The assault detachments of the NSDAP appeared on August 3, 1921 - as a tool for seizing power. In 1919, Adolf Hitler joined the small nationalist German Workers' Party (DAP) in Munich, and a year later, becoming its leader, he added the words "National Socialist" - NSDAP to its name. All political parties of that time tried to recruit physically fit people into their ranks, who were instructed to maintain order at rallies, as well as to stop the provocations of political opponents.
The NSDAP was no exception. In August 1921, Hans Ulrich Klintzsch, a former lieutenant in the Kaiser's navy, took over the leadership of the voluntary National Socialist "Defense and Propaganda Detachment". His tasks included promoting the ideas of Nazism, raising funds for the party fund, distributing Nazi literature, protecting meetings, rallies, and party headquarters from attacks by political opponents. In November 1921, the detachment received a “baptism of fire”, having entered into battle with the communists, who were trying to disrupt the Nazi rally in Munich. Despite their small numbers, the future attack aircraft broke the nose of more than one communist. After that, the military association of volunteers was renamed "assault squads" ( Sturmabteilungen). By the way, originally the abbreviation SA was deciphered as Sportabteilung(sport teams), but Hitler was of little interest in gymnastics. The party newspaper Völkischer Beobachter (People's Observer) wrote: "SA must engage in military-patriotic education and protect the leaders of the party."
The attack aircraft made their first serious sortie outside of Munich on October 14/15, 1923. During the celebration of Germany's Day, they staged another massacre with the communists in Coburg, as a result of which the latter were forced out of the city. The media widely covered this event, it was the first time that the name of Hitler thundered throughout Germany. They celebrated the victory on a large scale: 6,000 attack aircraft marched in front of the future Fuhrer, Hitler handed over standards and banners to the first shock brigades. And already on November 9, 1923, he tried to seize power in Bavaria. This poorly planned operation, called by historians the "Beer Putsch", ended in complete failure. The police opened fire on the Nazi column, 16 people were killed. Hitler was arrested, the wounded Goering fled to Austria. SA were banned, their commanders fled to other German lands. However, the failure of the "Beer Putsch" did not lead to the liquidation of the assault detachments, on the contrary, they began to spread rapidly throughout the country.
Hitler recruited his supporters among former front-line soldiers who were left without a livelihood. However, it is unlikely that yesterday's military would have begun to obey the retired corporal if he had not been patronized by Captain Ernst Röhm, who distinguished himself in the First World War.
When no one in Munich had yet heard of Hitler, Röhm was already widely known. He was a soldier to the marrow of his bones, a straightforward and rude man with a face mutilated by a bullet. The defeat of Germany in the First World War put an end to his military career, but he could not accept this and gathered like-minded people around him. Captain Rem led the army, which the leader of the national socialists acquired. It was he who managed to convince the military leadership of the NSDAP and Hitler to arm the attack aircraft and turn them into armed anti-communist formations. SA very soon became a symbol of the Nazi movement. They marched through the streets singing:
Having plunged a knife into the throat of a Jew,
You will say again
the world is good!
The marching columns of attack aircraft seemed to the Germans the personification of order and tranquility, although in reality there were a lot of criminals among this rabble. Historians claim that the SA was infested with homosexuals, sadists and other anti-social elements. Stormtroopers demonstrated the strength of the Nazis and, catching fear in the townspeople, dispersed and killed their political opponents. Before each skirmish, the detachment received instructions from Hitler: “You have to prove your loyalty by deed. Nobody leaves until it's all over. Unless they carry you feet first. If I see a coward among you, I will rip off the bandage with the swastika with my own hand. Brutality accompanied the stormtroopers throughout the existence of the SA. Hitler himself said that his combat units were "not an institution of noble maidens, but a union of stern fighters." In no small measure, the accusations of crime were facilitated by the ominous nicknames that stormtroopers jokingly gave their units. For example, in Berlin there was a "storm of pimps", in Wedding - a "storm of robbers". However, there were also quite peaceful and even cute names - “dancing guild”, “great guys”, “salt tower”, “toothy”. And the very name SA was interpreted by jokers as singing groups (a pun, from German Sing-Abteilung). The social composition of the attack aircraft was many-sided. The first members of the SA were young guys under 25 years old who did not participate in the First World War. By 1923, a large number of front-line soldiers had come to SA, the average age of ordinary members had shifted to 30-35 years. In the 1930s, due to the increase in the number of unemployed in the country, there was a further increase in the age bar.
In February 1925, when the SA ban was lifted, Hitler forbade stormtroopers from carrying weapons and uniforms in order to avoid charges of creating an army. Now the SA was faced with the task of clearing the streets of cities from the political opponents of the NSDAP. Hitler's aggressive plans found an ardent opponent in the person of Rem. The latter believed that attack aircraft should become the basis of the people's army - an important step towards the remilitarization of Germany. Disagreements became so aggravated that Rem left the NSDAP in April 1925, and in 1928 he left for Bolivia, where he was offered the position of a military instructor. Hitler declared himself Supreme Leader of the Stormtroopers - Oberste SA Fuhrer. By August 1927, the SA had reached 30,000 men, two years later, their strength had doubled. The Fuhrer needed competent leadership of this "brown horde". On January 5, 1931, at the request of Hitler, Rem returned to Germany. He immediately officially assumed the position of Chief of Staff of the SA. In October 1931, marches were held in some German cities, in which more than 100,000 uniformed attack aircraft took part. They dominated the streets, disrupting and dispersing rallies and terrorizing their political opponents. Without outright violations of the law and without open confrontation with the government, Hitler effectively intimidated and blackmailed the authorities with his "brown army".
Poster for the film "S.A.-Mann Brand" The "heroic" image of the German attack aircraft was also embodied on the television screen. In 1933, the propaganda machine of the Third Reich produced a feature film "S.A.-Mann Brand"(Stormtrooper Brand). This black-and-white sound film was shot by renowned director Franz Seitz. In the title role, he involved the actor Heinz Klingenberg, for whom this work became fatal. After filming, Klingenberg divorced his wife and never again received offers for the lead role. A film about the election battles in Germany in 1933 - the events that immediately preceded Hitler's coming to power, when the militants of the Communist Party (rot-front) and Nazi stormtroopers (SA) during the elections staged brawls, stabbings, often turning into armed clashes. Aggression was understandable - in the elections, both parties went head to head, it was clear that the party that came to power would deal with the rival. According to the plot, the communists are trying to win over the young Nazi worker Fritz Brand to their side.
Shot from the film "S.A.-Mann Brand" They even decide to bribe the factory owner to fire Brand. However, the latter, in spite of everything, chooses a different path - the only correct one, according to the authors and customers of the film. The picture ends with frightening torchlight processions of stormtroopers, among which the viewer notices Brand. An interesting fact: less than a year after the release of the film (May 1933), the “Night of the Long Knives” followed, when, on the orders of Hitler, the top leadership of the stormtroopers was destroyed, and the organization itself lost its role as the leading political force in Germany.
By February 1934, the total number of people subordinate to Ernst Röhm exceeded 4 million people. These were the best times for attack aircraft - they began to master new positions and enrich themselves. Rem becomes the second person in the party after Hitler. Sometimes it even seemed that the NSDAP had two leaders. The chief of staff of the assault detachments appeared at all public ceremonies next to the Fuhrer. Rem's birthday - November 28, 1887 - was celebrated as a national holiday. However, the SA chief of staff was a headstrong man who defended the exclusive right to command attack aircraft and did not want to share this power with anyone. He believed that the Fuhrer should be engaged in politics and propaganda, and entrust military affairs to him. Hitler understood that Rem was out of obedience. An army of four million stormtroopers posed a danger as a voracious horde that demanded its share and hated those who were in power and gained wealth. The stormtroopers adhered to primitive socialist views, demanded to deal with the aristocracy, the army elite and the big bourgeoisie, insisted on the implementation of the revolutionary slogans promised in the NSDAP program. But the Fuhrer did not need radical economic reforms at all. He no longer needed recalcitrant stormtroopers, he needed an obedient army.
At one of the parties, Rem, presumptuous and tipsy, allowed himself to blurt out too much: “What this funny corporal said does not concern us at all! If we don't work with Hitler, we'll do just fine without him. We will see our work through to the end, with or without Hitler.". It was these words of the Chief of Staff of the SA that Viktor Lutze, already familiar to us, conveyed to the Fuhrer. However, Hitler eliminated Röhm not at all because of a denunciation. The leader of the stormtroopers, dreaming of a social revolution, quarreled with both the army and the police - the Fuhrer simply could not gather his strength and unite military power around him. Preparations for the liquidation of Röhm and the defeat of the SA began in February 1934. In March, the Prussian Gestapo received a personal order from Hitler to urgently prepare compromising materials on the SA chief of staff and his inner circle. Members of the SS from the Security Service (SD), the guards of the Dachau concentration camp and the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler were selected to carry out the arrests and executions.
On the evening of June 30, the “Night of the Long Knives” began, to which the cult film by Luchino Visconti “The Death of the Gods” (1969) is dedicated. At five o'clock in the evening, on the orders of Hitler, the SS men from the "Dead Head" detachment began to shoot the leaders of the attack aircraft. In Bavaria, under the personal command of Sepp Dietrich, six members of the SA high command were killed, while in Berlin, SS soldiers led by Hermann Göring and Reinhard Heydrich caught the rest of the leaders of the assault squads, brought them to Lichterfeld and shot them. The executions lasted until July 2 and stopped only after Hitler's order. Ernst Röhm was placed in the Stadelheim prison. Two SS men from the guards of the Dachau concentration camp, Theodor Eicke and Michael Lippert, were sent to him. The Fuhrer asked to give Rem the opportunity to die with dignity. The head of Stadelheim prison told how it all happened: “On Sunday, July 1, two SS men arrived and demanded that they be taken to Remus. It was at 9:30 in the morning. They gave the Browning to Rem. He demanded a conversation with Hitler. They told him to shoot himself. If he doesn't obey, they'll be back in ten minutes and finish him off... When the time was up and they entered the cell, Rem was shirtless. One of them shot him. Rem collapsed. He was still alive, and they finished him off with a point-blank shot. The bullet went through his body and stuck in the floor of the cell.”
He shot the all-powerful SA chief Theodor Eike (the same Eike who made the inhuman rules for the treatment of prisoners in concentration camps). He was a rare bandit, even among the Nazis. For crimes against comrades in his own party, he was declared mentally ill, expelled from the SS, but then returned, because Himmler needed pathological sadists. For the murder of Rem, Eicke received the title of Obergruppenführer and headed the administration of concentration camps. On July 2, Hitler arranged a meeting of the old Nazis in the Imperial Chancellery. He invited veterans of the movement, treated them to tea and cakes - he wanted to show that nothing had changed for the party, only those who deserved it were punished. On July 3, the Fuhrer held an extraordinary meeting of the government, where he informed his ministers that "Rem's clique tried to openly blackmail him." Hitler declared that Röhm's fate should explain to everyone: "everyone who opposes the existing regime risks his head." Speaking in the Reichstag on July 13, 1934, the Führer accepted responsibility for the murders of recent comrades. He spoke with disdain about the sexual promiscuity and luxurious life of Rem and other stormtrooper leaders, as if he had not known about it before. What was a cruel Machiavellian conspiracy in the struggle for sole power was portrayed as a step necessary to eliminate the internal threat, to eliminate corruption and immorality. “If someone asks me why I did not send these cases to court, then I can explain - at this decisive hour I alone was responsible for the fate of the German people and I was the only judge! And so he ordered the leaders of the traitors to be shot!” Hitler said.
Propaganda painting by H. Hoyer "Fallen Stormtrooper" Few condemned the notorious lawlessness and massacres. Most Germans approved of Hitler's actions, eradicating the evil that is dangerous to society. “Through energetic action, the Führer won over the broad masses, especially those who are still distrustful of the movement. He is not just admired, he becomes an idol, ”- said in one party report. Historians have never been able to establish exactly how many people were liquidated between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the order was received to end the action. Probably, we are talking about two hundred killed.
On the morning of August 2, 1934, President Hindenburg died. Hitler suggested that the government adopt a new law on the head of state: he becomes the "Führer and Reich Chancellor" and assumes all the duties of the imperial president, including the main one - the post of commander in chief of the armed forces. All civil servants, including the military, had to swear allegiance to him. Hitler called for August 19 a national referendum on the abolition of the presidency and the transfer of all powers to him. 84% of those participating in the referendum voted "yes". Adolf Hitler became the sole master of the country.
What about stormtroopers? They have not gone away, they simply lost their influence, were completely disarmed and became absolutely tame dogs of the Fuhrer. Officially, the SA units were the educational tool of the party to ensure the soldier's ideological position. Stormtroopers went through the entire Great Patriotic War, and after the defeat of Nazi Germany, they were disbanded and banned, like most German organizations and associations.
In August 1921, the former lieutenant of the Kaiser's navy, Hans Ulrich Klintzsch, on behalf of A. Hitler, formed the NSDAP Defense and Propaganda Detachment from among the most active and physically strong members of the party. The tasks of this detachment were to promote the ideas of Nazism, raise funds for the party fund, distribute Nazi literature, protect meetings, rallies, party headquarters from attacks by political opponents, and physically obstruct similar events of other political movements. A month later, it was renamed the assault squads "Sturmabteilungen". In November 1921, the SA received a baptism of fire by engaging in combat with the Communists, who attempted to disrupt a Nazi rally at the Hofbeuhaus in Munich; despite their small numbers, the attack aircraft proved to be a serious and well-organized force. In 1922, the youth section "Jugendbund" was created under the NSDAP, which included young men aged 14 to 18 years. The Jugendbund was divided into two age groups: the older one, which included young men aged 16-18, was called the Jungsturm Adolf Hitler "Jungsturm Adolf Hitler" and became the youth division of the SA.
In mid-October 1923, during the celebration of Germany's Day in the city of Coburg, stormtroopers provoked a skirmish with the communists, which turned into a bloody massacre. Thanks to this battle of Coburg, the communists were thrown out of the city, and the press wrote in detail about these events, and the name of Hitler finally became widely known in Germany. On January 28, 1923, the first National Party Congress of the NSDAP took place. During the celebration, 6,000 stormtroopers marched in formation in front of Hitler, who presented standards to the newly formed SA detachments "Munihut" and the SA company from Zwickau, the first SA detachment created outside of Bavaria. In September 1923, Hitler created the Kamplbund Combat Union, which united 70,000 people in its ranks. Its basis is the SA, and besides, the Imperial military banner "Relchskrlegs-flagge", headed by Ryom, is part of the union.
On March 1, 1923, the formation of the first regiment of the SA began. In the same month, Hermann Goering was appointed commander of the SA. Goering, on the other hand, was a famous hero of the First World War, but he was by nature a lazy person and indulging his little weaknesses. Ernst Röhm, a staff officer from the army headquarters in Munich, became the real commander of the SA.
Ernst Röhm, born in 1887, was a professional soldier. With the rank of captain, he commanded a company of the 10th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, and after the First World War he served as a political adviser to the headquarters of General Ritter von Epp, whose corps in 1919 "liberated" Munich from the communists. Rehm joined the Nazi Party at the very beginning of the organization of the fascist movement. In practice, he helped Hitler from scratch to create security detachments from youngsters, which later became assault (Sturmabteylung or SA). He takes part in the Munich beer putsch, and after his failure, he goes to jail. Röhm was released before Hitler, and while the future Führer was in Landsberg prison, together with Alfred Rosenberg, he made heroic efforts to keep the banned Nazi movement from dying out.
It was Remus who managed to convince the military leadership of the NSDAP and Hitler to arm the SA and turn them into armed anti-communist formations that enjoyed the patronage of the military authorities. On November 9, 1923, Hitler, at the head of the members of the Fighting Union, tried to seize power in Bavaria. This ill-planned and ill-prepared operation ended in complete failure. The police opened fire on the Nazi column, 16 people were killed, many were injured. Hitler was arrested, the wounded Goering fled to Austria. The SA were banned, their commanders were either arrested or fled to other German lands, where Bavarian justice could not get them. Hitler was sentenced by a court to five years in a fortress, but already in December 1924 he was released thanks to an amnesty.
In February 1925 
the ban on the activities of the SA was lifted, Hitler, remembering the lessons of the Bavarian uprising, banned the stormtroopers from carrying weapons, as well as paramilitary uniforms, in order to avoid charges of creating an army.
The SA assault detachments were tasked with clearing the streets of cities from political opponents of the NSDAP. The sharp increase in Hitler's aggressiveness and his militaristic aspirations found an adversary in the person of Ryoma, who believed that the SA should become the basis of the people's army and further contribute to the remilitarization of Germany. The differences between them became so aggravated that Röhm left the party in April 1925 and left for Bolivia in 1928, where he was offered the position of a military instructor. In November 1926, Hitler declared himself the Supreme Leader of the SA "Oberste SA FUhrer". The real executive power was concentrated in the hands of the SA chief of staff. This post was taken by one of the well-known commanders of the Volunteer Corps, Franz Felix Pfeffer von Salomon, who introduced elements of the army system into the organization of the SA.
The structure of the SA was now built along military lines:
- "Gruppen" (group) - the lowest unit,
- "Trupps" (branch),
- "Sturme" (company),
- "Standarten" (regiment),
- "Brlgaden" (brigade),
- "Gaustwrlwe" (gaushturm).
Gausturm roughly corresponded to the division and united all the SA units located on the territory of the corresponding Gau.
By August 1927, the number of SA reached 30,000 people, two years later, the strength of the attack aircraft doubled. In 1930, the Motorized SA came into being, which provided the SA with greater mobility and faster delivery of orders to all units. In the middle of 1930, the conflict between Hitler and Pfeffer began to grow. Hitler learned that Pfeffer was secretly trying to use the army to conduct military training for members of the SA, which could lead to a ban on the SA due to possible accusations of militarization of the NSDAP. On January 5, 1931, at the request of Hitler, the returned Rkm officially assumes the position of Chief of Staff of the SA. He carried out a new reorganization of the structure of the SA, which were now divided into:
- "Scharen", former bands,
Branches "Trupps",
Storms "Sturme",
- "Sturmbane" battalions
Standards "Standarten",
Untergruppen "Untergruppen", former Gausturms,
Groups "Gruppen".
If under Pfeffer the largest unit of the SA Gausturm was directly subordinated to the highest party leadership, that is, the leadership of the "Gau", now the new groups did not correspond in their borders to the party areas of the Gau. They were personally subordinate to Rem and, of course, to Hitler.
On October 17 and 18, 1931, SA demonstrations took place in the cities of Braunschweig, in which, according to police estimates, over 100,000 uniformed storm troopers took part. This show of force greatly disturbed the authorities of the Weimar Republic. In December, the government banned the wearing of any party uniform. This ban was maintained until June of the following year, but its effect was extremely low. The Nazis began to wear a uniform civilian white shirt with a black tie instead of a military-style uniform.
In July 1932, Röhm created even larger formations of the Ober-Group "Obergruppe" as part of the SA, the number of which soon reached five. The SA now dominated the streets, disrupting and dispersing rallies and terrorizing their political opponents. Without outright violations of the law and without open confrontation with the government, Hitler effectively intimidated and blackmailed the authorities with his brown army. By January 1934, the number of Obergruppes had grown to ten. But by this time, the hours of the all-powerful SA chief of staff were numbered. Röhm made no secret of his differences with Hitler over the future role of the SA: he insisted on and planned to transform the SA into a real military force that would replace the regular army. Hitler, after winning the 1933 elections, believed that the SA had fulfilled its task of suppressing political opponents, and now the continued existence of such a large organization was turning into a threat. Hitler, who was preparing for a future war, needed real military professionals, he needed a regular army and professional generals and officer corps.
What are the tasks now set before the SA? For the most part, the SA organizations acted as sports clubs, where physical and military training of personnel was carried out without the use of firearms. Secondly, the SA was engaged in the propaganda of the ideas of National Socialism, and finally, every year during the party congresses in Nuremberg, stormtroopers took part in a demonstration of the strength and unity of the Nazi state. After the destruction of Rem, the group became the highest territorial association of the SA. In 1933 there were 21 groups and another in Austria. By the beginning of the war, their number increased to 25, and after the annexation of a number of territories to Germany, up to 29.
Stormtroopers (SA)
Sturmabteilung (SA)
SA has never been part of the German Armed Forces. Moreover, this organization never had weapons, although it had an army-type structure, was very numerous, well organized, and had a military-like rank system. But without understanding the SA rank system, it is impossible to correctly understand the rank system of the SS troops, which were operationally part of the Wehrmacht. This table precedes the table of SS ranks.
In 1920, a certain Adolf Schicklgruber (A. Hitler) headed the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). In August 1921, the retired lieutenant zur see Hans Ulrich Klintzsch (H.U.Klintzsch), on behalf of A. Hitler, formed the NSDAP Defense and Propaganda Detachment from among the most active and physically strong members of the party. The tasks of this detachment were to promote the ideas of Nazism, raise funds for the party fund, distribute Nazi literature, protect meetings, rallies, party headquarters from attacks by political opponents, and physically obstruct similar events of other political movements.
In August 1921, the detachment received the name Sturmabteilung, abbreviated as SA (Assault Squad). In our country they are better known under the names "stormtroopers", "assault battalions", "brown shirts". In a short time, in most cities in Germany, SA groups are created in local NSDAP organizations. As the ranks of the NSDAP grow, so does the number of SA groups. To concentrate efforts and create superiority in the forces of the SA groups in the places where mass events are held, they are combined into larger units.
From 1922 to November 1926, the SA divisional hierarchy was as follows, although rather vague:
Note: Speaking about the equivalence of the SA units with the army, the author means the similarity in numbers, but not tactical mission, tasks to be solved and combat capabilities
At the same time, insignia appeared on armbands and a system of ranks began to take shape, although these were not ranks yet, but positions.
SA rank system 1922-26
| The code* | |
| 1 | SA Mann (SA Mann) |
| 3 | |
| 7 | SA Zugfuehrer (SA Zugführer) |
| 9 | SA Hundertschaftsfuehrer (SA Hundertschaftsführer) |
| 12 | SA Regimentsfuehrer (SA Regimentsführer) |
The first regiment of the SA "Munich" was formed on March 1, 1923. The ranks of the SA are growing rapidly. The popularity of the SA was explained by the fact that in conditions of mass unemployment, the members of the SA received a regular small allowance from the party, although it should not be forgotten that the members of the SA performed their duties in parallel with their main labor activity (workers, shopkeepers, peasants, farm laborers, lumpen, etc.). ). The SA detachments during this period did not have a common leadership and were subordinate to local party leaders.
In November 1926 A. Hitler takes over the general leadership of the SA and proclaims himself the supreme leader of the SA (Oberste SA Fuehrer), introduces the post of chief of staff of the SA and appoints Franz Felix Pfeffer von Salomon (F.F Pfeffer von Salomon) to this post. He creates a coherent SA structure with a clear chain of command from an ordinary attack aircraft to Hitler.
Hierarchy of SA divisions from XI-1926 to I-1931
| Gruppen | abteilung (branch) |
| Truppen | zug (platoon) |
| Stuerme | company (company) |
| standard | regiment (regiment) |
| Brigaden | brigade (brigade) |
| Gaustuerme | division (division) |
The rank system also changes accordingly. However, these are not titles, but positions.
SA rank system 1926-31
| The code* | Names of ranks (positions) |
| 1 | SA Mann (SA Mann) |
| 3 | SA Gruppenfuehrer (SA Gruppenführer) |
| 7 | |
| 9 | |
| 12 | |
| 13 | |
| 14 | SA Gaustuermfuehrer (SA Gausturmführer) |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Oberste SA Fuehrer (Oberste SA Fuhrer). Only A. Hitler had this title |
In August 1930, it turns out that Salomon, secretly from Hitler, is using army training centers to train SA units, is trying to negotiate with the military about arming SA units, which was fraught with the announcement of the NSDAP as an anti-state party and its liquidation. Salomon is removed from the leadership of the SA. On January 5, 1931, retired Captain Ernst Röhm was appointed head of the SA, who immediately revised the SA and gave it a clearer paramilitary structure.
Hierarchy of SA divisions from I-1931 to VII-1932
| SA subdivision name | Equivalent to an army unit…. |
| Sharn | abteilung (branch) |
| Truppen | zug (platoon) |
| Stuerme | company (company) |
| Sturmbanne | battalion (battalion) |
| standard | regiment (regiment) |
| Brigaden | brigade (brigade) |
| Undergruppen | division (division) |
| Gruppen | corps (case) |
Röhm also develops the SA rank system based on the army system.
SA rank system from I-1931 to VII-1932
| The code* | Category | Names of ranks |
| 1 | Mannschaften | SA Mann (SA Mann) |
| 2a | SA Sturmann (SA Sturmann) | |
| 2b | ||
| 3a | Unterfuehrer | SA Sharfuehrer (SA Scharführer) |
| 3b | ||
| 4a | SA Truppfuehrer (SA Truppführer) | |
| 4b | ||
| 5 | ||
| 7 | Untere Fuehrer | SA Sturmfuehrer (SA Sturmführer) |
| 8 | ||
| 9 | ||
| 10 | Mittlere Fuehrer | |
| 11 | ||
| 12 | SA Standartenfuehrer (SA Standartenfuehrer) | |
| 13 | ||
| 14 | Hoehere Fuehrer | SA Brigadenfuehrer (SA Brigadenführer) |
| 15 | SA Gruppenfuehrer (SA Gruppenführer) | |
| 17 | SA Chef des Stabs (SA Chef des Stabs) | |
| 18 |
With all the love of the Germans for uniforms, insignia, ranks, among the members of the SA, the names "officer", "general" were never mentioned. The bulk of the attack aircraft, including the leaders, came from the lower strata of the population, and the division of party comrades as it was in the Reichswehr was unacceptable to them. It was believed that all members of the SA comrades on an equal footing. Therefore, the terms "Mannschaften" (Team Members), "Unterfuehrer" (Sub-Leaders), "Untere Fuehrer" (Junior Managers), "Mittlere Fuehrer" (Middle Managers), "Hoehere Fuehrer" (Main Managers) have been used.
In July 1932, Röhm forms the larger formation SA Obergruppe and the hierarchy of SA divisions changes somewhat:
Hierarchy of SA divisions from VII-1932 to autumn 1934
| SA subdivision name | Equivalent to an army unit…. |
| Sharn | abteilung (branch) |
| Truppen | zug (platoon) |
| Stuerme | company (company) |
| Sturmbanne | battalion (battalion) |
| standard | regiment (regiment) |
| Brigaden | brigade (brigade) |
| Undergruppen | division (division) |
| Gruppen | corps (body) |
| Obergruppen | armee (army) |
SA rank system from VII-1932 to 1938
| The code* | Category | Names of ranks |
| 1 | Mannschaften | SA Mann (SA Mann) |
| 2a | SA Sturmann (SA Sturmann) | |
| 2b | SA Rottenfuehrer (SA Rottenfuehrer) | |
| 3a | Unterfuehrer | SA Sharfuehrer (SA Scharführer) |
| 3b | SA Obersharfuehrer (SA Oberscharführer) | |
| 4a | SA Truppfuehrer (SA Truppführer) | |
| 4b | SA Obertruppfuehrer (SA Obertruppführer) | |
| 5 | SA Haupttruppfuehrer (SA Hauptruppführer) | |
| 7 | Untere Fuehrer | SA Sturmfuehrer (SA Sturmführer) |
| 8 | SA Obersturmfuehrer (SA Obersturmführer) | |
| 9 | SA Sturmhauptfuehrer (SA Sturmhauptfuehrer) | |
| 10 | Mittlere Fuehrer | SA Sturmbannfuehrer (SA Sturmbannführer) |
| 11 | SA Obersturmbannfuehrer (SA Obersturmbannführer) | |
| 12 | SA Standartenfuehrer (SA Standartenfuehrer) | |
| 13 | SA Oberfuehrer (SA Oberfuehrer) | |
| 14 | Hoehere Fuehrer | SA Brigadenfuehrer (SA Brigadenführer) |
| 15 | SA Gruppenfuehrer (SA Gruppenführer) | |
| 16 | ||
| 17 | SA Chef des Stabs (SA Chef des Stabs) | |
| 18 | Oberste SA Fuehrer (Oberste SA Fuhrer). Only A. Hitler had this title. |
January 30, 1933 A. Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. Thus, the NSDAP came into power. Rehm and his supporters intended to turn the SA into a Nazi army, and include the Reichswehr in the SA. With large forces, Röhm posed a danger to Hitler's aspirations for undivided dominance in the party and country. On the night of June 30, 1934, the SS men shoot the entire top of the SA, arrest all the significant figures of the SA ("Night of Long Knives"). Since that time, the SA has been losing its political significance and turning into a meaningless organization whose tasks have become: Nazi propaganda, physical education of young people, work as an auxiliary (unarmed) police, preparing young men for military service, organizing labor conscription of the population. SA were also used in the country's civil defense air defense system. It is noteworthy that after 1934 the ranks of the SA meant nothing to the Wehrmacht, and regardless of the ranks, members of the SA were drafted into the Wehrmacht as ordinary soldiers. Then in the fall of 1934, Obergruppe was liquidated in the SA structure.
In 1938, the SA rank system was finally formed. These titles will last until May 1945.
SA rank system from 1938 to V-1945
| The code* | Category | Names of ranks |
| 1 | Mannschaften | SA Sturmann (SA Sturmann) |
| 2a | SA Obersturmann (SA Obersturmann) | |
| 2b | SA Rottenfuehrer (SA Rottenfuehrer) | |
| 3a | Unterfuehrer | SA Sharfuehrer (SA Scharführer) |
| 3b | SA Obersharfuehrer (SA Oberscharführer) | |
| 4a | SA Truppfuehrer (SA Truppführer) | |
| 4b | SA Obertruppfuehrer (SA Obertruppführer) | |
| 5 | SA Haupttruppfuehrer (SA Hauptruppführer) | |
| 7 | Untere Fuehrer | SA Sturmfuehrer (SA Sturmführer) |
| 8 | SA Obersturmfuehrer (SA Obersturmführer) | |
| 9 | SA Sturmhauptfuehrer (SA Sturmhauptfuehrer) | |
| 10 | Mittlere Fuehrer | SA Sturmbannfuehrer (SA Sturmbannführer) |
| 11 | SA Obersturmbannfuehrer (SA Obersturmbannführer) | |
| 12 | SA Standartenfuehrer (SA Standartenfuehrer) | |
| 13 | SA Oberfuehrer (SA Oberfuehrer) | |
| 14 | Hoehere Fuehrer | SA Brigadenfuehrer (SA Brigadenführer) |
| 15 | SA Gruppenfuehrer (SA Gruppenführer) | |
| 16 | SA Obergruppenfuehrer (SA Obergruppenführer) | |
| 17 | SA Chef des Stabs (SA Chef des Stabs) | |
| 18 | Oberste SA Fuehrer (Oberste SA Fuhrer). Only A. Hitler had this title. |
Formally, the activity of the SA was terminated, and the organization itself was dissolved in the fall of 1945 on the basis of the decisions of the Potsdam Allied Conference on the denazification of Germany. In reality, the activities of the SA organizations ceased with the occupation of this territory by the Red Army or the troops of the allies.
Stormtroopers (SA)
Sturmabteilung (SA)
SA has never been part of the German Armed Forces. Moreover, this organization never had weapons, although it had an army-type structure, was very numerous, well organized, and had a military-like rank system. But without understanding the SA rank system, it is impossible to correctly understand the rank system of the SS troops, which were operationally part of the Wehrmacht. This table precedes the table of SS ranks.
In 1920, a certain Adolf Schicklgruber (A. Hitler) headed the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). In August 1921, the retired lieutenant zur see Hans Ulrich Klintzsch (H.U.Klintzsch), on behalf of A. Hitler, formed the NSDAP Defense and Propaganda Detachment from among the most active and physically strong members of the party. The tasks of this detachment were to promote the ideas of Nazism, raise funds for the party fund, distribute Nazi literature, protect meetings, rallies, party headquarters from attacks by political opponents, and physically obstruct similar events of other political movements.
In August 1921, the detachment received the name Sturmabteilung, abbreviated as SA (Assault Squad). In our country they are better known under the names "stormtroopers", "assault battalions", "brown shirts". In a short time, in most cities in Germany, SA groups are created in local NSDAP organizations. As the ranks of the NSDAP grow, so does the number of SA groups. To concentrate efforts and create superiority in the forces of the SA groups in the places where mass events are held, they are combined into larger units.
From 1922 to November 1926, the SA divisional hierarchy was as follows, although rather vague:
Note: Speaking about the equivalence of the SA units with the army, the author means the similarity in numbers, but not tactical mission, tasks to be solved and combat capabilities
At the same time, insignia appeared on armbands and a system of ranks began to take shape, although these were not ranks yet, but positions.
SA rank system 1922-26
| The code* | |
| 1 | SA Mann (SA Mann) |
| 3 | |
| 7 | SA Zugfuehrer (SA Zugführer) |
| 9 | SA Hundertschaftsfuehrer (SA Hundertschaftsführer) |
| 12 | SA Regimentsfuehrer (SA Regimentsführer) |
The first regiment of the SA "Munich" was formed on March 1, 1923. The ranks of the SA are growing rapidly. The popularity of the SA was explained by the fact that in conditions of mass unemployment, the members of the SA received a regular small allowance from the party, although it should not be forgotten that the members of the SA performed their duties in parallel with their main labor activity (workers, shopkeepers, peasants, farm laborers, lumpen, etc.). ). The SA detachments during this period did not have a common leadership and were subordinate to local party leaders.
In November 1926 A. Hitler takes over the general leadership of the SA and proclaims himself the supreme leader of the SA (Oberste SA Fuehrer), introduces the post of chief of staff of the SA and appoints Franz Felix Pfeffer von Salomon (F.F Pfeffer von Salomon) to this post. He creates a coherent SA structure with a clear chain of command from an ordinary attack aircraft to Hitler.
Hierarchy of SA divisions from XI-1926 to I-1931
| Gruppen | abteilung (branch) |
| Truppen | zug (platoon) |
| Stuerme | company (company) |
| standard | regiment (regiment) |
| Brigaden | brigade (brigade) |
| Gaustuerme | division (division) |
The rank system also changes accordingly. However, these are not titles, but positions.
SA rank system 1926-31
| The code* | Names of ranks (positions) |
| 1 | SA Mann (SA Mann) |
| 3 | SA Gruppenfuehrer (SA Gruppenführer) |
| 7 | |
| 9 | |
| 12 | |
| 13 | |
| 14 | SA Gaustuermfuehrer (SA Gausturmführer) |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Oberste SA Fuehrer (Oberste SA Fuhrer). Only A. Hitler had this title |
In August 1930, it turns out that Salomon, secretly from Hitler, is using army training centers to train SA units, is trying to negotiate with the military about arming SA units, which was fraught with the announcement of the NSDAP as an anti-state party and its liquidation. Salomon is removed from the leadership of the SA. On January 5, 1931, retired Captain Ernst Röhm was appointed head of the SA, who immediately revised the SA and gave it a clearer paramilitary structure.
Hierarchy of SA divisions from I-1931 to VII-1932
| SA subdivision name | Equivalent to an army unit…. |
| Sharn | abteilung (branch) |
| Truppen | zug (platoon) |
| Stuerme | company (company) |
| Sturmbanne | battalion (battalion) |
| standard | regiment (regiment) |
| Brigaden | brigade (brigade) |
| Undergruppen | division (division) |
| Gruppen | corps (case) |
Röhm also develops the SA rank system based on the army system.
SA rank system from I-1931 to VII-1932
| The code* | Category | Names of ranks |
| 1 | Mannschaften | SA Mann (SA Mann) |
| 2a | SA Sturmann (SA Sturmann) | |
| 2b | ||
| 3a | Unterfuehrer | SA Sharfuehrer (SA Scharführer) |
| 3b | ||
| 4a | SA Truppfuehrer (SA Truppführer) | |
| 4b | ||
| 5 | ||
| 7 | Untere Fuehrer | SA Sturmfuehrer (SA Sturmführer) |
| 8 | ||
| 9 | ||
| 10 | Mittlere Fuehrer | |
| 11 | ||
| 12 | SA Standartenfuehrer (SA Standartenfuehrer) | |
| 13 | ||
| 14 | Hoehere Fuehrer | SA Brigadenfuehrer (SA Brigadenführer) |
| 15 | SA Gruppenfuehrer (SA Gruppenführer) | |
| 17 | SA Chef des Stabs (SA Chef des Stabs) | |
| 18 |
With all the love of the Germans for uniforms, insignia, ranks, among the members of the SA, the names "officer", "general" were never mentioned. The bulk of the attack aircraft, including the leaders, came from the lower strata of the population, and the division of party comrades as it was in the Reichswehr was unacceptable to them. It was believed that all members of the SA comrades on an equal footing. Therefore, the terms "Mannschaften" (Team Members), "Unterfuehrer" (Sub-Leaders), "Untere Fuehrer" (Junior Managers), "Mittlere Fuehrer" (Middle Managers), "Hoehere Fuehrer" (Main Managers) have been used.
In July 1932, Röhm forms the larger formation SA Obergruppe and the hierarchy of SA divisions changes somewhat:
Hierarchy of SA divisions from VII-1932 to autumn 1934
| SA subdivision name | Equivalent to an army unit…. |
| Sharn | abteilung (branch) |
| Truppen | zug (platoon) |
| Stuerme | company (company) |
| Sturmbanne | battalion (battalion) |
| standard | regiment (regiment) |
| Brigaden | brigade (brigade) |
| Undergruppen | division (division) |
| Gruppen | corps (body) |
| Obergruppen | armee (army) |
SA rank system from VII-1932 to 1938
| The code* | Category | Names of ranks |
| 1 | Mannschaften | SA Mann (SA Mann) |
| 2a | SA Sturmann (SA Sturmann) | |
| 2b | SA Rottenfuehrer (SA Rottenfuehrer) | |
| 3a | Unterfuehrer | SA Sharfuehrer (SA Scharführer) |
| 3b | SA Obersharfuehrer (SA Oberscharführer) | |
| 4a | SA Truppfuehrer (SA Truppführer) | |
| 4b | SA Obertruppfuehrer (SA Obertruppführer) | |
| 5 | SA Haupttruppfuehrer (SA Hauptruppführer) | |
| 7 | Untere Fuehrer | SA Sturmfuehrer (SA Sturmführer) |
| 8 | SA Obersturmfuehrer (SA Obersturmführer) | |
| 9 | SA Sturmhauptfuehrer (SA Sturmhauptfuehrer) | |
| 10 | Mittlere Fuehrer | SA Sturmbannfuehrer (SA Sturmbannführer) |
| 11 | SA Obersturmbannfuehrer (SA Obersturmbannführer) | |
| 12 | SA Standartenfuehrer (SA Standartenfuehrer) | |
| 13 | SA Oberfuehrer (SA Oberfuehrer) | |
| 14 | Hoehere Fuehrer | SA Brigadenfuehrer (SA Brigadenführer) |
| 15 | SA Gruppenfuehrer (SA Gruppenführer) | |
| 16 | ||
| 17 | SA Chef des Stabs (SA Chef des Stabs) | |
| 18 | Oberste SA Fuehrer (Oberste SA Fuhrer). Only A. Hitler had this title. |
January 30, 1933 A. Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. Thus, the NSDAP came into power. Rehm and his supporters intended to turn the SA into a Nazi army, and include the Reichswehr in the SA. With large forces, Röhm posed a danger to Hitler's aspirations for undivided dominance in the party and country. On the night of June 30, 1934, the SS men shoot the entire top of the SA, arrest all the significant figures of the SA ("Night of Long Knives"). Since that time, the SA has been losing its political significance and turning into a meaningless organization whose tasks have become: Nazi propaganda, physical education of young people, work as an auxiliary (unarmed) police, preparing young men for military service, organizing labor conscription of the population. SA were also used in the country's civil defense air defense system. It is noteworthy that after 1934 the ranks of the SA meant nothing to the Wehrmacht, and regardless of the ranks, members of the SA were drafted into the Wehrmacht as ordinary soldiers. Then in the fall of 1934, Obergruppe was liquidated in the SA structure.
In 1938, the SA rank system was finally formed. These titles will last until May 1945.
SA rank system from 1938 to V-1945
| The code* | Category | Names of ranks |
| 1 | Mannschaften | SA Sturmann (SA Sturmann) |
| 2a | SA Obersturmann (SA Obersturmann) | |
| 2b | SA Rottenfuehrer (SA Rottenfuehrer) | |
| 3a | Unterfuehrer | SA Sharfuehrer (SA Scharführer) |
| 3b | SA Obersharfuehrer (SA Oberscharführer) | |
| 4a | SA Truppfuehrer (SA Truppführer) | |
| 4b | SA Obertruppfuehrer (SA Obertruppführer) | |
| 5 | SA Haupttruppfuehrer (SA Hauptruppführer) | |
| 7 | Untere Fuehrer | SA Sturmfuehrer (SA Sturmführer) |
| 8 | SA Obersturmfuehrer (SA Obersturmführer) | |
| 9 | SA Sturmhauptfuehrer (SA Sturmhauptfuehrer) | |
| 10 | Mittlere Fuehrer | SA Sturmbannfuehrer (SA Sturmbannführer) |
| 11 | SA Obersturmbannfuehrer (SA Obersturmbannführer) | |
| 12 | SA Standartenfuehrer (SA Standartenfuehrer) | |
| 13 | SA Oberfuehrer (SA Oberfuehrer) | |
| 14 | Hoehere Fuehrer | SA Brigadenfuehrer (SA Brigadenführer) |
| 15 | SA Gruppenfuehrer (SA Gruppenführer) | |
| 16 | SA Obergruppenfuehrer (SA Obergruppenführer) | |
| 17 | SA Chef des Stabs (SA Chef des Stabs) | |
| 18 | Oberste SA Fuehrer (Oberste SA Fuhrer). Only A. Hitler had this title. |
Formally, the activity of the SA was terminated, and the organization itself was dissolved in the fall of 1945 on the basis of the decisions of the Potsdam Allied Conference on the denazification of Germany. In reality, the activities of the SA organizations ceased with the occupation of this territory by the Red Army or the troops of the allies.
As a result of the humiliating defeat in World War I, a difficult political situation developed in the Weimar Republic in the early 1920s. There was a redistribution of the German colonies. The German monarchy fell, the state machine collapsed. The system of established order to which the German people have become accustomed in recent decades has collapsed. Unemployment and anarchy reigned in the country, it slowly plunged into the abyss of chaos. On the basis of political instability, many political parties, movements and organizations arose.
In the city of Munich, the "Workers' Party of Germany" was formed, which did not stand out from the others, until the autumn of 1919, until Adolf Schicklgruber (Hitler), an inconspicuous Reichswehr corporal, joined it. By the beginning of the summer of 1920, at the direction of A. Hitler, who led the party, it changed its name and became known as the National Socialist German Workers' Party.
The newly created organization grew and grew stronger, along with it, its popularity among the people grew. However, in addition to the orators and agitators of the party, strong people with steel muscles were required.
On August 3, 1921, the Gymnastics and Sports Department was created in the NSDAP, it trained NSDAP fighters for special events. Three months later, on November 4, the so-called "athletes" took part in a mass brawl with seven hundred communist supporters in the city of Munich. After this scuffle, by the personal order of A. Hitler, the department changed its name to "Storm Troops" (SA). Former Navy officer Hans Ulrich Klinch became the head of the assault squads, replacing Emil Maurice in this post.
The bulk of the members of the SA, as well as the NSDAP itself, were representatives of the lower strata of the population: former military men, small traders, civil servants, the unemployed and, to a lesser extent, proletarians. All of them were united not so much by the ideas of National Socialism, but by the daily payments that they received as SA stormtroopers, which was very important in the conditions of the economic crisis.
The tasks of the SA assault detachments included ensuring security during party events, collecting finances for the party’s cash desk, distributing campaign materials and printed materials, as well as physical pressure on opposition parties, primarily the communists. In 1922, in the structure of the SA assault detachments youth groups appeared, uniting teenagers from 14 to 18 years old. Ten years later, they created the Hitler Youth (“Hitler's Youth”).
With the advent of the party's own symbols, the attack aircraft gradually begin to change, and by the autumn of 1922 they receive their uniforms. In the middle of autumn of the same year, during the fun holidays in honor of the "All-German Day" in Coburg, there was a massive brawl between members of the SA, who arrived there on a special train, and representatives of the left forces. As a result of the massacre, the leftists were driven out of the city, their authority in the area was lost. A countless number of such large and small skirmishes allowed the Nazis to constantly push back the communists, first only in Bavaria, and then, gradually, throughout all the lands of Germany.
At the 1st Congress of the NSDAP, held on January 28, 1923 in Munich, about 6,000 members of the SA, four Bavarian assault regiments and a separate SA assault company from Zwickau, the first SA organization outside the lands of Bavaria, marched in front of the audience.
In March, in order to strengthen his influence in the SA, Hitler appointed Hermann Goering as commander of the detachments. With the direct participation of E. Rem - an officer of the Reichswehr - attack aircraft begin to receive the weapons they need.
"BEER PUTCH"
On November 8, 1923, about 3,000 people gathered in the Munich beer hall "Bürgerbräuhaus" to listen to political speakers. In the hall were also members of the Bavarian government: Prime Minister Gustav von Kahr, commander of the troops Otto von Loss and the chief of police. During the rally, about 600 SA fighters surrounded the drinking establishment. Arriving there, Adolf Hitler made a statement about the overthrow of the government of Bavaria and invited everyone to join the National Socialists.
Despite the arrest of the government, taking advantage of the turmoil, its members managed to escape. The putsch was not supported by either the army or the German people. The next morning, more than 3,000 members of the NSDAP and representatives of the right forces, led by the Fuhrer, the party leadership and General Ludendorff, who had joined the coup, moved into the central part of the city.
Having captured the building of the town hall and the Ministry of War on Wein-und-theatinerstrasse, they stumbled upon troops loyal to the government. Turning, the members of the NSDAP came out on the Residenzstrasse, which leads to the Odeonplatz - the historical center of the city. At the Feldherrnhalle building, the Nazis were blocked by a small detachment of police. It is not known exactly who pulled the trigger first, but sixteen Nazis and three policemen were killed in a brief firefight.
The results of the "beer coup" turned out to be unhappy: the defeat of the Nazis was obvious, the decree of the President of the Weimar Republic, Friedrich Ebert, banned the National Socialist Party and the SA assault detachments, A. Hitler was arrested and imprisoned for 5 years, and other leaders were in exile.
However, the coup attempt gave the National Socialist movement greater prominence, distinguishing the Nazi party from a large mass of other parties and movements. Despite the complete ban, the NSDAP continued to exist, in addition, large financial and military circles turned their attention to the Nazis, who wanted to return their country to its former greatness and prosperity. After some time, the NSDAP was again allowed, A. Hitler was released, and in 1926, assault detachments reappeared.
BROWN ARMY
The peak of the heyday of the SA assault troops came when they were led by Ernst Röhm. This former army captain was able to turn poorly disciplined fighters into a real military structure of the NSDAP. Being engaged in politics even before meeting Hitler, having personal connections with army officers and local authorities, Rem was able to consolidate the former members of the "volunteer corps" (Freikorps) and pour them into the attack aircraft (in particular, the "Rossbach Battalion" became the Munich SA Regiment ). Dividing the SA detachments into companies, battalions and regiments, forcing their members to submit to brutal military-political discipline, E. Rem quickly achieved resounding success.
The number of assault troops increased rapidly. In 1923 it had about 6,000 members of the SA. Already 30,000 attack aircraft took part in the 3rd Congress of the Nazi Party on August 20, 1927. By 1931, their number increased to 100,000 people, and by 1932 - up to 400,000.
In the 30s, several SA storm troopers were created, consisting of former communists and socialists who joined the Nazi party not for political reasons, but in view of better pay for membership in the party! These newly minted stormtroopers within the movement were called "steaks" - brown on the outside, red on the inside.
All the changes that took place with the assault squads were inextricably linked with the activities of the NSDAP and arose against the backdrop of a steady increase in its numbers and popularity.
On April 15, 1932, Chancellor Heinrich Brüning banned the SA and SS organizations, but on May 30 he was forced to resign. The newly appointed Chancellor Franz von Pahlen lifts Brüning's ban on 16 June. This led to an increase in clashes between left and right forces. Thus, in Prussia, between July 1 and 20, there were 461 collisions.
January 30, 1933 A. Hitler takes the post of Chancellor of Germany. From February 17, the assault squads begin to cooperate with the police, and from February 22, they officially take over the functions of the auxiliary police.
"NIGHT OF LONG KNIVES"
In 1934, the ranks of the assault detachments consisted of a record number of attack aircraft - over three million.The army of SA fighters not only surpassed the Reichswehr in terms of the number of personnel. E Rem proposed to subordinate the regular troops to the SA assault detachments! Various units appear in the structure of assault detachments, in which pilots, sailors, cavalrymen are trained. Assault troops began to have great power in the state, leaving behind the armed forces in terms of the number of fighters.
It was by 1934 that the contradictions both in the leadership of the NSDAP and among the SA attack aircraft became especially clearly aggravated. The leadership of the NSDAP faced a dilemma. Rem's ideas about the "people's army" did not suit the German army command and officer corps, who considered the SA as, at best, auxiliary units. In addition, the petty-bourgeois, partially socialist expectations of most of the SA stormtroopers clashed with the directly opposite ideas of financial magnates and industrialists. This conflict was exacerbated by the presence in the NSDAP leadership of the Goering-Goebbels-Himmler union, which tried to protect Hitler from the influence of Rem. All these reasons led to the accumulation of discontent among all the conflicting parties.
Soon, on June 29, 1934, the conflict was resolved. The Fuhrer ordered the liquidation of E. Rem and the top of the SA. Within just a few days, Rem, Obergruppenführer Edmund Heines, Gruppenfuehrers Ernst, Bergman, Schneidhuber and more than 150 senior stormtrooper officers were eliminated. In total, more than 1,700 attack aircraft were killed. In addition to the liquidation of the "brown shirts", personal scores were settled. So, at the direction of Goering, General Kurt von Schleicher was shot dead. They killed Gregor Strasser, one of the founders of Nazism in Germany. The aged Prime Minister of Bavaria Gustav von Kar and a number of other significant persons were also killed. All events were carried out by the fighters of the "Security Detachments" (SS) who were personally subordinate to Hitler. It was after these numerous massacres, later called the “Night of the Long Knives” (Nacht der langen Messern), that the guard detachments left the structure of the SA and became known as the guard detachments (SS).
Interestingly, during the Night of the Long Knives, nine out of ten members of the SA who participated in the burning of the Reichstag were liquidated.
In August 1934, the Nazi leadership announced an amnesty that extended to SA leaders and others, as the "Night of the Long Knives" led to unrest among the people.
Obergruppenführer Viktor Lutze was appointed the new commander of the SA assault detachments, who remained in this post until May 1, 1943.
STORM TEAM 1934-45 years
Since the summer of 1934, the era of the "brown shirts" begins to decline, their numbers are declining, they no longer represent a serious political current within the party, and their military-political activities are replaced by military sports. In addition, their structure is changing. Motorized and flying units are transferred to the National Socialist Automobile and Flying Corps (NSKK and NSFC).The SA detachments performed the functions of the auxiliary police, were engaged in military sports training for young people.
In the intervals between the departure of labor service and service in the armed forces of Germany, all young people in the Third Reich had to be in the SA, NSKK, NSFC or SS for 1.5 years. The selection in the SS was very strict, membership in the national socialist automobile and flying corps required any technical skills, so the bulk of the youth joined the assault squads.
By the beginning of the Second World War, there were 28 divisions of attack aircraft.
By age, the members of the assault squads were divided into:
- line units of the 1st category (Aktiv l-Einheiten) - 18-35 years;
- line units of the 2nd category (Aktiv ll-Einheiten) - 35-45 years;
- reserve units (SA-Reserve) - from 45 years.
In addition to linear assault squads, there were also special units: cavalry, communications, medical, engineering, jaeger and naval.
For the training of the personnel of these units, there were corresponding SA schools.
A special place was occupied by a separate regiment "Feldherrnhalle", which was an elite unit. The regiment consisted of six companies stationed in Berlin, Munich, Hattingen, Krefeld, Stettin and Stuttgart.
In 1939, on the eve of World War II, training courses for military reserve officers (SA-Wehrmannschaften) were established. The functions of this body of the SA included the military training of members of the auxiliary civil defense (Heimat-SA), which united various categories of citizens unfit for active military service or in the reserve. Graduates of the courses were sent (depending on the place of residence) to the air defense warning service, the village guard or the German Red Cross.
After the start of the war, this assault squad service was partially merged with the NSCC and NSFC and the corresponding automobile and flight courses were created. On May 1, 1943, the head of the assault detachments, W. Lutze, dies in a car accident, and Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Shepman replaces him.
By the end of the war, the vast majority of SA members were drafted into the regular army or worked in industry and agriculture. The rest, almost all of them unfit for military service for various reasons, ended up as commanders or instructors in the Volkssturm units, served in civil defense, air defense or fire protection formations.
FORM AND INSIGNIA STORM TEAM
An early form of assault troops.
Initially, the SA uniform retained some of the signs of the detachments and unions that joined its composition. The ex-members of the Oberland Brigade wore a black diamond with the image of an edelweiss on their left hand, and the former members of von Epp's Freikorp wore a diamond with a lion's head. The fighters of the Rossbach Brigade wore a black armband with two horizontal white lines and the letter "R" instead of a bandage with a swastika. Since the 1920s, wearing a party badge has become mandatory. Unit commanders were distinguished by the presence of one or more horizontal white stripes on their armbands.The famous brown shirts that became an integral part of the SA uniform in 1925-26 were in fact a component of the tropical military uniform left over from the 1st World War and purchased by the Nazis at a bargain price in army warehouses.
SA symbols.
In 1929, the SA High Command announced a competition for the creation of a sign to be worn on civilian clothes. This sign was supposed to determine the owner's belonging to the SA. The best option was the use of Siegrune and Eisrune, enclosed in a ring, symbolizing their union.
The attack aircraft uniform complex consisted of several options:
Full service uniform: light brown shirt and tie, dark brown breeches and cap, black boots, brown belt with sword belt, dagger.Incomplete service uniform: light brown shirt and tie, dark brown tunic breeches and cap, black boots, brown belt with a sword belt, dagger.
Sports uniform: white T-shirt, light brown sports shorts, black shoes.
Uniforms and insignia.
Kepi. Since 1933, the top of the kepi had the distinctive color of the division (SA-Gruppe)Kant on the collar of the shirt from 1933 to 1939, members of the SA from the attack aircraft to the Haupttruppführer inclusive did not have piping, from the Sturmführer to the Sturmhauptfuhrer inclusive had a two-color (white with the instrument color of the division) cord piping, and senior officers wore a silver piping. Since 1940, the collar piping has been abolished.
Instrument colors.
Each division of the SA had its own distinctive (instrument) color. These colors are shown in the tableInsignia on shoulder straps and buttonholes. Almost the same as in the SS.
Black leather helmet. The motorized units of the assault squads wore the helmet of the German military pilots of the 1st World War period. In 1934 and 1938, it was modernized to better meet the requirements of attack aircraft.
Kant on buttonholes. From 1933 to 1939, members of the SA from the attack aircraft to the Haupttruppführer inclusive did not have a cant; from Sturmführer to Sturmhauptführer inclusive had a two-color (white with the instrument color of the division) piping, and senior officers wore a silver piping. In 1940-1945, the piping on the buttonholes was yellow, or white (see table) for senior officers - silver. Shoulder straps of the 1st and 2nd types (1933-1939) were worn only on the right shoulder. Type 3 (1940-1945) was worn on both shoulders. In appearance and insignia, shoulder straps are similar to those of the SS, but the color of their lining depended on the divisional color. From June 1, 1939, the various colors of the lining were replaced by the colors for divisions and services (Waffenfarbe) of the headquarters of the SA High Command - carmine, divisional headquarters - red, line regiments - gray, naval units - dark blue, medical service - blue, mountain Jaeger units - green, sappers - black, cavalry - yellow, communications service - lemon yellow. In general, most of the Waffenfarbe corresponded to those generally accepted in the ground forces of the German armed forces.
