In his study, George Stein examines one of the elements of the Nazi elite guard and the largest of the formations of Himmler's fiefdom - the SS troops. The author traces the development of Hitler's security detachments, which at the beginning of the war numbered barely 28,000 people, and by 1945 had grown into an army of half a million elite troops. Stein studies in detail the structure and organization of the SS troops, drawing attention to strict personnel selection, intensive physical, military and ideological training. In addition, the author analyzes the relationship of the SS with the Wehrmacht, the characteristics that distinguish the SS troops from the Wehrmacht, their military successes and failures, as well as the impact on the outcome of the war unleashed by the Third Reich.