SS-Obersturmbannführer
What military rank did Hermann Fegelein have from 1937 to Jul 1937?
Hermann Fegelein Hans Otto Georg Hermann Fegelein ( 30 October 1906 – 28 April 1945 ) was a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany . He was a member of Adolf Hitlers entourage and brother-in-law to Eva Braun through his marriage to her sister Gretl . Fegelein joined a cavalry regiment of the Reichswehr in 1925 and transferred to the SS on 10 April 1933 . He became a leader of an SS equestrian group , and was in charge of preparation for the equestrian events of the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936 . He tried out for the Olympic equestrian team himself but was eliminated in the qualifying rounds . In September 1939 , after the Invasion of Poland , Fegelein commanded the SS Totenkopf Reiterstandarte ( Deaths-Head Horse Regiment ) . They were garrisoned in Warsaw until December . In May and June 1940 , he participated in the Battle of Belgium and France as a member of the SS-Verfügungstruppe ( later renamed the Waffen-SS ) . For his service in these campaigns he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 15 December 1940 . Units under his command on the Eastern Front in 1941 were responsible for the deaths of over 17,000 civilians during the Pripyat swamps punitive operation in the Byelorussian SSR . As commander of the 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer in 1943 , he was involved in operations against partisans as well as defensive operations against the Red Army , for which he was awarded the Close Combat Clasp in bronze . After being seriously wounded in September 1943 , Fegelein was reassigned by Heinrich Himmler to Hitlers headquarters staff as his liaison officer and representative of the SS . Fegelein was present at the failed attempt on Hitlers life on 20 July 1944 . He was on duty at Hitlers Führerbunker in Berlin in the closing months of the war , and was shot for desertion on 28 April 1945 , two days before Hitlers suicide . Fegelein was an opportunist who ingratiated himself with Himmler , who granted him the best assignments and rapid promotions . Journalist William L . Shirer and historian Sir Ian Kershaw characterise him as cynical and disreputable . Albert Speer called him one of the most disgusting people in Hitlers circle . Career . Fegelein was born in Ansbach , Bavaria , to the retired Oberleutnant Hans Fegelein . As a boy working at his fathers equestrian school in Munich , he became a proficient rider and participated in jumping events . During this period he met Christian Weber , an original member of the Nazi Party . Weber later sponsored Fegeleins entry into the Schutzstaffel ( SS ) . In 1925 , after studying for two terms at Munich University , Fegelein joined the Reiter-Regiment 17 ( Cavalry Regiment 17 ) . On 20 April 1927 , he joined the Bavarian State Police in Munich as an officer cadet . In 1929 he left the police service when he was caught stealing examination solutions from a teaching superiors office . The official communication at the time was that he resigned for family reasons . Fegelein later stated that he had left the police on his own account to better serve the Nazi Party and SS . His father had started the Reitinstitut Fegelein ( Riding Institute Fegelein ) in 1926 . In Munich , Fegelein came into contact with Nazism and the SS . His father had made the institute available to the SS as a meeting place , and the training facilities and horses were used by equestrian units of the Sturmabteilung ( SA ) and SS . Fegelein joined the Nazi Party ( membership number 1,200,158 ) and the SA in 1930 . He transferred to the SS on 10 April 1933 , with membership number 66,680 . He worked as an instructor at the Reitinstitut Fegelein and became the leader of the SS-Reitersturm , the SS equestrian group based at the facility . By the mid-1930s he took over administration of the school from his father . He was promoted to the Allgemeine-SS rank of SS-Untersturmführer that year and to SS-Obersturmführer on 20 April 1934 and to SS-Hauptsturmführer on 9 November 1934 . Beginning in November 1935 , Fegelein oversaw the preparation of the courses and facilities for the equestrian events of the Berlin Olympic Games . He was promoted to the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer on 30 January 1936 . He tried out for the German equestrian team , but was unable to prevail against the strong competition from the ( cavalry school Hanover ) , who went on to win all the equestrian gold medals . Fegelein won the international tournament in 1937 , as did his brother Waldemar , in 1939 . He was promoted to the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer on 30 January . On 25 July 1937 , Reichsführer-SS Himmler , by special order of the SS-Oberabschnitt Süd , created the Haupt-Reitschule München ( SS Main Riding School ) in Munich . The school was started from his fathers stud farm . Fegelein was named its commander and promoted to SS-Standartenführer the same day . Funding for the very expensive horses came in part from then SS-Brigadeführer Weber , who supported the school with more than 100,000 Reichsmarks annually . Fegelein won the ( Brown Ribbon of Germany ) , an annual horse race which in 1938 was held on the premises of the riding school in Munich . Fegelein at the time had strong ambitions to participate in the 1940 Summer Olympics . With the help of his friend ( HSSPF ; Higher SS and Police Leader ) Karl von Eberstein , he arranged the transfer of all the Bavarian State Police horses to the SS riding school in case of mobilization . His fear was that the horses would be handed to the Wehrmacht . World War II . In September 1939 , Fegelein commanded the SS Totenkopf Reiterstandarte ( Deaths-Head Horse Regiment ) , which arrived in Poland shortly after the end of the Polish Campaign . The unit was placed under the command of the Ordnungspolizei ( Orpo ; order police ) and was split into small groups assigned to support police activities at posts throughout the Poznan district . On 15 November , Himmler ordered the expansion of the regiment from four to thirteen squadrons and renamed it as 1 . SS-Totenkopf-Reiterstandarte ( 1st Deaths Head Cavalry Regiment ) . Additional men were recruited from ethnic Germans living in the General Government and further afield . As many of the officers , including Fegelein , had never attended officer training school , much of the training provided to new recruits was rudimentary . However , it was rigorous , and the men developed a strong camaraderie . Fegeleins unit was involved alongside the Orpo in the extermination , ordered by Hitler , of members of the Polish elite such as intellectuals , aristocrats , and clergy , in an action called Intelligenzaktion . On 7 December 1939 , Fegeleins unit was involved in the mass shooting of 1,700 such people in the Kampinos Forest . On 15 December , the unit was split into two Standarten ( regiments ) , with Fegelein commanding the 1 . Standarte under the overall command of Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer-Ost Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger . The unit was short of basic supplies such as weapons , food , and uniforms , which led to deteriorating morale and ill health . Incidents of corruption and theft took place , particularly among members of the regimental staff in Warsaw . On 23 April 1941 , Fegelein faced court-martial charges for an incident in 1940 where he and his unit had been caught stealing money and luxury goods for transportation back to Germany . Fegeleins court-martial was quashed by direct order of Himmler . The allegations brought forward against Fegelein had included murder motivated by greed . Apparently he had ordered arrests and executions in the Gestapo prison in Warsaw . In addition to this , Fegelein was charged with having had an unlawful sexual relationship with a Polish woman . The woman had become pregnant and Fegelein forced her to have an abortion . Reinhard Heydrich tried several times to investigate the accusations against Fegelein , but each time Himmler quashed the attempt . Fegeleins unit took part in anti-partisan fighting against a group of about 100 former Polish soldiers in the area of Kammienna–Konsky–Kielce in March and April 1940 . They killed about half the partisans and the remainder escaped . On 8 April , Fegeleins unit killed 250 Polish men in villages in the area . While in his report he described the behaviour of his troops as clean and decent , there were many incidents in this period where his men behaved in an undisciplined way , killing and robbing civilians without being ordered to do so . In May and June 1940 , Fegelein , who had been promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer of the Reserves in the Waffen-SS on 1 March 1940 , participated in the Battle of Belgium and France as a member of the SS-Verfügungstruppe . For his service in these campaigns , he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 15 December 1940 . In March 1941 , the SS Totenkopf Reiterstandarte 1 was renamed to 1st SS Cavalry Regiment . War against the Soviet Union . With the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union , which began on 22 June 1941 , Fegelein saw active service on the Eastern Front . His unit was assigned on the 87th Infantry Division on 23 June to cover a gap in the lines of the 9th Army near Białystok . The motorized elements of the 1st SS Cavalry reached the right flank of the operational area on 24 June , but the mounted elements were unable to keep up . The exhausted horses had to be left behind and the men transported to the combat zone in lorries , while the horse-drawn artillery pieces were towed using any available vehicles . The first units to arrive crossed the Narew near Wizna and engaged the Soviets but were unable to break through . They were ordered to retreat and move further north . Infantry elements of the 87th Division captured Osowiec Fortress on 26 June , and Fegeleins cavalry was sent on a reconnaissance mission to the south-east . Himmler , unwilling to have his SS units under Wehrmacht control or used in combat other than as reserves , withdrew the SS cavalry from control of the 87th Division on 27 June . The ambitious Fegelein stressed in his reports that he believed his unit was combat ready and exaggerated its contribution to the operation . Ten of his men received the Iron Cross , Second Class for their efforts , and Fegelein was awarded the Iron Cross , First Class . The engagement demonstrated the shortcomings of the cavalry units in modern mobile warfare , which requires quick redeployments in ever-changing conditions . Fegelein sought to improve this by asking Himmler to combine the 1st and 2nd SS cavalry regiments into a brigade , with additional support units . As a temporary measure , Himmler assigned Fegelein to be in charge of both regiments . Fegeleins unit was one of several that undertook field training and political indoctrination in the coming weeks . Himmler addressed the 1st Cavalry on 5 July , offering the opportunity for any men unwilling to participate in the upcoming special tasks to transfer to another unit . Nobody took advantage of this offer , at least partly because Himmler did not say that the upcoming assignment included the mass shooting of unarmed civilians . On 19 July 1941 , Himmler assigned Fegeleins regiments to the general command of HSSPF Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski for the systematic combing of the Pripyat swamps , an operation designed to round up and exterminate Jews , partisans and civilians in that area of Byelorussian SSR . Himmlers orders for the operation were passed to Fegelein via SS-Brigadefuhrer , who met with him and Bach-Zelewski on 28 July in their new quarters at Liakhovichi in Byelorussia . General instructions were given to cleanse the area of partisans and Jewish collaborators . Jewish women and children were to be driven away . Fegelein interpreted these orders as follows : Enemy soldiers in uniform were to be taken prisoner , and those found out of uniform were to be shot . Jewish males , with the exception of a few skilled workers such as doctors and leather workers , would be shot . Fegelein split the territory to be covered into two sections divided by the Pripyat River , with the 1st Regiment taking the northern half and the 2nd Regiment the south . The regiments worked their way from east to west through their assigned territory , and filed daily reports on the number of people killed and taken prisoner . In a meeting with Bach-Zelewski on 31 July , Himmler announced the amalgamation of the two regiments into the SS Cavalry Brigade . Additional units such as a bicycle reconnaissance detachment were formed and added to the brigades complement . On 5 August Himmler assigned leadership of the brigade to Fegelein . Himmler notified Fegelein by telegram on 1 August that the numbers killed were far too low . A few days later , Himmler issued regimental order no . 42 , which called for all male Jews over the age of 14 to be killed . The women and children were to be driven into the swamps and drowned . Thus Fegeleins units were among the first in the Holocaust to wipe out entire Jewish communities . As the water in the swamps was too shallow and some areas had no swamps , it proved impractical to drown the women and children , so they were shot . Fegeleins final report on the operation , dated 18 September 1941 , states that they killed 14,178 Jews , 1,001 partisans , 699 Red Army soldiers , with 830 prisoners taken and losses of 17 dead , 36 wounded , and 3 missing . The historian Henning Pieper estimates the actual number of Jews killed was closer to 23,700 . Fegelein received the Infantry Assault Badge on 2 October . Four days later , he was again brought before a court for of captured goods . Again the prosecution was halted by Himmler . In mid-October 1941 , the brigade left Byelorussia and moved first to Toropets and then on to Rogachev by train , where they were subordinated to Army Group Centre . The new operational area had more partisan activity than the Pripyat swamps , with guerrillas who were well organised and difficult to find . Fegeleins report for the period between 18 October and 18 November 1941 shows 3,018 partisans and Red Army soldiers killed and 122 taken prisoner . However , as fewer than 200 weapons were captured , historians Martin Cüppers and Henning Pieper conclude that the majority of those killed must have been unarmed civilians . Brigade losses were seven dead and nine wounded . Army Group Centre renewed their offensive on Moscow in mid-November . Fegelein and the SS Cavalry Brigade were held back as an operational reserve in the rearward area of the 9th Army . Massive counter-attacks by the Red Army led to a weakening of the entire German line , and the brigade was called in to fight at the front on 28 December . While Fegelein reported that his forces were the equivalent to one or two divisions , in reality he had only 4,428 men in total at this point , of which 1,800 were ready for action . The brigade was deployed at the south-eastern sector of the XXIII Army Corps , where it defended against attacks in the rearward area of the 206th Infantry Division in the Battles of Rzhev . The SS Cavalry Brigade took serious losses , with casualties of up to 60 per cent in some squadrons . On 1 February 1942 , Fegelein was promoted to SS-Standartenführer in the Waffen-SS and transferred from the reserve force to active service . Four days later , on 5 February , Fegelein on his own initiative led an attack on a strong enemy group northwest of Chertolino . The attack , carried out in difficult weather conditions , secured an important road junction and the railway station at Chertolino . In a nocturnal attack on 9 February , the brigade encircled and destroyed enemy forces at Chertolino , killing 1,800 Red Army soldiers . Yershovo was captured on 14 February , leading to the annihilation of the enemy units in Rzhevsky District . For his leadership in these battles , Fegelein was awarded the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross on 2 March 1942 . Fegelein was then granted home leave and was appointed Inspector of Cavalry and Transportation ( ) in the SS-Führungshauptamt on 1 May 1942 . In this position he was awarded the Eastern Front Medal and the War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords , both on 1 September 1942 . The SS Cavalry Brigade was disbanded in March 1942 and the remaining men and equipment were formed into a battalion-strength unit called Kampfgruppe Zehender , commanded by SS-Sturmbannführer August Zehender . Fegelein returned to the front line on 1 December 1942 and on the same day promoted to SS-Oberführer . He was given command of Kampfgruppe Fegelein , based in the great bend of the Don . He was wounded in action by Soviet snipers on 21 and 22 December 1942 . On 20 April 1943 , he was appointed commander of the 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer . Fegelein and his division were involved in operations against partisans in May to July 1943 , which included Operation Weichsel , Operation Zeithen , and Operation Seydlitz . On 17 May , they annihilated a partisan group south west of Novoselki . He personally blew up a bunker in the attack . A week later , on 24 May , the division attacked another partisan strongpoint , and no prisoners were taken . During Weichsel ( 27 May – 10 June 1943 ) he reported the unit had killed 4,018 persons and deported 18,860 , confiscated 21,000 cattle , and destroyed 61 villages southwest of Gomel . During Zeithen ( 13–16 June 1943 ) they destroyed a further 63 villages and ( under direct orders from Hitler ) killed all suspected partisans . During Seydlitz ( 26 June – 27 July 1943 ) he reported the destruction of 96 additional villages , with 5,016 killed and 9,166 deported and 19,941 cattle confiscated . The division was then deployed in defensive operations against massed Soviet attacks . From 26 August to 15 September , the division repulsed five attacks of divisional strength and a further 85 attacks of battalion strength . The heaviest combat occurred on 26 August near Bespalovka and on 28 August , when the division halted a Soviet breakthrough at Bolshaya Gomolsha . Fegelein led a counterattack on 8 September , recapturing the height 199,0 at Verkhniy Bishkin . On 11 September 1943 , during these defensive battles , he was awarded the Close Combat Clasp in bronze . Fegelein was severely wounded on 30 September 1943 and was hospitalised for a few weeks . He received the German Cross in gold on 1 November 1943 . Following his convalescence he was appointed chief of Amt VI—Office for Rider and Driver Training—in the SS-Führungshauptamt on 1 January 1944 . At the same time , Himmler assigned him to Hitlers headquarters staff as his liaison officer and representative of the SS . He was promoted to the rank of SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS on 10 June 1944 . On 20 July 1944 , Fegelein was present at the failed attempt on Hitlers life at the Wolfs Lair headquarters in Rastenburg , East Prussia and received a minor wound to his left thigh from the bomb blast . Fegelein often showed around the photographs of the hanged men who had been executed as a result of this failed assassination attempt . Marriage . Fegeleins politically motivated marriage to Gretl Braun , Eva Brauns sister , took place on 3 June 1944 in Salzburg . Historians Kershaw and Shirer believe he courted Braun as a way to advance his career . Hitler , Himmler , and Martin Bormann acted as witnesses at the ceremony . A two-day celebration was then held at Hitlers and Bormanns Obersalzberg mountain homes and the Eagles Nest . Fegelein was a known playboy and had many extramarital affairs . Hitlers secretaries , Christa Schroeder and Traudl Junge , state Fegelein was popular socially , particularly with women . He could be funny , amusing , and charming . Eva was glad to have someone in the entourage with whom she could dance and flirt , as Hitler was distant in social situations and refrained from publicly showing affection . Fegelein worked hard to develop a friendship with Hitlers powerful private secretary , Martin Bormann . Fegelein consistently attended Bormanns drinking parties and told Junge that the only things that mattered were his career and a life full of fun . Death . By early 1945 , Germanys military situation was on the verge of total collapse . Hitler , presiding over a rapidly disintegrating Third Reich , retreated to his Führerbunker in Berlin on 16 January 1945 . To the Nazi leadership , it was clear that the Battle of Berlin would be the final battle of the war . Berlin was bombarded by Soviet artillery for the first time on 20 April 1945 ( Hitlers birthday ) . By the evening of 21 April , Red Army tanks reached the outskirts of the city . By 27 April , Berlin was cut off from the rest of Germany . On 27 April 1945 , Reichssicherheitsdienst ( RSD ) deputy commander SS-Obersturmbannführer Peter Högl was sent out from the Reich Chancellery to find Fegelein , who had abandoned his post at the Führerbunker after deciding he did not want to join a suicide pact . Fegelein was located by the RSD squad in his Berlin apartment , wearing civilian clothes and preparing to flee to Sweden or Switzerland . He was carrying cash—German and foreign—and jewellery , some of which belonged to Braun . Högl found a briefcase containing documents with evidence of Himmlers attempted peace negotiations with the Western Allies . According to most accounts , Fegelein was intoxicated when arrested and taken back to the Führerbunker . He was kept in a makeshift cell until the evening of 28 April . That night , Hitler was informed of the BBC broadcast of a Reuters news report about Himmlers attempted negotiations with the western Allies via Count Bernadotte . Hitler flew into a rage about this apparent betrayal and ordered Himmlers arrest . Sensing a connection between Fegeleins disappearance and Himmlers betrayal , Hitler ordered SS-Gruppenführer Heinrich Müller to interrogate Fegelein as to what he knew of Himmlers plans . Thereafter , according to Otto Günsche ( Hitlers personal adjutant ) , Hitler ordered that Fegelein be stripped of all rank and to be transferred to Kampfgruppe Mohnke to prove his loyalty in combat . Günsche and Bormann expressed their concern to Hitler that Fegelein would only desert again . Hitler then ordered Fegelein court-martialed . Journalist James P . ODonnell , who conducted extensive interviews in the 1970s , provides one account of what happened next . SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke , who presided over the court martial for desertion , told ODonnell that Hitler ordered him to set up a tribunal . Mohnke arranged for a court martial panel , which consisted of generals Wilhelm Burgdorf , Hans Krebs , SS-Gruppenführer Johann Rattenhuber , and himself . Fegelein , still drunk , refused to accept that he had to answer to Hitler , and stated that he was responsible only to Himmler . Fegelein was so drunk that he was crying and vomiting ; he was unable to stand up , and even urinated on the floor . Mohnke was in a quandary , as German military and civilian law both require a defendant to be of sound mind and to understand the charges against them . Although Mohnke was certain Fegelein was guilty of flagrant desertion , it was the opinion of the judges that he was in no condition to stand trial , so Mohnke closed the proceedings and turned the defendant over to General Rattenhubers security squad . Mohnke never saw Fegelein again . An alternative scenario of Fegeleins death is based on the 1948/49 Soviet NKVD dossier of Hitler written for Joseph Stalin . The dossier is based on the interrogation reports of Günsche and Heinz Linge ( Hitlers valet ) . This dossier differs in part from the accounts given by Mohnke and Rattenhuber . After the intoxicated Fegelein was arrested and taken back to the Führerbunker , Hitler at first ordered Fegelein to be transferred to Kampfgruppe Mohnke to prove his loyalty in combat . Günsche and Bormann expressed their concern to Hitler that Fegelein would desert again . Hitler then ordered Fegelein to be demoted and court-martialed by a court led by Mohnke . At this point the accounts differ , as the NKVD dossier states that Fegelein was court-martialed on the evening of 28 April , by a court headed by Mohnke , SS-Obersturmbannführer Alfred Krause , and SS-Sturmbannführer Herbert Kaschula . Mohnke and his fellow officers sentenced Fegelein to death . That same evening , Fegelein was shot from behind by a member of the Sicherheitsdienst . Based on this stated chain of events , author Veit Scherzer concluded that Fegelein , according to German law , was deprived of all honours and honorary signs and must therefore be considered a de facto but not de jure recipient of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross . Fegeleins wife was then in the late stages of pregnancy ( the baby was born on 5 May ) . Hitler considered releasing him without punishment or assigning him to Mohnkes troops . Junge—an eye-witness to bunker events—stated that Braun pleaded with Hitler to spare her brother-in-law and tried to justify Fegeleins actions . Junge said Fegelein was taken to the garden of the Reich Chancellery on 28 April , and was shot like a dog . Rochus Misch , who was the last survivor from the Führerbunker , disputed aspects of this account in a 2007 interview with Der Spiegel . According to Misch , Hitler did not order Fegeleins execution , only his demotion . Misch claimed to know the identity of Fegeleins killer , but refused to reveal his name . Assessment . Historians William L . Shirer and Ian Kershaw characterise Fegelein as cynical and disreputable ; Albert Speer called him one of the most disgusting people in Hitlers circle . Fegelein was an opportunist who ingratiated himself with Himmler , who in return granted him the best assignments—mostly related to cavalry—and rapid promotion through the ranks . The historian Henning Pieper , who studied the period up until March 1942 , notes Fegeleins lack of formal training as an officer led to deficiencies in the way the SS Cavalry Brigade was prepared for active service . Fegelein repeatedly over-stated the combat readiness of his troops and exaggerated their accomplishments , in Piepers opinion in order to be seen as a leader worthy of promotion and honours . Fegeleins faulty analysis of his brigades readiness led to their use in December 1941 through March 1942 in combat situations for which they were unsuitable and untrained ; however , as the military situation was deteriorating , they would eventually have received front-line assignments regardless of their readiness . By the end of March 1942 , the brigade had suffered casualties of 50 per cent , much higher than army units deployed in the same area . Fegeleins parents and his brother Waldemar survived the war . Gretl , who inherited some of Evas valuable jewellery , also survived the war . She gave birth to a daughter ( named Eva Barbara Fegelein , after her late aunt ) on 5 May 1945 . Eva Fegelein killed herself on 25 April 1971 after her boyfriend died in a car accident . Gretl Braun-Fegelein moved to Munich and remarried in 1954 . She died in 1987 , aged 72 . Awards and decorations . - Olympic Games Decoration ( 1st Class ) - German Equestrian Badge ( gold ) - German Sports Badge ( bronze ) - SA Sports Badge ( bronze ) - Nazi Party Long Service Award ( bronze ) - General Assault Badge ( silver ) - Infantry Assault Badge ( silver ) - Close Combat Clasp ( silver ) - Wound Badge ( silver ) - Wound Badge of 20 July 1944 ( silver ) - Iron Cross ( 1939 ) - 2nd Class ( 15 December 1940 ) - 1st Class ( 28 June 1941 ) - German Cross in Gold on 1 November 1943 as SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS in the SS-Kavallerie-Division - Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords - Knights Cross on 2 March 1942 as SS-Standartenführer and commander of the SS-Kavallerie-Brigade - 157th Oak Leaves on 22 December 1942 as SS-Oberführer and commander of a Kampfgruppe - 83rd Swords on 30 July 1944 as SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Waffen-SS and commander of the 8 . SS-Freiwilligen-Kavallerie-Division Florian Geyer The death sentence on 28 April resulted in the loss of all orders , awards , and honorary signs . Dates of rank . Fegelein held various ranks in both the Allgemeine-SS and Waffen-SS . The following table shows that progression was not synchronous .