''Rapportführer'' (Report Leader; feminine: ''Rapportführerin'') was a paramilitary title of the SS, specific to the '' Totenkopfverbände'' (Concentration Camp Service). An ''SS-Rapportführer'' was usually a mid-level SS-

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

(often an '' Oberscharführer'' or ''

Hauptscharführer __NOTOC__ ''Hauptscharführer'' ( ) was a Nazi paramilitary rank which was used by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank was the highest enlisted rank of the SS, with the exception of the special Waffen-SS ran ...

'') who served as the commander of a group of ''

Blockführer ''Blockführer'' (Block Leader) was a paramilitary title specific to the SS-Death's Head Units in Concentration Camp Service. An SS-Block Leader was typically in charge of a prisoner barracks ranging from two hundred to three hundred concentra ...

'' who themselves were assigned to oversee barracks within a

Concentration Camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

. The primary duty of a ''Rapportführer'' was to conduct daily and evening camp roll call, which was usually a long and grueling process involving prisoners standing for sometimes hours on end in all types of

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

conditions. The ''Rapportführer'' also oversaw camp discipline of prisoners as well as training for junior SS personnel. Most ''Rapportführers'' in the SS were known for their brutality, which such individuals as

Eric Muhsfeldt Erich Mußfeldt also spelled Erich Muhsfeldt (18 February 1913 – 24 January 1948) was a German war criminal. He served as an SS NCO in three extermination camps during World War II in occupied Poland and Germany: Auschwitz, Majdanek and ...

and Gustav Wagner holding this position. In larger camps (such as

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

), the ''Rapportführer'' would answer to a Camp Adjutant SS-Officer, but in smaller camps (such as Sobibor) the ''Rapportführer'' worked directly for the Camp Commander and served in a type of

Sergeant Major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in th ...

position.

Sources

* Zentner, Christian & Bedürftig, Friedemann, ''The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich'', (Macmillan), New York (1991) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rapportfuhrer Nazi paramilitary ranks fr:Rapportführer