Nazi elite corps (German Schutz-Staffel
`protective squadron') established 1925.
Under Himmler its 500,000 membership included
the full-time Waffen-SS (armed SS), which
fought in World War II, and spare-time
members. The SS performed state police duties
and was brutal in its treatment of the Jews
and others in the concentration camps and
occupied territories. It was condemned at the
Nuremberg Trials of war criminals.