Ss Werwolf Combat Instruction Manual

Werwolf had a mythological reputation which was deliberately fostered by Nazi propaganda and its perceived influence went far beyond its actual operations, especially after the end of the Nazi regime; it is an unfounded allegation that Werwolf endured as a terrorist force for many years after the end of the war.

Despite its historical and mythological significance, Werwolf was not the only post-war guerrilla insurgency in EuropeIn late summer/early autumn 1944, Heinrich Himmler initiated Unternehmen Werwolf (Operation Werwolf), ordering SS Obergruppenfuhrer Hans-Adolf Prutzmann to begin organising an elite troop of volunteer forces to operate secretly behind enemy lines.

As originally conceived, these Werwolf units were intended to be legitimate uniformed military formations trained to engage in clandestine operations behind enemy lines in the same manner as Allied Special Forces such as Commandos.

Prutzmann was named Generalinspekteur fur Spezialabwehr (General Inspector of Special Defence) and assigned the task of setting up the force's headquarters in Berlin and organising and instructing the force.

Prutzmann had studied the guerrilla tactics used by Russian partisans while stationed in the occupied territories of the Ukraine and the idea was to teach these tactics to the members of Operation Werwolf. Gauleiters were to suggest suitable recruits, who would then be trained at secret locations in the Rhineland and Berlin.

The chief training centre in the West was at Hulchrath Castle near Erkelenz, which by early 1945 was training around 200 recruits mostly drawn from the Hitler Youth.