Gottlob Berger was a German Nazi

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 who held the rank of Obergruppenführer

Obergruppenführer

Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...

during World War II and was later convicted of war crimes.

In 1939, he was Reichsführer-SS

Reichsführer-SS

was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:...

Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...

's main recruiting officer. From 1940, he was Chief of Staff for the Waffen-SS

Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...

and head of SS-Hauptamt

SS-Hauptamt

The SS-Hauptamt was the central command office of the German Schutzstaffel in Nazi Germany until 1940.-Formation:...

(SS main office).
He was born at Gerstetten

Gerstetten

Gerstetten is a municipality in the district of Heidenheim in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.It consists of the following villages:* Gerstetten * Dettingen...

, Württemberg

Württemberg

Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....

. Berger volunteered for Army service at the beginning of World War I and rose to the rank of first lieutenant in the infantry by the time of his discharge in 1919.