On the other hand , as the war progressed , and the Waffen-SS grew to encompass conscripts ( from 1943 ) , Waffen-SS personnel began to resemble that of the Wehrmacht , contributing to the postwar confusion as to the organisation 's status . It allowed the Waffen-SS proponents to advance the idea of Waffen-SS men being " soldiers like all other " — the phrase first put forth in HIAG 's materials , and later publicly used by Chancellor Adenauer . Large argues that the equivalence is meaningless , as , contrary to the myth of a clean Wehrmacht , it actively participated in the racial war of extermination in the Soviet Union
actively participated
War crimes of the Wehrmacht
HIAG