Schutzstaffel (often abbreviated as SS) was a major paramilitary organization under Nazi Germany, formed in 1925 and active until 1945. It functioned as a security and military force, ideological enforcer, and played a central role in war crimes and the Holocaust. The term, borrowed from German, combines the words for 'protection' or 'defense' (Schutz) and 'section' or 'staff' (Staffel).
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