This documentary explores the rise of the SS, the paramilitary organization that became the central pillar of the Nazi regime. It details how Heinrich Himmler, a minor figure in the early Nazi party, transformed the SS into a vast, violent, and ideologically driven force. The film examines the SS's role in the Holocaust, its expansion into a state within a state, and its brutal methods of control, including the establishment of concentration camps and the use of forced labor to fuel the Nazi war machine.