Obersturmbannführer was a Nazi rank used in both the SS and SA. It filled the need for an additional officer grade above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It was the German equivalent of a Lieutenant Colonel and roughly translates as 'Senior assault unit leader'.

Many notorious Nazis held the rank, such as Rudolf Höss, instrumental in the creation of Auschwitz, Adolf Eichmann, instrumental in the 'Final Solution', and Herbert Kappler, the Gestapo Chief of Rome responsible for the Ardeatine massacre.

The rank of Obersturmbannführer was marked by four silver pips and a stripe on the left collar on an SS uniform.

George Raft (1901-1980) was an American actor known chiefly for playing gangsters in films of the 1930s and 1940s, as well as for his elegant fashion sense. His most famous roles were in Scarface (1932), Bolero (1934), They Drive by Night (1940) and Some Like It Hot (1959).

 

A bullfighting move in which the matador flicks his cape.