Police Ranks and Insignia
In 1936, the regular German police, previously agencies of the Länder or states, were nationalized and placed under Himmler, who was named Chef der Deutschen Polizei. The ordinary uniformed police were called the Ordnungspolizei ("order police"). Known as the Orpo, the Ordnungspolizei maintained a separate uniform, system of insignia and Orpo ranks. It was also possible for SS members to hold dual status in both the Orpo and the SS, and SS generals were referred to simultaneously by both rank titles. For instance, an Obergruppenführer in the SS, who was also a police general, would be referred to as Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei. In late 1939, Orpo personnel were formed into a combat division, recognizable by its use of police insignia; in 1942, this formation was absorbed into the Waffen-SS to become the 4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier division.
Read more about this topic: Uniforms And Insignia Of The Schutzstaffel
Famous quotes containing the words police and/or ranks:
“I’ve met a lot of murderers in my day, but Dr. Garth, whatever he is, is the first man I’ve ever met who was polite to me and still made the chills run up and down my back.”
—Robert D. Andrews. Nick Grindé. Police detective, Before I Hang, describing his meeting with Dr. Garth (1940)
“A sleeping man holds in a circle around him the thread of the hours, the order of years and of worlds. He consults them instinctively upon awaking and in one second reads in them the point of the earth that he occupies, the time past until his arousal; but their ranks can be mingled or broken.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)