What allowed them to rise in the Nazi Party? What achievements or skills did Ernst possess?

He is the best known SS officer that the allies caught after World War 2 ended. He graduated with a law degree. In January 1934, Kaltenbrunner was jailed at the Kaisersteinbruch detention camp with other National Socialists for conspiracy by the Engelbert Dollfuss government. He lost his law degree after he got his license to practice law.