Uniforms and Insignia of The Schutzstaffel - SS Titles

SS Titles

In addition to the rank titles used by the SS, the following titles were frequently interchanged when addressing SS personnel in certain positions of authority.

• SS-Führer: Originally an early rank of the SS, the term SS-Führer designated commissioned officers of the SS, and means "SS leader".
• SS-Unterführer: This term designated non-commissioned officers in the SS. An enlisted SS soldier, applying for non-commissioned officer status, was often known as an Unterführer-Anwärter.
• SD-Leiter: This title was used by senior officers of the Sicherheitsdienst, typically those in command of a major SD office or regional headquarters.
• SS- und Polizeiführer: Translated as "SS and police leader", these were some of the most powerful men in the SS, commanding all SS, Gestapo, Kripo and Orpo units in a given geographic region, often of the size of a major military district.
• Kriminalrat: A police investigator's rank used by the Kriminalpolizei and Gestapo, many of whom were also SS members, to denote detectives in rank comparable to detective captains in a major police department in the United States. Artur Nebe, a career policeman, went by the title of Kriminalrat for most of the 1930s, only using an SS rank when engaged in non-Kripo activities. See Gestapo ranks.