Paul Hausser, SS-Oberstgruppenführer, born October 7, 1880 in Brandenburg an der Havel, and commander of the 2nd SS Division “Das Reich”, commander SS Panzer Corps, commander 7th Army, commander Army Group G, winner of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, author of Soldiers Like Any Other, died on December 21, 1972 in Ludwigsburg, said on the distinction between the Waffen-SS and concentration camp personnel:
“The guards of the concentration camps and the personnel in the command did not belong to the Waffen-SS. Only in the course of the war were these units designated as Waffen-SS in order to release them from military service and give them freedom to carry out their police duties. The members of the Waffen-SS considered this measure, which they learned of only after the war, a deliberate deception on the part of Himmler. We did not have anything to do with the men of the concentration camps and the guard personnel.”
Paul Hausser is buried in Munich’s Waldfriedhof. (2000 Quotations from Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich)
Note: Based on data in The Camp Men, Hausser was distorting the truth. Over 43% of all SS officers that served in the concentration camps also served in the Waffen-SS combat units during the war.
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Hans Loritz, SS-Oberführer, born December 21, 1895 in Augsburg, commandant at Papenburg, Esterwegen, Dachau and Sachsenhausen concentration camps, winner of the War Service Cross 1st Class, committed suicide January 31, 1946, on financial irregularities at Esterwegen:
“It is not fair. Such things can happen. No one ever taught us how to keep proper accounts.” (2,000 Quotes From Hitler’s 1,000-Year Reich)