Document Analyst's Report

During April and May, I worked on the defense documents of the SA (the Storm Troops, aka Brown Shirts), which was accused of being a criminal organization. The SA began as the NSDAP’s street fighters’ force in the 1920s, served as auxiliary police in the first year of Hitler’s regime (including a role in the first concentration camps), expanded greatly in 1933-34 as other organizations were brought into the Nazi system (including veterans, equestrians, and many others), was purged in June 1934 when Hitler assassinated his perceived rivals, and then was downsized and marginalized.

The defense made some argument that the political violence of the early years reflected the chaos and extremism of the times, which the SA was embroiled in but did not cause, and that the SA had no military role in the 1930s and during the war. But the major argument was that the SA members, 4 million in all, were almost all conscripted into the SA and could not be held responsible for any crimes, under the theory that responsibility required voluntary and knowing participation in an organization’s actions.

The Steel Helmets: The largest group that the SA took over was the Stahlhelm, a veterans group with about 2 million members. It was “moderate rightist” politically but not pro-Nazi. As the Nazis rose to power many men joined Stahlhelm, as one social democrat said, “in order to have a political alibi.” In 1933, however, one of its leaders, Franz Seldte, declared his personal loyalty to Hitler and placed Stahlhelm under Hitler’s command. (Other leaders who opposed this were purged.) Hitler placed Stahlhelm under SA control. The youth wing was transferred to Hitler Youth, the young men were assigned to the main SA and the SA Reserve, and the older men were left in Stahlhelm. The new SA men and the original members did not trust each other, but no one was allowed to resign or leave. The remaining Stahlhelm groups were dissolved by Hitler’s order in 1935; as a non-Nazi organization it had no place in the new Germany.

A missing chapter: One document about the SA Riders Corps was an affidavit by a man who had led a local equestrian group in the 1930s. The author’s name was typed Stepp--- in the mimeo, with the last three letters being overtyped and illegible. An author’s name is the single most important piece of information for our analysis, so this had to be filled in. The group was clearly named, however, and a search produced its current website, including a page for its history—a promising source to identify the leader. The page began with an account of the founding of the group in the 1920s, naming its leader at the time. The next section covered the group’s activities in the 1950s, identifying another leader. What the group did in the 1930s and 1940s, and who led it then, was omitted. That is apparently not a part of the group’s history that it wishes to memorialize. I made an educated guess about the man’s name, and found him through a different search: Albrecht Steppuhn.

The tribunal: In the end, the judges recognized the violent record of the early SA (“ruffians and bullies”) but decided that after the 1934 purge it had become a powerless organization that had no role in planning the war, or the crimes committed during it. The verdict was not guilty.

Matt Seccombe, 21 May 2025