Schutzstaffel

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/schutzstaffel

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the full german name?Schutzstaffel
2. What is the literal translation?Protection Squadron
3. What was the Schutzstaffel (SS)?The SS was a secret group that started as a small guard team for Nazi Party meetings and grew into a powerful organization that carried out many bad acts during World War II.
4. Who led the SS and how did it change?Heinrich Himmler became the leader in 1925 and turned the SS from a small guard unit into a large, loyal force that followed strict Nazi ideas.

Weimar Republic: The democratic government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, preceding the Nazi era.
Genocide: The deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.
Totalitarianism: A system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.