| Obergruppenführer | |
|---|---|
 Post April 1942 gorget patch | |
  Shoulder and camo insignia | |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Service branch | |
| Abbreviation | Ogruf |
| Next higher rank |
|
| Next lower rank | Gruppenführer |
| Equivalent ranks | General der Waffengattung |
Obergruppenführer (German:[ˈoːbɐˌɡʁʊpm̩fyːʁɐ],lit. 'senior group leader') was aparamilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as arank of theSturmabteilung (SA) and adopted by theSchutzstaffel (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highestcommissionedSS rank after onlyReichsführer-SS.[1] Translated as "senior group leader",[2] the rank ofObergruppenführer was senior toGruppenführer.[3] A similarly named rank ofUntergruppenführer existed in the SA from 1929 to 1930 and as a title until 1933. In April 1942, the new rank ofSS-Oberst-Gruppenführer was created which was aboveObergruppenführer and belowReichsführer-SS.[1]
The rank ofObergruppenführer was created in 1932 byErnst Röhm and was intended as a seniormost rank of the Nazistormtroopers for use by Röhm and his top SA generals.[2] In its initial concept, the rank was intended to be held by members of theOberste SA-Führung (Supreme SA Command) and also by veteran commanders of certainSA-Gruppen (SA groups). Some of the early promotions to the rank includedErnst Röhm,Viktor Lutze,Edmund Heines,August Schneidhuber, andFritz Ritter von Kraußer.
The rank of SA-Obergruppenführer was the most senior rank of theSturmabteilung until the spring of 1933, when Röhm made the title position ofStabschef (SA Chief of Staff) into a rank and promoted himself accordingly.[4]
Also in the summer of 1933,Heinrich Himmler was promoted byAdolf Hitler to the newly created rank of SS-Obergruppenführer with the intent being to make Himmler the equivalent of the senior commanders of the SA, to which the SS was still subordinated.[5] Although Himmler usually referred to himself asReichsführer-SS, before the summer of 1934, this was simply a title for the SS commander, and not yet an actual rank.[6] Shortly after Himmler's promotion, Hitler further promotedFranz Xaver Schwarz, with Himmler's date of rank backdated to 1 January 1933 in order to confirm his seniority as the top officer within the SS.[7] Shortly afterRudolf Hess was appointed as his deputy in April 1933, Hitler promoted him to SS-Obergruppenführer. However, in September, Hitler decreed that Hess should no longer use the title ofObergruppenführer but only use the title of Deputy Führer.[8]
A number of men were promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer in 1934, these beingFritz Weitzel,Richard Walther Darré andWalter Buch. After theNight of the Long Knives in July 1934,Sepp Dietrich was promoted to the rank.[9] On 9 September 1934, so as to prevent a power struggle within the SS, Hitler further promotedKurt Daluege who commanded most of the SS in theBerlin region.[10] Daluege's promotion was to avoid the SS splitting into two separate entities, one based in Northern Germany under Daluege and the other inBavaria under Himmler. This early SS disunity became a non-issue after a common ground was found amongst SS leaders in their general hatred of the SA.
Udo von Woyrsch andFriedrich-Wilhelm Krüger were promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer in 1935 whileJosias, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, andMax Amann received the rank a year later along withKarl von Eberstein andPhilipp Bouhler. The year 1936 saw several promotions to the rank, includingFriedrich Jeckeln who would become one of the most infamousSS and police leaders on theEastern Front duringWorld War II. The last pre-war promotion to the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer was in April 1939 forFriedrich Graf von der Schulenburg who died the following month.[11] Upon the outbreak of World War II, there were seventeen men who held the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer.
During the Second World War, there were 88 promotions to the rank, of which 22 were considered regular officers of theWaffen-SS and the rest members of theAllgemeine SS. The first wartime promotions to SS-Obergruppenführer occurred in April 1940 when the rank was granted toJoachim von Ribbentrop,Martin Bormann andHans Lammers;Arthur Seyss-Inquart andOtto Dietrich were promoted a year later. All five promotions were honorary SS ranks with the first promotion of an active SS officer occurring in September 1941 when the rank was granted toReinhard Heydrich. TheWaffen-SS commander,Paul Hausser was promoted to the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer on 1 October 1941.[12]Waffen-SS commander Theodor Eicke was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS on 20 April 1942. Sepp Dietrich remained senior, having served asGeneral der SS-VT (SS-Verfügungstruppe) upon the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
Two SS officers would be demoted from the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer: Rudolf Hess andWolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorff. Hess was stripped of his rank and expelled from both the SS and Nazi Party after his abortiveflight to Scotland in 1941.[13] Helldorff was stricken from the SS rolls in 1944 after the20 July plot against Hitler. Helldorff was a unique case, in that his SS rank had been bestowed for technical reasons in order to command theBerlin Police. While holding SA membership, Helldorff was never actually an SS member although for administrative purposes he held SS rank and was ranked as the 15th most senior SS officer.
A total of 107 men would eventually hold the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer with 97 such officers listed on the SS seniority list in 1944. Several men with the rank would die during World War II; some of the more notable being Heydrich, Eicke, andArtur Phleps. The last promotion was made in March 1945 toHans Kammler.
The rank ofObergruppenführer was used by four major paramilitary groups of the Nazi Party, these being the SA, SS,National Socialist Motor Corps, andNational Socialist Flyers Corps. The rank would remain the highest SS general officer rank until April 1942, when the rank ofSS-Oberst-Gruppenführer was created.
Standard practice for SS generals serving as anSS and police leader, as well as those senior SS personnel of theRSHA, was to hold dual police rank as SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei. SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS was the equivalent in the armed SS; in 1944, most active SS generals received this designation in order to command military troops during the last days of the war. Approximately fifteen SS generals were ranked as SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS.
SS-Obergruppenführer was considered the highest rank of theAllgemeine SS until April 1942; equivalent to alieutenant general (three-star general) in the American and British armies.[14] It was only outranked by Himmler's special rank ofReichsführer-SS. However, within theWaffen-SS, the rank of SS-Gruppenführer was equivalent to aGeneralleutnant, and an SS-Obergruppenführer came to be considered the equivalent of aGeneral; holders were titled in full SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS.[15]
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| Junior rank Gruppenführer | SS rank Obergruppenführer | Senior rank SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer |
| Junior rank Gruppenführer | SA rank Obergruppenführer | Senior rank Stabschef |
