Initially, General-SS formations were operated strictly in Germany and Austria but were later formed in occupied countries during World War II.
These formations were little more than equestrian riding clubs and, by the start of World War II, the General-SS Cavalry had mostly ceased to exist except for a handful of members.
The Sicherheitsdienst was organized in a different manner, grouped in SD-Abschnitte with smaller SD-Unterabschnitte commands (SD districts and sub-districts).
The Totenkopfverbände maintained a hierarchy of Nazi concentration camp titles, in the following order: The Einsatzgruppen were regimental sized mobile death squads that were further sub-divided into Einsatzkommandos, which were company-sized formations.
The Einsatzgruppen units perpetrated atrocities in the occupied Soviet Union, including mass murder of Jews, communists, prisoners of war, and hostages, and played a key role in the Holocaust.