A Terrible Efficiency by Franklin G. Mixon

Author:Franklin G. Mixon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030257675
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Perquisites in Himmler’s SS

Salaries for rank-and-file members of the SS were generally low (Koehl 2012). As a consequence, the availability of perquisites and bonuses for meritorious service was critical to those at the top of the bureaucracy with regard to incentivizing efficient bureaucratic behavior. As with most things concerning the SS, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler controlled the sources of financial perquisites for members of that bureau. In 1936, Himmler created a system of special allowances for expenses and grants-in-aid for resolving outstanding loans and debt for SS members, each of which was supported by funds obtained by Himmler through negotiations with the Nazi Party Treasurer (Koehl 2012). These allowances and grants were also funded through private support from the Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft , which was a circle of German industrials that was founded in 1932 (Koehl 2012). Many of the industrials who joined the Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft , and paid the accompanying membership dues, “undoubtedly did so out of a desire to get a share of the government’s large contracts and many perks, and also to avoid any trouble with the SS” (Mustafa 2016: 191). As Koehl (2012) indicates, the funds paid by these business leaders were placed in the “Special Account R,” under the auspices of the Section Wirtschlaftliche Hilfe (i.e., Economic Aid).

Unlike some in the rank-and-file SS, concentration camp wardens and guards were paid salaries that were two to three times higher than those paid to workers elsewhere, thus enabling them to escape lower-economic-class backgrounds (d’Almeida 2011: 80). The men and women in these positions also augmented their income in part by expropriating prisoners’ belongings, while concentration camp wardens and other SS officials often employed servants and slave laborers in ways that improved their lifestyles (d’Almeida 2011: 80). Those nearer the top of the Nazi hierarchy led, as a result of job-related perquisites, lives of extraordinary luxury (d’Almeida 2011: 74). As d’Almeida (2011: 74–75) indicates:

Top-level [Nazi] dignitaries were not only provided with prestigious residences connected with their official positions, many had their own enormous private estates and second homes. Hitler … owned not only his chalet in Obersalzberg[, known as the Berghof,] but also large apartments in Berlin and Munich. Besides Karinhall, Göring also owned several homes in Berlin, Munich and Obersalzberg. [Hitler’s architect, Albert] Speer, too, had a chalet in Obersalzberg in addition to a country estate and a home in Berlin … By comparison, Himmler’s property portfolio was relatively modest, including a house in the capital’s leafy Dahlem district and a country house in Gmund in Upper Bavaria.

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