Oberscharführer guards in kz camps

[militaria.no]

Hello guys

I have a question: I looked through some photos here on the forum. I found this photo with elderly Oberscharführer KZ guards (many Oberscharführers!). My question and maybe someone know the answer: Did the grade Oberscharfüherer (like on the kz straps in my collection) have any special work/assignment/tasks or “benefits” in the camp system?

[cavguy]

Seeing as the rank SS-Oberscharführer was a relatively senior NCO rank, one would expect this NCO to be either a platoon leader, or platoon sergeant in charge of an entire platoon of enlisted men and their junior NCO's, or perhaps he would be in charge of a special detail / section of the camp.

According to the website below, with info supposedly taken from the book Sobibor - The Forgotten Revolt, there was a SS-Oberscharführer in charge of the gas chambers and creamation at Sobibor.
http://www.phdn.org/archives/holocau..._personnel.htm

As far as benefits goes, as a senior NCO you pretty much dish out the dirty work to the enlisted men under your command. However, you are ultimately in charge of how your men act and perform and ultimately you are also accountable as a leader for your soldiers actions.

[chrischa]

Transfers in from the heer judging by the chest Eagles.

Nice photo and information.

[Erik]

I would like to add that senior NCO's like an SS-Oberscharführer when working in staff positions instead often have none, or only very few, men or junior NCO's under their command. Often they would be responsible for all kinds of staff and planning jobs and have no direct subordinates. Some staff sections were only made up of NCO's who performed all kinds of adminstrative and logistic functions. I assume this likely to be the case in many KZs.

Erik

[Robert999]

Interesting that aside from Der Speiss there no one else wearing a cuff title on their uniforms.

[militaria.no]

Thank you guys. This was enlightening

[peterm]

Transfers in from the heer judging by the chest Eagles.

Nice photo and information.

Right! The small guy in the center was an Austrian NCO in WWI and rather old. He had a civilian's job in the "Heeresstandortverwaltung Wels" and had been - against his will - transferred to SS-Totenkopfsturmbann Mauthausen. After the war he starved to death in an American "concentration camp" for SS-members.

You can see that he was transferred with the rank of "Schütze" because it lasted a lot of time until he got his military papers from Vienna which stated that he held the rank of a "Feldwebel".

Kind regards, Peter

[chrischa]

Excellent Peter!