Erhard Heiden (23 February 1901 – c. April 1933) was an early member of the Nazi Party and the third commander of the Schutzstaffel ("Protection Squadron; SS).Little is known about Heiden's early life. He was an early member of the Nazi Party and its paramilitary wing, 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 less than a thousand men and found it difficult to cope under the much larger SA.