HOME | DD

Description
The rank of SS-Volksmarschall (i.e. SS People's Marshal) was a rank of the Waffen-SS first and then of the Staatsschutzkorps: it was the highest possible rank for a SS-Mann other than the Reichsfuhrer-SS.

Being formally crated in November 1944, the rank was first bestowed in the grandiose ceremony on 30 January 1945 on Joseph "Sepp" Dietrich. While the Volksmarschall baton was markedly different from the Wehrmacht baton models, the shoulder board featured the same insignia of the Wehrmacht Generalfeldmarschall/Großadmiral rank insignia.

With the establishment of the State Protection Corps of the Nationalsocialist Reich (Staatsschutzkorps des Nationalsozialistischen Reiches, SSK) in July 1946, other two SSK-Oberstgruppenführers were promoted to the august rank, thus becoming the elite within the existing twelve SSK-Oberstgruppenführers. According to the Personal Decree of the Führer on the Defenders of the Reich, up to a quarter of the SSK-Oberstgruppenführers on active duty may be promoted to the rank of SSK-Volksmarschall. Because SSK-Oberstgruppenführers numbered up to twelve, a maximum of three SSK-Volksmarschall could exist.The first batch of officers ranking SSK-Volksmarschall (but still popularly known as "SS-Volksmarschall") consisted of:

Joseph Dietrich (with seniority from 30 January 1945);
Kurt Dauleuge (with seniority from 20 July 1946);
Léon Degrelle (with seniority from 20 July 1946).
While all officers of the rank of SSK-Volksmarschall were clearly under Reichsfuhrer-SSK, each of the was in charge of a particular branch other than the administration of the Allgemeine-SSK and of the security services, which were directly managed by Himmler himself: Joseph "Sepp" Dietrich was the Oberbefehlshaber der Entsorgungstruppen des Staatsschutzkorps (i.e. the heirs of the Waffen-SS units, across the Reich and dependent territories), Kurt Dauleuge was the Oberbefehlshaber der Ordnungspolizei, and Léon Degrelle was the Statthalter im Burgund, i.e. the governor of SSK-Ordenstaat Burgund.

----:---

I've just discovered the autorship/parernity of the collar rank insignia: they were first drawn by marcpasquin but I downloaded them some years ago and then I recycled them as plain mode.
It is only fair to recognize the lineage.

Description
The rank of SS-Volksmarschall (i.e. SS People's Marshal) was a rank of the Waffen-SS first and then of the Staatsschutzkorps: it was the highest possible rank for a SS-Mann other than the Reichsfuhrer-SS.

Being formally crated in November 1944, the rank was first bestowed in the grandiose ceremony on 30 January 1945 on Joseph "Sepp" Dietrich. While the Volksmarschall baton was markedly different from the Wehrmacht baton models, the shoulder board featured the same insignia of the Wehrmacht Generalfeldmarschall/Großadmiral rank insignia.

With the establishment of the State Protection Corps of the Nationalsocialist Reich (Staatsschutzkorps des Nationalsozialistischen Reiches, SSK) in July 1946, other two SSK-Oberstgruppenführers were promoted to the august rank, thus becoming the elite within the existing twelve SSK-Oberstgruppenführers. According to the Personal Decree of the Führer on the Defenders of the Reich, up to a quarter of the SSK-Oberstgruppenführers on active duty may be promoted to the rank of SSK-Volksmarschall. Because SSK-Oberstgruppenführers numbered up to twelve, a maximum of three SSK-Volksmarschall could exist.The first batch of officers ranking SSK-Volksmarschall (but still popularly known as "SS-Volksmarschall") consisted of:

Joseph Dietrich (with seniority from 30 January 1945);
Kurt Dauleuge (with seniority from 20 July 1946);
Léon Degrelle (with seniority from 20 July 1946).
While all officers of the rank of SSK-Volksmarschall were clearly under Reichsfuhrer-SSK, each of the was in charge of a particular branch other than the administration of the Allgemeine-SSK and of the security services, which were directly managed by Himmler himself: Joseph "Sepp" Dietrich was the Oberbefehlshaber der Entsorgungstruppen des Staatsschutzkorps (i.e. the heirs of the Waffen-SS units, across the Reich and dependent territories), Kurt Dauleuge was the Oberbefehlshaber der Ordnungspolizei, and Léon Degrelle was the Statthalter im Burgund, i.e. the governor of SSK-Ordenstaat Burgund.

----:---

I've just discovered the autorship/parernity of the collar rank insignia: they were first drawn by marcpasquin but I downloaded them some years ago and then I recycled them as plain mode.
It is only fair to recognize the lineage.