page_title: Emil Maurice
section_title: Early life and association with Hitler
hierarchical_section_title: Emil Maurice / Early life and association with Hitler
caption_attribution_description: English: Adolf Hitler, surrounded by his personal bodyguards, the socalled Stabswache (left to right): Julius Schaub, Julius Schreck, Adolf Hitler, Hans Georg Maurer, Edmund Schneider.
context_page_description: Emil Maurice was an early member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party and a founding member of the Schutzstaffel. He was Hitler's first personal chauffeur, succeeded first by Julius Schreck and then Erich Kempka. He was one of the few persons of mixed Jewish and ethnic German ancestry to serve in the SS.
context_section_description: A watchmaker by trade, Maurice was a close early associate of Adolf Hitler; their personal friendship dated back to 1919 when they were both members of the German Workers Party (DAP). Maurice officially joined the DAP on 1 December 1919 and his party number was 594 (the count began at 501). With the founding of the Sturmabteilung in 1920, Maurice became the first Oberster SA-Führer (Supreme SA Leader). Maurice led the SA stormtroopers in fights that were known to break out with other groups during those early days. Hitler later in his book Mein Kampf mentions one fight in particular from November 1921 where Maurice was at the forefront of the SA unit during the fighting.
  In July 1921, Maurice became a personal chauffeur for Adolf Hitler. In March 1923, Maurice also became a member of the Stabswache (Staff Guard), a small separate bodyguard dedicated to Hitler's service rather than "a suspect mass" of the party, such as the SA. It was given the task of guarding Hitler at Nazi parties and rallies. In May 1923, the unit was renamed Stoßtrupp (Shock Troop) 'Adolf Hitler'. Maurice, Julius Schreck, Joseph Berchtold, and Erhard Heiden, were all members of the Stoßtrupp. On 9 November 1923, the Stoßtrupp, along with the SA and several other paramilitary units, took part in the abortive Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. In the aftermath of the putsch, Hitler, Rudolf Hess, Maurice and other Nazi leaders were incarcerated at Landsberg Prison. The Nazi Party and all associated formations, including the Stoßtrupp, were officially disbanded.
  After Hitler's release from prison, the Nazi Party was officially refounded. In 1925, Hitler ordered the formation of a new bodyguard unit, the Schutzkommando (protection command). It was formed by Julius Schreck and included old Stoßtrupp members, Maurice and Heiden. That same year, the Schutzkommando was expanded to a national level. It was renamed successively the Sturmstaffel (storm squadron), and finally on 9 November the Schutzstaffel (SS). Hitler became SS member No. 1 and Emil Maurice became SS member No. 2. At that time, Maurice became an SS-Führer in the new organization, although the leadership of the SS was assumed by Schreck, the first Reichsführer-SS. Maurice became Hitler's permanent chauffeur in 1925. Later when Maurice informed Hitler in December 1927 that he was having a relationship with Hitler's half-niece Geli Raubal, Hitler forced an end to the affair. Maurice was dismissed from Hitler's personal service in 1928, but allowed to remain a member of the SS.
  When the SS was reorganized and expanded in 1932, Maurice became a senior SS officer and would eventually be promoted to the rank SS-Oberführer. While Maurice never became a top commander of the SS, his status as SS member #2 effectively credited him as an actual founder of the organization. Heinrich Himmler, who ultimately would become the most recognized leader of the SS, was SS member #168.
caption: Early photo of Hitler's bodyguard: left to right: Julius Schaub; Julius Schreck; Adolf Hitler; Hans Georg Maurer; Gerhard Schneider
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