Himmler regarded the SS as the “executive instrument of the Führer’s will” and demanded of his men unconditional loyalty both to himself and to Hitler. The SS motto “My honor is loyalty” was drilled into them as soon as they started the admissions and training procedures. This photograph shows an SS member signing the oath of loyalty to Hitler on February 25, 1934, in Berlin’s Lustgarten. The occasion was a huge NSDAP rally on the People’s Day of Mourning (later renamed “Heroes’ Memorial Day,” Heldengedenktag); the event drew a million participants.