<Li> SS Education Office </Li> <Li> Main Office of the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood (RKFDV) </Li> <P> The term "Austrian SS" is often used to describe that portion of the SS membership from Austria, but it was never a recognized branch of the SS . In contrast to SS members from other countries, who were grouped into either the Germanic - SS or the Foreign Legions of the Waffen - SS, Austrian SS members were regular SS personnel . It was technically under the command of the SS in Germany, but often acted independently concerning Austrian affairs . The Austrian SS was founded in 1930 and by 1934 was acting as a covert force to bring about the Anschluss with Germany, which occurred in March 1938 . Early Austrian SS leaders were Kaltenbrunner and Arthur Seyss - Inquart . Austrian SS members served in every branch of the SS . Political scientist David Art of Tufts University notes that Austrians constituted 8 percent of the Third Reich's population and 13 percent of the SS; he states that 40 percent of the staff and 75 percent of commanders at death camps were Austrian . </P> <P> After the Anschluss, the Austrian SS was folded into SS - Oberabschnitt Donau . The third regiment of the SS - Verfügungstruppe (Der Führer) and the fourth Totenkopf regiment (Ostmark) were recruited in Austria shortly thereafter . On Heydrich's orders, mass arrests of potential enemies of the Reich began immediately after the Anschluss . Mauthausen was the first concentration camp opened in Austria following the Anschluss . Before the invasion of the Soviet Union, Mauthausen was the harshest of the camps in the Greater German Reich . </P>

Who were the ss police and what was their main purpose