List of SS personnel

Between 1925 and 1945, the German Schutzstaffel (SS) grew from a mere eight members to over a quarter of a million Waffen-SS and over a million Allgemeine-SS members. The following list of SS personnel gives the names of persons who are counted among the organization's most famous, influential, and notorious members.

Führer (Adolf Hitler)


Prior to 1934 the SS were nominally under the command of the Sturmabteilung and so it could be said that both Adolf Hitler as Oberster SA-Führer and Ernst Röhm as Stabschef SA outranked the most senior SS position of Reichsführer-SS. Following the Night of the Long Knives Hitler "raised the SS, hitherto subordinate to the SA, to the rank of an independent organisation". Hitler also was considered SS Member No. 1, Emil Maurice (considered the founder of the SS) was member No. 2, while Himmler was SS member #168. Based on the seniority system of SS membership number, this made Hitler senior in the SS to all other members even if not by rank.

After the Night of the Long Knives, when the SS became independent from the SA, Hitler was listed on SS officer rolls as member No. 1 and considered supreme commander of the entire SS by virtue of his position as the Führer of Germany. There is no photographic record of Hitler ever wearing an actual SS uniform nor was there a special SS insignia for Hitler above that worn by Himmler.