I know there are many who feel uncomfortable when they see this black tunic; we understand that and do not expect to be beloved by many people' HEINRICH HIMMLER
The true story of Hitler's SS is strange and, at times, absurd. It is the story of an organization that was not directed by some devilishly efficient system but was the product of accident, inevitability and the grouping together of criminals, social climbers and romantics. The SS was the terror of Europe. Swearing eternal allegiance to Adolf Hitler, it infiltrated every aspect of German life and murdered millions. In charge of the police and the secret service, the SS also occupied key positions in agriculture and the health service while maintaining a powerful influence over racial policy and scientific affairs. The sentries at the Reich Chancellery and the guards in the death camps were hand-picked from their deadly ranks. The Order of the Death,s Head cuts through the myth of the efficient German machine and exposes the rivalries, infighting and bizarre customs of the most macabre élite in recent history.
Above all this book describes, in fascinating detail, the chaotic politica! conditions following the First World War which allowed the SS to assume and exercise unaccountable power from 1930 to its demise fifteen years later in the rubble of the Third Reich. ( )