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Gottlob Christian Berger (16 July 1896 – 5 January 1975) was a senior German Nazi official who held the rank of ''SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'' (lieutenant general), and was the chief of the SS Main Office responsible for ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) recruiting during World War II. Berger served in the German Army during World War I, was wounded four times and also awarded the Iron Cross First Class. Immediately after the war he was a leader of the ''Einwohnerwehr'' militia in his native North Württemberg. He joined the Nazi Party in 1922, but lost interest in right-wing politics during the 1920s, training and working as a physical education teacher. In the late 1920s he rejoined the Nazi Party and became a member of the paramilitary ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) in 1931. He clashed with other leaders of the SA, and joined the ''Allgemeine-SS'' in 1936. Initially responsible for physical education in an SS region, he was soon transferred to the staff of ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler as head of the sports office. In 1938, he was appointed as head of the recruiting office of the SS Main Office (SS-HA), taking over as chief of the SS-HA the following year. To a significant extent, Berger was the "father" of the ''Waffen-SS'', as he not only implemented recruiting structures and policies that assisted the ''Waffen-SS'' to circumvent Wehrmacht controls over conscription, but also extended ''Waffen-SS'' recruiting first to "Germanic" volunteers from Scandinavia and western Europe, then ''Volksdeutsche'' (ethnic Germans) outside the Reich, and finally to peoples who in no way reflected Himmler's ideas of "racial purity". He also sponsored and protected his friend Oskar Dirlewanger, who he placed in command of a unit of convicted criminals. The ''Sonderkommando Dirlewanger'' subsequently committed many war crimes in the areas it operated. Berger often clashed with senior officers of the Wehrmacht and even with senior ''Waffen-SS'' officers over his recruiting methods, but his organisational skills were largely responsible for the growth of the ''Waffen-SS'' to a total of 38 divisions by war's end. Berger undertook several other roles in the latter stages of the war, while continuing as chief of the SS-HA. He had a key role in the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories from mid-1942, allowing the SS to direct much of the economic activity in the east. In this role he proposed a plan to kidnap and enslave 50,000 Eastern European children between the ages of 10 and 14, under the codename ''Heuaktion'', a plan that was subsequently carried out. In response to the Slovak National Uprising in August 1944, Berger was appointed as Military Commander in Slovakia, and was responsible for suppressing the revolt. The following month he was appointed as one of the two chiefs of staff of the ''Volkssturm'' militia, and as chief of the prisoner of war camps. In the final months of the war he commanded German forces in the Bavarian Alps, which included remnants of several of the ''Waffen-SS'' units he had helped recruit. He surrendered to U.S. troops near Berchtesgaden, and was promptly arrested. He was tried and convicted in the Ministries Trial of the U.S. Nuremberg Military Tribunals for war crimes, and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. His sentence was soon reduced to 10 years, and he was released after serving six and a half years. After release he advocated for the rehabilitation of the ''Waffen-SS'' and worked in several manufacturing businesses. He died in his hometown in 1975. ==Early life and involvement with Nazi Party== Berger was born on 16 July 1896 at Gerstetten in the Kingdom of Württemberg, the son of saw-mill owners Johannes and Christine (), and was one of eight children. He attended ''Volksschule'' (elementary school) and ''Realschule'' (junior high school) and then teacher training in Nürtingen. He volunteered for military service at the beginning of World War I, and rose to the rank of ''Leutnant'' in the infantry by the time of his discharge in 1919. Wounded four times, he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class, and was considered 70 per cent disabled at the time of his discharge. During the war, all three of his brothers died, two killed in action and the other executed as a spy in the United States. Berger's combative temperament and very conservative politics fitted him for a leadership role with the North Württemberg ''Einwohnerwehr'' militia in 1918–19. He married Maria () in 1921. After joining the Nazi Party in 1922, he was arrested and briefly held in custody after Adolf Hitler's Munich Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923. He trained and worked as a physical education teacher, despite his injuries, and lost interest in politics for some years, before rejoining the Nazi Party in 1929, and the paramilitary ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) in January 1931. Berger's SA career was limited by his soldierly ideas of politics and leadership, but after the Nazi seizure of power in January 1933, he was found to be very suitable to lead ''Schutzhaft'' operations, which involved the rounding up of Jews and "political undesirables". In April 1933, his clashes with younger leaders meant his SA career had met a dead-end. His SA peers criticised Berger's ambitious nature, outspokenness and lack of self-reflection. Beginning in July 1934, Berger worked with the SA training chief '' SA-Obergruppenführer'' Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger. Between 1933 and 1935, he was a school inspector in Esslingen am Neckar near Stuttgart, and in 1935 was a senior official in the Gau Württemberg – Hohenzollern Ministry of Culture. He was recruited into the ''Allgemeine SS'' by ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler in 1936, on Krüger's recommendation. Initially appointed to oversee sports and physical training for ''SS-Oberabschnitt Südwest'' (SS Regional Headquarters Southwest), he then moved to Himmler's personal staff as head of the sports office. Berger interceded on behalf of his World War I comrade Oskar Dirlewanger, who had been imprisoned for two years in 1935 for offences against a minor. On his release from prison, Berger used his influence to ensure Dirlewanger could join the Condor Legion and fight in the Spanish Civil War. On 1 July 1938, Himmler appointed Berger as chief of the recruiting department of the ''SS-Hauptamt'' (SS Main Office, or SS-HA), which he quickly developed into a powerful tool for Himmler's ambitions. According to Berger, the German Army was initially dismissive of the idea of SS combat troops. He quoted the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, ''Generaloberst'' Werner von Fritsch as saying, "If the Reich Transport Minister has his militarily-trained Railway Police, why shouldn't Himmler also play at soldiers?" Berger played a key role in directing the fifth column ''Sudetendeutsches Freikorps'' during the Sudeten Crisis in Czechoslovakia in 1938, and the organisational skills he had displayed there marked him as highly suitable for the SS recruiting role. Berger later claimed that he had come up with the idea of SS combat troops wearing camouflage jackets from his own hunting days, and had suggested it to ''SS-Obergruppenführer'' Sepp Dietrich, commander of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler Regiment (LSSAH). From 1938, various forms of ''Flecktarn'' camouflage were issued. The author Adrian Weale doubts Berger's account. Berger had achieved the rank of ''Major der Reserve'' in the Wehrmacht by 1938, but his initial rank upon joining the ''Allgemeine SS'' was ''SS-Standartenführer'', based upon his SA service. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gottlob Berger」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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