Numerous army and SS commanders attempted to remove Dirlewanger from the SS and disband the unit, although he had patrons within the Nazi apparatus who intervened on his behalf. His unit took part in the destruction of Warsaw, and the massacre of ~100,000 of the city's population during the Warsaw Uprising; and participated in the brutal suppression of the Slovak National Uprising in 1944. Dirlewanger's formation generated fear throughout Waffen-SS organizations, including the SS-Führungshauptamt (SS Command Headquarters) and earned notoriety as the most criminal and heinous SS unit in Hitler's war machine.