Paul Hausser

Paul Hausser was the highest-ranking officer of the Waffen SS, an Oberstgruppenfuehrer and. Coming to the SS from long service and retirement in the prior Army, after World War II, he fought a campaign to consider the Waffen SS to be a regular combat organization rather than part of the criminal conspiracy that the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg) had adjudged the overall Schutzstaffel. While he testified at the tribunal, he himself was not charged with war crimes other than SS membership.

In his Nuremberg testimony, Hauser agreed the matter could be confusing. These various branches of the organization of Heinrich Himmler unfortunately wore the same uniform, though they had different insignia. The only thing they had in common was their chief, Heinrich Himmler. The various branches were completely separate from each other even before the war. This separation was intensified more and more during the war. The units of the Waffen-SS were under the command of the Army authorities. The other branches, SD, Police, et cetera, were subordinate to Himmler.