Free The Himmler's SS by Robert Ferguson Page A

members proper and trained at the Reichsschule-SS at Oberehnheim in Elsass, primarily for the communications branches of the Allgemeine-SS and Waffen-SS. All other female auxiliaries engaged by the SS, i.e. those who were not full SS members, were termed Kriegshelferinnen, or War Auxiliaries. Originally, the SS Oberabschnitte were responsible for recruiting SS Helferinnen, but in May 1944 that responsibility was transferred to the SS Hauptamt. Enrolment as an SS Helferin was on a voluntary basis. Official recruiting through newspaper advertisements, radio and cinema was forbidden, since careful selection was necessary. Close co-operation was maintained with the Reichsjugendführung and most of the recruiting was done through the Bund Deutscher Mädel or BDM, the female equivalent of the Hitler Youth. All women between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five were eligible to apply. Upon enrolment, the applicant was interviewed by the Senior SS and Police Commander of the Oberabschnitt in which she resided, in the presence of the BDM Liaison Officer, and a medical examination took place the same day. Next, the applicant signed a statement declaring that she had not observed any signs of pregnancy or serious illness, as well as a statement of her racial suitability. No individual could be accepted until a thorough investigation into her family background had been completed by the Sicherheitsdienst. The Reichsschule-SS had the task of training the successful applicants as teleprinter operators, telephonists and wireless operators. Instruction was also given in domestic science so that SS Helferinnen would be capable of assuming responsibility for SS nurseries and similar establishments if and when necessary. Upon satisfactory completion of the course, the girls were presented with SS rune insignia to be worn on the left breast of their uniform, and were assigned in groups to the various headquarters of the SS in Germany, France, Luxembourg, Holland, Poland and Russia. During 1943 alone, 422 SS Helferinnen were trained at the Reichsschule.
    The strict physical, mental and racial qualifications for entry into the SS meant that not all who desired to do so could become members. However, almost anyone who wished, for public or private reasons, to stand well with the new élite and who could afford to pay for the privilege were allowed to become Fördernde Mitglieder (FM), or Patron Members. The FM organisation developed as a fund-raising body during the mid-1920s, with Hitler himself holding FM membership no. 1. All Aryan Germans of both sexes were eligible to join, and NSDAP membership was not a necessary qualification. When accepted, each patron was presented with an FM membership book and badge, and bound himself or herself to pay a monthly subscription to SS funds. The contribution varied with the income of the member and could be as low as 1 Reichsmark. The money thus levied from bankers, industrialists, businessmen and shopkeepers strengthened the economic base of the SS, and at the same time the contacts secured in German society enlarged SS influence. The FM members themselves were promised the protection of the SS against ‘revolutionary tendencies’. In effect, the FM organisation became a sort of ‘old boys’ network’ through which members could secure business deals, promotion or employment, and in the Third Reich virtually replaced the outlawed Society of Freemasons. By 1935, there were 500,000 Fördernde Mitglieder and there were probably over 1 million in 1943. The practice of appointing selected members of the government or important public figures to high rank in the SS, as Ehrenführer or Honorary Officers, was a natural extension of the FM organisation. While these appointments had no functional significance, they bought for the SS even more extremely influential and well-placed allies who, once they had taken the SS oath in return for the right to wear the prestigious black uniform,