Editing Allgemeine SS (section)

==Early years==
[[Adolf Hitler]] in 1925 ordered [[Julius Schreck]] to organise the formation of a new bodyguard unit, the ''Schutzkommando'' ("Protection Command").{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=26}} Hitler wanted a small group of tough ex-soldiers like Schreck, who would be loyal to him. The unit included old ''[[Stoßtrupp-Hitler|Stoßtrupp]]'' members like [[Emil Maurice]] and [[Erhard Heiden]].{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=16, 26}}{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=10, 11}} The unit made its first public appearance on 4 April 1925. That same year, the ''Schutzkommando'' was expanded to a national level. It was also successively renamed the ''Sturmstaffel'' ("Storm Squadron") and then finally the ''[[Schutzstaffel]]'' ("Protection Squadron"; SS) on 9 November 1925.{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=26, 27, 29}} The SS was subordinated to the [[Sturmabteilung|SA]] and thus a subunit of the SA and the NSDAP. It was considered to be an elite organization by both party members and the general population.

The main task of the SS was the personal protection of the [[Führer]] of the [[Nazi Party]], Adolf Hitler. In 1925 the SS had only 200 active members and in 1926, it ended the year with the same number.{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=16}}{{sfn|Weale|2012|p=32}} There were 280 members in 1928 as the SS continued to struggle under the SA.{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=32, 33}} After [[Heinrich Himmler]] took over the SS in January 1929, he worked to separate the SS from the SA.{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=45–47}} By December 1929, the number of SS members had grown to 1,000.{{sfn|Weale|2012|p=49}} Himmler began to systematically develop and expand the SS with stricter requirements for members as well as a general purge of SS members who were identified as drunkards, criminals, or otherwise undesirable for service in the SS. Himmler's ultimate aim was to turn the SS into the most powerful organization in Germany and most influential branch of the party.{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=45–47, 300–305}} By 1930 Himmler had persuaded Hitler to run the SS as a separate organisation, although it was officially still subordinate to the SA.{{sfn|Evans|2003|pp=228–229}}