Erhard Heiden (23 February 1901 – 1933) was an early member of the Nazi Party and the third commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS), the paramilitary wing of 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 numbered fewer than a thousand men and Heiden found it difficult to cope under the much larger SA. Heiden was not a success in the post, and SS membership dropped significantly under his leadership. He was dismissed from his post in 1929, officially for "family reasons". He was arrested after the Nazis came to power in 1933 and executed that same year. Life Heiden was born on 23 February 1901 in Weiler-Simmerberg, a city in Bavaria. In 1917, he attended the NCO school in Fürstenfeldbruck. Little is known about his early life. Following Germany's defeat in World War I, hyperinflation, mass unemployment, poverty, crime and civil unrest plagued the country. During that time, Heiden served in a Freikorps unit. Also in 1919, a small right-wing political party known as the German Workers' Party (DAP) was created and seated in Munich. In 1920, it changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party; NSDAP). It rejected the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and advocated antisemitism and anti-Bolshevism. At party meetings in late 1919 and early 1920, hecklers and protesters tried to disrupt Adolf Hitler's speeches, and fought with party members. It was decided that a permanent group of party members would serve to protect Nazi officials at rallies and disrupt the meetings of opposing parties. The basis for the Sturmabteilung ("Storm Detachment"; SA) had been formed. Heiden became an early member of the Nazi Party and the SA. In 1923, Heiden joined a small personal bodyguard unit for Adolf Hitler named Stoßtrupp-Hitler ("Shock Troop–Hitler"). That same year, Hitler felt strong enough to try to seize power in Munich. Inspired by Benito Mussolini's "March on Rome" the previous year, the Nazis aimed to first establish power in Munich and then challenge the government in Berlin. On 9 November 1923, the Stoßtrupp, along with the SA and several other paramilitary units, took part in the abortive coup d'état, resulting in the death of sixteen Nazi supporters and four police officers, an event known as the Beer Hall Putsch. After the putsch, Hitler and other Nazi leaders were