 Erhard Heiden ( 23 February 1901 – c . April 1933 ) was an early member of the Nazi Party and the third commander of the paramilitary wing of Schutzstaffel ( SS ) , the Sturmabteilung ( " Storm Detachment ; SA " ) . He was appointed head of the SS , an elite subsection of the SA in 1927 . At that time, the SS was a small, semi-clandestine unit of the Nazi Party . Heiden was appointed as the third commander of the SS in 1927 by Adolf Hitler , the leader of the Nazi Party . Heiden's appointment was part of a reorganization of the