Everything about Obergruppenf Hrer totally explained
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 (
Heinrich Himmler). Translated as "Senior Group Leader", the rank of SA-Obergruppenführer was held by members of the
Oberste SA-Führung (Supreme SA Command) and also by veteran commanders of certain
SA-Gruppen (SA Groups). The rank of Obergruppenführer was considered senior to the older title of
Gruppenführer.
As an
SS rank, Obergruppenführer was created due to the growth and expansion of the
SS under Heinrich Himmler. Himmler was one of the first SS officers appointed to the rank of
SS-Obergruppenführer, and held the rank while simultaneously serving as the Reichsführer-SS. At the time Himmler held the rank of
Obergruppenführer,
Reichsführer was simply a title and not yet an actual rank.
In the early days of the SS, the rank of
Obergruppenführer was occasionally used to make two SS leaders equal in seniority, so as to prevent a power struggle within the
Nazi Party. Such was the case with
Kurt Daluege, who commanded most of the SS in the
Berlin region between 1930 and 1934. To avoid having the SS split into two separate entities, one based in Northern Germany and the other in
Bavaria,
Adolf Hitler promoted Daluege to the new rank of Obergruppenführer making him equal in rank to Himmler.
After the
Night of the Long Knives, the SS and the SA became two completely separate organizations. The SA continued to use the rank of Obergruppenführer, but the title gained predominance mainly in the SS. With the Nazi Party in power, and the SS a state agency of Germany,
SS-Obergruppenführer was considered the highest rank of the SS, with the exception of Himmler’s special rank of Reichsführer-SS. Within the
Waffen-SS, the rank came to be considered the equivalent of a full
General.
Ninety-eight men were to hold SS-Obergruppenführer rank, 21 of whom served in the Waffen SS. The rank would remain the highest SS-General rank until 1942, when the SS created the rank of
SS-Oberstgruppenführer.
The rank of
Obergruppenführer was held by some of the most notorious figures in the SS, with
Reinhard Heydrich and
Ernst Kaltenbrunner both bearing the rank.
Karl Wolff was another holder of the rank who was taken alive by the Allies after the close of
Second World War.
SS-Obergruppenführer was also the standard rank for
SS and Police Leaders as well as Division commanders of the
Waffen-SS.
Further Information
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