National Socialist paramilitary ranks were pseudo-military titles, which were used by the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
(''Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei''; NSDAP), between 1920 and 1945. Since the Nazi Party was by its very nature a
paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934.
Overview
Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
organisation, by the time of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, several systems of paramilitary ranks had come into existence for both the Nazi Party itself and various Nazi paramilitary organisations.
The various paramilitary rank systems used by the Nazi Party included:
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Ranks and insignia of the Hitler Youth
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Ranks and insignia of the National Socialist Motor Corps
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Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party
Ranks and insignia were used by the Nazi Party, National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) as Nazi Germany paramilitary ranks, paramilitary titles between approximately 1928 and the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. Such ranks were held within ...
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Uniforms and insignia of the ''Schutzstaffel''
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Uniforms and insignia of the ''Sturmabteilung''
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Ranks and insignia of the ''Volkssturm''
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Ranks and insignia of the ''Waffen-SS''
After the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, a number of Nazi state controlled and/or sponsored organisations developed Nazi style ranks, insignia, and titles. Such various ranks and insignia included:
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Ranks and insignia of the ''Ordnungspolizei''
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Ranks and insignia of Organisation Todt
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Ranks and insignia of the ''Reichsarbeitsdienst''
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Ranks and insignia of the ''Reichsluftschutzbund''
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Ranks and insignia of the ''Reichsbahn''
The Nazi use of paramilitary ranks even extended as far as inmates of
concentration camps
A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...
. By 1936, a system of
Nazi concentration camp badges had been developed along paramilitary lines.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazi Party Paramilitary Ranks
Paramilitary ranks, Nazi Party