Post the Night of Long Knives, the SA had downsized in its power and value. It became known as Amt (Dept) 4 of the RSHA and was considered a sister organisation to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service). [120], After 1939, when many Gestapo personnel were called up for war-related work such as service with the Einsatzgruppen, the level of overwork and understaffing at the local offices increased. [159], Leitstellung (district office) staff did wear the grey SS service uniform, but with police-pattern shoulderboards, and SS rank insignia on the left collar patch. [128], Of the political cases, 61 people were investigated for suspicion of belonging to the KPD, 44 for the SPD and 69 for other political parties. Simultaneously, Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, the Nazi paramilitary corps, together with his aide Reinhard Heydrich, similarly reorganized the police of Bavaria and the remaining German states. [145] Many of the auxiliary police personnel operating on behalf of German Order Police, the SD, and Gestapo were members of the Schutzmannschaft, which included staffing by Ukrainians, Belorussians, Russians, Estonians, Lithuanians, and Latvians. Though the Gestapo, the SS, and the SA were all created to serve Hitler and his Nazi regime, they differed somewhat in their functioning and the way they were controlled. In 1938, he made efforts to hinder Hitler from attacking . Thousands of leftists, intellectuals, Jews, trade unionists, political clergy, and homosexuals simply disappeared into concentration camps after being arrested by the Gestapo. When Rhm refused to commit suicide, he was shot by two SS officers. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Hermann Gring, then Prussian minister of the interior, detached the political and espionage units from the regular Prussian police, filled their ranks with thousands of Nazis, and, on April 26, 1933, reorganized them under his personal command as the Gestapo. SIPO was the security police involved in protecting the security of the country it was state funded. [154], The IMT subsequently convicted three of the groups: the Nazi leadership corps, the SS (including the SD) and the Gestapo. What is the name of the evil organization within the Third Reich? [17] Himmler wanted to free himself entirely from Rhm, whom he viewed as an obstacle. The Gestapo ruthlessly eliminated opposition to the Nazis within Germany and its occupied territories and, in partnership with the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; "Security Service"), was responsible for the roundup of Jews throughout Europe for deportation to extermination camps. the United States . [134] As historian Eric Johnson remarked, "The Nazi terror was selective terror", with its focus upon political opponents, ideological dissenters (clergy and religious organisations), career criminals, the Sinti and Roma population, handicapped persons, homosexuals and above all, upon the Jews. The name Gestapo is an abbreviation for its official German name "Geheime Staatspolizei." The direct English translation is "Secret State Police." The Gestapo was not the first political police force in German history. During World War II the Gestapo suppressed partisan activities in the occupied territories and carried out reprisals against civilians. Most SiPo members joined the SS and held a rank in both organisations. Bonhoeffer was initially charged with conspiring to rescue Jews, using his foreign travels for non-intelligence matters, and misusing his intelligence position . In that bureaucratic maze, the functions of the Gestapo often overlapped with those of other security departments, with which the Gestapo had both to cooperate and compete. [38], The Polish government-in-exile in London during World War II received sensitive military information about Nazi Germany from agents and informants throughout Europe. Post Just like its parent organization, the Schutzstaffel, the Gestapo was officially declared a criminal organization and banned in 1945. In late 1933, the Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick wanted to integrate all the police forces of the German states under his control. The SS has been held responsible for some of the most horrific crimes ever committed in the history of the world. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. [107], The Canadian historian Robert Gellately wrote that most Gestapo men were not Nazis, but at the same time were not opposed to the Nazi regime, which they were willing to serve, in whatever task they were called upon to perform. Department C (Administration and Party Affairs), central administrative office of the Gestapo, responsible for card files of all personnel including all officials. [5] Up to 30 April 1944, at least 6,639 persons were arrested under Nacht und Nebel orders. To join the SS, prospective members had to prove that none of them had any sort of Jewish roots in the ancestry traced back to over one hundred years. Gring outflanked him by removing the Prussian political and intelligence departments from the state interior ministry. Female youth leaders, lawyers, business administrators with experience in social work, female leaders in the Reichsarbeitsdienst and personnel administrators in the Bund Deutscher Mdel were hired as detectives after a one-year course, if they had several years professional experience. "[101], According to regulations issued by the Reich Security Main Office in 1940, women who had been trained in social work or having a similar education could be hired as female detectives. What was the difference between the SD and the Gestapo? [94], The Gestapo became known as RSHA Amt IV ("Department or Office IV") with Heinrich Mller as its chief. He hoped to merge the SA with the Army under his own leadership and continued to urge for a second Nazi revolution, one that was socialist in nature. On 27 September 1939, the security and police agencies of Nazi Germanywith the exception of the Order Policewere consolidated into the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), headed by Heydrich. For several leaders the punishment was death. In this Historyplex write-up, we have distinguished the three organizations based on their formation, objectives, and responsibilities, to name a few factors. Answer (1 of 3): The SS Schutz Staffel were originally Hitler's bodygaurd. The Schutzstaffel, Sturmabteilung, and Geheime Staatspolizei played different and yet equally vital roles in Nazi Germany. After the Supreme Leader (Hitler), came senior groups, lower groups, regiments, battalions, and troops, to name a few parts of the structure of the SA. [140] To this end, the Gestapo was "a vital component both in Nazi repression and the Holocaust. Copyright Historyplex & Buzzle.com, Inc. [85], In January 1933, Hermann Gring, Hitler's minister without portfolio, was appointed the head of the Prussian Police and began filling the political and intelligence units of the Prussian Secret Police with Nazi Party members. Confidential office hostile foreigners, Occupied territories France, Belgium, Holland, Norway, Denmark (D4), Department E (Security and counterintelligence), Viktor Harnischfeger (Dsseldorf Gestapo Criminal Commissar). With its dramatic rise to power, the SA began to slowly assume themselves to be somewhat of a replacement to the German Army. [98] The Gestapo also maintained offices at all Nazi concentration camps, held an office on the staff of the SS and Police Leaders, and supplied personnel as needed to formations such as the Einsatzgruppen. [129] The "conventional criminality" category concerned economic crimes such as money laundering, smuggling and homosexuality. These included the non-violent resistance of Hans and Sophie Scholl, two leaders of the White Rose student group. Indeed quite talented in investigations, interrogation, and torture, but they were mostly violent under educated people, and lacked the culture of the SD agents, whom Heydrich chose very carefully. Founded in 1999. However, these tactics were quite useful for the rise of the Nazi movement. [137] Lastly, the Gestapo's effectiveness, while aided by denunciations and the watchful eye of ordinary Germans, was more the result of the co-ordination and co-operation amid the various police organs within Germany, the assistance of the SS, and the support provided by the various Nazi Party organisations; all of them together forming an organised persecution network. Arrests, torture, and executions were common. Reports indicate that the Gestapo was caught unaware of this plot as they did not have sufficient protections in place at the appropriate locations nor did they take any preventative steps. These cookies do not store any personal information. In 1931, the SA was handed over to Ernst Rhm, who headed it till his murder in 1934. This article was most recently revised and updated by, Gestapo - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Sabotage efforts were undertaken by members of the Abwehr (military intelligence) leadership, as they recruited people known to oppose the Nazi regime. [53], However, the Nazi regime sought to suppress any source of ideology other than its own, and set out to muzzle or crush the churches in the so-called Kirchenkampf. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. [90] Less than two weeks later in early May 1933, the Gestapo moved into their Berlin headquarters at Prinz-Albrecht-Strae 8. [151][152] Nineteen of the 22 were convicted, and twelveMartin Bormann (in absentia), Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Hermann Gring, Alfred Jodl, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg, Fritz Sauckel, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Julius Streicherwere given the death penalty. For the wider use of "Secret Police", see, Suppression of resistance and persecution, General opposition and military conspiracy, Population ratios, methods and effectiveness, Operation Crossbow was one preliminary missions for, Bonhoeffer was an active opponent of Nazism in the German resistance movement. Hitlers rise to power and his rule in Nazi Germany has been attributed to the aid and support of several people, with three organizations playing a vital role the SS, the SA, and the Gestapo. The power of the Gestapo was used to focus upon political opponents, ideological dissenters (clergy and religious organisations), career criminals, the Sinti and Roma population, handicapped persons, homosexuals, and above all, the Jews. Discussions on all aspects of the SS and Polizei. [129] After that year, political investigations declined with only 18 investigations in 1938, 13 in 1939, two in 1941, seven in 1942, four in 1943 and one in 1944. Denunciation was the exception, not the rule, as far as the behaviour of the vast majority of Germans was concerned. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. [25], The Gestapo had the authority to investigate cases of treason, espionage, sabotage and criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany. [81][82] Stauffenberg and his group were shot on 21 July 1944; meanwhile, his fellow conspirators were rounded up by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp. In the occupied territories, the formal relationship between local units of the Gestapo, criminal police, and SD was slightly closer. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. At that time, the Gestapo was condemned as a criminal organisation, along with the SS. For the most part they were young professional civil service officers"[105] The Nazis valued police competence more than politics, so in general in 1933, almost all of the men who served in the various state police forces under the Weimar Republic stayed on in their jobs. A similar co-ordination existed in the local offices. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. [67] However, resistance groups and those who were in moral or political opposition to the Nazis were stalled by the fear of reprisals from the Gestapo. [156], In 1997, Cologne transformed the former regional Gestapo headquarters in Colognethe EL-DE Hausinto a museum to document the Gestapo's actions. [121][122] Work done by social historians such as Detlev Peukert, Robert Gellately, Reinhard Mann, Inge Marssolek, Ren Otto, Klaus-Michael Mallmann and Paul Gerhard, which by focusing on what the local offices were doing has shown the Gestapo's almost total dependence on denunciations from ordinary Germans, and very much discredited the older "Big Brother" picture with the Gestapo having its eyes and ears everywhere. Given that all appointments to the Abwehr required vetting and approval by the Gestapo, his efforts in successfully recruiting foes of the regime throughout the years of . Those who were arrested were tried, and sent to prison or were executed, depending on their role in the Gestapo. [115] The District Office in Nuremberg, which had the responsibility for all of northern Bavaria, employed a total of 80100 full-term informers between 1943 and 1945. These three organizations always rivaled each other and their competences often overlapped. Others were arrested simply on the basis of being "suspected of activities hostile to the State" or that there was reason to "suppose that his dealings might harm society". The Poles identified and tracked German military trains to the Eastern front and identified four Order Police battalions sent to occupied areas of the Soviet Union in October 1941 that engaged in war crimes and mass murder. As late as 6 June 1944, Heinrich Mllerconcerned about the leakage of information to the Alliesset up a special unit called Sonderkommando Jerzy that was meant to root out the Polish intelligence network in western and southwestern Europe. [70], Between 1934 and 1938, opponents of the Nazi regime and their fellow travellers began to emerge. [5] Contrary to popular perception, the Gestapo was actually a relatively small organization with limited surveillance capacity; despite this the Gestapo proved extremely effective due to the willingness of ordinary Germans to snitch on fellow citizens. [146] While in many countries the Nazis occupied in the East, the local domestic police forces supplemented German operations, noted Holocaust historian, Raul Hilberg, asserts that "those of Poland were least involved in anti-Jewish actions. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. The Gestapo had terrible methods of interrogating people who they deemed to be anti-Nazi or suspicious in any way. [g], Several terms redirect here. As the war progressed, however, the number of people working for the Gestapo increased to approximately 150,000 men. After initial successes, the organization was expanded during the Franco-Prussian . These men were then given training in racial hatred and were taught to become cold-hearted, violent, sadistic, and to not feel anything at human loss. [12], Concerned that Diels was not ruthless enough to effectively counteract the power of the Sturmabteilung (SA), Gring handed over control of the Gestapo to Himmler on 20 April 1934. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Soon only Prussia was left. Sign up to receive the latest and greatest articles from our site automatically each week (give or take)right to your inbox. [86] A year after the organisation's inception, Gring wrote in a British publication about having created the organisation on his own initiative and how he was "chiefly responsible" for the elimination of the Marxist and Communist threat to Germany and Prussia. According to the trials that were held after Germanys defeat in the war, the SS was responsible for a majority of the crimes committed in Nazi Germany. [32] The Gestapo became Amt IV (Department IV) of RSHA and Mller became the Gestapo Chief, with Heydrich as his immediate superior. When Church leaders (clergy) voiced their misgiving about the euthanasia program and Nazi racial policies, Hitler intimated that he considered them "traitors to the people" and went so far as to call them "the destroyers of Germany". Arrested by the Gestapo in 1943, he was sent to. After Heydrich (who was staunchly anti-Catholic and anti-Christian) was assassinated in Prague, his successor, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, relaxed some of the policies and then disbanded Department IVB (religious opponents) of the Gestapo. Read on for the difference between the three ruthless organizations. Diels was appointed with the title of chief of Abteilung Ia (Department 1a) of the Prussian Secret Police. Himmler was nominally subordinate to Frick as police chief, but as Reichsfhrer-SS, he answered only to Hitler. Gazpacho is a popular cold Spanish soup. At that time, the SS consisted of approximately 300 members. History has indeed told us terrifying tales of the Holocaust and World War II, which claimed countless innocent lives. However, with the Abwehr and GFP being flooded with work, the situation changed and the SS shrewdly used the opportunity to gain a foothold in Belgium. For example, in 1939 Stettin and Frankfurt am Main only had a total of 41 Gestapo men combined. In April 1934, Himmler was named head of Germany's secret state police, the "Geheime Staatspolizei," more commonly known as the "Gestapo." The Gestapo, which had been established the previous. The Abwehr was a German intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. [138], As an instrument of Nazi power, terror, and repression, the Gestapo operated throughout occupied Europe. Also known as the Storm Troopers or the Brownshirts (they were called the Brownshirts because of their brown uniforms), it was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party, whose violent tactics played a huge role in Hitlers rise to power in Germany. [34] Mller remained the Gestapo Chief. [94] However, Gestapo leader Heinrich Mller was never tried, as he disappeared at the end of the war. Later, nurses, kindergarten teachers, and trained female commercial employees with an aptitude for police work were hired as female detectives after a two-year course as Kriminaloberassistentin and could promote to a Kriminalsekretrin. [119] Gellately has also suggested that the Gestapo was "a reactive organisationconstructed within German society and whose functioning was structurally dependent on the continuing co-operation of German citizens". While they may seem very similar, they actually differed in the roles they played. [104][e] Some locals aided the Gestapo, whether as professional police auxiliaries or in other duties. Meaning Protective Echelon in German, the SS was made up of fervently anti-Semite Germans who possessed deep racial hatred. [71] Most people quickly learned that open opposition was dangerous since Gestapo informants and agents were widespread. There were strict protocols protecting the identity of Gestapo field personnel. ThreeWalther Funk, Rudolf Hess, Erich Raederreceived life terms; and the remaining fourKarl Dnitz, Konstantin von Neurath, Albert Speer, and Baldur von Schirachreceived shorter prison sentences. Later on, the SS had its own special uniforms that distinguished it from other organizations such as the SA and the Gestapo. This is an apolitical forum for discussions on the Axis nations and related topics hosted by the Axis History Factbook in cooperation with Christian Ankerstjernes Panzerworld and Christoph Awender's WW2 day by day. [37] However, the total number of people who disappeared as a result of this decree is not known. [56][b], In an effort to counter the strength and influence of spiritual resistance, Nazi records reveal that the Gestapo's Referat B1 monitored the activities of bishops very closelyinstructing that agents be set up in every diocese, that the bishops' reports to the Vatican should be obtained and that the bishops' areas of activity must be found out. [147], In places like Denmark, there were some 550 uniformed Danes in Copenhagen working with the Gestapo, patrolling and terrorising the local population at the behest of their German overseers, many of whom were arrested after the war. Nevertheless, in practice there was jurisdictional overlap and operational conflict between the SD and Gestapo. The SD and Gestapo did have integration through SS members holding dual positions in each branch. Uniforms worn by Gestapo men assigned to the Einsatzgruppen in occupied territories, were at first indistinguishable from the Waffen-SS field uniform. He appointed General Ferdinand von Bredow, as head of Abwehr. With their trade union flags waving, Hitler gave a rousing speech to the 1.5 million people assembled on Berlin's Tempelhofer Feld that was nationally broadcast, during which he extolled the nation's revival and working class solidarity. The SS remained in existence until the end of the war. TL;DR: The Gestapo was the secret police that hunted down enemies of the Reich, while the SS were the brain-child of Himmler, a specially trained division of the military which participated in everything from invasions to crimes against humanity. With Frick's support, Himmler (pushed on by his right-hand man, Reinhard Heydrich) took over the political police in state-after-state. The term Abwehr (German for defense) was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only.After February 4, 1938, its name in title was Foreign Affairs/Defense Office of the Armed Forces High Command (Amt Ausland/Abwehr im Oberkommando der . [119] For information about what was happening in German society, the Gestapo continued to be mostly dependent upon denunciations. Without the help, support, and co-operation of these organizations, perhaps Hitler wouldnt have been able to spread the terror he did, for whatever reasons. within the Reich as the Gestapo, in the occu-pied countries it was known as the Sipo-SD. The organization predates the emergence of Germany itself, and was founded to gather intelligence information for the Prussian government during a war with neighboring Austria. Hitler's rise to power and his rule in Nazi Germany has been attributed to the aid and support of several people, with three organizations playing a vital role - the SS, the SA, and the Gestapo. The SA, or the Sturmabteilung, were formed in Munich, Germany, in 1921 by Adolf Hitler himself. The Gestapo was established in 1933 by Hermann Gring, with the aim of consolidating Nazi . by Walter Schellenberg 14 Aug 2002, 03:29, Post [83], Some Germans were convinced that it was their duty to apply all possible expedients to end the war as quickly as possible. [33] In January 1943, Himmler appointed Ernst Kaltenbrunner RSHA chief; almost seven months after Heydrich had been assassinated. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Our site includes quite a bit of content, so if you're having an issue finding what you're looking for, go on ahead and use that search feature there! The Gestapo ruthlessly eliminated opposition to the Nazis within Germany and its occupied territories and, in partnership with the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service), was responsible for the roundup of Jews throughout Europe for deportation to extermination camps. Many of the SS officials had predicted defeat as the war came to a possible end, and escaped to South America with or without their families to avoid arrest, trial, and an almost guaranteed execution by the Allies. Thereafter, there was a show trial overseen by Roland Freisler, followed by their execution. It successfully thwarted Operation Valkyrie, wherein an attempt to assassinate Hitler was made by some senior Nazi officials themselves. Party agencies lik. There was one other significant difference between the Heer and Waffen- SS: Each member of the latter was required to have his blood type tattooed on the underside of his left upper arm to make it easier for medics to treat him on the battlefield. This move also gave Himmler operational control over Germany's entire detective force. [130], Normal methods of investigation included various forms of blackmail, threats and extortion to secure "confessions". [123] For example, of the 84 cases in Wrzburg of Rassenschande ("race defilement"sexual relations with non-Aryans), 45 (54%) were started in response to denunciations by ordinary people, two (2%) by information provided by other branches of the government, 20 (24%) via information gained during interrogations of people relating to other matters, four (5%) from information from (Nazi) NSDAP organisations, two (2%) during "political evaluations" and 11 (13%) have no source listed while none were started by Gestapo's own "observations" of the people of Wrzburg. [64][c] Between 1933 and 1935, some 4,000 men were arrested; between 1936 and 1939, another 30,000 men were convicted. [129] Most of the political investigations took place between 1933 and 1935 with the all-time high of 57 cases in 1935. In 1936 the Gestapoled by Himmlers subordinate, Gruppenfhrer Heinrich Mllerwas joined with the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) under the umbrella of a new organization, the Sicherheitspolizei (Sipo; Security Police). The Gestapo was somewhat of a division of the SS, making SS the parent organization. Together, they began convincing Hitler of Rhm being a threat to the Nazi regime, his hunger for more power, and his supposed plans to overthrow Hitler. "[141] Once the German armies advanced into enemy territory, they were accompanied by Einsatzgruppen staffed by officers from the Gestapo and Kripo, who usually operated in the rear areas to administer and police the occupied land. Rhm himself was arrested, put into prison and given a chance to commit suicide. [21] Both the SD and Gestapo released information concerning an imminent putsch by the SA. "[135] The involvement of ordinary Germans in denunciations also needs to be put into perspective so as not to exonerate the Gestapo. Individuals in Austrian resistance groups led by Heinrich Maier also managed to pass along the plans and the location of production facilities for V-1, V-2 rockets, Tiger tanks, and aircraft (Messerschmitt Bf 109, Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, etc.)

Joseph Cannizzaro Obituary 2022, New England Teamsters And Trucking Industry Pension Fund, Pigtail Chest Tube Procedure Note, Articles D