In September 1944, the SS’ statistical office compiled a comprehensive survey of personnel. Despite casualties the overall number was still ca. 800,000 men, of whom 200,000 were attached to the Allgemeine SS, whereas the Waffen-SS with 594,443 constituted the vast majority of the organization. This number included a considerable group of personnel serving in the concentration camps.

At this stage, the Waffen-SS was twice as large as in 1942 and had reached its numerical culmination point. Himmler could now boast seven armoured divisions and a number of corps commands, several of which would be employed in 1944's hot spots. The increased strength of the Waffen-SS mirrored the relative influence of the SS vis-a-vis other key institutions in The Third Reich. On 22 July 1944, the attempted assassination of Hitler further strengthened Himmler's already strong position in the Nazi hierarchy. On the same day, Hitler handed over command of the reserve army from the Wehrmacht to his Reichsführer-SS who thereby took charge of 1.9 million men. Thus, Himmler had made incursions deep into army territory, now being responsible for weaponry, prisoner-of-war camps and not least recruiting, training and allocation of personnel.

The year 1944 also saw the first SS generals appointed to army command. In July, Paul Hausser was appointed commander of the seventh army, and in August, Sepp Dietrich assumed command of the fifth armoured army – both of these were stationed in Normandy. These appointments were parts of a general trend with the armed forces elevating a new élite of Nazis into the top-tiers of the military hierarchy, frequently despite their limited experience with the conduct of major operations. This drift led to a de-professionalisation of the supreme military leadership culminating in the late autumn, when Himmler assumed personal command of the Heeresgruppe Oberrhein (Army Group Upper Rhine).

New Envelopments at the Eastern Front

During the first months, a mini-Stalingrad seemed to develop in the snow-clad landscapes of the southern part of the eastern front. After Kursk in the autumn 1943, Army Group South had to withdraw across the Dnieper. The plan was to consolidate the front there, but before the Germans were able to dig in the so-called Panther position, the Red Army had established several bridgeheads on the western bank interspersed among the Germans.