Ahnenerbe: [Ancestral Heritage], The Institute for the Scientific Study of Ends and Purposes, located in Berlin. Einsatzgruppe: Battalion-sized, mobile, armed unit of police Einsatzgruppen: Battalion-sized, mobile, armed units of police, primarily Security Police and SD officials, which were used to attack and execute perceived enemies in conquered territories. (Breitman, Richard. The Architect of Genocide: Himmler and the Final Solution. MA: Brandeis University Press, 1992, p. 311) Einsatzkommando: Company-sized component of the Einsatzgruppen (Ibid., 311) Gauleiter: Supreme territorial or regional party authority(-ies) (The term is both singular and plural). The Nazi Party divided Germany and some annexed territories into geographical units called Gaue, headed by a Gauleiter. (Ibid., 311) General Government: The Nazi-ruled state in central and eastern Poland. Headed by Governor (Ibid., 311) Final Solution: Euphemism for the extermination of European Jewry SD (Sicherheitsdienst): The SS Security Service Selektionen: (Selection) The process by which newly-arrived prisoners were divided into those capable of work, and those deemed unfit for work, i.e. those to be exterminated immediately. Sonderkommandos: Division of Einsatzgruppen, generally smaller than Einsatzkommando, but also a more general term for special commando units assigned particular functions. (Ibid., 311) Military rank - here's a list from Breitman (314) which lists SS ranks and the Western military equivalent: Oberstgruppenführer General Obergruppenführer Lieutenant General Gruppenführer Major General Brigadeführer Brigadier General Oberführer between Brigadier & Colonel Standartenführer Colonel Obersturmbannführer Lieutenant Colonel Sturmbannführer Major Hauptsturmführer Captain Obersturmführer First Lieutenant Unterscharführer Corporal Rottenführer Private, First Class Sturmann Private SS-Mann no equivalent
Source: The Nizkor Project.