Talk:Ranks and insignia of the Ordnungspolizei

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Dear Husnock, regarding my correction on 12/21:

"Chef der Deutschen Polizei" would be, as far as I am concerned, the correct grammar. You did use it yourself correctly for the other ranks ("Generaloberst der", "General der"), and in all cases "der" (meaning "of the") refers to the feminine "Polizei", "dem" would be used to refer to a masculine noun (* see below).

Therefore, I kindly request a rollback to my version. If your sources indicate a different spelling, I'd be glad to evaluate them. But according to my humble knowledge of German grammar (after all, German is my native language), "dem" is incorrect.

• Quite possibly, you are misled by "Deutschen", which in other cases than here is a masculine noun, and would be referred to as "dem Deutschen". However, "Chef der/m" refers to "Polizei" rather than to "Deutschen", hence the gender issue.

Hope this helps, Daniel

I think you are absolutely correct. I am trying to get a hold of some original documents with Himmler's letterhead. I was mislead by the infinitive, where der becomes dem. I should be able to verify which one it is in the very near future, based on what the original documents from WWII say. I think it is der. Good catch -Husnock 6Jan05

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Did some quick Google-research: Himmler apparently became Head of the German police on june 17th, 1936 -- by hand of the Führer. According to [1], this title was then given to the "Reichsführer SS" (Himmler) upon centralizing the German police force. Also in 1936, probably at the same date, the title of "Chef der Deutschen Ordnungspolizei" was given to Kurt Daluege [2].

[1] http://www.calsky.com/lexikon/de/txt/h/he/heinrich_himmler.php [2] http://www.calsky.com/lexikon/de/txt/k/ku/kurt_daluege.php

(Sorry that these bios are in German -- maybe they can assist you in finding original documents. :-)

Daniel

Daluege was Chief of the Order Police. Himmler was Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police. There are hundreds of original documents which list Himmler's title as "Reichsfuhrer-SS und Chef der Deutschen Polizei". Daluege was also the only German Police General to hold the rank of Generaloberst der Polizei. However, he was never Chief of the German Police. That title was held by Himmler from 1936 - 1945. -Husnock 12Jan04