.The orginis of the 1st SS LAH Division can be dated back to the early 1920's when Hitler found it neccessary to raise a body gaurd detachemt to counter any threats made upon him. The tiny unit was originally formed with only eight men and was commanded by Julius Schreck and Joseph Berchtold it was designated the Stabswache (Staff Guard). Despite the fact that it was under SA control the guards of the Stabswache were issued uniforms that showed their difference from the SA . Schreck resurrected the use of the Totenkopf (death skull) as their insignia, which had been a symbol used by various élite forces throughout the Prussian kingdom and the later German Empire.
Eventually the formation was renamed Strossstupp Adolf Hitler but was disbanded soon after Hitlers imprisonment for the beer hall putsch. Upon his release in 1924 Hitler ordered the reformation of the body gaurd unit under the name Stabswache and it's own control. It was renamed the Schutzstaffel in 1925 and was now known as the SS. In 1933 when Hitler became Chancelor of Germany the SS had grown to a 50,000 man formation so it was decided to form the elite SS Body Gaurd unit from a cadre of hand picked members. This formation was to become Hitlers personal body gaurd unit , commanded by Sepp Deitrich (left) who hand picked 120 of the men forming the SS-Stabswache Berlin. Later that same year it was renamed SS-Sonderkommando Zossen, a second unit of 120 men was also formed named SS-Sonderkommando Jüterbog . Both units where merged back into the SS-Sonderkommando Berlin and on the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch its members swore personal allegiance to Hitler recieveing the name Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler.
In 1934 Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler ordered the unit to be renamed Leibstanbdarte SS Adolf Hitler, the LSSAH. In the following years the LSSAH was to prove its worth and loyalty in the arrest of and execution of Ernst Röhm (left), the Stabschef-SA. Hitler decided that Röhm and his SA where becominng to powerful and popular. So he decided to eliminate the threat by using his elite units to arrest all SA members loyal to Röhm.
On 30 June after ordering all SA leaders to attend a meeting at the Hanselbauer Hotel in Bad Wiessee, near Munich, Hitler joined Sepp Dietrich and a unit from the Leibstandarte and travelled to Bad Wiessee to personally arrest Röhm, his subsiquent execution follwed shortly after. In what the Nazis called the Röhm Putsch, was to be for ever known as the Night of the Long Knives, in totall no less than177 individuals loyal to Röhm and the SAwhere executed.
The actions of the LSSAH and Göring's unit had succeeded in effectively destroying the leadership of the SA and removing the threat to Hitler's power earning them a place in Nazi leadership. In recognition of their actions, both the LSSAH and the Landespolizeigruppe General Göring were expanded to regimental size and motorised. In addition, the SS was finally removed from overall SA control.
As the number of SS recruits began to grow, the LSSAH became the epitamy of Hitler's ideal Aryan soldier. Strict recruitment regulations where imposed on the recruits only those deemed sufficiently Aryan, physically fit and fervent National Socialists, would be admitted.
The orginis of the 1st SS LAH Division can be dated back to the early 1920's when Hitler found it neccessary to raise a body gaurd detachemt to counter any threats made upon him. The tiny unit was originally formed with only eight men and was commanded by Julius Schreck and Joseph Berchtold it was designated the Stabswache (Staff Guard). Despite the fact that it was under SA control the guards of the Stabswache were issued uniforms that showed their difference from the SA . Schreck resurrected the use of the Totenkopf (death skull) as their insignia, which had been a symbol used by various élite forces throughout the Prussian kingdom and the later German Empire.
Eventually the formation was renamed Strossstupp Adolf Hitler but was disbanded soon after Hitlers imprisonment for the beer hall putsch. Upon his release in 1924 Hitler ordered the reformation of the body gaurd unit under the name Stabswache and it's own control. It was renamed the Schutzstaffel in 1925 and was now known as the SS. In 1933 when Hitler became Chancelor of Germany the SS had grown to a 50,000 man formation so it was decided to form the elite SS Body Gaurd unit from a cadre of hand picked members. This formation was to become Hitlers personal body gaurd unit , commanded by Sepp Deitrich (left) who hand picked 120 of the men forming the SS-Stabswache Berlin. Later that same year it was renamed SS-Sonderkommando Zossen, a second unit of 120 men was also formed named SS-Sonderkommando Jüterbog . Both units where merged back into the SS-Sonderkommando Berlin and on the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch its members swore personal allegiance to Hitler recieveing the name Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler.
In 1934 Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler ordered the unit to be renamed Leibstanbdarte SS Adolf Hitler, the LSSAH. In the following years the LSSAH was to prove its worth and loyalty in the arrest of and execution of Ernst Röhm (left), the Stabschef-SA. Hitler decided that Röhm and his SA where becominng to powerful and popular. So he decided to eliminate the threat by using his elite units to arrest all SA members loyal to Röhm. 