What does waffen stand for in waffen ss?

Answer 1

Waffen means weapons. Waffen-SS usually hyphenated was the armed militarized segment of the SS. Three of the top divisions were on a par with regular Army Armored divisions- but only Three- Liebstandarte, Das Reich, and Totenkopf. The Totenkopf- Death"s Head was a full-up Panzer division and was called in in such things as the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. It should be understood not all SS-men were of the Waffen-SS in fact there were Allgemeine ( generalized) SS personnel who were among usual police tasks as traffic control, security around sporting events such as the Olympics, photographers, cryptographers, etc. These were not strictly speaking Waffen-SS as these were unarmed jobs- as many police agencies have and need.

Answer

In the sense that it is used in 'Waffen SS', the word 'waffen' simply means 'armed'. So, 'Waffen SS' means 'Armed SS'.

Answer 2

The term, Waffen-SS, means 'armed SS'. The Waffen-SS was a large paramilitary organisation under the strategic and tactical command of the Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces) but under the disciplinary command of the SS.

The name came into use during the opening months of World War Two, prior to which it was made up of formations of the Leibstandarde-SS 'Adolf Hitler', the SS-Verfugungstruppe, and SS-Totenkopfverbande.

Because the Wehrmacht had priority over recruiting, the Waffen-SS was only able to expand by recruiting foreign volunteers from Western and Eastern Europe. Accordingly, as the war progressed, Waffen-SS divisions were formed from western and eastern European volunteers in addition to existing German divisions. Non-German members of the Waffen-SS were not able to become members of the SS, and their Divisions were therefore termed 'Division der SS' or 'Freiwilligen Division der SS', never'SS Division'.

Answer 3

The Waffen-SS was the combat branch of the SS or security police. They were the best equipped combat troops of the German army.