ideology of the Schutzstaffel ("Protection Squadron"; SS), a paramilitary force and an instrument of terror of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, emphasized a racist vision of "racial purity", primarily based on antisemitism and loyalty to Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.
Members of the SS were indoctrinated with the belief they were part of a "master race" and their core ideology was, even more so than Nazism in general, built on the belief in a superior "Aryan race". This led to the SS playing the main role in political violence and crimes against humanity, including the "mercy killing" of those with congenital illnesses and the Holocaust. After the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, the SS and Nazi Party were declared criminal organizations by the international tribunal at Nuremberg.
Ideological foundations The ideology of the SS was built upon and mainly congruent with Nazi ideology. At its center was the belief in a superior "Nordic race" and the "inferiority" of other races. The SS itself had four principal mythologies built into their intellectual edifice; these were blood (Blut), soil (Boden), ancestors (Ahnen), and kin (Sippe). For the SS, their perception of Germanic ethnicity was based on Hans Günther's theories of the Nordic race, members of which were alleged to possess particularly desirable mental and physical characteristics. These traits were tied to the natural environment from where they derived, a climate that imbued them with special cultural features atop a certain "hardness" and "combat readiness." Since these Germanic ancestors had "spread across many countries" over the centuries, Himmler's vision was to conquer areas previously belonging to them so as to bring together this pan-Germanic community once again. Re-acquiring these territories was viewed by the SS as its mission, beyond traditional nation-state imperialism, in order to convert these regions into agriculturally focused communities and create an organic utopia, "a close-knit community bound by blood and soil."
This racially aligned community, based on SS "blood and soil" ideology, was linked with the "idealization" of their ancestors, making their worldview likewise "historically oriented and retrospective." Ancient Germanic peoples formed prototypes for maintaining social cohesion under exclusivist racial auspices, since they were unlike their modern descendants that had been exposed to "racial interbreeding." Therein, an "ancestral inheritance" (Ahnenerbe) was ascribed to these predecessors, who were thought to possess a "suprahistorical source of wisdom"; they were likewise mythologized for their military prowess, providing the SS with inspiration and exemplary heroes to emulate. The SS ideology further linked this "ancestral heritage" with a collectivist notion of racial kinship, which SS members were taught to protect, being members of an "Order of the Race" (Sippenorden).
To this end, the SS served as the central institution for the broader extension of Nazi ideology and its realisation. Representing the ideological opponents of the regime in one form or fashion, historian George C. Browder identified the Nazi state's list of enemies as follows: enemy states, miscegenation, the Jews, Catholicism, freemasonry, Communism, the Republic (hostility directed at the liberal republican constitution and form of government), homosexuality, moral decay, capitalists, and the "Old Guard" (hate and fear of traditionally powerful influences and institutions of the old society as unjust, retarding influences in German society). These groups became the focus of the SS—the predominant instrument of power for the Nazi totalitarian state—as they sought to direct and influence ideology and ethics within the Reich.
Beginning as early as 1933, the leadership of the SS and the police organizations in Nazi Germany showed a "high-degree of interest in ideological indoctrination," since the SS leader, Heinrich Himmler was "convinced that weltanschauliche Erziehung (ideological education) was key to the coherence and effectiveness of his growing SS and police apparatus." One of the primary functions Himmler foresaw to this end was the power of ideology and indoctrination to prepare members of the SS to effectively police German society and extirpate the nation of its "enemies." Ideological training was designed to foster an attitude of "energetic ruthlessness, self-conscious determination," and the ability to adjust to any situation. Himmler intended for the SS to be a hierarchical system of "ideological fighters" from the organization's inception. The SS proved to be that and more, becoming the instrument most responsible for the actualization of Nazi beliefs. SS ideology comprised perhaps the single most significant philosophical dimension of Nazism, employing ontological, anthropological, and ethical elements to their methods under the guise of science, shaping the Nazi state's doctrine and crystallizing ideals (no matter how callous) into dogmatic truths. SS principles and thinking provided pseudo-scientific rationales for the devaluation of humanity, and ideological justification for Nazi violence and genocide.
The SS placed an intense emphasis in their indoctrination upon elitism and portrayed themselves as part of an "elite" order which "explicitly modelled [themselves] on an historical version of religious orders, such as the Teutonic Knights or the Jesuits, whose dedication to a higher idea was admired in these otherwise anti-clerical circles".
Indoctrination
The strict training program was focused on the fundamental ideological principles of the Nazi Party, namely the belief in a "superior Nordic race", loyalty and absolute obedience to Adolf Hitler, and hatred for those who were considered "inferior people", with great emphasis on antisemitism. Students studied the most anti-Semitic passages of Mein Kampf ("My Struggle")—Hitler's autobiographical manifesto—and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fraudulent anti-Semitic document first published in Russia in 1903, which purported to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. In his work, Understanding Nazi Ideology, Norwegian historian Carl Müller Frøland described antisemitism as a "necessary component of SS ideology," wherein the Jews were portrayed as the "diametric opposite of the Nordic-Germanic individual."
The SS educational leaders were also responsible for general anti-religious training, which was part of the Nazi attempt at "reversing the bourgeois-Christian system of values." Educational training was clearly linked with "racial selection, at the end of which stood the 'weeding out' and selective breeding of human beings"; this facet coincided the impending Nazi effort to Germanize Europe and formed part of the policy for the racial-imperialist conquest in the East.
Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, membership in the SS grew considerably, prompting an increase in ideological instruction. The SS-Schulungsamt took over the task of heading the educational matters of the SS, led by Karl Motz. The SS published two additional magazines for ideological propaganda: the monthly FM-Zeitschrift, funded by 350,000 non-member financial patrons of the SS, and the weekly Das Schwarze Korps, the second biggest weekly paper in Nazi Germany. As part of an effort to professionalize their officers, the SS founded a Leadership School in 1934 at the Bavarian town of Bad Tölz; a second school was established at Braunschweig—these came to be known as SS-Junker Schools.
Beginning in 1938, the SS intensified the ideological indoctrination of the Hitler-Jugend Landdienst ("Hitler Youth Land Service"). It set out the ideal of the German "Wehrbauer" ("Soldier Peasant"). Special high schools were created under SS control to form a Nazi agrarian "elite" that was trained according to the principle of "blood and soil". While SS leader Heinrich Himmler remained concerned about the racial elitism of his SS, it was Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler's deputy and protégé, who focused his attention on their political indoctrination through the creation of "racial detectives" who would become Hitler's "ideological Shock Troops". This being done through the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service; SD) which was tasked with the detection of actual or potential enemies of the Nazi leadership and the neutralization of any opposition. The SD used its organization of agents and informants, all part of the development of an extensive SS state and a totalitarian regime without parallel.
The SS practiced a wide variety of disciplinary measures, with punishments composed of reprimands, prohibition to wear the uniform, detention, demotion, suspension, and expulsion. Contrary to claims made by many SS-members after 1945, no one had to fear being incarcerated in a concentration camp for delinquencies. Starting in June 1933, the SS had its own courts to deal with crimes and misdemeanors within its ranks. On 17 October 1939, Himmler succeeded in having the SS put under its own special jurisdiction. Once this change occurred, SS-members could no longer be tried in civil courts. Even though Himmler and the other SS leaders repeatedly demanded sobriety within their ranks, alcoholism was a frequent problem. For example, between 1937 and 1938 some 700 members were excluded from the SS for "listlessness and laziness." In the same period a further 12,000 left the SS for unknown reasons, calling into question the institution's claims of "loyalty for life".
Meritocracy The SS itself was meritocratic in its general operational structure, following the Nazi principle of Volksgemeinschaft. In contrast to the German army's traditions, officer promotions in the SS were based on the individual's commitment and political reliability, not on Junker status or upper-class family background. Consequently, the SS officer schools offered a military career option for those of modest social background, which was not usually possible in the Wehrmacht. The relationship between officers and soldiers was also less formal than in the regular armed forces. Though SS membership was open to all who met Himmler's eugenic and genealogical standards, many of the men first to enter the SS came from the aristocracy. In addition, academics were twofold over-represented in the SS in comparison to the general population.
Racial policies
Consistent with the eugenic and racial policies of the Nazis, Himmler advocated racial elitism for his SS members. Racial criteria like proving pure "Aryan" lineage back to 1750 or 1800 constituted part of the vetting for entrance into the SS. Throughout the existence of the SS, its members were regularly encouraged to procreate to maintain and increase the "Aryan-Nordic bloodline"; the SS members, along with their wives and children, were to become an exclusive racial community (Sippengemeinschaft) within the Nazi state. Along these lines, Himmler stated on 8 November 1937 at a Gruppenführer meeting in Munich in the officers' quarters:
Similarly, Himmler drew an analogy between the Nordic race and Bolshevism and argued during a speech that the triumph of Bolshevism would mean the extermination of the Nordic race. He also believed that once the SS had succeeded in being a racially pure organisation then other Germans would naturally join the SS. Correspondingly, SS men were indoctrinated with anti-Slavic beliefs.