Blockleiter (Block Warden), where block refers to city block, was from 1933 the title of a lower Nazi Party political rank responsible for the political supervision of a neighborhood. Referred to in common parlance as Blockwart, the Block Warden's duty was to form the primary link between the Nazi authorities and the general population. The derogatory term Blockwart ("snoop") survives in German colloquial language.
The title of Blockleiter was first created in 1930 and was initially known as Blockwart. The purpose of the Block Warden was to organize local support for elections during a period when Nazis were attempting to gain both local and national political offices in the Weimar Republic. Block Wardens were organized by neighborhoods in German towns and cities, and answered to a "Cell Warden" known as the Zellenwart. Typically, there were eight to ten blocks in one cell.
In 1933, when the Nazis came to power, the old political rank of Blockwart was phased out of the Nazi rank system to be replaced by a new rank known as Mitarbeiter . It is at this point that the term Blockleiter was most often used, although not as an actual political rank but as a title for a Mitarbeiter assigned to the local level of the Nazi Party in charge of a neighborhood or a street.
Those Mitarbeiter assigned as Block Wardens now answered to an official known as a Zellenleiter (Cell Warden). The Cell Warden title, not an actual rank, was assigned to Nazis holding the political rank of Stellenleiter .
In 1939, with the establishment of a new array of Nazi Party political ranks, both Mitarbeiter and Blockleiter became political positions, denoted by special armbands. The organization of the Nazi Block unit now encompassed several positions; the complete array of Block titles was as follows:
A special operational position known as Betriebsblockobmann also existed; its role was to control the political attitudes and behaviour of managers and workers in war time production.
Whereas the old Blockwart position had been concerned with election district leadership, the new Block Warden (Blockleiter) was concerned with enforcing Nazi doctrine and supervising the local population. After 1933, the Block Warden was in charge of spreading propaganda and developing an acceptance to the policies of the NSDAP among the households (typically 40 to 60) in his area.
It was also the duty of the Block Warden to spy on the population and report any anti-Nazi activities to the local Gestapo office; thus the Block Warden was the prime element of the Nazi totalitarian state. This was helped by keeping files on each household (Haushaltskarten). Due to such activities, Block Wardens were particularly disliked by the general population. Other duties included allocating beds in homes for visiting NSDAP demonstrators, the collection of subscriptions and charitable donations especially for Winterhilfe (Winter Relief Campaigns) and organising the clearing of rubble after air-raids.
By the close of World War II, it is thought that there were nearly half a million Block Wardens. [1]
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party, was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party, existed from 1919 to 1920. The Nazi Party emerged from the extremist German nationalist, racist and populist Freikorps paramilitary culture, which fought against the communist uprisings in post–World War I Germany. The party was created to draw workers away from communism and into völkisch nationalism. Initially, Nazi political strategy focused on anti–big business, anti-bourgeois, and anti-capitalist rhetoric, which was later downplayed to gain the support of business leaders. By the 1930s, the party's main focus shifted to antisemitic and anti-Marxist themes. The party had little popular support until the Great Depression, where worsening living standards and vast unemployment drove Germans into political extremism.
A Gauleiter was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a Gau or Reichsgau. Gauleiter was the third-highest rank in the Nazi political leadership, subordinate only to Reichsleiter and to the Führer himself. The position was effectively abolished with the fall of the Nazi regime on 8 May 1945.
Gregor Strasser was an early prominent German Nazi official and politician who was murdered during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934. Born in 1892 in Bavaria, Strasser served in World War I in an artillery regiment, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. He joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in 1920 and quickly became an influential and important figure. In 1923, he took part in the abortive Beer Hall Putsch in Munich and was imprisoned, but released early for political reasons. Strasser joined a revived NSDAP in 1925 and once again established himself as a powerful and dominant member, hugely increasing the party's membership and reputation in northern Germany. Personal and political conflicts with Adolf Hitler led to his death in 1934 during the Night of the Long Knives.
This is a list of words, terms, concepts and slogans of Nazi Germany used in the historiography covering the Nazi regime. Some words were coined by Adolf Hitler and other Nazi Party members. Other words and concepts were borrowed and appropriated, and other terms were already in use during the Weimar Republic. Finally, some are taken from Germany's cultural tradition.
Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party were paramilitary titles used by the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) between approximately 1928 and the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. Such ranks were held within the political leadership corps of the Nazi Party, charged with the overseeing of the regular Nazi Party members.
Helfer is a German word which translates as "Helper", and the word was used as a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party between the years of 1938 and 1945. The Nazi rank of Helfer was a junior position of the Political Leadership Corps, ranking only above Anwärter. A Helfer in the Nazi Party typically served as a junior assistant to a higher official. The rank was created at first to replace the older Nazi rank of Blockleiter; however, a massive expansion of Nazi Party ranks in 1938 assigned the old duties of a Blockleiter to a rank known as Arbeitsleiter. The rank of Helfer then became an assistant position to such higher ranks.
The Nazi Party/Foreign Organization was a branch of the Nazi Party and the 43rd and only non-territorial Gau ("region") of the Party. In German, the organization is referred to as NSDAP/AO, "AO" being the abbreviation of the German compound word Auslands-Organisation. Although Auslands-Organisation would be correctly written as one word, the Nazis chose an obsolete spelling with a hyphen.
The Gau Munich–Upper Bavaria was an administrative division of Nazi Germany in Upper Bavaria from 1933 to 1945. From 1930 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in that area.
Zellenleiter was a Nazi Party political title which existed between the years of 1930 and 1945. A Zellenleiter was higher in rank than a Blockleiter and was in charge of a "Nazi Cell", composed of eight to twelve city blocks.
Abteilungsleiter, German for department head, was also a mid-level administrative political position of the Nazi Party, often held by staff political officers attached to various Gaue throughout Germany. The position of Abteilungsleiter was not an actual Nazi Party political rank, but a title held by a Party member in addition to their formal rank. The position was first created in 1933, after the Nazis had secured power in Germany.
Ortsgruppenleiter was a Nazi Party political rank and title which existed between 1930 and 1945. The term first came into being during the German elections of 1930, and was held by the head Nazi of a town or city, or in larger cities, of a neighbourhood, for the purposes of election district organization. After 1933, through the process of Gleichschaltung, the position of Ortsgruppenleiter evolved into the Nazi leader of a large town or city or of a city district.
Dienstleiter was a high-ranking Nazi Party political rank of Nazi Germany which existed between 1933 and 1945. The rank was first created after the Nazi assumption of power and served as the second highest rank of the Reichsleitung Nazi Party organizational level, subordinate to the Reichsleiter.
Mitarbeiter was also a Nazi Party political rank and title which existed between 1933 and 1945. As a political rank, Mitarbeiter was created in 1933 after the Nazis came to power in Germany. Considered the lowest political rank, Mitarbeiter replaced the older rank of Blockleiter and was also used as an administrative staff rank on the Kreis (County), Gau (Region), and Reich (National) Party Levels.
Amtsleiter was a Nazi Party political rank which existed between 1933 and 1938. The rank was created as a "catch all" political staff position across all levels of the Nazi Party and encompassed a wide array of duties and responsibilities.
Arbeitsleiter, German for work leader, was also a Nazi Party political rank which existed between 1939 and 1945. The rank was created to replace the former rank of mitarbeiter and was divided into three levels of arbeitsleiter, oberarbeitsleiter, and hauptarbeitsleiter.
Stellenleiter was a Nazi Party political rank which existed between 1933 and 1938. The rank was created as a mid-level political position intended to replace the older rank of Zellenwart, also known as Zellenleiter. In the early Nazi Party rank organization, the position of Stellenleiter was senior to Mitarbeiter and junior to Amtsleiter.
Gemeinschaftsleiter was a Nazi Party political rank which existed between 1939 and 1945. Created primary to replace the older rank of Stützpunktleiter, the rank of Gemeinschaftsleiter was often used on the local level of the Nazi Party to denote the second in command of a municipal region, answering to a regional Nazi known by the title of Ortsgruppenleiter.
Bereitschaftsleiter was a Nazi Party political rank which existed between 1939 and 1945. There were three levels of the rank, known as Bereitschaftsleiter, Oberbereitschaftsleiter, and Hauptbereitschaftsleiter.
Betriebsobmann was a political position of the Nazi Party which existed between the years 1939 and 1945. The term first came into being at the start of World War II and was unique only to the local level of the Nazi Party, known as the Ortsgruppen.
Blockführer was a paramilitary title specific to the SS-Death's Head Units in Concentration Camp Service. An SS-Block Leader was typically in charge of a prisoner barracks ranging from two hundred to three hundred concentration camp prisoners; in larger camps, the number of prisoners could reach as a high as a thousand. The Block Leader was in charge of daily attendance, supervising daily work details, and the distributing of rations to prisoners. Assisting in this case were several prisoner trustees, known as kapos. The position of Block Leader was usually held by an SS soldier holding the rank of SS-Corporal or non-commissioned officer rank of SS-Sergeant.