I notice that in the American military today, individual soldiers walking around in uniform are given a lot of respect and deference. Stores offer discounts, people often stop to thank them for their service, people give up their bus/metro seats to soldiers, etc.
In WWII, were Nazi SS soldiers treated the same way by the German public? What kind of reception would an SS enlisted member get if he were to walk down a main street in Berlin 1941, wearing his uniform?
EDIT: 565 upvotes and not a single answer. :(
I'm also curious about something as well. I used to know a Wehrmacht veteran who came into where I worked when I was young. I would ask him about the war and he mentioned the regular German Army despised the SS, since they had better equipment, preferable deployment locations, and were generally "favoured" compared to regular Army units.
Was this true? Are there some examples that show this sort of differentiation?
The old veteran who I knew also told me a funny story about how him and some of his friends stole winter boots from the SS, since they didn't have any and they were camped beside them in the field.
Follow-up.
What about Wehrmacht (German army regulars, non nazi/waffen ss)? Were they typically treated differently than party aligned troops? During and after the war?
Some posts that cover this at least in part:
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2jqkh7/how_were_the_ss_viewed_by_the_regular_german/
The second post seems like a real gold mine regarding SS history. Not so much in the area you seem to be looking though.