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bureaucracy, he was forced to sanction the growth of an enormous and complex network of offices and staff.
    Within the framework of the NSDAP, the biggest obstacle in the way of expansion of the SS was the SA, of which it was still nominally a subordinate formation. By bringing in a number of former military and Free Corps comrades as regional leaders, Pfeffer von Salomon had given Hitler what he had demanded back in 1926: a more controllable and disciplined SA that was still large enough to project the NSDAP’s “strength” on the streets. However, in return, Pfeffer von Salomon had demanded authority over the nascent SS. When he had still been Heiden’s deputy, Himmler had attempted to assert the independence of the SS from the SA, but on 12 April 1929 the following order was issued from SA headquarters: “The SS is a special formation of the SA. The basic regulations of the SA are thus valid for the SS, provided no special instruction has been enacted.” 5
    The only solution seemed to be to build up the SS’s strength through a recruitment drive. By the end of 1929, Himmler, almost single-handedly, had got membership up to the thousand mark; and the following month, he wrote to his old colleague Röhm, with whom he had remained in correspondence during Röhm’s absence in South America, to say that he expected to reach two thousand by the end of April. 6
    Running in parallel with this expansion was a process of organisational restructuring that would continue throughout the SS’s existence. Up to this point, each individual protection squad had been commanded by an “officer” who reported directly to the National Leader. With no intermediate ranks or organisational strata, each unit should, in theory, have received equal attention from the National Leader. However, this became impossible as the organisation grew, so, from August 1929, the SS began to ape the organisational model of the SA. The smallest unit became the
Schar
(squad), which comprisedapproximately eight men and roughly corresponded to a military section. This squad was commanded by a
Scharführer
(squad leader)—equivalent to an NCO. Three squads formed a
Trupp
(troop) of between twenty and sixty men—equivalent to a military platoon. This was commanded by a
Truppführer
(troop leader). Three troops then formed a
Sturm
(company), which was commanded by the lowest “officer” rank:
Sturmführer
(company leader). Three companies constituted a
Sturmbann
(battalion), which was led by a
Sturmbannführer
(battalion leader). Three or four battalions formed a
Standarte
(regiment), which was commanded by a
Standartenführer
(regimental leader). Two or more regiments formed an
Untergruppe
(sub-group)—later renamed a
Brigade
(brigade) and then an
Abschnitt
(division)—which was commanded by an
Oberführer
(senior leader). Several sub-groups constituted a
Gruppe
(group). *
    To help him implement all of this, in 1930 Himmler acquired a business manager, a treasurer and an adjutant in the shape of Josias Erbprinz zu Waldeck-Pyrmont.
    Waldeck-Pyrmont was born in 1896—the son and heir of the ruler of the principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont. He was also a nephew of the Dutch queen Emma and was related by marriage to the British royal family. He served as an infantry officer in the First World War and then studied agriculture before taking over the management of his family estates. He joined the NSDAP in November 1929 and the SS—as one of Himmler’s earliest aristocratic recruits—in March 1930. In some respects, this was a coup for Himmler: he was anxious to promote the notion that the SS constituted an elite within both the movement and the Germanic race as a whole, and what better way to dothis, in class-conscious Germany, than by the recruitment of members of the hereditary nobility? Within a month of joining the SS, Waldeck-Pyrmont was promoted to the rank of battalion leader; and within two months he was a regimental leader and adjutant of the