By the end of the war, the Waffen SS were sent to their deaths trying to hold back the Soviets and the Americans as both fronts collapsed. Certainly they, and especially the Allgemeine SS (who carried out the political/racial policies of the Nazis) received no mercy from either side when confronted or captured.
One wonders if, ironically, those who had stayed with the SA weren’t deployed to the front out of loyalty questions, or were able to avoid battle.
It was the Waffen SS or “Weapon’’ or “Armed SS’’ who were formed into panzer units who fought as soldiers in the field.
What ever unit distinction they went by they were all murdering bastards.
None of them should have ever been taken prisoners. They should have been shot out of hand. The SS fought deliberately and purposefully outside any known and accepted rules of warfare. The Russians routinely shot SS prisoners. In fact the Russians were known to shoot just about every German soldier they got a hold of SS or not.