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The Schutzstaffel

Unsere Ehre heisst Treue (Our Honour is named Loyalty)

 

The SS is split into two main divisions: the Reichs-SS, which is the elite group of the Party, made up of the most strict adherents to the Reich cause, and is dedicated to serving the security of the Reich in various ways; and the Waffen-SS, which is the organisation's military arm. Rupert Delatz, the Reichsführer-SS has direct command of the Reichs-SS, which has its administrative headquarters at Hradcany Castle, in southern Berlin; and is official Commander-in-Chief of the Waffen-SS, although this latter division's day-to-day command and operations are autonomous.

The two halves of the organisation are closely related, following the same rank and officer structure, and both include a large number of men and women who grew up within the Lebensborn Eingetragener Verein. Cadets to both branches swear the same oath of allegiance on graduation:

I swear to Wilhelm König, as Kaiser of the Greater Reich, and Herzog Rupert Delatz, as its Protector,
Loyalty and Bravery. I vow to Thee and to the superiors whom Thou shalt appoint, Obedience unto Death.
May the gods help me.

An older version of the oath, which is still sometimes used, has the final line "So help me God".

For the most part, the SS are devoted to the Kaiser, the Reichsführer-SS, their Kameraden and the State (not necessarily in that order), and will carry out their orders without any question and at any cost, including the deportation or incarceration of inhabitants of conquered territories, the enslavement of foreigners for labour, the illegal use of prisoners and waging an aggressive war. The Schutzstaffel has its own officer training centre (the SS-Junkerschule) at Bad Tölz, near Bremen, which is completely autonomous from the Wehrmacht military academy. In addition, there is an SS-specific, invitation-only mage school within the SS-Schule Haus in the grounds of the Wewelsburg, the Order Castle of the Knights of the SS and spiritual home of the Schutzstaffel in general, and the Knights in particular. The SS, as a whole, is completely autonomous from the regular Reich Armed Forces, although it does have the right to investigate members of the military if it deems it necessary.

The Reichs-SS

The Reichs-SS is split into three main areas: the SS-Hauptamt comprises the administration, operations and legal aspects of the SS; the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office or RSHA), deals with the police and security functions; and the Ahnenerbe Forschungs und Lehrgemeinschaft is concerned with the racial, genealogical and mystical elements of the organisation. Below the general banner of the Reichs-SS, the organisation is split into a number of departments and subdivisions.

The administration departments within the SS-Hauptamt deal with the day-to-day running of the whole organisation, including everything from personnel matters and records, to medical and healthcare provision, to administration of the Disziplinarstraf- und Beschwerdeordnung der SS (the SS disciplinary code). The equipment and personnel requirements for both SS divisions are handled by the SS Operations Main Office at Hradcany Castle, rather than the Wehrmacht quartermasters.

Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA)

Reich Security Main Office

The duties of the RSHA involve the performance of some police functions (which are mainly handled by the semi-military Kripo and the Orpo), administration of the new Identity Magic system, which is being brought in around the Reich, and some specific security garrison and protection work at key installations and facilities (including all Reich Embassies outside the Fatherland), as well as participation in the suppression and extermination of all internal opponents of the regime, extending the regime beyond the borders of the Fatherland and Magica Superior, and participation in a number of activities designed to secure a hold over those territories and populations which, through military conquest, come under Reich domination.

There is a close collaboration between the SS, the SD, the Gestapo, the Einsatzgruppen and the Forstapo, but there is little doubt who is in charge of the operation as a whole.The Reichsführer-SS also appoints the Reichs-SS representative to the Cabinet (a position currently occupied by Brigadeführer Artur Dedrick), who acts as his eyes and ears within the government.

Amt 4: The Security Police - Sicherheitsdienst (the SD, or Sipo)

Commanded by the Oberstgruppenführer-SD, but overseen by the Reichsführer-SS, this body is the main intelligence gathering network within the Reich lands, and also has responsibility for counter-intelligence and certain covert operations. Its task is to obtain secret information concerning the actual and potential enemies of the Reich, so that appropriate action can be taken to destroy or neutralise opposition. It achieves this through an organisation of agents and informants operating out of various SD regional offices established throughout the Reich and the Aussenhandel Shadows, as well as staging operations through which the security of the Reich can be enhanced. It also monitors the loyalty of State officials. It is also the department responsible for administering and policing the Identity Magic system.

The SD is very much an agency of the Imperial Council, and the RSHA itself whereas the Gestapo is an organisation whose loyalty is at least in part to the Reichstag and the wider State, although the majority of its funding is courtesy of SS Amt 2.

Oberstgruppenführer-SD Tristan Heydrich, KSS (Winter Circle),
Chef der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (CSSD)

Tristan Heydrich has been a loyal servant of the Reich for many years, initially serving with distinction in the Auslands-Heer, attaining the rank of Generalmajor, but was invited to move across to the SS in RY085. Herzog Rupert introduced him to Berlin over a century and a half ago, and yet he does not appear to have aged significantly over that time. He served as second in command of the SD for fifteen years, and was strongly involved in the day-to-day running of that organisation. As at the Spring Equinox, RY153, he was appointed CSSD, replacing Andreas Delatz.

Heydrich is a tall man, standing around 6'2" and has the build of an athlete. He is a skilled fencer and successful long-distance runner, and like Herzog Delatz, enjoys flying and hunting, as well as music (he is a noted violinist). He is married to Veronika, who holds a position within the Reich Chancellery, and they have two adult children: a son, Markus, a Standartenführer in the Waffen-SS, who is married with children of his own; and an unmarried daughter, Elise, who is Governor of the Reichsbank. He holds the Uradel title of Landgraf von Halle, and has been an Knight of the SS since RY093.

Gruppenführer Philip Metz

Metz has recently transferred into the SD from the Ahnenerbe, where he was previously in charge of the Ahnenerbe department dealing with new and recently located technology. He was promoted to his current rank, and has been placed in charge of the implementation of the Identity Magic system.

Amt 5: The Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo)

The Geheime Staatspolizei is the official State secret police force within the Reich. Its role is to investigate and combat "all tendencies dangerous to the State", with authority to investigate treason, espionage (in conjunction with the SD) and sabotage cases, and cases of criminal attacks on the Reich. It also has the power to invoke "protective custody" - habeas corpus does not exist within the Reich - allowing it to imprison people without judicial proceedings, often in concentration camps. Gestapo officers are often found on the front-line worlds in the wars with Sable and other enemies of the Reich.

Obergruppenführer-SD Diederick Schneider, KSS (Winter Circle)

Schneider is the son of Herzog Hans Schneider, brother of Wilhelm von Frankfurt (the former Grossherzog before his death in a zeppelin accident some years ago), and his wife Aster. Both his parents are serving SS officers, his father in the Waffen-SS and his mother in the Reichs-SS, although she did spend a time in Sable custody after a failed mission. He is Talented and studied magic at Berlin Mage College, before going to Bad Tölz. Then, after graduating from officer training at the top of his class, he interned with several departments, as well as furthered his magical studies, before discovering a flair for intelligence work. He then spent some years as a field agent, before returning to Berlin when he was appointed as department head with responsibility for the Holstein Group.

Once back in Berlin, he proved his skill as an analyst, as well as an agent, and Andreas Delatz was willing to acknowledge his abilities by recommending him for promotion. He was appointed head of Amt 7 in RY137 on the death of his predecessor, Fritz Sonnenfeld, and was admitted as a Member of the Order of the Knights of the SS around the same time. He was made a Companion in RY144, as well as being promoted to Gruppenführer, and became a full Knight of the SS in RY151. He and Tristan Heydrich have a decent working relationship, and it was Heydrich who recommended that he be promoted to Obergruppenführer, which was put through at the beginning of RY154. His promotion to become head of Amt 5 was put through in late-June RY154.

Schneider is married to Marizia, a mid-level civil servant, and they have a young daughter and a new-born son.

Amt 6: The Non-Military Police Forces

Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) - Reichspolizeidirektor Mahael von Klaus

This is the remnant of the original Reich regular police force, and maintains its original police uniforms, rather than SS ones. It has its own commanding officer and recruits its own people, but is technically under the command of the RSHA. Orpo officers deal with day-to-day policing: picking up drunks, traffic violations, fighting fires, patrolling the transport system, answering emergency calls, etc, although more serious crimes are then referred upwards to the Kripo. Reichspolizeidirektor von Klaus also holds the SS rank of Brigadeführer.

The Kriminalpolizei (Kripo) - Reichskriminaldirektor Beata Dietrich

The Kripo is the higher ranking of the two more traditional police forces which still exist within the Reich, and many of its operative are plain clothes, rather than uniformed. It deals with crimes such as burglary, bank robberies, violent assaults, fraud, rape and murder. Its investigators hold rank in the SS - Obersturmführer, Hauptsturmführer or Sturmbannführer - in conjunction with their more usual ranks of Kriminalassistent, Kriminalinspektor, Kriminalkommissar, etc. Its commander, Beata Dietrich, is one of the currently highest-ranked woman in the RSHA, holding the rank of Gruppenführer as well as her police title.

Amt 7: The Auslands-SD (External Intelligence)

While the Auslands-SD is technically a branch of the Main SD, and its commander is nominal second in command of the SD overall, it has specific responsibilities for external intelligence gathering and operations, and has a certain degree of autonomy from the internal security police. The previous incumbent, Diederick Schneider was moved to become Head of the Gestapo in late-June RY154, after his predecessor in that position was killed in a terrorist incident.

Oberstgruppenführer Jorge von Raeder, Graf von Klieburg, KSS (Winter Circle)

Von Raeder is one of the Reich High Nobility titleholders. His father was career Wehrmacht, finally retiring at the rank of Generalmajor in the Heimat-Heer, while his mother was Lebensborn. This unusual paring was authorised by the Imperial Council. Von Raeder was brought up on the family estates and despite having been discovered as Talented at school, opted to follow the family tradition and do his State Service in the military at eighteen, before undertaking any further education. He served with the Wehrmacht for five years, and then went to the Armed Forces Mage College, where he excelled and was noted for great things. He passed his Bachelors very quickly, and then chose to re-enlist in the Reich armed forces, this time breaking with family tradition to become a member of the Waffen-SS.

He studied for both his Masters and Doctorate on release from his military duties, including picking up the basics in the magical disciplines not covered in his original course, and is now one of the best defensive mages in the Reich. On active service he specialised in small unit and covert operations, before being trained as an independent operator working in a variety of geographies. He is a highly decorated officer, holding the Order of the Red Eagle from the Kaiser. He spent a while on the personal staff of the RFSS before undertaking a period of detached duty in the Empire of Eboracum. He was recalled to active duty within the Fatherland in May RY154, and was made a Knight of the SS Winter Circle in June RY154. With his new rank and change of duty station, he now spends more of his time in the Pattern-Realm of Sanguine than in the Reich itself. He is married to Princess Elanor of Sable and they have three children.

Amt 8: The Formannehmen Staatspolizei (Forstapo)

This branch of the RSHA is under the direct control of Rupert Delatz, through his deputy Dominik Gerlinde. Its purpose is to identify shape shifters within the Reich, the Aussenhandel and in the disputed territories both on Magica Superior and out in Shadow, such that they can be watched and imprisoned, if necessary, as threats to the State. Its members are specially trained in techniques for capturing, imprisoning and dealing with shape shifters. Rumour has it that it is the only RSHA organisation which knowingly employs any shape shifters, on the theory of what better way to beat your enemy than to know the way it thinks.

Wthin the last few years, the Forstapo's brief has been extended to include regulation and registration of admitted shape shifters within the Reich proper, including shape shifting children who are now identified young and brought up within the Lebensborn system.

Oberstgruppenführer Dominik Gerlinde, KSS (Winter Circle)

Like many of the senior SS commanders, Dominik Gerlinde was primarily brought up within the Lebensborn system. There was a brief period in his youth when he lived elsewhere, but he returned to the Bremen Lebensborn Centre before his tenth birthday and remained there for the rest of his childhood. He did his State Service with the SS before going to university to study medicine, where he graduated near the top of his year. He continued his training at the SS medical facility attached to the Waffen-SS officer training centre at Bad Tölz. However, after he fully qualified as a doctor, he returned to the front lines, working with the Forstapo, and quickly came to the attention of its then-commander of the Forstapo, Johan Hartwin (now deceased).

He was appointed general commanding in RY118, and was made a Knight of the SS in RY125. In December RY153 he was given the Lower Nobility title of Fürst von Wardenburg, with lands in the province of Bremen, in recognition of services to the Fatherland. Towards the end of the same month he was seriously injured in an assassination attempt, but survived and initially returned to duty at reduced rank. However, he was restored to his previous rank at the end of June RY154. He is known to hate Jorge von Raeder with a passion.

Obergruppenführer Josef Linz, KSS (Summer Circle)

Operational command of the Forstapo devolved to Gerlinde's effective second-in-command, Josef Linz, during his superior's convalescence, and given the competence he displayed during that period, he has now been permanently reassigned to Berlin from his previous position as as head of the Forstapo in the Bayern Group of the Aussenhandel der Reichsverband. He is a few years younger than his commander, and the younger of twins, his elder brother being Cornelius. He is strongly Talented, and while he completed his State Service with the Auslands-Heer, after studying for his Bachelors in Magic at the Armed Forces Mage College, he was invited to join the SS. He served with the Waffen-SS for some time, before doing his Masters at the SS-Schule Haus, and then transferred across to the Forstapo. He later achieved his Doctorate, with a speciality in healing magic and genetics, and worked in the Forstapo medical facility for a while before returning to active duty in the field. He was honoured as one of the Summer Circle Knights of the SS with the establishment of that group.

Amt 9: The Arcane Defence Group

The Arcane Defence Group (ADG) was the brainchild of a young Sturmbannführer in the Gestapo by the name of Hans Luitpold, and was established about fifteen years ago under the auspices of the Gestapo. After a series of security problems in a number of locations, Luitpold proposed a central group of key defensive mages to co-ordinate arcane defences at important Gestapo facilities across Reich territory, to maintain a consistent high standard of arcane defences. As a reward for commenting on the subject, he was ordered to form such a group and put his money where his mouth is.

The early group was solely involved with facilities in Berlin, mainly police offices and the odd prison, but once the merits of the approach were demonstrated, its purview was extended first across the Fatherland, and into the Sudetenland, and the began to be incorporated into other containment facilities, as well as police stations and prisons. The group specialises in co-ordinating large-scale and defensive security magic, often incorporating ritual elements, and maintaining a high and consistent standard of arcane protection across the Reich. It includes a number of ex-Forstapo personnel, who have brought in for their expertise in containment . The methods developed by the group weren't particularly quick to implement, but by RY148, it had been employed in all Reich territory on Magica Superior, and began to be rolled out across the Aussenhandel der Reichsverband key worlds.

Offices have now been established on all AvR key worlds, each with a local district chief reporting directly to Berlin, and all police, penal and containment facilities on those five key worlds are now protected by the ADG methods and personnel. The process of rolling the system out across the other AvR worlds is in process. Each facility has a local co-ordinator who has been taught how to maintain the ADG protections on a day to day basis, but can expect to be visited by a full ADG member at least once every three months for more intensive refreshment and maintenance of the defences.

The ADG was only given status as a full department of the RSHA at the beginning of RY154, when Luitpold was also promoted to his current rank.

Gruppenführer Hans Luitpold

Hans Luitpold is a comparatively young officer with a flair for defensive magic and systems. Born in RY102, he is the Lebensborn son of former Gestapo chief Maximillien Hauer. Like his father, he was discovered to be Talented relatively young, and went to Berlin Mage College, where he demonstrated a flair for defensive magic. He joined the SS after graduating with his Bachelors, interning with several departments before settling on the Gestapo. He later took his magical studies further on release from active duty and now holds a Doctorate in Defensive Magic, with a speciality in Security Magic. He is based out of Berlin where he lives in the SS Village. He is currently unmarried.

Amt 10: The Ahnenerbe Forschungs und Lehrgemeinschaft

The Ancestral Heritage Division is, in many ways, the least understood department of the Reichs-SS. In fact, its detractors have been known to comment (very quietly) that the main purpose for its existence is for the amusement of the Reichsführer-SS, although while this might be true of certain areas of it, it certainly isn't true of the whole. It receives most of its funding from the SS coffers and therefore counts as a full department of the Reichs-SS. Its has several branches, including the Ancient Mysteries section, whose main purpose is to define the Reich's place in the historical scheme of things, often funding archaeological or exploratory expeditions, as well as pursuing studies of an anthropological, magical or occult nature; administration and operation of the Lebensborn Eingetragener Verein; operation of the Race and Settlement Office; and overseeing such areas as the SS medical and eugenics programmes. It is the only department of the Reichs-SS which has always been commanded by a woman.

Brigadeführer Maria von Braun, KSS

After the events of Summer Solstice, RY154, when her father was killed, Marin Adler resigned as commanding officer of the Ahnenerbe to take up her new rank as Graffin von Leipzig, to be replaced by Maria von Braun. Maria was born in May RY063, and was the youngest child of the former Grossherzog von Prague, Erwin, who died in RY107. She studied magic at Berlin Mage College, before doing voluntary State Service with the Reichs-SS. She interned with a number of departments, before settling on the Ahnenerbe as her department of choice. She worked on a number of archaeological digs, and quickly proved to have a flair at deciphering the purpose of unusual technologies, as well has having a strong interest in racial theory. She also furthered her magical studies at the SS-Schule Haus, and gained a doctorate with a speciality in investigative magic in RY100. She moved from being a field agent in RY130, and has been based at Ahnenerbe headquarters since, working closely with first Silke von Halle and later with Marin Adler. She became a Companion of the Order of the Knights of the SS in RY132.

Due to the importance of the Wewelsburg to the SS, and also the Ahnenerbe, she is aware that she needs to forge close ties with the castle's new Kommandant, Standartenführer Sigmund Jakob, KSS (Summer Circle), who was given the position after his predecessor, Sophia Lange, died in the terrorist incident on the Summer Solstice RY154.