Oberscharführer

Oberscharführer ([ˈoːbɐʃaːɐ̯fyːʁɐ], lit. 'Senior squad leader') was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that existed between 1932 and 1945.^[1] Oberscharführer was first used as a rank of the Sturmabteilung (SA) and was created due to an expansion of the enlisted positions required by growing SA membership in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The SA rank of Oberscharführer was senior to Scharführer and junior to the rank of Truppführer.^[2]

Oberscharführer
SS Gorget patch
SS Shoulder and camo insignia
Country	Nazi Germany
Service branch	Schutzstaffel
Abbreviation	Oscharf
Formation	1932
Abolished	1945
Next higher rank	Hauptscharführer (SS) Truppführer (SA)
Next lower rank	Scharführer
Equivalent ranks	Feldwebel

Oberscharführer of the Waffen-SS (Kurt Sametreiter)

Since early ranks of the Schutzstaffel (SS) were identical to the ranks of SA, Oberscharführer was created as an SS rank at the same time the position was created within the SA. Initially, the rank of SS-Oberscharführer was equal to its SA counterpart; however, this changed in 1934 following the Night of the Long Knives.^[1]

At that time, the SS rank system was reorganized and several new ranks established with older SA titles discontinued. The rank of SS-Oberscharführer was therefore "bumped up" and became equal to an SA-Truppführer. The insignia for the SS rank was changed, as well, becoming two silver collar pips in contrast to the SA insignia for Oberscharführer, which was a single collar pip with silver stripe.^[3]

Within the SA, an Oberscharführer was typically a squad leader, answering to a platoon non-commissioned officer. The responsibilities varied across a wider range in the SS, in particular between an Oberscharführer in the Allgemeine SS (general SS) and one holding the same position in the Waffen-SS (armed SS).

After 1938, when the SS adopted field grey uniforms as the standard duty attire, SS-Oberscharführer displayed the shoulder insignia of a Wehrmacht Feldwebel. The rank of SS-Oberscharführer was junior to SS-Hauptscharführer.^[4]

Various Waffen SS units composed of foreign recruits were considered distinct from the German SS, and thus they were not permitted to wear SS runes on their collar tabs but had their unit symbol instead. Their ranks was also prepended with "Waffen" instead of "SS", as in, Waffen-Oberscharführer.^{[citation needed]}.

Insignia

•  

  Shoulder strap
  SS-Oberscharführer
  (SS-Standartenjunker)

•  

  NSFK Gorget patches

•  

  NSKK Gorget patch

•  

  SA Gorget patch

•  

  SS Gorget patches

•  

  HJ shoulder strap

•  

  SS smock insignia

Junior rank Scharführer	SS rank Oberscharführer	Senior rank Hauptscharführer
Junior rank Scharführer	SA rank Oberscharführer	Senior rank Truppführer

See also

• Table of ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS

Notes

1. McNab 2009, pp. 29, 30.
2. McNab 2009, p. 29.
3. Flaherty 2004, p. 148.
4. McNab 2009, p. 30.

Bibliography

• Flaherty, T. H. (2004) [1988]. The Third Reich: The SS. Time-Life Books, Inc. ISBN 1-84447-073-3.
• McNab, Chris (2009). The SS: 1923–1945. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906626-49-5.