Learn about the foundations of the Waffen SS. Himmler wanted his SS to be at the heart of the forthcoming war and built a military training ground at Bad Toltz. He had always had a fascination with the British Elite and based the SS training on many British pastimes including horse riding and cricket. By the start of 1939, Bad Toltz was turning out hundreds of Waffen SS officers per year. Himmler's SS structure now had three parts: The Totenkopfverbande ran the concentration camps, the Allgemeine SS controlled police and security, and the Waffen SS was the military combat arm. Hitler needed an excuse to invade Poland and turned to the SS to fabricate a Polish raid on a German radio station. Once the war had started, the Waffen SS move to the front line and commit some of the first atrocities of the war.