Unterscharführer was a paramilitary

Paramilitary

A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....

 rank of the Nazi Party used by the Schutzstaffel

Schutzstaffel

The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...

(SS) between 1934 and 1945. The SS rank

Ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel

The uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel were paramilitary ranks and uniforms used by the SS between 1925 and 1945 to differentiate that organization from the regular German armed forces, the German state, and the Nazi Party....

 was created after the Night of the Long Knives

Night of the Long Knives

The Night of the Long Knives , sometimes called "Operation Hummingbird " or in Germany the "Röhm-Putsch," was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders...

. That event caused an SS reorganization and the creation of new ranks to separate the SS from the Sturmabteilung

Sturmabteilung

The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...

(SA).

The insignia was a button pip centered on a collar patch opposite an SS unit insignia collar badge. The field grey SS uniform displayed the rank with silver collar piping and the shoulder boards of an Unteroffizier. Rank comparisons list the rank of Unterscharführer as equivalent to a Corporal

Corporal

Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....

 in other services, but that the rank held responsibilities of a Sergeant

Sergeant

Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

 in some other armies.

Creation

The rank of Unterscharführer was created from the SA rank

Ranks and insignia of the Sturmabteilung

The uniforms and insignia of the Sturmabteilung 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,...

 of Scharführer

Scharführer

Scharführer was a Nazi Party title that was used by several paramilitary organizations from 1925 to 1945. Translated as “Squad Leader”, the title of Scharführer can trace its origins to the First World War, where a Scharführer was often a Sergeant or Corporal who commanded special action or shock...

. After 1934, an SS-Unterscharführer and SA-Scharführer were considered equivalent positions; the rank of SS-Unterscharführer was junior to SS-Scharführer

Scharführer

Scharführer was a Nazi Party title that was used by several paramilitary organizations from 1925 to 1945. Translated as “Squad Leader”, the title of Scharführer can trace its origins to the First World War, where a Scharführer was often a Sergeant or Corporal who commanded special action or shock...

and senior to the rank of SS-Rottenführer

Rottenführer

Rottenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in the year 1932. The rank of Rottenführer was used by several Nazi paramilitary groups, among them the Sturmabteilung , the Schutzstaffel and was senior to the paramilitary rank of Sturmmann.The insignia for Rottenführer...

.

Unterscharführer was the first non-commissioned officer

Non-commissioned officer

A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

 rank of the SS and was the equivalent of an Unteroffizier

Unteroffizier

Unteroffizier is both a specific military rank as well as a collective term for non-commissioned officers of the German military that has existed since the 19th century. The rank existed as a title as early as the 17th century with the first widespread usage occurring in the Bavarian Army of the...

in the German Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

. Unterscharführer was the most common NCO SS rank. Their duties were extensive throughout the SS.

Uses

Allgemeine-SS

Within the General-SS an Unterscharführer typically commanded squad sized formations of seven to fifteen SS troopers. The rank was held commonly as an NCO staff position and could be found in all of the Nazi security agencies, including the Sicherheitsdienst

Sicherheitsdienst

Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...

, and the Einsatzgruppen

Einsatzgruppen

Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...

.

SS-Totenkopfverbände

In the Concentration Camp service, Unterscharführer holders were often assigned the position of Blockführer

Blockführer

Blockführer was a paramilitary title of the SS, specific to the Totenkopfverbande . An SS-Blockführer was typically in charge of a prisoner barracks of between two to three Concentration Camp prisoners; in larger camps, this number could be as a high as 1000...

, which was a supervisory position overseeing order within a prison barracks of a concentration camp. The position of Blockführer is of note in the Holocaust, as it was typically Blockführer in charge of various Sonderkommando

Sonderkommando

Sonderkommandos were work units of Nazi death camp prisoners, composed almost entirely of Jews, who were forced, on threat of their own deaths, to aid with the disposal of gas chamber victims during The Holocaust...

s.

Waffen-SS

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...

 use of Unterscharführer was as a junior squad commander, one of several attached to company and platoon sized formations. The rank was considered the equivalent to the first Waffen-SS Officer Candidate

Officer Candidate

Officer Candidate is a rank in some militaries of the world that is an appointed position while a person is in training to become an officer. More often than not, an Officer Candidate was a civilian who applied to join the military directly as an officer...

 rank of SS-Junker

Junker (SS rank)

Junker was a paramilitary Nazi rank that was used by the Schutzstaffel between the years of 1933 and 1945. The rank was a special position held by those aspiring for officer commissions in the armed wing of the SS, first known as the SS-Verfügungstruppe and later as the Waffen-SS.The SS rank of...

.

Promotion

Requirements of a battlefield non-commissioned Unterscharführer were higher than that expected of an Unterscharführer in the General SS. In the Waffen-SS, candidates were required to undergo a selection process before being promoted. During this time the aspirant was known as an Unterführer-Anwärter until passing the required evaluation, training and promotion board.