Nazi Party
"Deutsche Gemeinschaft" was a branch of the Nazi Party founded in 1919, created for Germans with "Volksdeutsche" status. It is not to be confused with the post-war right-wing "", which was founded in 1949.
Nazi Party
For the purpose of centralisation in the "Gleichschaltung" process a rigidly hierarchal structure was established in the Nazi Party, which it later carried through in the whole of Germany in order to consolidate total power under the person of Hitler ("Führerstaat"). It was regionally sub-divided into a number of "Gaue" (singular: "Gau") headed by a "Gauleiter", who received their orders directly from Hitler. The name (originally a term for sub-regions of the Holy Roman Empire headed by a "Gaugraf") for these new provincial structures was deliberately chosen because of its mediaeval connotations. The term is approximately equivalent to the English "shire".