 Many of the 40,000 elderly men of the "Volkssturm" had been in the army as young men and some were veterans of World War I. Hitler appointed "SS-Brigadeführer" Wilhelm Mohnke commander of the city's central government district.Mohnke's command post was in bunkers under the Reich Chancellery.The core group of his fighting men were the 800 members of the "Leibstandarte" (1st SS-Pz.Div.