Training and Indoctrination

The Regiment Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler marching to a German city by the order of Adolf Hitler. This is before they were reorganized as an fully militarized Infantry Division and were still primarily the bodyguard of Adolf Hitler.

To understand a military unit fully, one must first look at its training and who its soldiers are. The Waffen SS was the creation of Heinrich Himmler, the Head of the SS and Gestapo. He was trying to create a new Aryan Elite within the Third Reich and believed that his military units needed to be the best within Nazi Germany. However, Himmler understood that this new Aryan elite needed to live up to the standard of “elite” but also needed to be a break from the old elite of Germany. This resulted in Heinrich creating a rigorous and deeply indoctrinative training regime that would turn simple soldiers into zealous warriors that were unmatched in physical prowess and courage that became the personal favorite of Adolf Hitler.