SS military ranks. Wehrmacht and SS ranks

Allgemeine SS officer's cap

Although the SS was the most complex of all the structures that made up the NSDAP, the rank system changed little throughout the history of this organization. In 1942, the rank system took its final form and existed until the end of the war.

Mannschaften (lower ranks):
SS-Bewerber - SS candidate
SS-Anwaerter - cadet
SS-Mann (SS-Schuetze in Waffen-SS) - private
SS-Oberschuetze (Waffen-SS) - private after six months of service
SS-Strummann - Lance Corporal
SS-Rollenfuehrer - corporal
Unterfuehrer (non-commissioned officers)
SS-Unterscharfuehrer - corporal
SS-Scharfuehrer - junior sergeant
SS-Oberscharfuehrer - sergeant
SS-Hauptscharfuehrer - senior sergeant
SS-Sturmscharfuerer (Waffen-SS) - company senior sergeant

Left buttonhole with SS Obergruppenführer insignia, front and back view

SS Sturmbannführer buttonholes

Sleeve eagle ss

On Labor Day 1935, the Fuhrer watched a parade of members of the Hitler Youth. To Hitler's left stands SS Gruppenführer Philipp Bowler, head of the Fuhrer's personal office. Bowler has a dagger on his belt. Bowler and Goebbels (behind the Führer) wear a badge on their chests issued especially for the "Tag der Arbeit 1935", while Hitler, who avoided wearing jewelry on his clothes, limited himself to only one Iron Cross. The Fuhrer did not even wear a Golden Party Badge.

Samples of SS insignia

From left - top to bottom: Oberstgruppenführer buttonhole, Obergruppenführer buttonhole, Gruppenführer buttonhole (before 1942)

In the middle - from top to bottom: Gruppenführer's shoulder straps, Gruppenführer's buttonhole, Brigadeführer's buttonhole. Bottom left: Oberführer's buttonhole, Standartenführer's buttonhole.

Bottom right: Obersturmbannführer's buttonhole, collar with Hauptsturmführer's buttonhole, Hauptscharführer's buttonhole.

Below in the middle: shoulder straps of an Obersturmbannführer of the infantry, shoulder straps of an Untersturmführer of the communications units of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler division, shoulder straps of an Oberscharführer of anti-tank self-propelled artillery.

From top to bottom: Oberscharführer's collar, Scharführer's collar, Rottenführer's buttonhole.

Top right: officer's all-SS buttonhole, soldier's buttonhole of the "Totenkopf" ("Death's Head") division, buttonhole of the 20th Estonian SS Grenadier Division, buttonhole of the 19th Latvian SS Grenadier Division

Back of the buttonhole

In the Waffen-SS, non-commissioned officers could obtain the position of SS-Stabscharfuerer (non-commissioned officer on duty). The duties of the duty non-commissioned officer included various administrative, disciplinary and reporting functions. SS Staffsharführers had the unofficial nickname “tier Spiess” and wore a jacket, the cuffs of which were decorated with double edging made of aluminum braid (Tresse).

Untere Fuehrer (junior officers):
SS-Untersturmfuehrer - lieutenant
SS-Obcrstrumfuehrer - chief lieutenant
SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer - captain

Mittlere Fuehrer (senior officers):
SS-Sturmbannfuehrer - major
SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer - lieutenant colonel
SS“Standar£enfuehrer - Colonel
SS-Oberfuehrer - senior colonel
Hoehere Fuehrer (senior officers)
SS-Brigadefuehrer - brigadier general
SS-Gruppenl "uchrer - Major General
SS-Obergruppertfuehrer - Lieutenant General
SS-Oberstgruppenfuehrer - Colonel General
In 1940, all SS generals also received the corresponding army ranks, for example
SS-Obergruppcnfuehrer und General der Waffen-SS. In 1943, the ranks of generals were supplemented by the rank of police, since by this time the police had already been practically absorbed by the SS. The same general in 1943 was called SS-Obergruppenfuehrer und General der Waffen-SS und Polizei. In 1944, some of Himmler's deputies in charge of Allgemeine-SS issues. The Waffen-SS and police received the title Hoehere SS- und Polizei fuehrer (HSSPI).
Himmler retained his title of Reichsführer-SS. Hitler, who by his position headed the SA. NSKK, Hitler Youth and other NSDAP formations. was Commander-in-Chief of the SS and held the title of Der Oberste Fuehrer der Schutzstaffel.
Allgemeine-SS ranks usually took precedence over the corresponding Waffen-SS and police ranks, so members of the Allgemeine-SS transferred to the Waffen-SS and police without losing their ranks and if promoted, this was automatically taken into account in their Allgemeine-SS rank.

Waffen ss officer's cap

Waffen-SS (Fuehrerbewerber) officer candidates served in non-commissioned officer positions before attaining officer rank. For 18 months SS- Führeranwarter(cadet) received the ranks of SS-Junker, SS-Standartenjunker and SS-Standartenoberjunker, which corresponded to the ranks of SS-Unterscharführer, SS-Scharführer and SS-Haupgscharführer. SS officers and candidates for SS officers enlisted in the reserve received the appendage der Reserve to their rank . A similar scheme was applied to non-commissioned officer candidates. Civilian specialists (translators, doctors, etc.) who served in the ranks of the SS received the addition of Sonderfuehrer or Fach fuehrer to their rank.

SS cap patch (trapezoid)

Skull cockade ss

Georgy Vasilyevich Chekhov is a brave officer of the Russian Navy and SS Troops. Georgy Vasilyevich Chekhov was born on December 14, 1892 in the city of Sukhum. In 1914 he graduated from the Naval Corps and was assigned to the Baltic Fleet. In 1916-17. he took part in hostilities on the destroyer Letun. On October 25, 1916, the Letun was blown up by a mine laid by the German submarine UC-27 in the area of Wolf Island. The ship was towed, and during the explosion Georgy Vasilyevich received a slight wound to his nose. By 1917, G. V. Chekhov graduated from the Artillery Officer Class and was enrolled as an artillery officer of the 2nd category. During his service in the Russian Navy, he was awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd class with swords and bow (November 23, 1915), as well as the Order of St. Anna, 4th class with the inscription “For Bravery” (3 May 1916).
To the start period Civil War Georgy Vasilyevich held the position of senior officer in the 2nd battery of the 1st Naval heavy artillery division.
Not accepting the Bolshevik revolution, he left for the Don. At the beginning, Lieutenant Chekhov was on the staff of the Novorossiysk military port.
From January 22, 1919, he was listed in the Don Army, at the disposal of the head of the Naval Heavy Artillery.
On February 26, 1919, he was appointed to the position of commander of the river gunboat "K-5" of the 2nd division of the River Military Flotilla.
06/1/1919 G.V. Chekhov was promoted to the rank of senior lieutenant. In 1920, he was listed as the head of transport boarding and the commandant of the piers of the naval base in Varna. In the same 1920, Georgy Vasilyevich, together with the rest of Wrangel’s Russian army, left his homeland.
Included Black Sea Fleet Chekhov was evacuated to Bizerte; he was still in the squadron on May 25, 1921.
He moved to Germany. Here, in the period from 1920 to 1921. he held the position of flag officer of the commander of the Russian squadron, Vice Admiral M.A. Kedrov. In 1922, in addition, Georgy Vasilyevich became one of the founding members of the Mutual Aid Union who served in the Russian Navy. Since the mid-1920s G.V. Chekhov lives in Belgium. In 1929, he joined the Naval Union, and also became a member of the Russian Imperial Union-Order (RIS-O). This organization had strong anti-Bolshevik views and the intention to continue the fight against the communists who had taken over Russia.
In 1937, Georgy Vasilyevich settled in Liege and received Belgian citizenship.
After the outbreak of the German-Soviet war, he joined the Walloon Legion (373rd Infantry Battalion of the Wehrmacht), together with other Russian emigrants - members of the Russian Imperial Union-Order. On August 8, 1941, he was enlisted in the legion with the rank of captain and appointed commander of the 3rd company of the 373rd infantry battalion. Together with the legion volunteers, he arrived at the Soviet-German front in November 1941.
In the battles for Gromovaya Balka from February 28 to March 2, 1942, the battalion repelled the attacks of two regiments Soviet army, but lost more than a third of its personnel and 24 of 26 officers. For the battles near Gromovaya Balka, G.V. Chekhov was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd class, and was also appointed commander of this legion. 06/1/1943 Walloon Legion, also known as the 373rd Infantry Battalion (according to German nomenclature) was officially transferred to the Waffen-SS. Here the legion became the basis for the formation of the SS assault brigade "Wallonia" (from October 19, 1944 - the 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division "Wallonia"). G.V. Chekhov received the rank of Hauptsturmführer (captain).
The Walloon Brigade fought the Bolsheviks in Ukraine, then in Estonia. During his years on the Soviet-German front, Georgy Chekhov became friends with the leader of the Walloon nationalists, Leon Degrelle, and became one of his closest assistants in the formation of the Walloon part of the SS troops.

On April 20, Georgy Vasilyevich was promoted to the rank of SS Sturmbannführer (major).
In January 1945, it was decided to send the division to the Eastern Front. On January 30, Walloon units arrived in Pomerania. In March 1945, G.V. Chekhov was the commander of the 2nd battalion of the 69th SS Volunteer Grenadier Regiment (28th Walloon SS Division). A few days later he was appointed commander of the 70th regiment of the same division. During the fighting, Georgy Vasilyevich was wounded. By this time, it was decided to transfer all Russians from this division to units under the command of Otto Skorzeny. On April 6, G.V. Chekhov went to Skorzeny’s headquarters in Friedenthal, but it turned out that Skorzeny had already moved his headquarters to Bavaria.
Chekhov headed to Bavaria, and by the end of the war he reached the city of Zell am See. Here, mingling with the crowd of Belgian workers, G.V. Chekhov adopted his mother's surname (Cher) so as not to fall into the clutches of the security officers. The old white emigrant managed to avoid extradition to the Soviet punitive authorities, but he was handed over to the Belgian authorities and sentenced to a long prison sentence. imprisonment. Amnestied in 1948 by the Belgian Prince Regent Charles, Georgy Chekhov left for Argentina.
Arriving in Argentina, Georgy Vasilyevich, together with his wife, Maria Golovkina, actively became involved in the activities of the Walloon community. He took part in the publication of the anniversary collection of the Walloon Legion.
Georgy Vasilyevich Chekhov died on November 26, 1961 in the city of Buenos Aires.
During his years of service in the Imperial Navy, Chekhov was awarded the Order of St. Anna, 4th class. for Bravery, Order of St. Stanislaus with swords 2, 3, 4th Art. During the Second World War, he was awarded by the Germans the Iron Cross II class and the medal “For wintering in the East.”

Collection "Imperials" 2009, pp. 18-22.

Formed on August 8, 1941, the legion, in which 19 officers and 850 legionnaires served, initially consisted of four companies. The 3rd company was secretly called “Russian”, since it was commanded by a member White movement, member of the RIS, senior lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Navy Georgy Vasilyevich Chekhov (1893 - 1961). In addition, the medical service of the legion was headed by Russian Lieutenant Pyotr Yachmin (later replaced by Captain P. Sakhnovsky in 1943). It is important to note that none of the Russians were enlisted in the 373rd Infantry Battalion (this is what the legion began to be called after being included in the Wehrmacht) as privates, they were all officers and sergeants and sergeants. However, recruitment into the legion did not end there, but on the contrary continued until 1945. Since absolutely everyone in the legion spoke only French, orders were given in this language, and command positions were occupied by the legionnaires themselves. The German “Verbidungstab” (liaison headquarters) was constantly with the legion and translated orders from above into French, and reports and reports into German. Since the Russian emigrants were Belgians in the eyes of the Germans, they enjoyed all the rights, unlike many other parts of the Eastern Wehrmacht troops, where the Germans commanded, and the Russians played only a supporting role. As fate would have it, just like in Spain, the Imperials had to fight under a banner topped with the so-called. The “Burgundian Cross” (two red logs on a white background, which when crossed form the Cross of St. Andrew the Apostle), the image of which was used by the Walloons as a banner.

At the end of August 1941, the legionnaires were divided into two groups, the first of which, led by commander (commander) Captain Georg Jacobs, left for the Meseritz training camp (Poland), and in early autumn took part in battles with Polish partisans as part of the Romanian combat "Markjul" group. Later, on November 2, 1941, the group arrived in Yekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk). Here, in the Pavlograd region, she participated in the successful capture of Soviet fortifications on the left bank of the Samara River. In the late autumn - early winter of 1941-1942, the 373rd battalion was stationed in locality Shcherbinovka and was subordinated to the 100th light infantry (jaeger division) of the XIVth motorized corps. Here the legionnaires suffered the fate of all Wehrmacht soldiers in the East, who were not ready for cold winter. Taking this circumstance into account and relying on fresh reserves arriving from the rear, the Soviet command of the South-Western direction, led by Marshal S.K. Timoshenko began on January 18, 1942 to carry out the Barvenkovsko-Lozovskaya offensive operation forces of the Southwestern and Southern fronts.

Developing the offensive, the troops of the 57th Army and the Vth Cavalry Corps (mobile group) of the Southern Front captured Barvenkovo (south-southeast of Kharkov) and made a sharp turn to the south. Units of the V Cavalry Corps of Major General A.A. By January 27, Grechko advanced 25-30 km south of Barvenkovo and moved to the Krasnoarmeyskoye area, creating a direct threat to the rear and lines of communication of the Wehrmacht in the Donbass. The command of Army Group South under Field Marshal F. von Bock, to localize the breakthrough on January 28, hastily created a battle group of the commander of the III Motorized Corps, General E. von Mackesen, which included the 100th Light Infantry Division with the Walloon Legion. The battles for the Krasnoarmeyskoye region at the end of January - beginning of February 1942 were especially brutal.

The legionnaires had to fill the gap that had formed in the area of the village of Gromovaya Balka (nicknamed the “Valley of Thunder” by the Walloons). Having taken a position, the new commander of the legion, Captain Pierre Pauli, possessing an adventurous character, wanting to prove to the Germans the courage and fearlessness of his soldiers, agreed to release the Croatian units, as well as the German reserve, to another section of the front, thereby leaving the legionnaires alone with the superior attackers. units of the V Soviet Cavalry Corps. When G.V. Chekhov tried to explain the danger of the situation; the Russian officer’s report caused an inexplicable outburst of anger in Pauli, who accused the emigrant of cowardice and even threatened him with execution (by the way, many officers of the legion and even the battalion chaplain received similar threats).

As a result, at the end of February 1942, 500 Walloons were forced to engage in battle with two Soviet regiments with a total number of up to 4 thousand people, who also had 14 tanks against the only Walloon one. Traditionally, regardless of losses, Soviet units overcame the minefields and broke into the village. Pauli then ordered a counterattack. The legionnaires entered into an unequal battle with superior enemy units. Despite the courage shown, the legion's personnel quickly dwindled. The situation was saved by the approaching Wehrmacht units (the 1st Mountain Jaeger Division arrived in the Mackensen group from February 25, 1942), and the enemy was driven back.

The legionnaires (including Captain Chekhov) received 32 Iron Crosses for the battle, but the results of the first major battle in which the legion took part were reminiscent of the “Pyrrhic victory.” The legion lost 30% of its personnel, and out of 22 officers, 20 were killed and wounded. Among the dead was the Russian Colonel Smolensky. The battle at Gromovaya Balka showed the German command not only the resilience of the battalion ranks, but also the inadequacy of the position of Captain Pauli, who in March 1942 was replaced by RIS comrade-in-arms Captain G.V. Chekhov. This was, perhaps, one of the first cases on the Eastern Front when a White Russian emigrant took the post of head of a foreign volunteer battalion. Having remained at his post for several months and received the rank of major, G. V. Chekhov voluntarily resigned and was appointed to the post of commander of the reserve battalion.

Brigadefuhrer (German: Brigadefuhrer)- rank in the SS and SA, corresponding to the rank of major general.

May 19, 1933 introduced into the SS structure as the rank of leaders of the main territorial divisions of the SS Oberabschnitte (SS-Oberabschnitte). This is the highest structural subdivision SS organizations. There were 17 of them. It can be equated to an army district, especially since the territorial boundaries of each oberabshnit coincided with the boundaries of the army districts. Oberabschnit did not clearly include a certain amount abshnitov. This depended on the size of the territory, the number of SS units stationed on it, and the population size. Most often, an oberabschnit had three abschnites and several special formations: one signal battalion (SS Nachrichtensturmbann), one engineer battalion (SS Pioniersturmbann), one sanitary company (SS Sanitaetssturm), an auxiliary reserve squad of members over 45 years of age, or a women's auxiliary squad ( SS Helferinnen). Since 1936 in the Waffen-SS it corresponded to the rank of major general and the position of division commander.

The change in the insignia of senior SS Fuhrers (generals) in April 1942 was caused by the introduction of the rank of Oberstgruppenführer and the desire to unify the number of stars on buttonholes and on shoulder straps, which were worn on all other types of uniforms, except for the party one, since with the increase in the number of Waffen-SS units, more and more There were problems with the correct recognition of SS ranks by ordinary Wehrmacht soldiers.

Starting with this SS rank, if its holder was appointed to a military (since 1936) or police (since 1933) position, he received a duplicate rank in accordance with the nature of the service:

SS Brigadeführer and Major General of Police - German. SS Brigadefuehrer und der General-maior der Polizei
SS Brigadeführer and Major General of the Waffen-SS - German. SS Brigadefuehrer und der General-major der Waffen SS

2 Obersturmbannführer

noun

total Ober-Sturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel of the SS troops in Nazi Germany)

3 Sturmbannführer

noun

total Sturmbannführer (major of the SS troops in Nazi Germany) , Sturmbannführer (SS major in Nazi Germany)

Books

At the obelisk, Perumov Nik Daniilovich, Ryzhenkova Yulia, Klikin Mikhail Gennadievich, Anisimov Sergey Vladimirovich, Baumgertner Olga Gartvinovna, Boldyreva Natalya, Zarubina Daria Nikolaevna, Karavanova Natalya Mikhailovna. The fateful years of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War - they are moving further and further away from us, becoming a legend. How it was and how it could be... Komsomol witch from partisan detachment leads... Buy for 387 RUR
Wind of the Gods, Bogdan Sushinsky. This edition includes two new novels - “Wind of the Gods” and “Conspiracy of the Doomed” by the famous Ukrainian writer, laureate of the International literary prize named after A. Dumas (1993) Bogdan...

Samples of SS insignia

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Books