The
Dragon 1/16 SS-Schutze is a
plastic model kit in the
Dragon Action Figures range. SS - two letters which are forever seared onto the history of the twentieth century. From a small cadre of 200 men charged with guarding Hitler at early Nazi rallies, the SS grew to a membership of millions. The SS (short for Schutzstaffel or Defense Squad) was actually comprised of a number of organizations, with various responsibilities:
the Allgemeine or General SS, composed of full- and part-time, inactive and honourary members; the Sicherheitsdienst or Security Division (SD), initially the Nazi party's intelligence-gathering wing, was later absorbed into the Geheime Staatspolitzei or State Security Police (Gestapo), which became responsible for internal state security. The SS was also put in charge of Germany's police. the Totenkopfverbande or Death's Head units, initially responsible for prisons, then the concentration and extermination camps; the Waffen-SS.
The Waffen-SS grew to a nominal strength of over 800,000 men in some 38 divisions by 1945. More significantly, it made up a quarter of Germany's tank troops and almost a third of its mechanized forces. Initially looked down upon by the professionals of the Heeres, they rose to become the German Army's "fire-brigade", committed as the spearhead of attack or the last line of defense. Romanticized by a few, vilified by most, the Waffen-SS is probably the most-studied military formation in the history of the twentieth century.
Manufacturer:
Dragon Model:
1623 SS-Schutze Scale: 1/16
