Gottlob Berger
|
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Gottlob Berger |
|
|---|---|
Berger as an SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS
|
|
| Birth name | Gottlob Christian Berger |
| Nickname(s) | Praise God Duke of Swabia Almighty Gottlob |
| Born |
16 July 1896 Gerstetten, near Ulm, Kingdom of Württemberg now in Heidenheim district, Baden-Württemberg, Germany |
| Died | 5 January 1975 (aged 78) Gerstetten, West Germany |
| Allegiance |
 German Empire Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch | |
| Years of service | 1914–45 |
| Rank | SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS (Lieutenant General) |
| Commands held | SS Main Office |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
|
| Spouse(s) | Maria (née Dambach) |
| Other work | writer |
Gottlob Christian Berger (16 July 1896 – 5 January 1975) was a senior German Nazi official who held the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS (lieutenant general), and was the chief of the SS Main Office responsible for Schutzstaffel (SS) recruiting during World War II. Serving in the German Army during World War I, he was wounded four times and awarded the Iron Cross First Class. Immediately after the war, he was a leader of the Einwohnerwehr militia in his native North Württemberg. He joined the Nazi Party in 1922, but lost interest in right-wing politics during the 1920s, training and working as a physical education teacher.
In the late 1920s, he rejoined the Nazi Party and became a member of the paramilitary Sturmabteilung (SA) in 1931. He clashed with other leaders of the SA, and joined the Allgemeine-SS in 1936. Initially responsible for physical education in an SS region, he was soon transferred to the staff of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler as head of the sports office. In 1938, he was appointed as head of the recruiting office of the SS Main Office (SS-HA), taking over as chief of the SS-HA the following year. To a significant extent, Berger was the "father" of the Waffen-SS, as he not only implemented recruiting structures and policies that assisted the Waffen-SS to circumvent Wehrmacht controls over conscription, but also extended Waffen-SS recruiting first to "Germanic" volunteers from Scandinavia and western Europe, then Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) outside the Reich, and finally to peoples who in no way reflected Himmler's ideas of "racial purity". He consistently advocated greater ideological training for the Waffen-SS, but did not view SS ideology as a replacement for religion. He also sponsored and protected his friend Oskar Dirlewanger, whom he placed in command of a unit of convicted criminals; the SS-Sonderkommando Dirlewanger subsequently committed many war crimes. Berger often clashed with senior officers of the Wehrmacht and even with senior Waffen-SS officers over his recruiting methods, but he took advantage of opportunities as they presented themselves in order to grow the Waffen-SS to a total of 38 divisions by war's end.
...
Wikipedia