R & A No. 3113.7 / Principal Nazi Organizations Involved in the ...

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Eckstein, who seems to have succeeded Standartenfuhrer Br« Dambach and
Obersturmführer Werner Blessau.
The SS Hauptamt was one of the three original SS Departments. Previous
to the administrative reorganization cf the whole SS in 1940 it included
functions since incorporated into the .?ührungshauptamt (FHftJp the PscggnaJ.-
hauptamt (PHA). the Wirtschafts- und Varwaltunrshauptamt. (WVHA). the
Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA), and the office of the Chief of Communica­
tions on the Personal Staff, Its position within the SS was gradually
reduced from the most important single office to an office for recruitment
and training of SS personnel.
The most succinct description of the functions of SS-HA is to be found^
in the"ss Soldier's Handbook*(Soldatenfreund) for 1944. "The task of SS
Hauptamt is to create a close, and exclusive ccmmunal order" ("ein streng
geschlossener Orden"). It is responsible therefore for the selection of
men suitable for the SS, the registration of SS members and their families,
and, in addition, for the philosophical and political direction, education,
and training of the whole SS and Polica, as well as for the welfare of
mobilized units of the SS and Police (Troops Welfare). A further task is
the physical training and pre- and post- military training of the SS. Of
particular importance 5.s the selection, organisation, and direction of the
SS in Germanic countries and the propagation of the Germanic idea in all
spheres of life.
Among these functions,Indoctrination (Amtsgruppe C)r recruitment
(Arctseruppa 3). and enre of Germanic S3 (Amtsgruppe D) deserve particular
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