Abel asked:

In comparing both Plato's and Aristotle's view on tyranny, Plato states that the bodyguards are
chosen from slaves, whereas Aristotle feels that the bodyguards can be chosen from the citizens.
Which argument is sound in comparing it to the tyrannical rule of Adolf Hitler and his appointment of
the SA and the SS?

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In my opinion the term "bodyguard", as used by Plato and Aristotle, today refers to the entirety of the
security agencies and forces of a modern state.

I doubt that the case of Nazi Germany could tell us which argument is sound. The SA (Sturmabteilung
= Assault Section) personnel were recruited from all classes of the German Society. Among them one
could find noblemen such as Count Wolf Heinrich von Helldorf, commander SA of Berlin-
Bradenburrg and chief of the Berlin Police, as well as members of the lower classes and convicts
such as the SA Obergruppenfhrer (lieutenant general) Edmund Heines.

The recruitment of SS (Schutzstaffel = Defence Squad, created in 1925 within the SA, originally only
as Hitler's bodyguard) was more complex.Their security and intelligence sensitive agencies and units
were staffed with "pure Aryans", again from all strata of society. However the Waffen SS (SS Army)
had also men from peoples who were considered as "inferior" and destined to be the slaves of the
"Aryan" masters. There were Slavs, Indians, Turkic peoples etc. The 13th Waffen-Gebirgs Division
Der SS "Handschar" was staffed with Bosnian Muslims. The 21st Waffen-Gebirgs Division Der SS
"Skanderberg" with Albanians. There were also various ethnic "non-Aryan" brigades, regiments and
battalions.

Jean Nakos