The Schutzstaffel, or SS, began as a small protection squad for Nazi Party meetings but grew into a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler from 1929-1945, the SS was responsible for building the Nazi ideology and carrying out many crimes against humanity during World War II. As the Third Reich expanded, the SS numbers grew substantially and they became a parallel army to the Wehrmacht, sometimes fighting alongside them but also indoctrinated in Nazi ideology and responsible for running the concentration camps. When plotters attempted to assassinate Hitler in 1944, they sought to neutralize the SS because as an elite devoted fighting force under fanatical leadership,