A Nation’s Alibi
Waffen-SS: Hitler’s Army at War, by Adrian Gilbert, Da Capo Press, New York, 2019, $32.50
The Schutzstaffel (SS) was the most inexplicable political and military organization in German history. During the period of the Third Reich it represented a state within a state, its military arm, the Waffen-SS, an army within an army. Founded as Adolf Hitler’s armed bodyguard, the Waffen-SS quickly grew into division-sized and then corps-sized units. Although it theoretically remained separate from the Wehrmacht, from 1939 on it came increasingly under the operational control of the German army (Reichsheer) for combat operations. The lines between the organizations remained blurry, while animosities between the two persisted throughout the war.
Although unit histories and campaign studies of the various Waffen-SS divisions and formations are commonplace, Adrian Gilbert’s work is the first operational history of the organization as a whole since George Stein’s 1984 book The Waffen SS: Hitler’s Elite Guard. This new book has much to offer both the specialist and the general reader. Grounded in the broad historical consensus that has emerged over the last 35 years, Gilbert presents a clear and highly readable treatment of what rightly is regarded as the most infamous military force in modern history. Immediately after the end of World War II, however, there was a concerted German effort to paint the otherwise.
