Only weeks after the Night of the Long Knives, 87-year-old President Hindenburg died. This meant that Adolf Hitler combined the titles President and Hitler, to call himself 'Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor'. On the same day, 2 August 1934, every soldier in the German army swore an oath to the new dictator. It read: "I will give unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Fuhrer of the German nation and people...." In taking the oath, soldiers with guns were the only people who still had the power to oppose Hitler, but they had sworn total obedience to him. Thus, 18 months after becoming chancellor, Hitler had total power over Germany
The SS, initially set up in 1925 as an elite group, took control of the 3rd Reich. Led by Himmler, it made up the new aristocracy of Germany. The top regiments in the army were the 'Wafen SS'. Provincial governors were SS members. The most promising members of the Hitler Youth were upgraded to the SS. Under the Gauleiter, there was a long chain of Nazi officials, right down to street level to make sure that Nazis had full control of the county and its people.
The SS, initially set up in 1925 as an elite group, took control of the 3rd Reich. Led by Himmler, it made up the new aristocracy of Germany. The top regiments in the army were the 'Wafen SS'. Provincial governors were SS members. The most promising members of the Hitler Youth were upgraded to the SS. Under the Gauleiter, there was a long chain of Nazi officials, right down to street level to make sure that Nazis had full control of the county and its people.