They were full on, and trained well. Very Elite. What gets me is the Fallschirmjäger Ten Commandments.
1) You are the elite of the Wehrmacht. For you, combat shall be fulfilment.You shall seek it out and train yourself to stand any test.
2)Cultivate true comradeship, for together with your comrades you will triumph or die.
3)Be shy of speech and incorruptible. Men act, women chatter; chatter will bring you to the grave.
4)Calm and caution, vigor and determination, valour and a fanatical offensive spirit will make you superior in attack.
5)In facing the foe, ammunition is the most precious thing. He who shoots uselessly, merely to reassure himself, is a man without guts. He is a weakling and does not deserve the title of paratrooper.
6)Never surrender. Your honour lies in Victory or Death.
7)Only with good weapons can you have success. So look after them on the principle—First my weapons, then myself.
8)You must grasp the full meaning of an operation so that, should your leader fall by the way, you can carry it out with coolness and caution.
9)Fight chivalrously against an honest foe; armed irregulars deserve no quarter.
10)Keep your eyes wide open. Tune yourself to the top most pitch. Be nimble as a greyhound, as tough as leather, as hard as Krupp steel and so you shall be the German warrior incarnate.