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Heinrich Goertz

Heinrich Goertz

Heinreich Goertz was the leader of the Sturm Staffel organization in Prussland. He assigned his counter-espionage experts to deal with whoever was stealing their combat plans.

Name:
Heinrich Goertz
Publisher:
Real name:
Aliases:
Birth date:
None
Gender:
Male
Powers:
  • Intellect
  • Leadership
First issue:
Red Raven Comics (1940) #1 The Origin of the Red Raven
cover

Heinrich Goertz was serving under dictator Rudolph Hendler (actually "Pluto"/Kro). He was probably unaware of the ruse. His organization was reportedly the espionage division of the state machine. "Sturm" is German for "Storm". Staffel is a German military term for "squadron". 


The Sturm Staffel are probably a fictional take on two real live organizations. The first were the Stormtroopers of World War I. They were German units of soldiers specializing in attacks. The Stormtroopers were trained to " infiltrate the Allied defenses at previously identified weak points, and destroy or capture enemy headquarters and artillery strongpoints." Paving the way for the arrival of regular troops. They should not be confused with the Sturmabteilung (Storm Detachment, SA) of the Nazi party who are also trabslated in English as Stormtroopers. The latter were a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party.

The Second organization influencing Goertz's fictional organization were the Schutzstaffer (Protection Squadron, SS). Starting out as a Nazi paramilitary organization, the SS went on to absorb the various police forces and espionage divisions of Germany. The Geheime Staatpolizei (Secret State Police, Gestapo), the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police Department, Kripo) and the Ordnungpolizei (Order Police, Orpo) ended up mere divisions of the SS. It is likely Goertz was inspired by the actual leader of the SS: Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945). 

Issues

May 1968

Volumes

1967

Friends

Enemies