Julius Schreck was born on 13 July 1898 in Munich in Bavaria. He served in the German Army during World War I. After the war ended in November 1918, he became a member of Freikorps Epp, a right-wing paramilitary unit formed to combat the communistic revolution. Schreck was an early member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party; NSDAP), having joined in 1920 and documented as member #53.