SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV), meaning "Death's-Head Units", was the SS organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps for the Third Reich.

The SS-TV was an independent unit within the SS with its own ranks and command structure. It ran the camps throughout Germany, such as Dachau and Buchenwald; in Nazi-occupied Europe, it ran Auschwitz in German occupied Poland and Mauthausen in Austria as well as numerous other concentration and death camps. The death camps' primary function was genocide and included Treblinka, Bełżec extermination camp and Sobibor. It was responsible for facilitating the Final Solution, known since as the Holocaust, in collaboration with the Reich Main Security Office and the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office or WVHA.

At the outbreak of WWII one of the first combat units of the Waffen-SS, the SS Division Totenkopf, was formed from SS-TV personnel. It soon developed a reputation for ferocity and fanaticism, participating in several war crimes such as the Le Paradis massacre in 1940 during the Fall of France and the murder of Russian civilians in Operation Barbarossa.
While the Totenkopf was the universal cap badge of the SS, the SS-TV also wore the insignia on the right collar to distinguish itself from other SS units.

SS-Totenkopfverbände

In the earliest days of the NSDAP, leaders realized that bodyguard units composed of trustworthy and loyal men would be a wise development. Ernst Röhm formed a guard formation from the 19.Granatwerfer-Kompanie, and from this formation the Sturmabteilung (SA) soon evolved. Adolf Hitler, realizing the potential threat the SA presented, in early 1923 ordered the formation of a bodyguard for himself. Originally, the tiny unit was composed of only eight men (and commanded by Julius Schreck and Joseph Berchtold). It was designated the Stabswache (Staff Guard). The guards of the Stabswache were issued badges that showed their difference from the SA (despite the fact that at this stage the Stabswache still was under overall SA control): Schreck resurrected the use of the Totenkopf (Deaths head skull) as insignia, a symbol various elite forces had used throughout the Prussian kingdom and the later German Empire.
Soon after its formation, the unit was renamed Stoßtrupp (Shock Troop) Adolf Hitler. On 9 November 1923, the Stoßtrupp, along with the SA and several other NSDAP paramilitary units, took part in the abortive Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. In the aftermath of the putsch, Hitler was imprisoned and the NSDAP and all associated formations, including the Stoßtrupp, were officially disbanded.

The second model of the LSSAH Standard
Shortly after Hitler's release, in April 1925, he ordered a new bodyguard unit formed, the Schutzkommando (protection command), renamed the Sturmstaffel (assault squadron) shortly after, and then, in November, renamed the Schutzstaffel, abbreviated SS. By March 1933, the SS had grown from a tiny personal bodyguard unit to a formation of over 50,000 men. The decision was made to form a new bodyguard unit, again called the Stabswache, picking capable and trustworthy SS men mostly from the 1st SS Standarte operating out of Munich to form its cadre. By 1933 this unit was under the command of Josef "Sepp" Dietrich who had selected 117 men for the SS-Stabswache Berlin, out of these initial 117 men, three would become divisional commanders, at least eight would become regimental commanders, fifteen became battalion commanders and over thirty became company commanders, all within the Waffen SS. Eleven men from the first company of 117 originals also went on to win the Knights Cross, and forty of them were awarded the German Cross in gold for bravery. 15 Later in 1933, two further training units were formed SS-Sonderkommando Zossen and a second unit, designated SS-Sonderkommando Jüterbog.
In September 1933, the two Sonderkommandos merged into the SS-Sonderkommando Berlin. In November 1933, on the 10th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch, the Sonderkommando took part in the rally and memorial service at the Feldherrnhalle, erected in the place where many NSDAP members had fallen during the putsch. All members of the Sonderkommando swore personal allegiance to Hitler himself. To conclude this ceremony, the Sonderkommando received a new title, Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (LAH).