Hitler’s top men: New book on the Nazi top brass

These images shed light on what life was like in the upper echelons of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party during World War Two.

Unsurprisingly, the photographs show numerous military parades and inspections of troops and cities in areas invaded by the Nazis.

But they also give rare glimpses of more lighthearted incidents, as Hitler is seen laughing during a factory tour and Joseph Goebbles being presented with  an armful of tulips in occupied Poland.

Pictures from ‘SS Elite – The Senior Leaders of Hitler’s Praetorian Guard Volume 2’ by Max Williams show top S.S. members as they oversaw marches, attended events and discussed tactics at the height of the war 

‘The sophisticated machinery of the SS departments metamorphosed over several years, and numerous responsibilities intermingled between different offices, sometimes confusingly coming under the umbrella of two different SS central departments,’ explains Mr Williams.

‘By the time it came to an abrupt end, the SS was an illegal organisation, with many of its senior echelons wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.’

Chilling image: Hitler is handed flowers in Braunschweig, where in 1932, he r was granted German citizenship to allow him to stand as a candidate in the German presidential election

Happy Hitler: The Nazi leader smiles and waves while he walks with SS leaders on a factory tour at an unknown location

Happy Hitler: The Nazi leader smiles and waves while he walks with SS leaders on a factory tour at an unknown location

Top of the evil pyramid: Dr Goebbels is presented with a bouquet of flowers during his visit to Poznan in occupied Poland

Top of the evil pyramid: Dr Goebbels is presented with a bouquet of flowers during his visit to Poznan in occupied Poland

Inspection: Georg Heinrich Keppler inspects an SS contingent in Vienna, Austria, which became part of the Nazi 'Reich' in 1938

Inspection: Georg Heinrich Keppler inspects an SS contingent in Vienna, Austria, which became part of the Nazi ‘Reich’ in 1938

Evil: Hitler reviewing troops in Braunschweig, a area which became a focal point for Nazi Germany's troops and arms industry

Evil: Hitler reviewing troops in Braunschweig, a area which became a focal point for Nazi Germany’s troops and arms industry

Hitler's men: The S.S., led by Heinrich Himmler, was Hitler's most feared weapon during his rise to power and subsequent reign 

Hitler’s men: The S.S., led by Heinrich Himmler, was Hitler’s most feared weapon during his rise to power and subsequent reign 

Meeting of evil: Hans Lammers, Josef Dietrich, Joseph Goebbels, Wilhelm Frick, Hitler, Hanns Kerrl, and  Alfred Rosenberg gather in the Reich Chancellery

Meeting of evil: Hans Lammers, Josef Dietrich, Joseph Goebbels, Wilhelm Frick, Hitler, Hanns Kerrl, and  Alfred Rosenberg gather in the Reich Chancellery

Selected: Each member of the SS has been hand-picked to provide 'security and surveillance' for the Nazis, which included the administration of concentration camps

Selected: Each member of the SS has been hand-picked to provide ‘security and surveillance’ for the Nazis, which included the administration of concentration camps

Loyal servants: Heinrich Himmler, seen here  inspects Austrian police in Vienna, in March 1938, was the chief of the SS from 1929 until 1945

Loyal servants: Heinrich Himmler, seen here  inspects Austrian police in Vienna, in March 1938, was the chief of the SS from 1929 until 1945

Leading Nazis meet to discuss tactics in front of the back drop of Mauthausen–Gusen concentration camp in Austria, where between 123,000 and 320,000 people died

Leading Nazis meet to discuss tactics in front of the back drop of Mauthausen–Gusen concentration camp in Austria, where between 123,000 and 320,000 people died

Hitler walks with Ernst Kaltenbrunner, a SS officer who was executed after the war, and  Otto Skorzeny, an Austrian SS-Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS who was later recruited by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad

Hitler walks with Ernst Kaltenbrunner, a SS officer who was executed after the war, and Otto Skorzeny, an Austrian SS-Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS who was later recruited by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad

Nazi police: Viktor Lutze, the commander of the Nazi paramilitary who died in an accident in 1943, is seen as he inspects a police guard

Nazi police: Viktor Lutze, the commander of the Nazi paramilitary who died in an accident in 1943, is seen as he inspects a police guard

Murderers: Kammler (second right) during a visit to Auschwitz concentration camp with Himmler, Bracht, and Schmause

Murderers: Kammler (second right) during a visit to Auschwitz concentration camp with Himmler, Bracht, and Schmause

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