Wilhelm Schepmann | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 17 June 1894 Hattingen, German Empire |
| Died | 26 July 1970 (aged 76) Gifhorn, West Germany |
| Allegiance |  German Empire  Nazi Germany |
| Service/ |  SA |
| Rank | Stabschef SA |
| Commands | Stabschef der SA |
Wilhelm Schepmann (17 June 1894 – 26 July 1970) was an SA general in Nazi Germany and the last Stabschef (Chief of Staff) of the original Nazi paramilitary branch, the SA.
Schepmann was an Obergruppenführer in the Nazi Party para-military branch known as the Sturmabteilung (SA) when he was appointed by Adolf Hitler to succeed Viktor Lutze as Stabschef (SA) in 1943. Lutze had died in May that year, after a serious car accident. However, by then the SA had been thoroughly marginalized as far as political power in Nazi Germany was concerned. Since January 1939, the role of the SA was officially mandated as a training school for the German armed forces with the establishment of the SA Wehrmannschaften (SA Military Units). Then with the September 1939 invasion of Poland, the SA lost most of its remaining members to military service in the Wehrmacht (armed forces).[1] The SA officially ceased to exist in May 1945 when Nazi Germany was defeated and surrendered. The SA was banned by the Allied Control Council shortly after Germany's capitulation. In 1946, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg formally judged the SA not to be a criminal organization.[2]
- ^ McNab, Chris. Hitler's Elite: The SS 1939–45, Osprey Publishing, 2013, pp. 20–22.
- ^ "The Sturmabteilung or SA". History Learning Site. Retrieved 22 September 2013.