SS Leibstandarte

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Hugo Musshoff of the Leibstandarte with his identical twin brother during the "happy times" in Berlin. Raised in a strict Catholic boarding school, they wanted to become priests. After two weeks in the seminary, they quit because of the long hours on their knees praying. They were both inducted into the SS in 1936 after quitting the Catholic seminary and serving six months in the State Work Service program(RAD). Both were honor guards when Hitler met with Prime minister Chamberlin. Chamberlin's appeasement should be a lesson for us today. All of these men heard those hollow words declared by Chamberlin, "Peace in Our Time." Hugo's brother later left the church to become an SS officer and then fell in France against the Americans in 1944. Hugo would not leave the church and stayed a sergeant. He told me, that not leaving the church was his salvation. While leading a counterattack, he was wounded in the stomach and captured in Russia in 1944. He was finally released from a Soviet prison camp in 1955. He was amazed that I wanted to hear his stories. Not many people in Germany will listen to the old SS men. A good but broken man. He has since passed.

Here Hugo is seated in the middle. This is Hitler's balcony at Berchtesgarden. Hugo said when Hitler was gone, the guards would enjoy the facilities. The SS man on the far right was the first casualty in Poland. Only Hugo and the man seated second to left survived the war.

Hugo's unit, SS men in Russia. Note the camo smocks and also the burp gun magazines.

The Russian mud.

The formation makes me think that they are close to making a push. Note, they are all SS, except the man in black is a tank officer.