# Stoßtrupp-Hitler

Stoßtrupp-Hitler (German for "Shock Troop-Hitler") was a bodyguard unit of the Sturmabteilung (SA) for the protection of Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler from May to November 1923. Notable members included Rudolf Hess, Julius Schreck, Joseph Berchtold, Emil Maurice, Erhard Heiden, Ulrich Graf, and Bruno Gesche. It was under the direct control of Hitler and involved in the Beer Hall Putsch. The Stoßtrupp-Hitler was small and short-lived but served as a predecessor of the Schutzstaffel (SS).

## History

In the earliest days of the Nazi Party, the leadership realized that a bodyguard unit composed of zealous and reliable men was needed. Ernst Röhm formed a guard formation from the 19.Granatwerfer-Kompanie; from this formation the Sturmabteilung (SA) soon evolved. In early 1923, Adolf Hitler ordered a separate small bodyguard unit to be formed. It was dedicated to his service rather than "a suspect mass" of the party, such as the SA. Originally, the unit was composed of only eight men, commanded by Julius Schreck and Joseph Berchtold. It was designated the Stabswache (staff guard). The Stabswache were issued unique badges, but at this point the Stabswache was still under overall SA control. Schreck resurrected the use of the Totenkopf as the unit's insignia, a symbol various elite forces had used throughout the Prussian kingdom and the later German Empire. In May 1923, the unit was renamed Stoßtrupp-Hitler and at the time numbered no more than 20 members, all of whom were considered Hitler loyalists. According to the Historical Lexicon of Bavaria, the unit later had around 100 members, many recruited from the disbanding Freikorps.
On 9 November 1923, the Stoßtrupp-Hitler, along with the SA and several other Nazi paramilitary units, took part in the abortive Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. Members of unit destroyed the editorial offices of the Münchener Post, a newspaper associated with the Social Democratic Party, kidnapping its editor and Munich city councillor Erhard Auer to use as hostages. In the aftermath, Hitler was imprisoned and his party, and all associated formations including the Stoßtrupp-Hitler, were disbanded. The unit was formally banned in 1924 and its members were tried for their part in the Beer Hall Putsch, with 38 members being sentenced to imprisonment at Landsberg Prison.

## Influence

By early 1925, when the Nazi Party and SA were re-established by Hitler, all Stoßtrupp-Hitler members were free again due to extremely lenient sentences. Hitler ordered Schreck to organise a new bodyguard unit, the Schutzkommando ("Protection Command"), a spiritual successor to the Stoßtrupp-Hitler, which would soon evolve into the Schutzstaffel (SS). The rapid expansion of the SS led to the creation of the Stabswache in 1933, a new bodyguard unit responsible for Hitler's protection staffed with men from the 1st SS-Standarte. The Stabswache was one of the first SS units to receive military training and became the basis of the Waffen-SS. The unit itself would gradually evolve into the elite 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.

## Notable members

* Rudolf Hess
* Julius Schreck
* Joseph Berchtold
* Emil Maurice
* Erhard Heiden
* Ulrich Graf
* Bruno Gesche
* Christian Weber
* Karl Fiehler
* Walter Buch
* Hermann Fobke
* Karl Laforce
* Wilhelm Laforce
* Josef Gerum
* Hans Kallenbach
* Philipp Kitzinger
* Alois Rosenwink