Das Schwarze Korps (German for "The Black Corps") was the official newspaper of the Schutzstaffel (SS). This newspaper was published on Wednesdays and distributed free of charge. All SS members were encouraged to read it. The chief editor was SS leader Gunter d'Alquen; the publisher was Max Amann of the Franz-Eher-Verlag publishing company. The paper was hostile to many groups, with frequent articles condemning the Catholic Church, Jews, Communism, Freemasonry, and others.The newspaper was published in close co-operation with the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service), which had substantial editorial control. The first edition appeared on 6 March 1935. In November of the same year, publication reached 200,000 and by 1944 had increased to 750,000. The newspaper saw some distribution outside Germany