Every SS officer belonged to the General SS. If he had been attached in peacetime to a unit of the Waffen SS then his rank in the General SS ceased and he had to start all over again in the Waffen SS. Depending on his military abilities, or if he had a rank in the regular army, he would then take over a certain rank in the SS. If in peacetime the SS officer served temporarily in the Waffen SS, then he would, after taking examinations, become a reserve officer in the Waffen SS and was called up at the outbreak of the war to serve in the SS reserves as an officer. During the war most of the officers in the General SS were called up into the Waffen SS, and the procedure was according to the book.
SS officers of the General SS who finished their officer training with the army and had become reserve officers were called up by the army. It was very difficult to be transferred to the Waffen SS.
Furthermore, officers who had been promoted during the war from noncommissioned officer did not become active officers in the Waffen SS but in the reserves. They were to go through special exercises and take special tests after the war, if they wished to remain active. This was planned so that they would be on an equal footing with the older officers.
As the war progressed the so-called expert officers of the Waffen SS, similar to the special officers in the army, were added. These were mostly construction people, geologists, war correspondents, technicians, engineers, and others who had a higher education for the most part, but had not yet reached officer rank. In the Waffen SS there were specialty officers from the rank of second lieutenant up to major.
Later on, the officers of the General SS and those in the arms industry also became specialty officers.
For example. Dr. Caesar, the director of the agricultural section of Auschwitz, was at the same period of time:
1) General in the General SS
2) Second lieutenant in the reserves of the Waffen SS and
3) Certified agricultural specialty officer, that is, major.
The higher Waffen SS officers from general on up had an additional army rank. For example:
SS brigadier general, and major general of the Waffen SS
SS general, and lieutenant general of the Waffen SS
SS lieutenant general, and general in the Waffen SS
SS lieutenant general, and general colonel in the Waffen SS
The higher-ranking SS and political officers and the police ranks were general colonel and general of the police.
The SS officers of SS Headquarters staff and similar offices and also police ranks were:
Police officer’s rank from colonel on.
Thus: SS colonel, and colonel in the police.
Most of the higher officers in the police who had become SS officers in the meantime had additional SS rank added.
Even the younger officers in the police who came from the Waffen SS carried SS officer rank in addition to their police rank. As a special mark of recognition they wore the SS insignia on the left side of their police uniforms.
The higher officers of the police with the SS rank wore on their police uniforms the SS insignia showing the corresponding rank. The specialty officers wore them on their shoulders, a red-and-white-braided cord which framed their shoulder piece.
Like the army, the Waffen SS also had similar weapons colors in their piping.
The weapons color of the concentration camp was brown.
World History
