Schutzstaffel

American  

[shoots-shtah-fuhl] / ˈʃʊtsˌʃtɑ fəl /

noun

German.

1. an elite military unit of the Nazi party that served as Hitler's bodyguard and as a special police force. SS

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Schutzstaffel British  

/ ˈʃʊtsʃtafəl /

noun

1. See SS

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Usage

What was the Schutzstaffel? The Schutzstaffel, abbreviated to SS, was a Nazi military unit that originally served as Adolf Hitler’s bodyguards. The Schutzstaffel had many responsibilities, including managing the concentration camps and serving as elite military units.The Schutzstaffel was created by Adolf Hitler, the ruler of Germany from 1933 to 1945. The Schutzstaffel supervised the German concentration camps and secret police (the Gestapo) and were directly responsible for many other atrocities committed during World War II. Because of this, the Schutzstaffel is often remembered as the most powerful and notorious division of the Nazi party.

Etymology

Origin of Schutzstaffel

Literally, “defense echelon”

Example Sentences

The SS, or Schutzstaffel, were a Nazi paramilitary group active in the 1930s and 1940s.

From BBC

“Like the Russian pro-invasion Z, the infamous SS symbol used by the Nazi Schutzstaffel — two ancient runes that resemble lightning bolts—also stands for victory,” he wrote at the time.

From Washington Times

To enforce his absolute authority as the leader, or Führer, of the Nazi regime, Hitler created his own private army composed of fanatical Nazis called the Schutzstaffel, or SS.

From Literature

Officers from the Schutzstaffel – the Nazi paramilitary organization also known as the SS – ordered the women who Mengele spared to strip naked so they could shave and shear their head and body hair.

From The Guardian

Jakiw Palij, a former member of the Hitler’s Schutzstaffel, or SS, arrived in Germany on Tuesday, 14 years after the federal government stripped him of citizenship.

From New York Times