Keithstrasse, Berlin and led by SS-Obergruppenführer Werner Lorenz. In contrast to the Hauptamt RKF, its main function was the organised return to the Reich of the descendants of older generations of German colonists and settlers in Russia and south-east Europe.
On a level immediately below the SS Hauptämter were the Oberabschnitte (Oa.) or Regions, the bases of Allgemeine-SS territorial organisation. Initially there were five Oberabschnitte, formed in 1932 from the existing SS Gruppen. By 1944, their number had risen to seventeen within Germany proper and each corresponded almost exactly to a Wehrkreis or Military District. The SS Regions were generally known by geographical names, but it was also customary to refer to them by the Roman numeral allocated to the corresponding Wehrkreis. Each Oberabschnitt was commanded by an SS-Obergruppenführer, Gruppenführer or Brigadeführer designated Führer des Oberabschnittes (F.Oa.). He was usually also Himmlerâs representative at the military headquarters of the local Wehrkreis and, in addition, held the post of Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer or HSSPf, the Senior SS and Police Commander in the Region. In the few cases where the HSSPf was not the Führer of the corresponding Oberabschnitt it was because the latter, though filling some other active appointment, was allowed to retain the titular leadership of the Oa. on personal grounds. For example, during the war, SS-Obergruppenführer August Heissmeyer found himself appointed HSSPf for Oberabschnitt Spree as the nominal Führer of that Region, âSeppâ Dietrich, was fully committed with the Waffen-SS on the battlefront.
Directly subordinated to the F.Oa. or HSSPf was the Stabsführer der Allgemeinen-SS (Allgemeine-SS Chief of Staff) who was responsible to him for the general conduct and control of the Allgemeine-SS within the Oa. The Regional Headquarters was staffed primarily by Hauptamtlicher Führer (full-time officers) together with a number of Nebenamtlich (part-time) or Ehrenamtlich (honorary) officials. The full-timers included the Leiter der Verwaltung or Verwal-tungsführer (Administrative Officer), the Oberabschnittsarzt (Medical Officer), the Oberabschnittsausbildungsf ührer (Training Officer), the Oberabschnit tspersonalchef (Personnel Officer) and the Nachrichtenführer (Signals Officer). Part-timers were generally below the rank of Sturmbannführer and were not paid for their services. The seventeen SS Oberabschnitte situated within Germany were named and numbered as follows:
Oberabschnitt
HQ
Wehrkreis
Alpenland
Salzburg
XVIII
Donau
Wien
XVII
Elbe
Dresden
IV
Fulda-Werra
Arolsen-Waldeck
IX
Main
Nürnberg
XIII
Mitte
Braunschweig
XI
Nordost
Königsberg
I
Nordsee
Hamburg
X
Ostsee
Stettin
II
Rhein-Westmark
Wiesbaden
XII
Spree
Berlin
III
Süd
München
VII
Südost
Breslau
VIII
Südwest
Stuttgart
V
Warthe
Posen
XXI
Weichsel
Danzig
XX
West
Düsseldorf
VI
There were no SS Oberabschnitte corresponding to Wehrkreise numbers XIV, XV, XVI and XIX.
Himmler, Wolff and SS-Gruppenführer Heinrich Schmauser, Führer of Oberabschnitt Süd, inspecting men of the 34th SS Fuss-Standarte at Weilheim in December 1934.
In addition to these, there were six foreign Oberabschnitte which evolved during the war, as listed below:
Oberabschnitt
HQ
Region
Böhmen-Mähren
Prague
Czechoslovakia
Nord
Oslo
Norway
Nordwest
The Hague
Holland
Ost
Krakow
Poland
Ostland
Riga
Baltic States
Ukraine
Kiev
Ukraine
Of these six, only Oa. Böhmen-Mähren, which included the Sudetenland, existed long enough to develop an organisation strictly comparable to the Oberabschnitte inside Germany. Oa. Nord and Nordwest coordinated police operations and those of the relatively small contingents of Germanic-SS in Flanders, Holland, Norway and Denmark, while Oa. Ost, Ostland and Ukraine directed the miscellaneous security and anti-guerrilla forces in their respective areas.
Each SS
On a level immediately below the SS Hauptämter were the Oberabschnitte (Oa.) or Regions, the bases of Allgemeine-SS territorial organisation. Initially there were five Oberabschnitte, formed in 1932 from the existing SS Gruppen. By 1944, their number had risen to seventeen within Germany proper and each corresponded almost exactly to a Wehrkreis or Military District. The SS Regions were generally known by geographical names, but it was also customary to refer to them by the Roman numeral allocated to the corresponding Wehrkreis. Each Oberabschnitt was commanded by an SS-Obergruppenführer, Gruppenführer or Brigadeführer designated Führer des Oberabschnittes (F.Oa.). He was usually also Himmlerâs representative at the military headquarters of the local Wehrkreis and, in addition, held the post of Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer or HSSPf, the Senior SS and Police Commander in the Region. In the few cases where the HSSPf was not the Führer of the corresponding Oberabschnitt it was because the latter, though filling some other active appointment, was allowed to retain the titular leadership of the Oa. on personal grounds. For example, during the war, SS-Obergruppenführer August Heissmeyer found himself appointed HSSPf for Oberabschnitt Spree as the nominal Führer of that Region, âSeppâ Dietrich, was fully committed with the Waffen-SS on the battlefront.
Directly subordinated to the F.Oa. or HSSPf was the Stabsführer der Allgemeinen-SS (Allgemeine-SS Chief of Staff) who was responsible to him for the general conduct and control of the Allgemeine-SS within the Oa. The Regional Headquarters was staffed primarily by Hauptamtlicher Führer (full-time officers) together with a number of Nebenamtlich (part-time) or Ehrenamtlich (honorary) officials. The full-timers included the Leiter der Verwaltung or Verwal-tungsführer (Administrative Officer), the Oberabschnittsarzt (Medical Officer), the Oberabschnittsausbildungsf ührer (Training Officer), the Oberabschnit tspersonalchef (Personnel Officer) and the Nachrichtenführer (Signals Officer). Part-timers were generally below the rank of Sturmbannführer and were not paid for their services. The seventeen SS Oberabschnitte situated within Germany were named and numbered as follows:
Oberabschnitt
HQ
Wehrkreis
Alpenland
Salzburg
XVIII
Donau
Wien
XVII
Elbe
Dresden
IV
Fulda-Werra
Arolsen-Waldeck
IX
Main
Nürnberg
XIII
Mitte
Braunschweig
XI
Nordost
Königsberg
I
Nordsee
Hamburg
X
Ostsee
Stettin
II
Rhein-Westmark
Wiesbaden
XII
Spree
Berlin
III
Süd
München
VII
Südost
Breslau
VIII
Südwest
Stuttgart
V
Warthe
Posen
XXI
Weichsel
Danzig
XX
West
Düsseldorf
VI
There were no SS Oberabschnitte corresponding to Wehrkreise numbers XIV, XV, XVI and XIX.
Himmler, Wolff and SS-Gruppenführer Heinrich Schmauser, Führer of Oberabschnitt Süd, inspecting men of the 34th SS Fuss-Standarte at Weilheim in December 1934.
In addition to these, there were six foreign Oberabschnitte which evolved during the war, as listed below:
Oberabschnitt
HQ
Region
Böhmen-Mähren
Prague
Czechoslovakia
Nord
Oslo
Norway
Nordwest
The Hague
Holland
Ost
Krakow
Poland
Ostland
Riga
Baltic States
Ukraine
Kiev
Ukraine
Of these six, only Oa. Böhmen-Mähren, which included the Sudetenland, existed long enough to develop an organisation strictly comparable to the Oberabschnitte inside Germany. Oa. Nord and Nordwest coordinated police operations and those of the relatively small contingents of Germanic-SS in Flanders, Holland, Norway and Denmark, while Oa. Ost, Ostland and Ukraine directed the miscellaneous security and anti-guerrilla forces in their respective areas.
Each SS
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