Nordwest

NW

northwest

Nummer

Nr.

number

Ober-

O.

higher

Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres

OB d.H

Oberbürgermeister

Lord Mayor of a large town or city.

Oberkommando des Heeres

OKH

High Command of the Army

Oberkommando der Marine

OKM

German Navy High Command

Oberkommando der Wehrmacht

OKW

High Command of the Armed Forces (Hitler was supreme commander, while GFM Wilhelm Keitel headed OKW)

Oberpräsident

Senior administrative official in a Prussian province.

Oberpräsident

OPräs.; OPrs.

Chief Administrator and government executive of a Prussian Province

Oberregierungsrat

ORR

Senior government counsellor of the civil service; approximately equivalent to a Lt.-Col.

Oberschlesien

O.S.; OS.

Prussian Province of Upper Silesia

Oberste SA Führer

Supreme SA Leader (Hitler from 1930)

Oberstes Parteigericht

Supreme NSDAP Court (under Reichsleiter Walter Buch)

Offizier

Off.; Offz.

officer

Ordnungspolizei

Orpo

"Order police". Regular unformed police force of the Reich, consisting of the Schutzpolizei, Gendarmerie, and Feuerschutzpolzie as well as various technical and auxiliary services (such as the Technische Nothilfe [TeNo]

Organisation Todt

Org. Todt; OT

Semi-military government construction force, established 1933 under Dr.-Inf. Fritz Todt, responsible for bulding strategic highways and military installations/fortifications. Controlled by Todt's successor, Albert Speer, after Todt's death in February 1942.

Ortsgruppenleiter

NSDAP official in charge of one or more parts of a town; subordinate to a Kreisleiter.

Ortsgruppenleiter

NSDAP official responsible for one or several communes of a part of a town; subordinate to a Kreisleiter.

Osten

O

east

Ostindustrie GmbH

Osti

Eastern Industries Ltd.; SS concern formed with primary purpose of exploiting Jewish labor in Poland.

Ostpreußen

Ostpr.

Prussian Province of East Prussia

Panzer

Pz.

Armor; tank

Parteikanzlei

Hitler's chancellery as leader of the NSDAP. Headed by Reichsleiter and SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Martin Borman.

Personalhauptamt

SS-PHA

Main personnel office of the SS, responsible for records of all SS officers.

Politische Bereitschaft

Political alarm squad. Forerunner units of the SS-Verfügungstruppe.

Polizeipräsident

Pol.Präs.

Police President. Head of the regular police in a large city.

Polizeiverwaltung

PV

Police administration

Polizeiverwaltungsgesetz

PVG

Police Administration Law

Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt

RuSHA

SS Race & Settlement Main Office, responsible for racial purity of the SS and settlement of SS colonists in occupied eastern territories.

Referat

A sub-section or "desk" within a Gruppe.

Referent

Official in charge of a Referat.

Regierungsbezirk

Reg.Bez.

Sub-division of a Prussian province. Also, an administrative district of Bavaria.

Regierungsdirektor

Reg.Präs.

Rank of administrative official in a regional government, approximately equal with that of Colonel.

Regierungspräsident

Reg.Präs.

Senior government official in a Regierungsbezirk.

Regierungsrat

RegRat.; RR.

Government counsellor. Lowest rank in the higher civil service; approximately equivalent to the rank of Major.

Reichsarbeitsdienst

RAD

Reich Labor Service, headed by the Reichsarbeitsfuhrer, Reichsminister Konstantin Hierl (1875 - 1955)

Reichsarbeitsministerium

RAM

Reich Labor Ministry.

Reichsbevollmächtigter

Reich Plenipotentiary controlling the civil affairs of an occupied country (e.g.- SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Dr. jur. Karl Werner Best in Denmark).

Reichsfinanzministerium

RFM

Reich Finance Ministry.

Reichsführer-SS und Chef der Deutschen Polizei

RF SS u. Chef d. Dtsch.Pol.

"Reich SS Leader and Chief of the German Police"; Heinrich Himmler's title from Jun. 1936.

Reichsführung-SS

Supreme command of the SS, comprising the Persönlicher Stab RfSS and the Hauptämter

Reichsgau

One of eleven regions formed from territories annexed from Poland and Austria in 1938 and 1939

Reichsgesetzblatt

RGB

Official legal gazette issued in two parts by the Reichsministerium des Inner. Part I concerned current legislation; Part 2 dealt with international treaties, etc.

Reichskommissar für die Festigung Deutschen Volkstums

RDFDV

Reich Commissioner for the Strengthening of Germanism Title given to Heinrich Himmler in 1939 entrusting him with the repatriation of Volksdeutsche ("racial Germans") and the settlement of German colonies in the East. A Stabshautamt RKFDV was established under SS-Ogruf. Ulrich Greifelt to put Himmler's plans for Germanic mastery into effect.

Reichskommissariat für die Ostland

German civil administration in the Baltic States ( Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania) and White Russia ( Byelorussia), 1941 - 1945. Reichskommissar Ostland, with HQ in Riga, was Gauleiter Hinrich Lohse.

Reichskriminalpolizeiamt

RKPA

The headquarters of the Kriminalpolizei (Amt V of the RSHA), headed by SS-Gruppenfuhrer und Generalleutnant der Polizei Arthur Nebe.

Reichsleiter

RL

The highest rank in the NSDAP hierarchy.

Reichsluftschutzbund

RLB

The Reich Air Raid Protection League.

Reichsministerium für die besetzten Ostgebiete

Ostministerium

Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories. Reichsminister (1941 - 45): Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg; Staatssekretär (1941 - 45): Gauleiter Dr. Alfred Meyer.

Reichsministerium des Innern

RMdI.

Reich Ministry of the Interior
Reichsminister: Dr.jur. Wilhelm Frick (1933 - 1943)
Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler (1943 - 1945)

Reichssicherheitshauptamt

RSHA

Reich Security Main Office

Reichsstrafgesetzbuch

RStGB

Reich Penal Code

Reichstag

The German Parliament. Largely a figurehead body after its legislative powers were taken away and granted to the Reich Government by way of Hitler's "Enabling Act" of 24. March 1933.

Reichsstatthalter

Rsth.

Reich Governor; Hitler's representative in a German Land or Reichsgau.

Reichswehr

RW

The armed forces of Germany from 1919 until the enactment of the Wehrgesetz (Defense Law) of 21. May 1935; on that date, its title was changed to Wehrmacht.

Sachbearbeiter

Officer or official responsible for a specific matter.

Sanitätsdienst

Medical service

Schutzmannschaften<

Schuma

Auxiliary police units composed of foreign elements and Volksdeutsche; the first Schuma unit was set up in the Ukraine in Aug. 1941.

Schutzpolizei

Schupo; Schp.

Protection Police. The regular uniformed municipal and country police forces, comprising most of the membership of the Ordnungspolizei.

Schutzstaffel

SS

lit. Protection or Guard Detachment. Established in 1925 from the Stoßtrupp Adolf Hitler, the SS became, under Heinrich Himmler, the most powerful organization in the Third Reich.

Selbstschutz

1) A German nationalist self-prtotection organization formed in Silesia in 1920; 2) A self protection militia recruited from the Volksdeutsche in Poland by the SS; 3) Self-Protection Service, an element of the Luftschutzdienst composed of air raid wardens and other nonmilitary air raid protection personnel

Sicherheitsdienst des RfSS

SD

The SS Security Service established by Reinhard Heydrich in 1931 as the intelligence organization of the Nazi Party.

Sicherheitspolizei

Sipo

Security Police, composed of the Gestapo and Kripo.

Sicherheits- und Hilfsdienst

SHD

Security and Assistance Service, an auxiliary police unit responsible for air raid-related tasks. Superseded by the Luftschutzpolizei, 1942.

Sicherheitsverwahrung

Protective detention

Sigrunen

The runic double "S" insignia of the Schutzstaffel.

Sonderbehandlung

lit. special treatment. Nazi euphemism for killing those in detention.

Sonderkommando

Skdo.

SS und Polizeiführer

SS-u.Pol.F.; SSPF

SS and Police Commander in the eastern occupied territories, subordinate to the HSSPF.

Staatssekretär

Sta.Sek.

State Secretary in a Reich or Land Government Ministry.

Stab

St.

staff

Stabschef

Chief of Staff of the SA.

Stabsführer

Chief of Staff [e.g., to the Führer of an SS-Oberabschnitt].

Stadthauptmann

Senior administrative official in a Stadthauptmannschaft, a subdivision of a district in the Generalgouvernment (occupied Poland).

Standortführer

Garrison commander

Stellvertreter

Stellv.

Deputy

Sturmabteilungen

SA

The Stormtroops; the original defense formations of the NSDAP, founded in 1921. Purged in Jun./Jul. 1934 when it became too radical and unwieldly for Hitler's tastes, prompting him to wipe out most of its leadership, including SA-Stabschef Ernst Röhm. The purge of the SA was carried out by Himmler's SS, initially a subunit of the SA, and in its wake the SS gained considerable power.

Technische Nothilfe

TeNo; TN

Technical Emergency Corps, established in 1919. Auxiliary force of the Ordnungspolizei consisting of engineers, technicians, and specialists involved with construction work, communications, salvage, public utilities, etc. Led by SS-Gruppenfuhrer und Generalleutnant der Polizei Hans Weinreich from Jun. 1937 to Jun. 1943, then by SS-Gruppenfuhrer und Generalleutnant der Polizei Dipl.Ing. Willy Schmelcher from 15. Oct. 1943 to May 1945

Teilkommando

A sub-unit; Smallest element of an Einsatzgruppe of the Sipo and SD.

Totenkopfverbände

Death's Head units, employed in the concentration camps as guards. Formed the nucleus of the SS-Totenkopf-Division when it was formed in October 1939.

Trupp

Tr.

Squad or detail. An SA (and in its early years, SS) unit equivalent to a platoon.

Truppenübungsplatz

Troop training area.

Untersuchung

Investigation; interrogation

Umwandererzentralstelle

Central Transfer Office concerned with resettlement of Polish deportees from the Wartheland. An element of the RKFDV.

Unterführer

Non-commissioned officer.

Verband

Verb.

A formation or unit.

Verbindungsoffizier

Liaison officer

Vernichtungslager

Extermination camp.

Verordnung

Decree; regulation; order

Vertrauensmann

Intelligence agent or informer.

Verwaltung

Verw.

Administration

Verwaltungspolizei

Administrative branch of the Ordnungspolizei and Sicherheitspolizei

Volksbund fur das Deutschtum im Ausland

VDA

The League for Germans Abroad. Pre-Nazi organization concerned with activities of the Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans). Taken over by the NSDAP, 1930 and eventually absorbed by the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle under SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Werner Lorenz.

Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle

VoMi

Ethnic German Assistance Office. Established as the Buro von Kursell, 1936 and renamed in 1937. Led by SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Werner Lorenz, it obtained the status of a Hauptamt of the SS in 1941.

Volksgruppe

An ethnic group

Volkskartei

National Register kept by the Verwaltungspolizei. Introduced in 1939 to facilitate conscription of men and women for the Wehrmacht, Reichsarbeitsdienst, etc.

Volkstum

nationality

Vorbeugungshaft

Preventive arrest

Vorschrift

Regulation(s), instruction(s), or a manual

Waffen-SS

W-SS

Fully militarized combat formations of the SS

Wehrdienstpflicht

Obligation to serve in the Wehrmacht

Wehrkreis

Wkr.

A Military District.

Wehrmacht

WH; Wehrm.

The armed forces, consisting of the German Army (Heer), Navy (Kriegsmarine), and Air Force (Luftwaffe)

Wehrmachtbefelshaber

Senior Armed Forces commander in an occupied territory.

Wehrmachtfuhrungsstab

Armed Forces Operations Staff, headed by Generaloberst Alfred Jodl.

Wehrwirtschaft

Military or war economy

Wehrwirtschaftsamt

War Economics Directorate of OKW.

Weisung

directive

zur besonderer Verwendung

z.b.V.

for special employment

Zellenleiter

Cell leader. An NSDAP official responsible for four to five blocks of households; subordinate to an Ortsgruppenleiter.

Zollgrenzdienst

Border Customs Service

Zollgrenzschutz

Border Customs Protection Service. Controlled by the Sicherheitspolizei, with personnel from the Customs Service.