SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz was the officers training school for the Waffen-SS. It was the equivalent of the RMA Sandhurst and the United States Military Academy. The school was established in 1937, in the town of Bad Tölz which is about 30 miles south of Munich and the location was seemingly chosen because it had both good transport links and was in an inspiring location. The design and construction of the school was intended to impress the staff, students, visitors and passers-by. A sub camp of the Dachau concentration camp was located in the town of Bad Tölz which provided labour for the SS-Junkerschule and the Zentralbauleitung (Central Administration Building). The School operated until the end of World War II in 1945 and after the war the former SS-Junkerschule was the base of the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group until 1991.[1]
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In 1934, the armed branch of the Schutzstaffel (SS) then known as the SS-VT, started
to recruit officers into its ranks. The German Army and its Prussian heritage, looked
for officers of good breeding, who had at least graduated from
secondary school. By contrast the SS-VT offered men the chance to
become an officer no matter what education they had received or
their social standing.[2]
In 1936 Himmler selected former Lieutenant General Paul Hausser to be
appointed Inspector of the SS-VT with the rank of Brigadefuhrer, he set about transforming
the SS-VT into a creditable military force that was a match for the
regular army and transformed the officer selection system.[3][4] The
school was opened in 1936 by Adolf Hitler and would use the regular
army training methods and used former Army officers as instructors
to train their potential officers to be combat effective.[5]
Because of their backgrounds some of the cadets required basic
training in non military matters. The cadets were issued books on
etiquette that contained
instructions on table manners "Cutlery is held only in the fingers
and not with the whole hand" and even the correct way to close a
letter "Heil Hitler! yours sincerely XXXX".[2]
Instruction was also given on Nazi ideology during lectures, but most
instruction was a mixture of athletics and military field
exercises.[2]
The SS spared no expense in building the School, the facilities
included a football stadium surrounded by an
athletics rack; building dedicated to boxing, gymnastics, indoor ball games, a heated swimming pool and a
sauna.[6]
The instructors matched the facilities and at one time eight of the
twelve coaches were the German National champions in their
fields.[6]
The officer candidates had to meet stringent requirements before being allowed into the officer schools; All SS officer's had to be a minimum height of 5 foot 10 inches (5ft 11" for the Leibstandarte) and had to serve in the ranks prior to being considered for a place at the SS-Junkerschule, and had to serve for at least six months to a year before being considered. Typically, a Waffen-SS member reaching the rank of Rottenführer could choose either to embark on the career path of an SS-non-commissioned officer or could apply to join the officer corps of the Waffen-SS. If choosing the latter, he was required to obtain a written recommendation from their commander and undergo a racial and political screening process to determine eligibility for commission as an SS officer. If accepted into the SS officer program, an SS member would be assigned to the SS-Junkerschule and would be appointed to the rank of SS-Junker upon arrival. Situations did exist, however, where SS members would hold their previous enlisted rank while at the SS-Junkerschule and only be appointed to the rank of SS-Junker after a probationary period had passed. This officer candidate system was to ensure that future SS officers had prior enlisted experience and that there were no "direct appointments" in the Waffen-SS officer corps as was often the case in other SS branches such as the Gestapo and Sicherheitsdienst.[5][7]
Tuition at the school ranged from the playing of war games in sand boxes to studying Hitlers Mein Kampf.[8] Many Cadets had already served in the Hitler Youth and brought up under the Nazi propaganda machine.[8] Nazi ideology was an important part of the curriculum and one Cadet in every three was eliminated from the five month course during examinations.[8] One of the goals of the school was to produce fighting officers, and classes were given in assault tactics, which built on the mobile tactics introduced to the German Army at the end of World War I.[6]
The School adjutant Felix Steiner is
reported to have said "We require a supple adaptable type of
soldier, athletic of bearing and capable of more then [sic?] the average endurance."[6]
The timetable of the School was as follows: tactics, terrain and
map reading, combat training and weapons training, General
practical service (weapons technology, shooting training, war
exercises), religious education, military, SS and police,
administration, physical training, weapons doctrine , pioneer
teaching, current events, tank tactics, vehicle maintenance,
sanitary engineering, Air Force doctrine.
In March 1945, staff and students from the school were used to
form the 38th SS
Division Nibelungen The Division never achieved
anything near full division status, but did actually see some
combat, although nearly all written accounts of the division don't
seem to mention this. The 38th SS Division was at first named
Junkerschule because of its formation from the members of
the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tolz. It was then renamed to
Nibelungen from the medieval poem of the name Nibelungenlied made famous by Richard Wagner in
his opera Ring des
Nibelungen.
The division first saw action in the Landshut area of Upper Bavaria. The engagement
was against American troops with the 38th actually overrunning a
few American positions. The 38th then saw brief action in the Alpen and Donau areas before
surrendering to the Americans on 8 May, 1945, in the area of the
Bavarian Alps.[9][10]
12.06.1934 - 16.07.1935 Paul Lettow
16.07.1935 - 01.11.1938 Bernhard Voss
22.11.1937 - 31.01.1938 Arnold Altvater-Mackensen (was an acting
deputy commander during Voss' absence)
01.11.1938 - 23.04.1940 Werner Freiherr von Schele
23.04.1940 - 11.07.1940 Julian Scherner
25.07.1940 - 08.11.1940 Cassius Freiherr von Montigny
12.11.1940 - 10.08.1942 Werner Dörffler-Schuband
10.08.1942 - 15.02.1943 Lothar Debes
26.01.1943 - 01.08.1943 Gottfried Klingemann
01.08.1943 - 15.03.1944 Werner Dörffler-Schuband
15.03.1944 - 12.01.1945 Fritz Klingenberg
12.01.1945 - 03.1945 Richard Schulze-Kossens
03.1945 - 04.1945 Karl-Heinz Anlauft
04.1945 - 08.05.1945 Bernhard Dietsche
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