Maximilian Karl Otto von Herff was a German senior SS commander during the Nazi era. He served as head of the SS Personnel Main Office from 1942 to 1945.
Herff (front right) during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Part of a report rendered by SS-Sturmbannführer Alfred Franke-Gricksch on a trip through the General Government on 4 to 16 May 1943. Excerpt by Eric M. Lipman, War Crime Branch Officer, Third U.S. Army
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)