Referred to in common parlance as Blockwart, the Block Warden's duty was to form the primary link between the Nazi authorities and the general population.
It is at this point that the term Blockleiter was most often used, although not as an actual political rank but as a title for a Mitarbeiter assigned to the local level of the Nazi Party in charge of a neighborhood or a street.
The organization of the Nazi Block unit now encompassed several positions; the complete array of Block titles was as follows: A special operational position known as Betriebsblockobmann also existed; its role was to control the political attitudes and behaviour of managers and workers in war time production.
After 1933, the Block Warden was in charge of spreading propaganda and developing an acceptance to the policies of the NSDAP among the households (typically 40 to 60) in his area.
Other duties included allocating beds in homes for visiting NSDAP demonstrators, the collection of subscriptions and charitable donations especially for Winterhilfe (Winter Relief Campaigns) and organising the clearing of rubble after air-raids.