THE SA OF THE NAZI PARTY Die Sturmabteilung Der NSDAP – Brownshirt or Storm Troop Formations The Original SHAEF Study

The Sturmabteilung (SA) “Storm Detachment”, was the Nazi Party’s original paramilitary wing. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi rallies and assemblies; disrupting the meetings of opposing parties; fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the Roter Frontkämpferbund of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD); and intimidating Romani, trade unionists, and especially Jews. The SA ceased to exist in May 1945 when Nazi Germany collapsed. It was formally disbanded and outlawed on October 10, 1945.

FROM THE FOREWORD
From a politico military point of view the SA (The Brownshirts or Nazi Party Stormtroopers ) is an organisation which should not be underestimated either at the present time or in relation to an allied occupation of Germany.

Its active wartime strength is in the region of 500 000 to 700 000 men and its regional organisations include some 17 000 permanent headquarters throughout the Reich Its total peacetime strength was about 3 000 000 (1934).

In addition there are at least another million SA men now serving in the Wehrmacht who upon demobilisation may resume contact with their old organisation unless it is not only disbanded but completely wiped out.

This organisation represents the most widely spread and densely knit of any of the para-military forces of the Nazi Party and its influence is surpassed only by the SS and the Police. It is significant that the SA is now co-operating closely with both these bodies as an auxiliary internal security and defence force.
This development is largely a war time measure and is one of the principal reason for the revival of the SA (especially since the appointment of a new Chief of Staff SCHEPMAN in Aug 1943) after a long period of political quiescence that followed the purge of the SA in 1934.

But the SA is not only a part-time para-military organisation. Apart from its responsibility as the principal agency for pre- and post- military training, it provides fully embodied units for frontier and auxiliary police duty equal to regular infantry formations.
For comparatively large scale actions against guerillas in L of C areas, some SA units are also issued with light mountain artillery and mortars or are equipped as mounted troops.

These aspects of the SA are discussed in the following sections of this handbook. The general conclusion to be drawn from the evidence is that the SA with its ramified structure and wide range of duties is not only a valuable defence and security organisation on the German home front today, but presents a substantial counter-intelligence problem as a potential source of disturbance and conspiracy during and after the initial stages of the occupation of Germany.