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(, ; short: ''Hstuf'') was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organizations such as the SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Hauptsturmführer'' was a mid-level commander and had equivalent seniority to a
(, ; short: ''Hstuf'') was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organizations such as the SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Hauptsturmführer'' was a mid-level commander and had equivalent seniority to a captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
('' Hauptmann'') in the German Army and also the equivalency of captain in foreign armies.
The rank of ''Hauptsturmführer'' evolved from the older rank of '' Sturmhauptführer'', created as a rank of the '' Sturmabteilung'' (SA). The SS used the rank of ''Sturmhauptführer'' from 1930 to 1934 at which time, following the Night of the Long Knives, the name of the rank was changed to ''Hauptsturmführer'' although the insignia remained the same. ''Sturmhauptführer'' remained an SA rank until 1945.
Some of the most infamous SS members are known to have held the rank of ''Hauptsturmführer''. Among them are Josef Mengele, the infamous doctor assigned to Auschwitz; Klaus Barbie, ''Gestapo'' Chief of Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
; Joseph Kramer
Josef Kramer (10 November 1906 – 13 December 1945) was Hauptsturmführer and the Commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau (from 8 May 1944 to 25 November 1944) and of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (from December 1944 to its liberation on 15 Ap ...
, commandant of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp; Alois Brunner, Adolf Eichmann's assistant; and Amon Göth, who was sentenced to death and hanged for committing multiple waves of mass murder (liquidations of the ghettos at Tarnów
Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarn� ...
and Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...
, the camp at Szebnie, the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp, as portrayed in the film '' Schindler's List'').
The insignia of ''Hauptsturmführer'' was three silver pips and two silver stripes on a black collar patch, worn opposite a unit insignia patch. On the field grey duty uniform, the shoulder boards of an army '' Hauptmann'' were also displayed. The rank of ''Hauptsturmführer'' was senior to the rank of '' Obersturmführer'' and junior to '' Sturmbannführer''.
Rank insignia
See also
* Ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SSReferences
Bibliography
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hauptsturmfuhrer Nazi paramilitary ranks SS ranks