Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer
Paramilitary officer's rank in Nazi Germany
Obersturmbannführer (Senior Assault-unit Leader; [ˈoːbɐʃtʊʁmbanfyːʁɐ]; short: Ostubaf) was a paramilitary rank in the German Nazi Party (NSDAP) which was used by the SA (Sturmabteilung) and the SS (Schutzstaffel).[1] The rank of Obersturmbannführer was junior to the rank of Standartenführer, and was equivalent to the military rank of Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) in the German Army.[2]
As the SA expanded, the rank of Ostubaf was created in May 1933 to provide a rank above Sturmbannführer; likewise, the Ostubaf was an SS rank.[3] The Obersturmbannführer rank insignia was composed of four silver pips and a black stripe on a silver background, all elements are centered in the left wing of the collar of the tunic of an SS or of an SA uniform.[4] The rank also was worn on the shoulder boards of an Oberstleutnant and was the highest rank in the SS and the SA to display SS unit insignia on the collar wing opposite the rank insignia.[5]
Various Waffen-SS units composed of foreign recruits were considered distinct from the German SS, and thus they were not permitted to wear SS runes on their collar tabs but had their divisional insignia instead. Their ranks were also prepended with "Waffen" instead of "SS", as in, Waffen-Obersturmbannführer.[6]