Bruger:Nickybutt/Sandkasse/SS-grader

SS-grader og insignier var et paramilitært gradssystem indenfor den det tyske SS, brugt for at adskille SS fra resten af det tyske miltær. Oprindeligt delte SA og SS gradsystem, men udvikledee efterhånden deres egne systemer. SS fulgte Førerprincippet, og ordet Führer (fører) indgår da også i størstedelen af graderne.

The ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel were a paramilitary rank system used by the German SS, to differentiate the group from the German military, German state, and the Nazi Party. The original SS ranks were the same as the ranks of the SA, but eventually developed into their own unique titles. In line with the Führerprinzip (Leader Principle), the word Führer is used in the majority of SS ranks.

SS rank insignia

1934–1945

SS-Generalofficersgrader	Grad i hæren	Kraveinsignie 1934–1942	Kraveinsignie 1942–1945	Galla skulderinsignie	Daglig skulderinsignie
Reichsführer-SS	Generalfeldmarschall	'	'	'	'
Oberstgruppenführer	Generaloberst	Ikke tilstede	'	'	'
Obergruppenführer	General	'	'	'	'
Gruppenführer	Generalleutnant	'	'	'	'
Brigadeführer	Generalmajor	'	'	'	'
Oberführer	Brigadier	'	'	'	'

SS-Officersgrader	Grad i hæren	Kraveinsignie 1934–1945	Galla skulderinsignie 1938–1945	Daglig skulderinsignie 1934–1945
Standartenführer	Oberst
Obersturmbannführer	Oberstleutnant
Sturmbannführer	Major
Hauptsturmführer	Hauptmann		Fil:SSCptBrds.jpg
Obersturmführer	Oberleutnant
Untersturmführer	Leutnant

SS-underofficersgrader	Grad i hæren	Kraveinsignie 1934–1945	Galla skulderinsignie 1938–1945	Daglig skulderinsignie 1934–1945
Sturmscharführer	Stabsfeldwebel
Hauptscharführer	Oberfeldwebel
Oberscharführer	Feldwebel
Scharführer	Unterfeldwebel
Unterscharführer	Unteroffizier

SS-menige	Grad i hæren	Kraveinsignie 1934–1945	Ærmeinsignie 1938–1945	Galla skulderinsignie 1938–1945	Daglig skulderinsignie 1934–1945
Rottenführer	Obergefreiter
Sturmmann	Gefreiter
Oberschütze/Obermann	Oberschütze
Schütze/Mann	Schütze		Intet
Anwärter	Ingen	Intet	Intet	Intet	Intet
Bewerber	Ingen	Intet	Intet	Intet	Intet

1932–1934

SS-grad	Hærsgrad	Kraveinsignie	Skulderinsignie
Obergruppenführer	General
Gruppenführer	Generalleutnant
Brigadeführer	Generalmajor
Oberführer	Brigadier
Standartenführer	Oberst
Obersturmbannführer	Oberstleutnant
Sturmbannführer	Major
Sturmhauptführer	Hauptmann
Obersturmführer	Oberleutnant
Sturmführer	Leutnant
Haupttruppführer	Stabsfeldwebel
Obertruppführer	Oberfeldwebel
Truppführer	Feldwebel
Oberscharführer	Unterfeldwebel
Scharführer	Unteroffizier
Rottenführer	Obergefreiter
Sturmmann	Gefreiter
Mann	Schütze
Anwärter	Rekrut	Intet	Intet

1930–1932

SS Rank	Army Equivalent	Kraveinsignie
Gruppenführer	General
Oberführer	Brigadier
Standartenführer	Colonel
Sturmbannführer	Major
Sturmhauptführer	Captain
Sturmführer	Lieutenant
Haupttruppführer	Sergeant Major
Truppführer	Sergeant
Scharführer	Corporal
Mann	Private

1925–1929

Early SS armband

The earliest SS ranks were titles with no recognizable insignia. By 1929, a system of white stripes, centered on an armband, denoted SS rank with the first established SS ranks listed below:

• Reichsführer (Reich Leader) Three Stripes
• Oberführer (Senior Leader) Two Stripes
• Staffelführer (Squadron Leader) One Stripe
• Mann (Trooper) No Stripes

Police ranks

In 1936, the SS absorbed the regular German police and formed the Ordnungspolizei. Known as the Orpo, the Ordnungspolizei was considered a full branch of the SS but maintained a separate system of insignia and Orpo ranks. It was also possible for SS members to hold dual status in both the Orpo and the SS, and SS-Generals were referred to simultaneously by both rank titles. For instance, an Obergruppenführer in the SS, who was also a Police General, would be referred to as Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei.

Waffen-SS Generals

SS Generals of the Waffen-SS were typically addressed by both their SS rank title and a corresponding General's rank associated with the Wehrmacht. All such General ranks were followed by the phrase der Waffen-SS to distinguish the SS General from their counterparts in other branches of the German military. Thus, a typical title would be Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS.

In 1944, all SS General Officers were granted equivalent Waffen-SS rank so that, in the event that they were captured by the Allies, they would have status as military officers instead of police officials. For those who had held police rank prior to 1944, the SS General's title could become rather lengthy. Ernst Kaltenbrunner, for instance, was listed on the SS rolls in 1945 as Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS.

Senior SS Titles

In addition to the regular ranks of the SS, the SS also used a variety of titles which were commonly interchanged with ranks to denote senior levels of responsibility. Some of these titles included:

• SS-Führer: Originally an early rank of the SS, the title of SS-Führer was commonly used by any SS officer and translated as “SS Leader”.
• SS-Unterführer: This title was often used in the Waffen-SS by non-commissioned officers holding the rank of Unterscharführer and above. An enlisted SS soldier, applying for NCO status, was often known as an Unterführer-Anwärter.
• SD-Leiter: This title was used by senior officers of the Sicherheitsdienst, typically those in command of a major SD office or regional headquarters
• SS und Polizeiführer: Translated as SS and Police Leader, these were some of the most powerful men in the SS, commanding all SS units in a given geographic region
• Kriminalrat: A title used by the Kriminalpolizei to denote those SS members who were also fully certified detectives. Artur Nebe went by the title of Kriminalrat for most of the 1930s, only using addressing himself by an SS rank when engaged in non-Kripo activities.

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler, as the Führer of Germany, was by default the supreme commander of the SS and outranked Heinrich Himmler, who served as “Reich Leader” of the entire SS. In the early days of the SS, Hitler was Oberster SA-Führer and supreme commander of the Sturmabteilung stormtroopers. Hitler’s supreme SA rank, when the SS was still under the authority of the SA, could be seen as a rank superior to that of Reichsführer-SS. Hitler also was considered SS Member #1 (Emil Maurice who founded the SS was SS Member #2), while Himmler was SS Member #168. Based on the seniority system of SS membership number, this made Hitler senior in the SS to all other members even if not by rank. Given the SS membership system one should assume though that each member should posess a rank.

After the Night of the Long Knives, when the SS became independent from the SA, no data exist that Hitler did adopt any new rank as the supreme SS commander.

Some non-German sources have claimed that Hitler did in fact held a supreme SS rank known by a variety of grand titles to include Oberster SS-Führer and Der Oberste Führer der Schutzstaffel. There are, however, no German sources or documentary evidence from World War II that Hitler ever called himself by any of these titles nor are there any photographic records of Hitler wearing an SS uniform.

Additional information

• Stabsscharführer was a positional rank granted to the senior NCO of an SS Company. The position was the equivalent of a First Sergeant. Stabsscharführer was denoted by a special sleeve patch, worn on the upper right arm of the SS uniform.

• The rank of Staffelführer was also commonly referred to simply as SS-Führer.

• The rank of Sturmscharführer was only used by the Waffen-SS.

• The rank of Oberstgruppenführer did not exist until 1942 and was originally created to give senior Waffen-SS Generals equivalent rank to Wehrmacht Colonel Generals. Only four people ever held the rank of Oberstgruppenführer.

• SS officers holding the rank of Standartenführer and above wore rank insignia on both collar patches. All other SS members wore their rank on the left collar patch while an SS unit badge was worn on the right.

Ekstere links

• Bedurftig, Friedemann, and Christian Zenter. The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. 1985.
• Personnel Service Records of the S.S., National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
• Deutsche Uniformen, National Socialist German Workers Party, 1938