re: On this day in WW2, the US and Germans fought together in the Battle of Castle Itter

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Always found it odd that the Nazis had two armies fighting for them. The SS started out as Hitler's personal bodyguards and morphed into its own army. Can you imagine how many resources were wasted on duplicate duties by each fighting force?

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Hitler & Himmler planned for the Waffen SS to eventually replace the Wehrmacht after the war.

There were two branches to the SS:
1. Allgemein SS “General SS”
2. Waffen SS “Armed SS”

The Allgemein SS was the administration and policing part of the SS. They ran the concentration camps.

The Waffen SS was the paramilitary wing of the SS. Some units were originally drawn from the Allgemein SS, like 1st SS Panzer Div Leibstandarte, drawn from Hilter’s body guard & 3rd SS Panzer division Totenkopf drawn from the concentration camp guards. Most other Waffen SS divisions were recruited from the start as paramilitary divisions, staffed by SS officers and placed under the command of the Heer.