Julius Schreck was an early Nazi
Party member and also the first commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS). Schreck joined the Nazi Party in 1920, at about
the same time as Adolf
Hitler, and the two developed a deep friendship
in the early days of Nazi history.
In 1921, Schreck was one
of the founders of the Sturmabteilung (SA)
and also helped form the Stabswache, which
was an early company of SA troops assigned
as bodyguards to Hitler. In 1923, Schreck
participated in the Beer
Hall Putsch and was incarcerated at
Landsberg prison along with other top Nazi
leaders.
When the Nazi Party was refounded in
1925, Schreck was asked by Emil Maurice to help found
a new bodyguard company for Hitler which would be known
as the Stabswache. Later that year, the group of eight
men was renamed as the Schutzstaffel and Schreck became
SS Member number 5. He was also asked by Hitler to command
the bodyguard company and, as such, became the first
Reichsführer-SS (although Schreck never referred
to himself by this title).
In 1926, Schreck stood down as Reichführer-SS.
He remained on the SS rolls as an SS-Führer and
worked as Hitler’s private chauffeur. In 1930,
after the SS had begun to expand under Heinrich
Himmler, Schreck was appointed as an SS-Standartenführer
but had little actual power. He remained as Hitler's
chauffeur for the next six years before resigning due
to poor health. His final SS
rank was that of SS-Oberführer.
In 1936, Julius Schreck developed meningitis
and died on May 16th. He was honored in a Nazi state
funeral with Adolf Hitler delivering his eulogy.
