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.[3] 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 commanders of certain SA-Gruppen (SA groups). Some of the early promotions to the rank included Ernst Röhm, Viktor Lutze, Edmund Heines, August Schneidhüber, and Fritz Ritter von Krausser.
The rank of SA-Obergruppenführer was the most senior rank of the Sturmabteilung until the spring of 1933, when Rohm made the title position of Stabschef (SA Chief of Staff) into a rank and promoted himself accordingly.[5]
Also in the summer of 1933, Heinrich Himmler was promoted by Adolf Hitler to the newly created rank of SS-Obergruppenführer with the intent being to make Himmler the equivalent of the senior commanders of the SA, to which the SS was still subordinated.[6] Although Himmler usually referred to himself as Reichsführer-SS, before the summer of 1934, this was simply a title for the SS commander, and not yet an actual rank.[7] Shortly after Himmler's promotion, Hitler further promoted Franz Xaver Schwarz, with Himmler's date of rank backdated to 1 January 1933 in order to confirm his seniority as the top officer within the SS.[8] Shortly after Rudolf Hess was appointed as his deputy in April 1933, Hitler promoted him to SS-Obergruppenführer. However, in September, Hitler decreed that Hess should no longer use the title of Obergruppenführer but only use the title of Deputy Führer.[9]
A number of men were promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer in 1934, these being Fritz Weitzel, Richard Walther Darré and Walter Buch. After the Night of the Long Knives in July 1934, Sepp Dietrich was promoted to the rank.[10] On 9 September 1934, so as to prevent a power struggle within the SS, Hitler further promoted Kurt Daluege who commanded most of the SS in the Berlin region.[11] Daluege's promotion was to avoid the SS splitting into two separate entities, one based in Northern Germany under Daluege and the other in Bavaria under Himmler. This early SS disunity became a non-issue after a common ground was found amongst SS leaders in their general hatred of the SA.
During the Second World War, there were 88 promotions to the rank, of which 22 were considered regular officers of the Waffen-SS and the rest members of the Allgemeine-SS. The first wartime promotions to SS-Obergruppenführer occurred in April 1940 when the rank was granted to Joachim von Ribbentrop, Martin Bormann and Hans Lammers; Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Otto Dietrich were promoted a year later. All five promotions were honorary SS ranks with the first promotion of an active SS officer occurring in September 1941 when the rank was granted to Reinhard Heydrich. The Waffen-SS commander, Paul Hausser was promoted to the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer on 1 October 1941.[12]Waffen-SS commander Theodor Eicke was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS on 20 April 1942. Sepp Dietrich remained senior, having served as General der SS-VT (SS-Verfügungstruppe) upon the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
Two SS officers would be demoted from the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer: Rudolf Hess and Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorff. Hess was stripped of his rank and expelled from both the SS and Nazi Party after his abortive flight to Scotland in 1941.[13] Helldorff was stricken from the SS rolls in 1944 after the 20 July plot against Hitler. Helldorff was a unique case, in that his SS rank had been bestowed for technical reasons in order to command the Berlin Police. While holding SA membership, Helldorff was never actually an SS member although for administrative purposes he held SS rank and was ranked as the 15th most senior SS officer.
A total of 106 men would eventually hold the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer with 97 such officers listed on the SS seniority list in 1944. Several men with the rank would die during World War II; some of the more notable being Reinhard Heydrich, Theodor Eicke, and Artur Phleps. The last promotion was made in March 1945 to Hans Kammler.
Standard practice for SS generals serving as an SS and police leader, as well as those senior SS personnel of the RSHA, was to hold dual police rank as SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei. SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS was the equivalent in the armed SS; in 1944, most active SS generals received this designation in order to command military troops during the last days of the war. Approximately fifteen SS generals were ranked as SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS.
SS-Obergruppenführer was considered the highest rank of the Allgemeine SS until April 1942; equivalent to a lieutenant general (three-star general) in the American and British armies.[14] It was only outranked by Himmler's special rank of Reichsführer-SS. However, within the Waffen-SS, the rank of SS-Gruppenführer was equivalent to a Generalleutnant, and an SS-Obergruppenführer came to be considered the equivalent of a General; holders were titled in full SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS.[15]
Biondi, Robert (2000). SS Officers List: SS-Standartenführer to SS-Oberstgruppenführer (As of 30 January 1942). Schiffer Publishing. ISBN978-0764310614.
Evans, Richard J. (2008). The Third Reich at War. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN978-0-14-311671-4.
lang, obergruppenführer, obergruppenführer, german, ˈoːbɐˌɡʁʊpm, fyːʁɐ, senior, group, leader, paramilitary, rank, nazi, germany, that, first, created, 1932, rank, sturmabteilung, adopted, schutzstaffel, year, later, until, april, 1942, highest, commissioned, . Obergruppenfuhrer German ˈoːbɐˌɡʁʊpm fyːʁɐ 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 Reichsfuhrer SS 2 Translated as senior group leader 3 the rank of Obergruppenfuhrer was senior to Gruppenfuhrer 4 A similarly named rank of Untergruppenfuhrer existed in the SA from 1929 to 1930 and as a title until 1933 In April 1942 the new rank of SS Oberst Gruppenfuhrer was created which was above Obergruppenfuhrer and below Reichsfuhrer SS 2 ObergruppenfuhrerGottlob Berger chief of the SS Main Office wearing the post April 1942 version of the SS Obergruppenfuhrer rank insigniaPost April 1942 gorget patchShoulder and camo insigniaCountry Nazi GermanyService branchSchutzstaffel Sturmabteilung National Socialist Motor Corps National Socialist Flyers CorpsAbbreviationOgrufRankThree StarNATO rank codeOF 8Non NATO rankO 9Next higher rankSS Oberst Gruppenfuhrer SS Stabschef SA Korpsfuhrer NSFK amp NSKK Next lower rankGruppenfuhrerEquivalent ranksGeneral der Waffengattung OF 8 1 Contents 1 Creation and history 2 Promotion history 3 Rank usage 4 Rank insignia 5 See also 6 Notes 7 BibliographyCreation and history EditThe rank of Obergruppenfuhrer was created in 1932 by Ernst Rohm and was intended as a seniormost rank of the Nazi stormtroopers for use by Rohm and his top SA generals 3 In its initial concept the rank was intended to be held by members of the Oberste SA Fuhrung Supreme SA Command and also by veteran commanders of certain SA Gruppen SA groups Some of the early promotions to the rank included Ernst Rohm Viktor Lutze Edmund Heines August Schneidhuber and Fritz Ritter von Krausser The rank of SA Obergruppenfuhrer was the most senior rank of the Sturmabteilung until the spring of 1933 when Rohm made the title position of Stabschef SA Chief of Staff into a rank and promoted himself accordingly 5 Also in the summer of 1933 Heinrich Himmler was promoted by Adolf Hitler to the newly created rank of SS Obergruppenfuhrer with the intent being to make Himmler the equivalent of the senior commanders of the SA to which the SS was still subordinated 6 Although Himmler usually referred to himself as Reichsfuhrer SS before the summer of 1934 this was simply a title for the SS commander and not yet an actual rank 7 Shortly after Himmler s promotion Hitler further promoted Franz Xaver Schwarz with Himmler s date of rank backdated to 1 January 1933 in order to confirm his seniority as the top officer within the SS 8 Shortly after Rudolf Hess was appointed as his deputy in April 1933 Hitler promoted him to SS Obergruppenfuhrer However in September Hitler decreed that Hess should no longer use the title of Obergruppenfuhrer but only use the title of Deputy Fuhrer 9 A number of men were promoted to SS Obergruppenfuhrer in 1934 these being Fritz Weitzel Richard Walther Darre and Walter Buch After the Night of the Long Knives in July 1934 Sepp Dietrich was promoted to the rank 10 On 9 September 1934 so as to prevent a power struggle within the SS Hitler further promoted Kurt Daluege who commanded most of the SS in the Berlin region 11 Daluege s promotion was to avoid the SS splitting into two separate entities one based in Northern Germany under Daluege and the other in Bavaria under Himmler This early SS disunity became a non issue after a common ground was found amongst SS leaders in their general hatred of the SA Udo von Woyrsch and Friedrich Wilhelm Kruger were promoted to SS Obergruppenfuhrer in 1935 while Josias Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Max Amann received the rank a year later along with Karl von Eberstein and Philipp Bouhler The year 1936 saw several promotions to the rank including Friedrich Jeckeln who would become one of the most infamous SS and police leaders on the Eastern Front during World War II The last pre war promotion to the rank of SS Obergruppenfuhrer was in 1937 for Ernst Heinrich Schmauser Upon the outbreak of World War II there were seventeen men who held the rank of SS Obergruppenfuhrer Promotion history EditPromotions to SS Obergruppenfuhrer by year Year Names1933 3 Heinrich Himmler Rudolf Hess Franz Xaver Schwarz1934 5 Sepp Dietrich Fritz Weitzel Kurt Daluege Richard Walther Darre Walter Buch 1935 2 Udo von Woyrsch Friedrich Wilhelm Kruger1936 8 Josias Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont Max Amann Karl von Eberstein Philipp Bouhler Wolf Heinrich von Helldorff Friedrich Jeckeln Werner Lorenz August Heissmeyer1937 1 Ernst Heinrich Schmauser1938 01939 01940 3 Joachim von Ribbentrop Martin Bormann Hans Lammers1941 9 Otto Dietrich Arthur Seyss Inquart Reinhard Heydrich Paul Hausser Hans Adolf Prutzmann Erich von dem Bach Zelewski Wilhelm Rediess Wilhelm Reinhard Albert Forster1942 20 Karl Kaufmann Friedrich Hildebrandt Karl Fiehler Dietrich Klagges Paul Korner Wilhelm Murr Fritz Sauckel Richard Hildebrandt Wilhelm Koppe Theodor Berkelmann Wilhelm Keppler Karl Wolff Josef Burckel Arthur Greiser Theodor Eicke Emil Mazuw Paul Scharfe Oswald Pohl Walter Schmitt Herbert Backe1943 23 Siegfried Taubert Joachim Albrecht Eggeling Ernst Wilhelm Bohle Konstantin von Neurath Julius Schaub Gunther Pancke Ernst Kaltenbrunner Konrad Henlein Ernst Sachs Karl Hermann Frank August Eigruber Friedrich Rainer Hugo Jury Rudolf Querner Friedrich Alpers Gottlob Berger Otto Hofmann Hanns Albin Rauter Hans Juttner Artur Phleps Felix Steiner Alfred Wunnenberg Karl Pfeffer Wildenbruch1944 32 Hartmann Lauterbacher Karl Hanke Ulrich Greifelt Wilhelm Stuckart Otto Winkelmann Hermann Hofle Ernst Robert Grawitz Leonardo Conti Franz Breithaupt Werner Best Maximilian von Herff Georg Keppler Walter Kruger Karl Maria Demelhuber Kurt Knoblauch Curt von Gottberg Oskar Schwerk Heinrich von Maur Karl Wahl Fritz Wachtler Jurgen von Kamptz Erwin Rosener Benno Martin Gustav Adolf Scheel Paul Wegener Karl Gutenberger Carl Oberg Wilhelm Bittrich Matthias Kleinheisterkamp August Frank Fritz Schlessmann Herbert Gille1945 1 Hans KammlerDuring the Second World War there were 88 promotions to the rank of which 22 were considered regular officers of the Waffen SS and the rest members of the Allgemeine SS The first wartime promotions to SS Obergruppenfuhrer occurred in April 1940 when the rank was granted to Joachim von Ribbentrop Martin Bormann and Hans Lammers Arthur Seyss Inquart and Otto Dietrich were promoted a year later All five promotions were honorary SS ranks with the first promotion of an active SS officer occurring in September 1941 when the rank was granted to Reinhard Heydrich The Waffen SS commander Paul Hausser was promoted to the rank of SS Obergruppenfuhrer on 1 October 1941 12 Waffen SS commander Theodor Eicke was promoted to SS Obergruppenfuhrer und General der Waffen SS on 20 April 1942 Sepp Dietrich remained senior having served as General der SS VT SS Verfugungstruppe upon the outbreak of World War II in 1939 Two SS officers would be demoted from the rank of SS Obergruppenfuhrer Rudolf Hess and Wolf Heinrich Graf von Helldorff Hess was stripped of his rank and expelled from both the SS and Nazi Party after his abortive flight to Scotland in 1941 13 Helldorff was stricken from the SS rolls in 1944 after the 20 July plot against Hitler Helldorff was a unique case in that his SS rank had been bestowed for technical reasons in order to command the Berlin Police While holding SA membership Helldorff was never actually an SS member although for administrative purposes he held SS rank and was ranked as the 15th most senior SS officer A total of 106 men would eventually hold the rank of SS Obergruppenfuhrer with 97 such officers listed on the SS seniority list in 1944 Several men with the rank would die during World War II some of the more notable being Reinhard Heydrich Theodor Eicke and Artur Phleps The last promotion was made in March 1945 to Hans Kammler Rank usage EditThe rank of Obergruppenfuhrer was used by four major paramilitary groups of the Nazi Party these being the SA SS National Socialist Motor Corps and National Socialist Flyers Corps The rank would remain the highest SS general officer rank until April 1942 when the rank of SS Oberst Gruppenfuhrer was created Standard practice for SS generals serving as an SS and police leader as well as those senior SS personnel of the RSHA was to hold dual police rank as SS Obergruppenfuhrer und General der Polizei SS Obergruppenfuhrer und General der Waffen SS was the equivalent in the armed SS in 1944 most active SS generals received this designation in order to command military troops during the last days of the war Approximately fifteen SS generals were ranked as SS Obergruppenfuhrer und General der Polizei und Waffen SS SS Obergruppenfuhrer was considered the highest rank of the Allgemeine SS until April 1942 equivalent to a lieutenant general three star general in the American and British armies 14 It was only outranked by Himmler s special rank of Reichsfuhrer SS However within the Waffen SS the rank of SS Gruppenfuhrer was equivalent to a Generalleutnant and an SS Obergruppenfuhrer came to be considered the equivalent of a General holders were titled in full SS Obergruppenfuhrer und General der Waffen SS 15 Rank insignia Edit Gorget patchuntil April 1942 Allgemeine SS and Waffen SS Gorget patches1942 1945 Allgemeine SS and Waffen SS Shoulder board Waffen SS Camouflage Waffen SS SA Gorget patches NSFK Gorget patch NSKK Gorget patchJunior rank OF 7 Gruppenfuhrer SS rankObergruppenfuhrer Senior rank OF 9 SS Oberst GruppenfuhrerJunior rankGruppenfuhrer SA rankObergruppenfuhrer Senior rankStabschefSee also EditCorps colours Waffen SS List of SS Obergruppenfuhrer Table of ranks and insignia of the Waffen SSNotes Edit Die im Bereich der NATO gebrauchliche Abkurzung OF steht fur English officer French officier German Offizier Russian oficer a b Stein 2002 pp 297 300 Appendix a b McNab 2009b p 15 McNab 2009 pp 29 30 McNab 2009b pp 15 16 McNab 2009 p 29 Kershaw 2008 p 316 Biondi 2000 p 7 Lang 1979 p 79 Zentner amp Bedurftig 1997 p 197 Williams 2015 p 204 Miller 2015 p 35 Evans 2008 p 169 Flaherty 2004 p 148 Haskew 2011 p 46 Bibliography EditBiondi Robert 2000 SS Officers List SS Standartenfuhrer to SS Oberstgruppenfuhrer As of 30 January 1942 Schiffer Publishing ISBN 978 0764310614 Evans Richard J 2008 The Third Reich at War New York Penguin Group ISBN 978 0 14 311671 4 Flaherty T H 2004 1988 The Third Reich The SS Time Life Books Inc ISBN 1 84447 073 3 Haskew Michael 2011 The Wehrmacht Amber Books Ltd ISBN 978 1 907446 95 5 Kershaw Ian 2008 Hitler A Biography New York W W Norton amp Company ISBN 978 0 393 06757 6 Lang Jochen von 1979 The Secretary Martin Bormann The Man Who Manipulated Hitler New York Random House ISBN 978 0 394 50321 9 McNab Chris 2009 The SS 1923 1945 Amber Books Ltd ISBN 978 1 906626 49 5 McNab Chris 2009b The Third Reich Amber Books Ltd ISBN 978 1 906626 51 8 Miller Michael 2015 Leaders of the SS and German Police Vol 2 San Jose CA R James Bender ISBN 978 1 932970 25 8 SS service records of Karl Wolff Reinhard Heydrich and Ernst Kaltenbrunner National Archives and Records Administration College Park Maryland Stein George 2002 1966 The Waffen SS Hitler s Elite Guard at War 1939 1945 Cerberus Publishing ISBN 978 1841451008 Williams Max 2015 SS Elite The Senior Leaders of Hitler s Praetorian Guard Vol 1 A J Fonthill Media LLC ISBN 978 1 78155 433 3 Zentner Christian Bedurftig Friedemann 1997 1991 The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich New York Da Capo Press ISBN 978 0 3068079 3 0 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Obergruppenfuhrer amp oldid 1126098452, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
