Berger wearing the rank of an SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS in 1944
Birth name
Gottlob Christian Berger
Nickname(s)
Praise God Duke of Swabia Almighty Gottlob
Born
(1896-07-16)16 July 1896 Gerstetten, near Ulm, Kingdom of Württemberg (now in Heidenheim district, Baden-Württemberg, Germany)
Died
5 January 1975(1975-01-05) (aged 78) Gerstetten, West Germany
Allegiance
German Empire Nazi Germany
Service/branch
German Army
Sturmabteilung
Allgemeine-SS
Waffen-SS
Years of service
1914–45
Rank
SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS
Commands held
SS Main Office
Battles/wars
World War I
World War II
Awards
Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords
Knight's Cross of the Württemberg Military Order of Merit
Iron Cross First Class
German Cross in Silver
Social Welfare Decoration
Golden Party Badge
Spouse(s)
Maria Dambach
(m. 1921)
Other work
Writer
War crimes
Conviction(s)
War crimes Crimes against humanity
Criminal penalty
25 years imprisonment (commuted; released after 6.5 years)
Gottlob Christian Berger (16 July 1896 – 5 January 1975) was a senior German Nazi official who held the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS (lieutenant general) and was the chief of the SS Main Office responsible for Schutzstaffel (SS) recruiting during World War II. At the post-war Nuremberg trials, the Waffen-SS – within which Berger was a senior officer – was declared to be a criminal organisation due to its major involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity. Berger was convicted as a war criminal and spent six and a half years in prison.
While serving in the German Army during World War I, he was wounded four times and awarded the Iron Cross First Class. Immediately after the war, he was a leader of the Einwohnerwehr militia in his native North Württemberg. He joined the Nazi Party in 1922 but lost interest in right-wing politics during the 1920s, training and working as a physical education teacher. In the late 1920s, he rejoined the Nazi Party and became a member of the paramilitary Sturmabteilung (SA) in 1931. He clashed with other leaders of the SA and joined the Allgemeine-SS in 1936. Initially responsible for physical education in an SS region, he was soon transferred to the staff of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler as head of the sports office.
In 1938, he was appointed as head of the recruiting office of the SS Main Office (SS-HA) and took over as chief of the SS-HA the following year. To a significant extent, Berger was the father of the Waffen-SS, as he implemented its recruiting structures and policies and later extended Waffen-SS recruiting to peoples who in no way reflected Himmler's ideas of "racial purity". He consistently advocated greater ideological training for the Waffen-SS but did not view SS ideology as a replacement for religion. He also sponsored and protected his friend Oskar Dirlewanger, whom he placed in command of the SS-Sonderkommando Dirlewanger who subsequently committed many war crimes. Berger often clashed with senior officers of the Wehrmacht and even with senior Waffen-SS officers over his recruiting methods, but he took advantage of opportunities as they presented themselves to grow the Waffen-SS to 38 divisions by the war's end.
Berger undertook several other roles in the latter stages of the war while continuing as chief of the SS-HA. In the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories he proposed the Heuaktion operation that kidnapped and enslaved 50,000 Eastern European children. In response to the Slovak National Uprising in August 1944, Berger was appointed Military Commander in Slovakia and was in charge during the initial failure to suppress the revolt. The following month he was appointed one of the two chiefs of staff of the Volkssturm militia and as chief of the prisoner-of-war camps. In the final months of the war he commanded German forces in the Bavarian Alps, which included remnants of several of the Waffen-SS units he had helped recruit.
He surrendered to U.S. troops near Berchtesgaden and was promptly arrested. He was tried and convicted in the Ministries Trial of the U.S. Nuremberg Military Tribunals for war crimes and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. His sentence was soon reduced to 10 years, and he was released after serving six and a half years. After release he advocated for the rehabilitation of the Waffen-SS and worked in several manufacturing businesses. He died in his hometown in 1975. Described as blustery, cynical, and "one of Himmler's most competent and trusted war-time lieutenants", Berger was also an ardent antisemite and a skilled and unscrupulous bureaucratic manipulator. Due to his organisational and recruiting skills, Berger was kept as the chief of the SS-HA throughout the war.
Gottlob Christian Berger (16 July 1896 – 5 January 1975) was a senior German Nazi official who held the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS...
crimes against humanity. GottlobBerger, its former chief was arrested in May 1945 and tried in 1949. The trial against Berger and his co-defendants commenced...
organization. This was first done in secrecy. German SS-Obergruppenführer GottlobBerger was later appointed as DeVlag's president, and the bond between the...
manager Georges Berger (1918–1967), Belgian Grand Prix racing driver GottlobBerger (1896–1975), German Schutzstaffel (SS) general Irene Berger (born 1954)...
contacted his old WWI comrade GottlobBerger who was now a senior Nazi working closely with Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. Berger used his influence to help...
intervention of his wartime companion and local NSDAP cadre comrade GottlobBerger, who was also a long-time personal friend of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich...
Gottlob is a family name, which may refer to: Georg Gottlob, Austrian computer scientist Gottlob is a given name, which may refer to: GottlobBerger (1896–1975)...
Reich who were sent to the U.S. Army's prison at Landsberg included: GottlobBerger Paul Blobel Karl Brandt Sepp Dietrich Hellmuth Felmy Otto Hofmann Karl-Adolf...
estimated 4.9 million medals were awarded by the end of the war in Europe. GottlobBerger Wernher von Braun Walter Brugmann (2-time Knights Cross) Kurt Daluege...
Generalleutnant GottlobBerger claimed that Hitler had signed a 22 April 1945 order to evacuate 35,000 prisoners to the Alpine Fortress as hostages, but Berger did...
remained in power in Bratislava. Germany moved 40,000 SS soldiers under GottlobBerger to suppress the uprising, which detained and disarmed two Slovak divisions...
the postal vans: "01.05.1942 Transfer of Postschutz in the SS (see GottlobBerger), shortly after that also the 'remote power mail' ('front help of the...
Territories In office 1941–1943 Preceded by Position established Succeeded by GottlobBerger Personal details Born (1899-09-06)6 September 1899 Hoffnungstal, Tiraspolsky...
to Hitler for his approval. Hitler approved the plan in February and GottlobBerger was tasked with recruiting. Fritz Witt of SS Division Leibstandarte...
Günther Korten Felix Steiner 1st Class Karl Allmendinger Hans Baur GottlobBerger Wilhelm Berlin Karl Bodenschatz Franz Böhme Kurt Böhmer Theodor Burchardi...
General Berger may refer to: David H. Berger (born 1959), U.S. Marine Corps four-star general GottlobBerger (1896–1975), German Waffen-SS lieutenant general...
Stoßtrupp-Hitler. Became the second Reichsführer-SS from 1926 to 1927. GottlobBerger – Chief of staff for the Waffen-SS and head of the SS Main Office. He...
Eager to expand their reach, Nazis like Chief of the SS Main Office, GottlobBerger considered the Germanic SS as foundational for a burgeoning German Empire...
Heinrich Himmler in September 1941 discussed with his subordinate, GottlobBerger, the suitability of various people for the position of Reichskommissar...
following men were in the Black Reichswehr under the narrower definition: GottlobBerger, senior Nazi and SS official Hans-Jürgen von Blumenthal, army officer...
organisation to purely symbolic roles. On 5 October 1944, SS-Obergruppenführer GottlobBerger met with Bandera and offered him the opportunity to join Andrey Vlasov...