I’m not trying to defend the Waffen SS, but compare their activities and crimes to the scale of the General SS.
For the most part, the Waffen SS were forward deployed, and as they moved forward with the Wehrmacht, they were followed by General SS einsatzgruppe, who committed extraordinary war crimes on a very large scale.
After retreat from the eastern front, from 1-3 battalions of Waffen SS escaped and evaded US forces, who would hang any SS they caught on the spot, and made it to the French sector. The French, for their part, actively recruited them to be in the French Foreign Legion, and so entire companies and at least one battalion of Waffen SS ended up in FFL uniforms, fighting in French Indochina.
By the way, while the Malmedy massacre definitely happened, there is strong documentary evidence that the US brought in additional bodies to make it appear worse than it was. One such individual, wearing a US Army uniform, was the son of a local innkeeper, who had died of pneumonia several months before the massacre, and had been exhumed for that purpose.
The inn is still there, btw, just across the street from the memorial, the family name printed on it in large letters.
Yep, they all killed Jews with impunity, but the Waffen-SS did is as crimes of opportunity. They left the systematic stuff to the Einsatzgruppen and regular-SS.
That said, no one in the Baltic states has any reason to talk. They helped the SS kill Jews with supreme efficiency there.
“there is strong documentary evidence that the US brought in additional bodies to make it appear worse than it was”
Bullshit. The US Army did not need to bring bodies to Malmedy and dress them as US soldiers. You should be ashamed of yourself.
SS is SS. But there’s a freaky subculture that seems enamored with them think of them as some anti-communists. That’s so far off as to be laughable. The only differences in a Nazi and a communist are a few minor economic differences.