76 THE NEW TEUTONIC KNIGHTS

Nazis appropriate the image of the teutoNic KNights From the very beginning of the Nazi Party the power of the symbolic associations of knighthood in general and the Teutonic Knights in particular became a device used by the leadership to attract support. As early as 1920, during the Nazis’ first election campaign, a picture of a Teutonic Knight was displayed representing his patriotic desire to protect the eastern regions of Germany from Bolshevist Russia. The knight was represented as being swordless as a symbol of the country’s extensive

disarmament following its defeat in the First World War. The message of the poster was that although the knight still wished to defend his nation he was no longer able to do so effectively.

Mein Kampf saw the process of mythologizing carried much further. Hitler argued that it was the historic destiny of the German people to expand to the east and the knights, who had conquered Prussia and other parts of Eastern Europe, were held up as images of courage, duty, honour and patriotism.

Many of the SS leadership, including Himmler, imagined they were the latest in a long line of Nordic knights

77 THE NEW TEUTONIC KNIGHTS

fouNdatioN of the ssThe SS was originally founded as a small unit designed to be Hitler’s personal guard. At the time the SA was seen as his main power base within the Party and the SS was regarded as

little more than a decorative addition purely for his personal protection. In the beginning it was subject to the authority of the SA and looked upon as very much a junior organization with no real significance.

Clockwise from top left: mercenary soldiers belonging to the Order of Teutonic Knights from the Middle Ages; Tannhäuser, knight, Minnesänger and poet of Ancient Germany as depicted in the Codex Manesse; the Crux Ordis of the Order of Teutonic Knights (and inspiration for the Iron Cross); alternative cross of the Teutonic Order

The appointment of Heinrich Himmler to the position of deputy leader of the SS changed that perception dramatically. Himmler was not a man with a commanding presence and was certainly physically anything but an advert for the supposed Aryan racial ideals of the Party. When he took part in the 1923 Munich putsch he hardly distinguished himself. He was part of a picket outside the War Ministry whose members were arrested after the police broke it up – with the notable exception of Himmler. Even with a loaded gun he was not considered important enough to arrest. He caught the train home and brooded over the failure.

As a result of the failed putsch the SA was banned by the authorities and on his release from prison Hitler set up the SS to replace it. At the time it was seen as a purely temporary measure but Himmler, who had become secretary to Gregor Strasser, soon changed that. Strasser was a rising man in the Party and widely thought of as a possible alternative leader to Hitler.

The SS had limited duties at that time. As well as being Hitler’s bodyguard they also sold advertising for the Party newspaper and gathered information about political opponents. Himmler filed, co-ordinated and analyzed this information to such good effect that he attracted attention at last. In 1925 he was appointed deputy deader of the SS.

himmler turNs the ss iNto aN elite corpsHimmler took his new position very seriously and within a short space of time he had turned his small group into an elite force of men who were smartly turned out, totally disciplined (in stark contrast to the rowdy brawlers of the SA) and completely loyal to the Party and its leader.

Above: poster for a speech in Munich by Himmler; below: a less than delighted Hermann Goering hands control of the Gestapo over to Himmler (and Heydrich) in 1934

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Hitler’s opinion of Himmler’s character was no higher than before but he certainly realized that he had underestimated his abilities. The result was permission to expand his SS contingent dramatically and to make him the custodian of the Blood Flag of the Nazi Party. Himmler regarded this as an honour and a sacred trust and by 1929 he had turned his unit, of which he was now the undisputed leader, into the most reliable section of the entire Party mechanism. By 1931 it had become a serious force within the Party. Once Hitler came to power its numbers expanded considerably and in 1934

The Nazis parade through Nuremberg, 1935 – Nuremberg was considered to stand at the very heart of Greater Germany and was thus the fitting place for rallies