This is a Freikorps officer and bodyguards from Copplestone Castings where they are sold as 'German Mercenaries'.

It is not too much of an exaggeration that the Stormtroopers of WWI became Freikorps, then SA, then SS.

To understand the nihilistic mindset that ended up with death camps one could do a lot worse than read Storm of Steel by Junger.