I'm a little confused here.
In S02E05 John Smith shows Inspector Kido his 1942 medal he received during the Battle of the Solomon Islands as an American Soldier.
The show is supposedly set in the late '50's early 60's and he is already an Obergruppenfurher which is the equivalent of a Lieutenant General in the SS.
How does an American officer in 1942 become an Obergruppenfurhrer answerable only to Hitler less than 20 years later?
I imagine a capitulation by the Americans and the formation of a client state. An American SS is founded and Smith is one of its first members.
A period of violence follows as dissenters, Jews and others are purged. Smith talks about participating in terrible massacres in one of the episodes.
As a man with legitimate military rank and combat experience, and a sincere conversion to the Nazi cause, he rises high in the organization.
At some point, control is handed over to trustworthy Americans(with some safeguards in place) and he is the highest ranking American SS officer at the time.
I didnt catch Smiths rank in the 1945 scene, but rapid promotion in war time isnt uncommon. Eisenhower was promoted to Colonel, in early 1941. Five years later he was a five star general.
Its not clear how much of a Nazi sympathizer Smith was before 1945, but he quickly switched sides and fought with the Nazis in their conquest of America. The Nazis needed all the American allies they could get. Even the rump part of America they were conquering had a much greater population than Germany and Germany also had all of Europe to occupy in this timeline. Germany could never conquer, much less rule, America all on its own. Like the British in India and Africa they needed local allies to help them rule. Smith would have been one of those allies. He's obviouslt very good at his job, so its not crazy to think that hed rise rapidly through the ranks
He was a Captain in the US Army signal corps ---
17 years later with most likely 5-7 years already he could very well be a Major or Lieutenant General in the US Army ... being he's a great officer ... 24 years service ...
In the US army, quite possibly. . . but we are talking the German SS. Not simply the Wehrmacht or even the Waffen SS but the racially pure SS.
That is a different matter altogether.
Sorry to correct you, but John Smith was actually in Intelligence with the US Army. It says so on the medal Kido is looking at in S02E05 during the Battle of the Solomon Islands.
shareI think you're overestimating his importance. His job is to catch spies. He's not a military commander. He has a position of responsibility but no real power.
shareEveryone seems to bend to his authority though.
I just can't see the Nazis trusting someone with any power that once was an enemy. Maybe they don't have a choice though because America is more populated than Germany.
Respectfully, he is the SS equivalent to a Lieutenant General and the highest ranking member of the SS in the Americas. Of course it is a military rank.
If her were only a policeman he would either be in the SS/SD or the Gestapo, neither of which he is.