Gottlob Christian Berger was a senior German Nazi official who held the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS and was the chief of the SS Main Office responsible for Schutzstaffel (SS) recruiting during World War II. At the post-war Nuremberg trials, the Waffen-SS – within which Berger was a senior officer – was declared to be a criminal organisation due to its major involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity. Berger was convicted as a war criminal and spent six and a half years in prison.
Berger wearing the rank of an SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS in 1944
The Inspector of Concentration Camps, SS-Gruppenführer Theodor Eicke (pictured as a SS-Obergruppenführer) was appointed to command the new SS-Division-Totenkopf, which was formed using personnel from the SS-TV
Danish recruits joining the Waffen-SS in 1941
Generalmajor Alfred Jodl took a dim view of Berger's diversion of potential Wehrmacht recruits to the SS
Obergruppenführer was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the Sturmabteilung (SA) and adopted by the Schutzstaffel (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after only Reichsführer-SS. Translated as "senior group leader", the rank of Obergruppenführer was senior to Gruppenführer. A similarly named rank of Untergruppenführer existed in the SA from 1929 to 1930 and as a title until 1933. In April 1942, the new rank of SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer was created which was above Obergruppenführer and below Reichsführer-SS.
Gottlob Berger, chief of the SS Main Office, wearing the post-April-1942 version of the SS-Obergruppenführer rank insignia
Gorget patch until April 1942 (Allgemeine SS and Waffen-SS)