{{refimprove|date=February 2024}} {{about|the rank|people with the surname|Helfer (surname)}} {{Italic title|reason=[[:Category:German words and phrases]]}} {{Infobox military rank | name = {{lang|de|Helfer}} | native_name = Helper | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | image2 = | image_size2 = | alt2 = | caption2 = | image3 = | image_size3 = | alt3 = | caption3 = | country = {{flag|Nazi Germany}} | service branch = {{ubl|{{flagicon image|Flagge DRK Kreisführer stv 1938.svg}} [[German Red Cross]]|{{flagicon image|Flag of the NSDAP (1920–1945).svg}} [[Nazi Party]]}} | abbreviation = | rank group = | rank = [[Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party|Paramilitary rank]] | NATO rank = | Non-NATO rank = | pay grade = | formation = 1938 | abolished = 1945 | higher rank = | lower rank = {{lang|de|[[Anwärter]]}} | equivalents = | history = }}
'''{{lang|de|Helfer}}''' ({{translation|Helper}}) was a [[Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party|paramilitary rank]] of the [[Nazi Party]] between the years of 1938 and 1945. The Nazi rank of ''Helfer'' was a junior position of the Political Leadership Corps, ranking only above ''[[Anwärter]]''. A ''Helfer'' in the Nazi Party typically served as a junior assistant to a higher official. The rank was created at first to replace the older Nazi rank of ''[[Blockleiter]]''; however, a massive expansion of Nazi Party ranks in 1938 assigned the old duties of a ''Blockleiter'' to a rank known as ''[[Arbeitsleiter]]''. The rank of ''Helfer'' then became an assistant position to such higher ranks.
The insignia for a ''Helfer'' consisted of a brown [[Collar patches|collar patch]] with an eagle and swastika, and one or two stripes on the lower portion of the [[Collar stays|collar tab]]. A single stripe denoted the rank of ''Helfer'' while two stripes denoted the higher position of ''Oberhelfer''. The rank of ''Helfer'' was also common in Nazi student groups, typically held by the leader of a local student cell who answered to a local Nazi Party leader. In the film “[[Die Weiße Rose (film)|''Die Weiße Rose'']]”, a character known as “Studentenführer”, holds the rank of ''Helfer''. The Nazi rank of ''Helfer'' ceased to exist in 1945.
==Insignia== {| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px; text-align:center;" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! Rank group !! colspan=3| !! colspan=3| |- ! rowspan=2| {{flagicon image|Flagge DRK Kreisführer stv 1938.svg}} [[German Red Cross]]{{sfn|Verlag Moritz Ruhl|1942|loc=[https://pictures.abebooks.com/LIBRARIUMFINEBOOKS/18421533914_5.jpg Table 14]}}{{sfn|Davis|1980|p=223}} | [[File:DRK-Haupthelfer mit.svg|50px]] | [[File:DRK-Haupthelfer.svg|50px]] | [[File:DRK-Oberhelfer.svg|50px]] | [[File:DRK-Vorhelfer mit.svg|50px]] | [[File:DRK-Vorhelfer.svg|50px]] | [[File:DRK-Anwärter.svg|50px]] |- style="text-align:center;" | DRK-{{lang|de|Haupthelfer<br />{{small|(mit Zugführer Prüfung)}}}} | DRK-{{lang|de|Haupthelfer}} | DRK-{{lang|de|Oberhelfer}} | DRK-{{lang|de|Vorhelfer<br />{{small|(mit Gruppenführer Prüfung)}}}} | DRK-{{lang|de|Vorhelfer}} | DRK-{{lang|de|Helfer}} |- ! rowspan=2| {{flagicon image|Flag of the NSDAP (1920–1945).svg}} [[Nazi Party]]{{sfn|CIA|1999|pp=25-26}} | colspan=2 rowspan=2| <!--None--> | [[File:4 Oberhelfer (старший помощник) NSDAP SVG.svg|100px]] | colspan=2 rowspan=2| <!--None--> | [[File:3 Helfer (помощник) NSDAP.svg|100px]] |- | {{lang|de|Oberhelfer}} | {{lang|de|Helfer}} |}
==References== {{reflist}} * {{cite web |author1=CIA |author-link1=CIA |title=Records Integration Title Book |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78-02646R000600030012-6.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123031622/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78-02646R000600030012-6.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 23, 2017 |access-date=11 December 2018 |date=24 August 1999 }} * {{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Brian Leigh |title=German Uniforms of the Third Reich 1933-1945 |date=1980 |publisher=Blandford Press |location=Poole, Dorset |isbn=0-7137-0881-6 |edition=1st}} * {{cite book |author1=Verlag Moritz Ruhl |title=Deutsche Uniformen |date=1942 |publisher=Verlag Moritz Ruhl |location=Leipzig |language=de }}
{{Nazi Germany Paramilitary Ranks}}
[[Category:Nazi political ranks]]