us-005578-irn85614-irn3733
type: RecordSet
archival history: The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.
biographical history: Josef (Sepp) Dietrich was born in Hawangen, Germany on May 28, 1892. As a teenager he worked as a butcher’s apprentice before joining the German army in 1911, rising to the rank of sergeant during World War I. In 1923 he joined the Sturmabteilung (SA). In 1928 he joined the Schutzstaffel (SS), and became commander of Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard. In 1930 Dietrich was elected to the Reichstag and in 1931 he achieved the rank of Gruppenführer (lieutenant general) in the SS. In 1932 Dietrich founded a special SS unit, the Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler, which served as Hitler’s personal army and later became a division in the Waffen SS. On July 1, 1934, for his actions during the Night of the Long Knives, he was awarded the rank of SS Obergruppenfuehrer (general). Dietrich led his division in the battles of Kursk and Kharkov on the Eastern front and the invasion of Normandy, and the Battle of the Bulge on the Western Front. After the German surrender, Dietrich was found guilty of complicity in the massacre of American soldiers near Malmedy during the Ardennes offensive and was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment. He served 10 years and was released. In 1957 he was convicted in a German court for his role in Hitler’s purge of the SA in 1934 and served another 20 months in prison on this charge. Josef Dietrich, aged 73, died on April 21 1966. Heinrich Himmler was born on October 7, 1900 in Munich, Germany to a conservative Catholic family. He served as an officer cadet in the Eleventh Bavarian Regiment at the end of World War I, though the war ended before he graduated. He studied agriculture at the Technical University in Munich, graduating in August 1922. In August 1923, he joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party), and shortly after, marched with other Nazi leaders in the Beer Hall Putsch as an attempt to overthrow the German government. On January 6, 1929, Himmler was appointed Reichsführer of the SS. He immediately began expanding the SS, …
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Offset lithographic poster printed in black and white on faded light brown paper with a white linen backing featuring pictures and captions of Waffen SS soldiers and officers. At the top is a line of large, bold, black text. Below are 6 captioned photographs of high ranking SS officers, top row: Sepp Dietrich, Heinrich Himmler, Paul Hausser; bottom row: Theodor Eicke, Felix Steiner, and Arthur Mülverstedt. On either side are columns of German text recounting the formation, armament, and duties of the Waffen SS. The bottom half has a centered title in bold text. Below are 13 captioned photographs arranged in 3 rows depicting the different branches in the field and the armament they utilize. At the bottom is a block of text encouraging people to sign up with the Waffen-SS. front, bottom left on linen, handwritten, pencil : 16/H front, bottom right on linen, handwritten, pencil : pII 485
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1941-01-01
has end date: 1941-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had subject: 437
has or had subject: 000181
has or had subject: 000108
has or had subject: 845
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn3733
is or was included in: us-005578-irn85614
record resource extent: overall: Height: 34.750 inches (88.265 cm) | Width: 25.250 inches (64.135 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: German recruitment poster for the Waffen SS featuring photographs of high ranking SS officers and soldiers participating in their wartime activities. The Waffen SS was the armed military division of the Schutzstaffel (SS), the Nazi paramilitary organization that was responsible for security, intelligence gathering and analysis, and enforcing Nazi racial policies. The SS controlled the concentration camp system and planned and coordinated the Final Solution. The SS was originally formed in 1925 to protect Hitler along with other Nazi leaders and provide security at political meetings. In 1929, Heinrich Himmler was appointed Reichsführer-SS (Reich Leader of the SS) and turned the organization into an elite corps based on visions of racial purity and absolute loyalty to Hitler. The Waffen SS was established in 1939 to strengthen the position of the SS relative to the army and German elites, eventually fielding more than twenty divisions and half a million men at its peak. Members of the Waffen SS were selected based on “racial” ancestry. Selected individuals were expected to have an Aryan Nordic lineage and volunteers were accepted from Germany, and later Norway, Denmark and Holland.
title: Waffen SS recruitment poster with multiple blocks of small text and photographs