Julius Schreck

Julius Schreck was an early Nazi Party member and also the first commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Schreck joined the Nazi Party in 1920, at about the same time as Adolf Hitler, and the two developed a deep friendship in the early days of Nazi history. Schreck had also served in World War I and was a member of the Freikorps. In 1921 Schreck was one of the founders of the Sturmabteilung (SA) and also helped form the Stabswache, which was an early company of SA troops assigned as bodyguards to Hitler. In 1923, Schreck participated in the Beer Hall Putsch and was incarcerated at Landsberg Prison along with other top Nazi leaders. When the Nazi Party was refounded in 1925, Schreck was asked by Emil Maurice to help founding a new bodyguard company for Hitler which would be known as the Stosstrupp Adolf Hitler. Later that year, the group of eight men was renamed as the Schutzstaffel and Schreck became SS Member number 5. He was also asked by Hitler to command the bodyguard company and, as such, became the first Reichsführer-SS (although Schreck never referred to himself by this title). In 1926, Schreck stood down as Reichführer-SS. He remained on the SS rolls as an SS-Führer and worked as Hitler’s private chauffeur. In 1930, after the SS had begun to expand under Heinrich Himmler, Schreck was appointed as an SS-Standartenführer but had little actual power. In 1936, Julius Schreck developed meningitis and died on May 16. He was honored in a Nazi state funeral with Adolf Hitler delivering his eulogy.