Blockleiter
Blockleiter (Block Leader) was a Nazi Party political rank which existed between the years of 1930 and 1945. The Blockleiter was the lowest political official of the NSDAP, responsible for the political supervision of a neighborhood or city block and formed the link between the NSDAP and the general population.
[edit] History & Usage
The title of Blockleiter was first created in 1930 and was initially known as Blockwart (Block Warden). The purpose of the Blockwart was to organize local support for elections during a time period when Nazis were attempting to gain both local and national political offices in the old Weimar Republic. Blockwarts were organized by neighborhoods in German towns and cities, and answered to a "Cell Warden" known as the Zellenwart. Typically, there were between eight to ten blocks in one cell.
In 1933, when the Nazis came to power, the old political rank of Blockwart was phased out of the Nazi rank system to be replaced by a new rank known as Mitarbeiter. It is at this point that the term Blockleiter was most often used, although not as an actual political rank but as a title for a Mitarbeiter assigned to the local level of the Nazi Party in charge of a local neighborhood or community street.
Those Mitarbeiters assigned as Blockleiters now answered to an official known as a Zellenleiter. Zellenleiter, also itself a title and not an actual rank, was held by Nazis holding the political rank of Stellenleiter.
In 1939, with the establishment of a new array of Nazi Party political ranks, both Mitarbeiter and Blockleiter became political positions, denoted by special armbands. The organization of the Nazi Block unit now encompassed several positions; the complete array of Block titles were as follows:
- Blockhelfer - Block Assistant
- Blockleiter - Block Leader
- Blockwalter - Block Administrator
- Blockobmann - Block Foreman
A special operations position known as Betriebsblockobmann also existed, but was more connected to war time production rather than block administration.
[edit] Duties
Whereas the old Blockwart position had been concerned with election district leadership, the new Blockleiter was concerned with enforcing Nazi doctrine and supervising the local population. After 1933, the local Blockleiter was in charge of spreading propaganda and developing an acceptance to the policies of the NSDAP among the households (typically 40 to 60) in his area.
It was also the duty of the Blockleiter to spy on the population and report any anti-Nazi activities to the local Gestapo office; this allowed a Nazi terror state. This was helped by keeping files on each household (Haushaltskarten). Due to such activities, Blockleiters were particularly disliked by the general population. Other duties included allocating beds in homes for visiting NSDAP demonstrators, the collection of subscriptions and charitable donations especially for Winterhilfe and organising the clearing of rubble after air-raids.
By the close of World War II, it is thought that there were nearly half a million Blockleiter[citation needed].
[edit] Source
- Clark, J. (2007). Uniforms of the NSDAP. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing
