Totenkopfverbände

The Totenkopfverbände were elite units within Nazi Germany's Schutzstaffel (SS) during World War II, primarily responsible for running concentration camps and executing mass killings. Their name, meaning "Death's Head Units," reflects their association with the skull insignia and their role in implementing the Holocaust. They operated with brutal efficiency, overseeing the imprisonment, forced labor, and extermination of millions of Jews, Roma, political opponents, and others deemed undesirable by the Nazi regime. These units played a central role in carrying out some of the most heinous crimes committed during the Holocaust.