Walter Schellenberg
Encyclopedia
Walther Friedrich Schellenberg (16 January 1910 – 31 March 1952) was a German
SS
-Brigadeführer
who rose through the ranks of the SS to become the head of foreign intelligence following the abolition of the Abwehr
in 1944.
, Germany
, but moved with his family to Luxembourg
when the French
occupation of the Saar Basin
after the First World War
triggered an economic crisis in the Weimar Republic
.
Schellenberg returned to Germany to attend university, first at the University of Marburg and then, in 1929, at the University of Bonn
. He initially studied medicine, but soon switched to law. After graduating he joined the SS
in May 1933. He met Reinhard Heydrich
and went to work in the counter-intelligence
department of the Sicherheitsdienst
(SD). From 1939 to 1942 he was Heinrich Himmler
's personal aide
and a deputy chief in the Reich Main Security Office
under Heydrich who answered only to Himmler. In addition Himmler bestowed upon Schellenberg a unique position beyond that of a simple aide, making him his special-plenipotentiary
(Sonderbevollmächtigter). Since Himmler held the position of general plenipotentiary to the whole Reichs administration (Generalbevollmächtigter für die Verwaltung), this gave Schellenberg enormous influence within Nazi Germany. In summer 1939 Schellenberg became one of the directors of Heydrich's foundation, the Stiftung Nordhav
.
In November 1939 Schellenberg played a major part in the Venlo Incident
, which led to the capture of two British agents, Captain Sigismund Payne-Best
and Major Richard Stevens. In 1940 he was charged with compiling the Informationsheft G.B., a blueprint for the occupation of Britain. A supplement to this work was the list
of 2300 prominent Britons
to be arrested after a successful invasion of Britain
. He also arranged many other plots of subterfuge and intelligence gathering
, including the bugging
of a Berlin brothel
.
In 1940 he was also sent to Portugal
to intercept the Duke
and Duchess of Windsor and try to persuade them to work for Germany. The mission was a failure; Schellenberg managed only to delay their baggage for a few hours.
By the time he led the hunt for the Soviet
spy ring Red Orchestra, Schellenberg had become a general (Brigadeführer
) in the Allgemeine-SS (General-SS). Schellenberg had been involved in planning operations in neutral Ireland
including Operation Osprey
, a plan involving No.1 SS Special Service Troop. According to his memoirs, he was a friend of Wilhelm Canaris
, the head of the Abwehr
, whom he replaced in 1944. He was infamous for his "office fortress" desk, which had two automatic guns built into it that could be fired by the touch of a button.
At the end of the War Schellenberg persuaded Himmler to try negotiating with the Western Allies
through Count Folke Bernadotte
and personally went to Stockholm
in April 1945 to arrange their meeting. Sought after as a valuable intelligence asset, the American, British, and Russian intelligence services were searching for him. Schellenberg was in Denmark
attempting to arrange his own surrender when the British
took Schellenberg into custody in June 1945. Captain Horace Hahn
, a member of the OSS, was one of the few Americans allowed to interrogate General Schellenberg.
During the postwar Nuremberg Trials
, Schellenberg testified against other Nazis. In the 1949 Ministries Trial
he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, during which time he wrote his memoirs, The Labyrinth. He was released in 1951 on grounds of ill-health (a worsening liver
condition) and moved to Switzerland
before settling in Verbania Pallanza
, Italy
. The following year he died of cancer in Turin
.
Schellenberg was believed to have been a lover of Coco Chanel
during the Nazis occupation of Paris, who paid for the cost of his funeral when he died penniless.
in the heavily fictionalized film version of the Salon Kitty incident
, Salon Kitty, directed by Tinto Brass
. He was also portrayed by Oleg Tabakov
in the Soviet TV series Seventeen Moments of Spring
(1973), and featured in the Jack Higgins
novel The Eagle Has Flown
(1991). Jack Higgins also depicted him in his novel The Judas Gate also known as To Catch A King. To Catch A King was filmed in 1984, directed by Clive Donner
and with Horst Janson
as Schellenberg. Additionally, Schellenberg is portrayed in the novel The Sands of Sakkara by Glenn Meade
and is depicted in Timothy Findley
's 1981 novel, Famous Last Words. Schellenberg is featured in Daniel Silva's 1996 spy thriller, The Unlikely Spy
. He is a minor but pivotal character in Paul Erdman
's "The Swiss Account." He was featured as a main character in the Gordon Stevens book, And All the Kings Men. The author Stevens uses Schellenberg as the head of the SS in Britain after a successful Nazi invasion. He was fictionally depicted in German cartoons. Schellenberg also appears as a major character in Philip Kerr
's 2005 novel, Hitler's Peace.
One of the most convincing images of Schellenberg by general repute was by Oleg Tabakov
: relatives of real Schellenberg sent a letter to actor after viewing the film (see above), expressing appreciation to Tabakov for his acting of "memorable nunky Walther". They also used the film as the media to remember Schellenberg and to give younger family members the feel of him.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
SS
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...
-Brigadeführer
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
who rose through the ranks of the SS to become the head of foreign intelligence following the abolition of the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
in 1944.
Biography
Schellenberg was born in SaarbrückenSaarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
, Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, but moved with his family to Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
when the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
occupation of the Saar Basin
Saar (League of Nations)
The Territory of the Saar Basin , also referred as the Saar or Saargebiet, was a region of Germany that was occupied and governed by Britain and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate, with the occupation originally being under the auspices of the Treaty of Versailles...
after the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
triggered an economic crisis in the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
.
Schellenberg returned to Germany to attend university, first at the University of Marburg and then, in 1929, at the University of Bonn
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
. He initially studied medicine, but soon switched to law. After graduating he joined the SS
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...
in May 1933. He met Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
and went to work in the counter-intelligence
Counter-intelligence
Counterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...
department of 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...
(SD). From 1939 to 1942 he was 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 personal aide
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
and a deputy chief in the Reich Main Security Office
RSHA
The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt was an organization subordinate to Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacities as Chef der Deutschen Polizei and Reichsführer-SS...
under Heydrich who answered only to Himmler. In addition Himmler bestowed upon Schellenberg a unique position beyond that of a simple aide, making him his special-plenipotentiary
Plenipotentiary
The word plenipotentiary has two meanings. As a noun, it refers to a person who has "full powers." In particular, the term commonly refers to a diplomat fully authorized to represent his government as a prerogative...
(Sonderbevollmächtigter). Since Himmler held the position of general plenipotentiary to the whole Reichs administration (Generalbevollmächtigter für die Verwaltung), this gave Schellenberg enormous influence within Nazi Germany. In summer 1939 Schellenberg became one of the directors of Heydrich's foundation, the Stiftung Nordhav
Stiftung Nordhav
Reinhard Heydrich founded the Stiftung Nordhav in 1939 to obtain real estate for the SS.-Founding and Purpose:The name Nordhav came from an old German term for the North Sea. Heydrich established the Stiftung Nordhav on 30 July 1939. The State Secretary Wilhelm Stuckart recognized the foundation 3...
.
In November 1939 Schellenberg played a major part in the Venlo Incident
Venlo Incident
The Venlo Incident was a covert German Sicherheitsdienst engineered capture of two British SIS agents on 9 November 1939....
, which led to the capture of two British agents, Captain Sigismund Payne-Best
Sigismund Payne Best
Captain Sigismund Payne Best OBE was a British Secret Intelligence Service agent during World War I and World War II...
and Major Richard Stevens. In 1940 he was charged with compiling the Informationsheft G.B., a blueprint for the occupation of Britain. A supplement to this work was the list
The Black Book
The Black Book was the post-war name given to the Sonderfahndungsliste G.B. , the list of prominent British to be arrested in the case of a successful invasion of Britain by Nazi Germany in World War II.-Background:The list was similar to earlier lists prepared by SS like the Special Prosecution...
of 2300 prominent Britons
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to be arrested after a successful invasion of Britain
Operation Sealion
Operation Sea Lion was Germany's plan to invade the United Kingdom during the Second World War, beginning in 1940. To have had any chance of success, however, the operation would have required air and naval supremacy over the English Channel...
. He also arranged many other plots of subterfuge and intelligence gathering
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
, including the bugging
Covert listening device
A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and in police investigations.A bug does not have to be a device...
of a Berlin brothel
Salon Kitty
Salon Kitty was a Berlin brothel used by the SD for espionage purposes before and during World War II.In the 1930s Berlin, Salon Kitty was a high-class brothel in 11 Giesebrechtstrasse. Its usual clientele included German dignitaries and foreign diplomats...
.
In 1940 he was also sent to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
to intercept the Duke
Duke of Windsor
The title Duke of Windsor was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937 for Prince Edward, the former King Edward VIII, following his abdication in December 1936. The dukedom takes its name from the town where Windsor Castle, a residence of English monarchs since the Norman Conquest, is...
and Duchess of Windsor and try to persuade them to work for Germany. The mission was a failure; Schellenberg managed only to delay their baggage for a few hours.
By the time he led the hunt for the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
spy ring Red Orchestra, Schellenberg had become a general (Brigadeführer
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
) in the Allgemeine-SS (General-SS). Schellenberg had been involved in planning operations in neutral Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
including Operation Osprey
Operation Osprey
Operation Osprey was a plan conceived by the German Foreign Ministry and Abwehr II. mid 1942. The plan was an enlargement of Operation Whale...
, a plan involving No.1 SS Special Service Troop. According to his memoirs, he was a friend of Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...
, the head of the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
, whom he replaced in 1944. He was infamous for his "office fortress" desk, which had two automatic guns built into it that could be fired by the touch of a button.
At the end of the War Schellenberg persuaded Himmler to try negotiating with the Western Allies
Western Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
through Count Folke Bernadotte
Folke Bernadotte
Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg was a Swedish diplomat and nobleman noted for his negotiation of the release of about 31,000 prisoners from German concentration camps during World War II, including 450 Danish Jews from Theresienstadt released on 14 April 1945...
and personally went to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in April 1945 to arrange their meeting. Sought after as a valuable intelligence asset, the American, British, and Russian intelligence services were searching for him. Schellenberg was in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
attempting to arrange his own surrender when the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
took Schellenberg into custody in June 1945. Captain Horace Hahn
Horace Hahn
Horace L. Hahn was an American best known for working with Cecil B. DeMille on several films as a young man, including a supporting role in This Day and Age . He also served in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, and assisted Justice Robert H...
, a member of the OSS, was one of the few Americans allowed to interrogate General Schellenberg.
During the postwar Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
, Schellenberg testified against other Nazis. In the 1949 Ministries Trial
Ministries Trial
The Ministries Trial was the eleventh of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. These twelve trials were all held before U.S...
he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, during which time he wrote his memoirs, The Labyrinth. He was released in 1951 on grounds of ill-health (a worsening liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
condition) and moved to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
before settling in Verbania Pallanza
Verbania
Verbania is a city and comune on the shore of Lake Maggiore, Piedmont, in northwest Italy, about north-west of Milan and about from Locarno in Switzerland.-Overview:...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The following year he died of cancer in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
.
Schellenberg was believed to have been a lover of Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist thought, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of one of the most famous fashion brands, Chanel...
during the Nazis occupation of Paris, who paid for the cost of his funeral when he died penniless.
Fictional depictions
In 1976, Schellenberg was portrayed by Helmut BergerHelmut Berger
Helmut Berger is an Austrian-born German film and television actor. He is most famous for his work with Luchino Visconti, particularly in his performance as King Ludwig II of Bavaria in Ludwig, for which he received a special David di Donatello award.He appears primarily in European cinema, but...
in the heavily fictionalized film version of the Salon Kitty incident
Salon Kitty
Salon Kitty was a Berlin brothel used by the SD for espionage purposes before and during World War II.In the 1930s Berlin, Salon Kitty was a high-class brothel in 11 Giesebrechtstrasse. Its usual clientele included German dignitaries and foreign diplomats...
, Salon Kitty, directed by Tinto Brass
Tinto Brass
Giovanni Brass , better known as Tinto Brass, is an Italian filmmaker. He is noted especially for his work in the erotic genre, with films such as Così fan tutte , Paprika, Monella and Trasgredire...
. He was also portrayed by Oleg Tabakov
Oleg Tabakov
Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov is a Soviet and Russian actor and the artistic director of the Moscow Art Theatre.-Theatre career:...
in the Soviet TV series Seventeen Moments of Spring
Seventeen Moments of Spring
Seventeen Moments of Spring is a 1973 Soviet TV miniseries. It was filmed at Gorky Film Studio, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and based on the book of the same title by the novelist Yulian Semyonov. The series comprises 12 episodes of 70 minutes each...
(1973), and featured in the Jack Higgins
Jack Higgins
Jack Higgins is the principal pseudonym of UK novelist Harry Patterson. Patterson is the author of more than 60 novels. As Higgins, most have been thrillers of various types and, since his breakthrough novel The Eagle Has Landed in 1975, nearly all have been bestsellers...
novel The Eagle Has Flown
The Eagle Has Flown
The Eagle Has Flown is a book by Jack Higgins, first published in 1991. It is a quasi-sequel to The Eagle Has Landed, with a similar plot structure, but an arguably weaker storyline.-Plot summary:...
(1991). Jack Higgins also depicted him in his novel The Judas Gate also known as To Catch A King. To Catch A King was filmed in 1984, directed by Clive Donner
Clive Donner
Clive Stanley Donner was a British film director who was a defining part of the British New Wave, directing films such as The Caretaker, Nothing But the Best, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and What's New Pussycat?...
and with Horst Janson
Horst Janson (actor)
Horst Janson is a German film and television actor.-Career:Horst Janson is one of Germany's most popular actors, his career started very early with the film Buddenbrooks in 1959, he also featured in Helmut Käutner’s ‘The glass of water’ 1960 , where he played alongside Gustaf Gründgens, Hilde...
as Schellenberg. Additionally, Schellenberg is portrayed in the novel The Sands of Sakkara by Glenn Meade
Glenn Meade
Glenn Meade is an Irish author. He was born in Finglas, Dublin in 1957. He has written fiction and plays.-Career:In the 1980s Meade wrote and directed a number of his own plays for the Strand Theatre in Dublin. He originally worked as a pilot trainer for Aer Lingus, before becoming a journalist for...
and is depicted in Timothy Findley
Timothy Findley
Timothy Irving Frederick Findley, OC, O.Ont was a Canadian novelist and playwright. He was also informally known by the nickname Tiff or Tiffy, an acronym of his initials.-Biography:...
's 1981 novel, Famous Last Words. Schellenberg is featured in Daniel Silva's 1996 spy thriller, The Unlikely Spy
The Unlikely Spy
The Unlikely Spy is a spy novel written by Daniel Silva, set during World War II, and published in 1996. While some of the exact characters and events may be fictional, the book is based on very real events- the attempt by the Allies to use British intelligence to cover up the true plans for D-Day...
. He is a minor but pivotal character in Paul Erdman
Paul Erdman
Paul Emil Erdman was one of the leading business and financial writers in the United States who became known for writing novels based on monetary trends and historical facts concerning complex matters of international finance.-Early life:Erdman was born in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, on 19 May...
's "The Swiss Account." He was featured as a main character in the Gordon Stevens book, And All the Kings Men. The author Stevens uses Schellenberg as the head of the SS in Britain after a successful Nazi invasion. He was fictionally depicted in German cartoons. Schellenberg also appears as a major character in Philip Kerr
Philip Kerr
Philip Kerr is a British author of both adult fiction and non-fiction, most notably the Bernie Gunther series of thrillers, and of children's books, particularly the Children of the Lamp series....
's 2005 novel, Hitler's Peace.
One of the most convincing images of Schellenberg by general repute was by Oleg Tabakov
Oleg Tabakov
Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov is a Soviet and Russian actor and the artistic director of the Moscow Art Theatre.-Theatre career:...
: relatives of real Schellenberg sent a letter to actor after viewing the film (see above), expressing appreciation to Tabakov for his acting of "memorable nunky Walther". They also used the film as the media to remember Schellenberg and to give younger family members the feel of him.
Dates of rank
- SS-MannMann (military rank)Mann , was a paramilitary rank used by several Nazi Party paramilitary organizations between 1925 and 1945. The rank is most often associated with the SS, and also as a rank of the SA where Mann was the lowest enlisted rank and was the equivalent of a Private.In 1938, with the rise of the...
- 10 January 1934 - SS-SturmmannSturmmannSturmmann was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in the year 1921. The rank of Sturmmann was used by the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel ....
- 17 October 1934 - SS-RottenführerRottenführerRottenführer 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...
- 15 January 1935 - SS-UnterscharführerUnterscharführerUnterscharführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party used by the Schutzstaffel between 1934 and 1945. The SS rank was created after the Night of the Long Knives...
- 15 May 1935 - SS-ScharführerScharführerScharführer 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...
9 November 1935 - SS-OberscharführerOberscharführerOberscharführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that existed between the years of 1932 and 1945. Translated as “Senior Squad Leader”, Oberscharführer was first used as a rank of the Sturmabteilung and was created due to an expansion of the enlisted positions required by growing SA membership...
13 September 1936 - SS-UntersturmführerUntersturmführerUntersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the German Schutzstaffel first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of Sturmführer which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921...
- 20 April 1937 - SS-ObersturmführerObersturmführerObersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
- 30 January 1938 - SS-HauptsturmführerHauptsturmführerHauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
- 1 August 1938 - SS-SturmbannführerSturmbannführerSturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
- 30 January 1939 - SS-ObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
- 1 September 1941 - SS-StandartenführerStandartenführerStandartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
- 21 June 1942 - SS-OberführerOberführerOberführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party dating back to 1921. Translated as “Senior Leader”, an Oberführer was typically a Nazi Party member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographical region...
- 21 June 1943 - SS-BrigadeführerBrigadeführerSS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
und Generalmajor der Polizei - 21 June 1944
Notable decorations
- Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
Second Class - Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
First Class - SS-Honour Ring
- War Merit Cross First Class with SwordsWar Merit CrossThe War Merit Cross was a decoration of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, which could be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel...
- War Merit Cross Second Class with SwordsWar Merit CrossThe War Merit Cross was a decoration of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, which could be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel...
- Honor Sword of Reichsführer SS
See also
- Glossary of Nazi Germany
- List of Nazi Party leaders and officials
- List of SS personnel