Persönlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS
Encyclopedia
The Personal Staff of the Reich Leader of the SS was a main office of the SS which was established in 1933 by Heinrich Himmler
to serve as a personal office coordinating various activities and projects subordinate to the Reichsführer-SS
.
who would eventually become an SS-Obergruppenführer
und General der Waffen-SS
. Wolff's daily activities involved overseeing Himmler's schedule and serving as a liaison with other SS offices and agencies by conveying the wishes of the Reichsführer to all branches, offices, and subordinated units within the SS.
Following the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
in 1942, Wolff fell out with Himmler and was replaced by SS-Obergruppenführer
Maximilian von Herff
who served as its head until the end of the war.
castle as well as the Ahnenerbe
. This team of experts was interested in the anthropological and cultural history of the Aryan race
. It conducted experiments and launched voyages with the intent of proving that prehistoric and mythological Nordic populations had once ruled the world
.
has been a subject of great debate with Karl Wolff himself attesting that the personal staff were little more than desk bound paper pushers who had little to nothing to do with the atrocities committed by the SS. However, given that most of Himmler's wishes and orders were distributed by his personal staff, it remains highly doubtful that Wolff and his office were unaware of what was occurring. Further, Wolff would have received copies of all letters from SS officers, and his friends at that point included the organizer of "Operation Reinhard
" Odilo Globocnik
. Therefore, his later denial of knowledge of Holocaust activities may be plausible only at the detailed level of atrocities by the Nazi regime.
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
to serve as a personal office coordinating various activities and projects subordinate to the Reichsführer-SS
Reichsführer-SS
was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:...
.
Operations
From 1933 until 1942, the office was headed by Karl WolffKarl Wolff
Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Schutzstaffel , ultimately holding the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS. He became Chief of Personal Staff to the Reichsführer and SS Liaison Officer to Hitler until his replacement in 1943...
who would eventually become an SS-Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
und General der Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
. Wolff's daily activities involved overseeing Himmler's schedule and serving as a liaison with other SS offices and agencies by conveying the wishes of the Reichsführer to all branches, offices, and subordinated units within the SS.
Following the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
in 1942, Wolff fell out with Himmler and was replaced by SS-Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
Maximilian von Herff
Maximilian von Herff
Maximilian von Herff was a German Schutzstaffel general from Hanover.Herff served as an officer of the Reichswehr in the First World War, attaining the rank of colonel and winning the Iron Cross First and Second Class. During the Second World War, Herff served in North Africa as commander of the...
who served as its head until the end of the war.
Additional roles
Himmler also established several special project teams under the authority of his personal office. This included the staff of the WewelsburgWewelsburg
For the village of Wewelsburg see Village of WewelsburgWewelsburg is a Renaissance castle located in the northeast of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the village of Wewelsburg which is a quarter of the city Büren, Westphalia, in district of Paderborn in the Alme Valley. The castle has the...
castle as well as the Ahnenerbe
Ahnenerbe
The Ahnenerbe was a Nazi German think tank that promoted itself as a "study society for Intellectual Ancient History." Founded on July 1, 1935, by Heinrich Himmler, Herman Wirth, and Richard Walther Darré, the Ahnenerbe's goal was to research the anthropological and cultural history of the Aryan...
. This team of experts was interested in the anthropological and cultural history of the Aryan race
Aryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
. It conducted experiments and launched voyages with the intent of proving that prehistoric and mythological Nordic populations had once ruled the world
Nordic theory
The Nordic race is one of the racial subcategories into which the Caucasian race was divided by anthropologists in the first half of the 20th century...
.
Role in the Holocaust
The exact role that Himmler's personal staff played in the HolocaustThe Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
has been a subject of great debate with Karl Wolff himself attesting that the personal staff were little more than desk bound paper pushers who had little to nothing to do with the atrocities committed by the SS. However, given that most of Himmler's wishes and orders were distributed by his personal staff, it remains highly doubtful that Wolff and his office were unaware of what was occurring. Further, Wolff would have received copies of all letters from SS officers, and his friends at that point included the organizer of "Operation Reinhard
Operation Reinhard
Operation Reinhard was the code name given to the Nazi plan to murder Polish Jews in the General Government, and marked the most deadly phase of the Holocaust, the use of extermination camps...
" Odilo Globocnik
Odilo Globocnik
Odilo Lotario Globocnik was a prominent Austrian Nazi and later an SS leader. He was an acquaintance of Adolf Eichmann, who played a major role in the extermination of Jews and others during the Holocaust...
. Therefore, his later denial of knowledge of Holocaust activities may be plausible only at the detailed level of atrocities by the Nazi regime.