SS troops took part in the invasions of Yugoslavia and Greece in April 1941. The SS-Viking was formed with volunteers from occupied Denmark, Holland and Norway. The Leibstandarte captured a number of British soldiers which were subsequently brutally murdered. SS regiments helped to spearhead the invasion of Holland. Hitler launched his long-expected attack on the West on May 10, 1940. The expanded unit was renamed in March 1940. Himmler argued that the unit would perform better if concentrated into one formation, and Hitler agreed. The German army was critical of the SS-VT’s performance during the Polish campaign. The troops were to be distinct from other branches of the SS. These were to be known as the SS-Verfugungstruppe, or SS-VT. Sepp Deitrich’s Leibstandarte became a full regiment following the decimation of the Brownshirts, and two more were formed. Out of this was formed the Schutzstaffel, an elite unit that Heinrich Himmler took control of in 1929. The origins of the Waffen-SS lie in the Sturmabteilung, or Brownshirts, a unit formed to protect Nazi speakers in 1922. They were responsible for some of the most barbaric atrocities of the war, though surviving veterans insist they were just soldiers doing their duty. Members of the Waffen-SS were Adolf Hitler’s elite body guard and among the most feared soldiers of World War II. Introduction: Waffen-SS (02:20) FREE PREVIEW
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