Editing Nazi Party (section)

== Party composition ==
=== Command structure ===
==== Top leadership ====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-10541, Weimar, Aufmarsch der Nationalsozialisten.jpg|thumb|Adolf Hitler and [[Rudolf Hess]] in [[Weimar]] in 1930]]

At the top of the Nazi Party was the party chairman ("{{lang|de|Der Führer}}"), who held absolute power and full command over the party. All other party offices were subordinate to his position and had to depend on his instructions. In 1934, Hitler founded a separate body for the chairman, [[Hitler's Chancellery (Kanzlei des Führers)|Chancellery of the Führer]], with its own sub-units.

Below the Führer's chancellery was first the "Staff of the [[Deputy Führer]]", headed by [[Rudolf Hess]] from 21 April 1933 to 10 May 1941; and then the "[[Nazi Party Chancellery|Party Chancellery]]" ({{lang|de|[[Parteikanzlei]]}}), headed by [[Martin Bormann]].

Following Hitler's suicide on 30 April 1945, Bormann would be named as Party Minister, which gave him the top position in the Nazi Party itself;{{sfn|Joachimsthaler|1999|p=187}} unlike Hitler, however, Bormann would not have a leadership role over the government of Nazi Germany.{{sfn|Joachimsthaler|1999|p=187}} Bormann, whose fate would remain unknown for several decades, would soon afterwards commit suicide as well on 2 May 1945 while trying to flee Berlin around the time Soviet Union forces [[Battle of Berlin|captured the city]].{{sfn|Trevor-Roper|2002|p=193}}{{sfn|Miller|2006|p=154}} His remains were first identified in 1972, then again in 1998 through DNA testing.{{sfn|Whiting|1996|pp=217–218}}{{sfn|Karacs|1998}}

==== ''Reichsleiter'' ====
Directly subjected to the Führer were the {{lang|de|[[Reichsleiter]]}} ("Reich Leader(s)"—the singular and plural forms are identical in German), whose number was gradually increased to eighteen. They held power and influence comparable to the Reich Ministers' in [[Cabinet Hitler|Hitler's Cabinet]]. The eighteen {{lang|de|Reichsleiter}} formed the "Reich Leadership of the Nazi Party" ({{lang|de|Reichsleitung der NSDAP}}), which was established at the so-called [[Brown House, Munich, Germany|Brown House]] in Munich. Unlike a {{lang|de|[[Gauleiter]]}}, a {{lang|de|Reichsleiter}} did not have individual geographic areas under their command, but were responsible for specific spheres of interest.

=== Nazi Party offices ===
The Nazi Party had a number of party offices dealing with various political and other matters. These included:
* {{lang|de|[[NSDAP Office of Racial Policy|Rassenpolitisches Amt der NSDAP]]}} (RPA): "NSDAP Office of Racial Policy"
* {{lang|de|[[NSDAP Office of Foreign Affairs|Außenpolitische Amt der NSDAP]]}} (APA): "NSDAP Office of Foreign Affairs"
* {{lang|de|[[NSDAP Office of Colonial Policy|Kolonialpolitisches Amt der NSDAP]]}} (KPA): "NSDAP Office of Colonial Policy"
* {{lang|de|[[NSDAP Office of Military Policy|Wehrpolitisches Amt der NSDAP]]}} (WPA): "NSDAP Office of Military Policy"
* {{lang|de|[[Amt Rosenberg]]}} (ARo): "[[Alfred Rosenberg|Rosenberg]] Office"

=== Paramilitary groups ===
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-P049500, Berlin, Aufmarsch der SA in Spandau.jpg|thumb|The [[Sturmabteilung|SA]] in Berlin in 1932. The group had nearly two million members at the end of 1932.]]

In addition to the Nazi Party proper, several paramilitary groups existed which "supported" Nazi aims. All members of these paramilitary organisations were required to become regular Nazi Party members first and could then enlist in the group of their choice. An exception was the [[Waffen-SS]], considered the military arm of the SS and Nazi Party, which during the Second World War allowed members to enlist without joining the Nazi Party. Foreign volunteers of the Waffen-SS were also not required to be members of the Nazi Party, although many joined local nationalist groups from their own countries with the same aims. Police officers, including members of the [[Gestapo]], frequently held SS rank for administrative reasons (known as "rank parity") and were likewise not required to be members of the Nazi Party.

A vast system of [[Nazi Party paramilitary ranks]] developed for each of the various paramilitary groups. This was part of the process of {{lang|de|Gleichschaltung}} with the paramilitary and auxiliary groups swallowing existing associations and federations after the Party was flooded by millions of membership applications.{{sfn|Steber|Gotto|2018|p=91}}

The major Nazi Party paramilitary groups were as follows:
* {{lang|de|[[Schutzstaffel]]}} (SS): "Protection Squadron" (both {{lang|de|[[Allgemeine SS]]}} and [[Waffen-SS]])
* {{lang|de|[[Sturmabteilung]]}} (SA): "Storm Division"
* {{lang|de|[[National Socialist Flyers Corps|Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps]]}} (NSFK): "National Socialist Flyers Corps"
* {{lang|de|[[National Socialist Motor Corps|Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrerkorps]]}} (NSKK): "National Socialist Motor Corps"

The [[Hitler Youth]] was a paramilitary group divided into an adult leadership corps and a general membership open to boys aged fourteen to eighteen. The [[League of German Girls]] was the equivalent group for girls.

=== Affiliated organisations ===
Certain nominally independent organisations had their own legal representation and own property, but were supported by the Nazi Party. Many of these associated organisations were labour unions of various professions. Some were older organisations that were nazified according to the {{lang|de|Gleichschaltung}} policy after the 1933 takeover.
* Reich League of German Officials (union of civil servants, predecessor to [[German Civil Service Federation]])
* [[German Labour Front]] (DAF)
* [[National Socialist German Doctors' League]]
* National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law (NSRB, 1936–1945, earlier National Socialist German Lawyers' League)
* [[NSKOV|National Socialist War Victim's Care]] (NSKOV)
* [[National Socialist Teachers League]] (NSLB)
* [[National Socialist People's Welfare]] (NSV)
* [[Reich Labour Service]] (RAD)
* [[German Faith Movement]]
* [[German Colonial League]] (RKB)
* [[German Red Cross]]
* [[Kyffhäuserbund|Kyffhäuser League]]
* [[TENO|Technical Emergency Relief]] (TENO)
* [[Reichsbund der Kinderreichen|Reich's Union of Large Families]]
* [[Reichsluftschutzbund]] (RLB)
* [[Reichskolonialbund]] (RKB)
* [[Bund Deutscher Osten]] (BDO)
* [[German American Bund]]

The employees of large businesses with international operations such as [[Deutsche Bank]], [[Dresdner Bank]], and [[Commerzbank]] were mostly party members.{{sfn|Simpson|2002|pp=149, 257, 299}} All German businesses abroad were also required to have their own Nazi Party {{lang|de|Ausland-Organization}} liaison men, which enabled the party leadership to obtain updated and excellent intelligence on the actions of the global corporate elites.{{sfn|Farrell|2008|p=?}}{{Page needed|date=June 2020}}