A directory of the name and rank of every member that ever belonged to the SS is set to go on sale. The directory, which was stolen by a British spy from the Nazis, is expected to make thousands of pounds at auction. Published in 1938, the 425 page book contains 30,000 names, including Heinrich Himmler, Hitler’s right-hand man and head of the SS, who is listed at number 1. It will go to auction next month in Shropshire.
The SS, or Schutzstaffel, was a major parliamentary organisation under Hitler and the Nazi Party. Established at the end of 1920, it was built upon Nazi ideology and was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity between 1939 and 1945, with Himmler at its lead. It is closely associated with the Nazi concentration camp system and was declared a criminal organisation by the International Military Tribunal, and banned in Germany after 1945.