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Obergruppenführer
' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after only ''Reichsführer-SS''. Translated as "senior group leader", the rank of ''Obergruppenführer'' was senior to ''Gruppenführer''. A similarly named rank of ''Untergruppenführer'' existed in the SA from 1929 to 1930 and as a title until 1933. In April 1942, the new rank of '' SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer'' was created which was above ''Obergruppenführer'' and below ''Reichsführer-SS''. Creation and history The rank of ''Obergruppenführer'' was created in 1932 by Ernst Röhm and was intended as a seniormost rank of the Nazi stormtroopers for use by Röhm and his top SA generals. In its initial concept, the rank was intended to be held by members of the ''Oberste SA-Führung'' (Supreme SA Command) and also by veteran co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gottlob Berger
Gottlob Christian Berger (16 July 1896 – 5 January 1975) was a senior German Nazi official who held the rank of '' SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'' (lieutenant general) and was the chief of the SS Main Office responsible for ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) recruiting during World War II. At the post-war Nuremberg trials, the Waffen-SSwithin which Berger was a senior officerwas declared to be a criminal organisation due to its major involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity. Berger was convicted as a war criminal and spent six and a half years in prison. While serving in the German Army during World War I, he was wounded four times and awarded the Iron Cross First Class. Immediately after the war, he was a leader of the '' Einwohnerwehr'' militia in his native North Württemberg. He joined the Nazi Party in 1922 but lost interest in right-wing politics during the 1920s, training and working as a physical education teacher. In the late 1920s, he rejoin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SS Rank
The uniforms and insignia of the ''Schutzstaffel'' served to distinguish the Nazi paramilitary ranks of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) between 1925 and 1945 from the ranks of the '' Wehrmacht'' (the regular German armed forces from 1935), the German state, and the Nazi Party. Uniform design and function While different uniforms existed for the SS over time, the all black SS uniform adopted in 1932 is the most well known. The black-white-red colour scheme was characteristic of the German Empire, and was later adopted by the Nazi Party. Further, black was popular with fascist movements: a black uniform was introduced by the blackshirts in Italy before the creation of the SS. There was a traditional reason, as well: just as the Prussian kings' and emperors' life-guard cavalry (''Leibhusaren'') had worn black uniforms with skull-and-crossbones badges, so would the ''Führer''s bodyguard unit. These SS uniforms were tailored to project authority and foster fear. During the war, the Ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Of The Branch
A general of the branch, general of the branch of service or general of the ... (where instead of the ellipsis an appropriate name of the military branch is being put) is a three or four-star general officer rank in some armies. Several nations divide — or used to divide — their senior general officer ranks by the branch of troops they are qualified to command, or simply as an honorific title. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Army there were three ''general of the branch'' ranks: * General der Infanterie (en: General of the Infantry) *General der Kavallerie (en: General of the Cavalry) * Feldzeugmeister (en: General of the Artillery) The rank of General der Infanterie was introduced in 1908, prior to this both infantrymen and gunners were appointed as Feldzeugmeisters. Historically, the rank of general of artillery (german: Feldzeugmeister; literally "battlefield ordnance master"; "gun master";The term is German. ''Feld-'' means battlefield, as used in the German ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Walther Darré
Richard Walther Darré (born Ricardo Walther Óscar Darré; 14 July 1895 – 5 September 1953) was one of the leading Nazi " blood and soil" () ideologists and served as Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture. As the National leader () for agricultural policy, he was a high-ranking functionary in the Nazi Party and as a Senior group leader () in the SS, he was the seventh most senior commander in that organisation. He was tried and found guilty on three counts at the Ministries Trial. Early life Darré was born in Belgrano, a Buenos Aires neighbourhood in Argentina, to Richard Oscar Darré, a German with Huguenot ancestry (born 10 March 1854, Berlin; died 20 February 1929, Wiesbaden) and Emilia Berta Eleonore, née Lagergren (born 23 July 1872 in Buenos Aires to a Swedish-born father and German-born mother; died 20 July 1936 in Bad Pyrmont). His father moved to Argentina in 1888 as a partner of the German international import/export wholesaler Engelbert Hardt & Co. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer
''SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer'' () was (from 1942 to 1945) the highest commissioned rank in the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS), with the exception of '' Reichsführer-SS'', which became a commissioned rank when held by SS commander Heinrich Himmler. The rank is translated as "highest group leader" and alternatively as "colonel group leader". The rank was correctly spelled ''Oberst-Gruppenführer'' to avoid confusion with the more junior rank of '' Obergruppenführer''. Overview ''Oberst-Gruppenführer'' was considered the equivalent of a colonel general ('' Generaloberst'') in the German Army, which is generally seen as the equivalent of a four-star general or army general in other armed forces. Under Himmler, the title became the highest possible commissioned rank in the SS hierarchy of the . The rank of ''Oberst-Gruppenführer'' was first proposed in early 1942 as a possible future rank for Waffen-SS commanders who might be promoted to command Army Groups. The '' Heer'' leaders ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position until 1941, when he flew solo to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate the United Kingdom's exit from the Second World War. He was taken prisoner and eventually convicted of crimes against peace. He was still serving his life sentence at the time of his suicide in 1987. Hess enlisted as an infantryman in the Imperial German Army at the outbreak of World War I. He was wounded several times during the war and was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, in 1915. Shortly before the war ended, Hess enrolled to train as an aviator, but he saw no action in that role. He left the armed forces in December 1918 with the rank of . In 1919, Hess enrolled in the University of Munich, where he studied geopolitics under Karl Haushofer, a proponent of the concep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uniforms And Insignia Of The Sturmabteilung
The uniforms and insignia of the Sturmabteilung (Sturmabteilung, SA) were Nazi Party paramilitary ranks and uniforms used by SA stormtroopers from 1921 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. The titles and phrases used by the SA were the basis for paramilitary titles used by several other Nazi paramilitary groups, among them the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). Early Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel, SS ranks were identical to the SA, since the SS was originally considered a sub-organization of the ''Sturmabteilung''. Origins of SA titles (1921–1923) The brown shirted stormtroopers of the Sturmabteilung gradually come into being within the Nazi Party beginning in 1920. By this time, Adolf Hitler had assumed the title of Führer of the Nazi Party, replacing Anton Drexler who had been known as the more democratically elected Party Chairman. Hitler began to fashion the Nazi Party on fascism, fascist paramilitary lines and, to that end, the early Nazis of the 1920s would typicall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fritz Weitzel
Fritz Weitzel (27 April 1904 – 19 June 1940) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. Weitzel became a member of the Nazi Party in 1925 and of SS in 1926. In 1930 he was promoted leader of the SS in the Rheinland and Ruhr. He became ''Polizeipräsident'' in Düsseldorf in 1933, and ''Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer West'' in 1938. During 1939 Weitzel wrote the book ''Celebrations of the SS Family'' which described the holidays to be celebrated and how married SS men and their families should celebrate them. This book, written by Weitzel, described how the Julleuchter, a Yuletide gift by Himmler to the SS, should be used. Following the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, Weitzel was sent to Norway on 21 April to become ''Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer'' in the country's capital, Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gruppenführer
__NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire departments, military and several other organizations. History In 1930, ''Gruppenführer'' became an SS rank and was originally bestowed upon those officers who commanded '' SS-Gruppen'' and also upon senior officers of the SS command staff. In 1932, the SS was reorganized and the ''SS-Gruppen'' were reformed into '' SS-Abschnitte''. A ''Gruppenführer'' commanded an ''SS-Abschnitt'' while a new rank, that of '' Obergruppenführer'', oversaw the '' SS-Oberabschnitte'' which were the largest SS units in Germany. Initially in the SA, NSKK, and SS, the rank of ''Gruppenführer'' was considered equivalent to a full general, but became regarded as equivalent to '' Generalleutnant'' after 1934. During the Second World War, when the Waffen-S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schutzstaffel
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It began with a small guard unit known as the ''Saal-Schutz'' ("Hall Security") made up of party volunteers to provide security for party meetings in Munich. In 1925, Heinrich Himmler joined the unit, which had by then been reformed and given its final name. Under his direction (1929–1945) it grew from a small paramilitary formation during the Weimar Republic to one of the most powerful organizations in Nazi Germany. From the time of the Nazi Party's rise to power until the regime's collapse in 1945, the SS was the foremost agency of security, surveillance, and terror within Germany and German-occupied Europe. The two main constituent groups were the '' Allgemeine SS'' (General SS) and '' Waffen-SS'' (Armed SS). T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Socialist Flyers Corps
The National Socialist Flyers Corps (german: Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps; NSFK) was a paramilitary aviation organization of the Nazi Party. History NSFK was founded 15 April 1937 as a successor to the German Air Sports Association; the latter had been active during the years when a German air force was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. The NSFK organization was based closely on the para-military organization of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA). A similar group was the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK). During the early years of its existence, the NSFK conducted military aviation training in gliders and private airplanes. Leadership Friedrich Christiansen, originally a ''Generalleutnant'' then later a Luftwaffe ''General der Flieger'', was NSFK '' Korpsführer'' from 15 April 1937 until 26 June 1943, followed by ''Generaloberst'' Alfred Keller until 8 May 1945. Ranks, uniforms and other insignia The paramilitary rank system was in use by the NSFK between the year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franz Xaver Schwarz
Franz Xaver Schwarz (27 November 1875 – 2 December 1947) was a high ranking German Nazi Party official who served as ''Reichsschatzmeister'' (National Treasurer) of the Party throughout most of its existence. He was also one of the highest ranking members of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). Early life Schwarz was born in Günzburg, the seventh of eight children born to a master baker and his wife. He was educated up to a high school level at the Günzburger vocational training school. Schwarz married Berta Breher on 26 August 1899. From 1900 to 1924, except for the war years of 1914 to 1918, he worked as an "administrative official" in the city government of Munich. During World War I, Schwarz served as a warrant officer (''Feldwebelleutnant'') in the Imperial German Army. He served briefly as a platoon leader but due to gastric troubles which afflicted him for his entire life he was spared field duty beginning in January 1916. He was discharged from active service at the en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
