[113] In Dsseldorf, the local Gestapo office of only 281 men were responsible for the entire Lower Rhine region, which comprised 4 million people. [26] The Gestapo became a national state agency. The power of the Gestapo included the use of what was called, Schutzhaft"protective custody", a euphemism for the power to imprison people without judicial proceedings. [114] "V-men", as undercover Gestapo agents were known, were used to infiltrate Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Communist opposition groups, but this was more the exception than the rule. This move also gave Himmler operational control over Germany's entire detective force. [4] Those arrested by the Gestapo were often held without judicial process, and political prisoners throughout Germanyand from 1941, throughout the occupied territories under the Night and Fog Decree (German: Nacht und Nebel)simply disappeared while in Gestapo custody. The resistance group, later discovered by the Gestapo because of a double agent of the Abwehr, was in contact with Allen Dulles, the head of the US Office of Strategic Services in Switzerland. Owing to its relatively small sizeapproximately 32,000 personnel at the end of 1944the Gestapo relied extensively on the use of denunciations from among the local German populace in order to conduct its investigations. It was officially declared to be a criminal organization and banned in Germany by the International Tribunal in 1945, and some of its surviving officials were arrested, tried, and executed for inhuman war crimes. [115] The Gestapo office in Saarbrcken had 50 full-term informers in 1939. "Secret State Police"), abbreviated Gestapo (/stpo/ g-STAH-poh, German: [tapo] (listen)),[3] was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. To ensure that history does NOT repeat itself, it is vital that we realize that humanity is above all, and not any one race or ethnic group. Already in early June, Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [41], In Austria, there were groups still loyal to the Habsburgs, who unlike most across the Greater German Reich, remained determined to resist the Nazis. The Gestapo was officially declared to be answerable only and only to Hitler, and could not be reviewed by the judiciary in any way. "[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. This prompted Winston Churchill to ban any further contact with the German opposition. The sole purpose of SS is supposedly to protect the top leader Nazi Hitler. When the war started, the Gestapo basically had to identify and arrest any suspicious person and send him/her to a concentration camp, or kill him/her on the spot. [104] Additional staff were added in March 1938 consequent the annexation of Austria and again in October 1938 with the acquisition of the Sudetenland. 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. [116], According to Canadian historian Robert Gellately's analysis of the local offices established, the Gestapo wasfor the most partmade up of bureaucrats and clerical workers who depended upon denunciations by citizens for their information. [118] Many of the local offices were understaffed and overworked, struggling with the paper load caused by so many denunciations. 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. [d], The German opposition was in an unenviable position by the late spring and early summer of 1943. 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 SS has been held responsible for some of the most horrific crimes ever committed in the history of the world. [22] Once persuaded, Hitler acted by setting Himmler's SS into action, who then proceeded to murder over 100 of Hitler's identified antagonists. The Gestapo had its own system of arrests, judiciary, and execution. History has indeed told us terrifying tales of the Holocaust and World War II, which claimed countless innocent lives. [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. 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. The SS remained in existence until the end of the war. [5] Up to 30 April 1944, at least 6,639 persons were arrested under Nacht und Nebel orders. [142] Whenever a region came fully under German military occupational jurisdiction, the Gestapo administered all executive actions under the military commander's authority, albeit operating relatively independent of it. GESTAPO short for geheime Staatspolizei formed in Prussia by Goring . Himmler was nominally subordinate to Frick as police chief, but as Reichsfhrer-SS, he answered only to Hitler. The SD sleeve diamond (SD Raute) insignia was worn on the lower left sleeve, even by SiPo men who were not in the SD. [29] The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue the state to conform to laws. With Frick's support, Himmler (pushed on by his right-hand man, Reinhard Heydrich) took over the political police in state-after-state. Together with the SS, the Gestapo managed the treatment of inferior races, such as Jews and Roma (Gypsies). [103] By March 1937, the Gestapo employed an estimated 6,500 people in fifty-four regional offices across the Reich. [110] Browder also describes a sandwich effect, where from above; Gestapo agents were subjected to ideologically oriented racism and criminal biological theories; and from below, the Gestapo was transformed by SS personnel who did not have the proper police training, which showed in their propensity for unrestrained violence. [63], Between June 1942 and March 1943, student protests were calling for an end to the Nazi regime. These units traveled to villages in the German-occupied regions and shot down civilians, men, women, and children included, and buried them in mass graves. [72], In May 1935, the Gestapo broke up and arrested members of the "Markwitz Circle", a group of former socialists in contact with Otto Strasser, who sought Hitler's downfall. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. This article was most recently revised and updated by, Gestapo - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). [47], Shortly after the Nazis came to power, they decided to dissolve the 28 federations of the General German Trade Union Confederation, because Hitlerafter noting their success in the works council electionsintended to consolidate all German workers under the Nazi government's administration, a decision he made on 7 April 1933. What was the difference between the SD and the Gestapo? At the beginning of the war, the Gestapo employed about 40,000 men. Discussions on all aspects of the SS and Polizei. The local offices of the Gestapo, known as Gestapo Leitstellen and Stellen, answered to a local commander known as the Inspekteur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD ("Inspector of the Security Police and Security Service") who, in turn, was under the dual command of Referat N of the Gestapo and also his local SS and Police Leader. However, these internal departments remained and the Gestapo continued to be a department under the RSHA umbrella. Thereafter, there was a show trial overseen by Roland Freisler, followed by their execution. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Abwehr. This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 18:29. Members of the three convicted groups, however, were subject to apprehension by Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and France. The political section could order prisoners to be murdered, tortured, or released. The Jewish Question needed to be solved, and it was the SS who took up the job. [61] In 1934, a special Gestapo office was set up in Berlin to deal with homosexuality. [25] This action effectively merged the police into the SS and removed it from Frick's control. [115] The majority of Gestapo informers were not full-term employees working undercover, but were rather ordinary citizens who chose to denounce other people to the Gestapo. [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. The long-time head of the Gestapo, Heinrich Mller, was never found. The force was created by Hermann Gring in 1933 by combining the various security police agencies of Prussia into one organisation. [99] Personnel assigned to these auxiliary duties were often removed from the Gestapo chain of command and fell under the authority of branches of the SS. In this Historyplex write-up, we have distinguished the three organizations based on their formation, objectives, and responsibilities, to name a few factors. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [64][c] Between 1933 and 1935, some 4,000 men were arrested; between 1936 and 1939, another 30,000 men were convicted. While they may seem very similar, they actually differed in the roles they played. 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. by Walter Schellenberg 14 Aug 2002, 03:29, Post Sign up to receive the latest and greatest articles from our site automatically each week (give or take)right to your inbox. However, these tactics were quite useful for the rise of the Nazi movement. [34] Mller remained the Gestapo Chief. [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. [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. Nonetheless, operations performed either by German members of the Gestapo or auxiliaries from willing collaborators of other nationalities were inconsistent in both disposition and effectiveness. [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. He had to count on his senior officials support for his rule, and he gave the go-ahead for the plan to put Rhm out of the picture once and for all. [129] The "conventional criminality" category concerned economic crimes such as money laundering, smuggling and homosexuality. The Gestapo had its own system of arrests, judiciary, and execution. [17] Himmler wanted to free himself entirely from Rhm, whom he viewed as an obstacle. The SD and Gestapo did have integration through SS members holding dual positions in each branch. The people who came under the suspicious category were political opponents, Jews, the Gypsies, people from other ethnic minorities, the disabled, the unemployed, and the homosexuals. Soon only Prussia was left. [54] The extreme anti-semitism and neo-pagan heresies of the Nazis caused some Christians to outright resist,[55] and Pope Pius XI to issue the encyclical Mit brennender Sorge denouncing Nazism and warning Catholics against joining or supporting the Party. It successfully thwarted Operation Valkyrie, wherein an attempt to assassinate Hitler was made by some senior Nazi officials themselves. by Starinov 12 Aug 2002, 21:51, Post Many others were beaten and tortured to death. [142], Occupation meant administration and policing, a duty assigned to the SS, the SD, and the Gestapo even before hostilities began, as was the case for Czechoslovakia. In 1929 General Kurt von Schleicher combined all service units under his Ministry of Defence. [133], While the total number of Gestapo officials was limited when contrasted against the represented populations, the average Volksgenosse (Nazi term for the "member of the German people") was typically not under observation, so the statistical ratio between Gestapo officials and inhabitants is "largely worthless and of little significance" according to some recent scholars. The Sipo-SD had initially been forbidden to set up offices in Belgium. Anyone suspected of even having made an anti-Nazi joke would be subjected to such treatment, or worse. When Rhm refused to commit suicide, he was shot by two SS officers. Gestapo. We hope the above sections have made the identification of all three organizations clearer. Himmler also gained authority over all of Germany's uniformed law enforcement agencies, which were amalgamated into the new Ordnungspolizei (Orpo; Order Police), which became a national agency under SS general Kurt Daluege. Department C (Administration and Party Affairs), central administrative office of the Gestapo, responsible for card files of all personnel including all officials. They nearly drowned suspects in ice-cold water, gave them electric shocks, hung them by their wrists, or beat them savagely. In this, he ran into conflict with Schutzstaffel (SS) chief Heinrich Himmler who was police chief of the second most powerful German state, Bavaria. One of the more famous schemes, Operation Valkyrie, involved a number of senior German officers and was carried out by Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. On 26 April 1933, Gring merged the two units as the Geheime Staatspolizei, which was abbreviated by a post office clerk for a franking stamp and became known as the "Gestapo". As the years progressed, the SA began to be overshadowed by the SS and the Gestapo. During World War II, the Gestapo played a key role in the Holocaust. [105] One man who served in the Prussian Gestapo in 1933 recalled that most of his co-workers "were by no means Nazis. In 1931, the SA was handed over to Ernst Rhm, who headed it till his murder in 1934. [25][26], The SiPo was placed under the direct command of Reinhard Heydrich who was already chief of the Nazi Party's intelligence service, the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). [43] The Maier group informed very early about the mass murder of Jews. As I understand it the SD was focused on intellectual crimes, Jewish Question and foreign espionage, while the Gestapo concentrated on domestic political crimes and arresting Jews. To claim that Josef Jakobs was a "Gestapo agent" is to fail to understand the difference between the Secret State Police and the Army. However, Hitler too began to realize the risks associated with Rhm and his leadership, and was more concerned about his senior officials being wary of Rhm. Gellately argued that it was because of the widespread willingness of Germans to inform on each other to the Gestapo that Germany between 1933 and 1945 was a prime example of panopticism. The infamous Night of Long Knives, in June 1934, saw the murder of Rhm and several important SA members. [35] During the Holocaust, Eichmann's department within the Gestapo coordinated the mass deportation of European Jews to the Nazis' extermination camps. The Gestapo was responsible for keeping a close watch on Hitlers personal safety, as well as ensuring the safety of the most important Nazi officials. [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. [33] After Heydrich's 1942 assassination, Himmler assumed the leadership of the RSHA until January 1943, when Ernst Kaltenbrunner was appointed chief. Night of Long Knives and the Downfall of Sturmabteilung. 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. While three groups were acquitted of collective war crimes charges, this did not relieve individual members of those groups from conviction and punishment under the denazification programme. [32] The Gestapo became Amt IV (Department IV) of RSHA and Mller became the Gestapo Chief, with Heydrich as his immediate superior. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. After his escape, he rejoined the army as a Hauptmann, with seniority dating from May 1st of 1934. . After initial successes, the organization was expanded during the Franco-Prussian . by Phil Nix 01 Feb 2004, 12:16. The original foundation date of the Gestapo can be traced back in April 1933 whereas the foundation date of the SS is originally on 1923. 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. For example, in 1939 Stettin and Frankfurt am Main only had a total of 41 Gestapo men combined. 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". Life in the Third Reich & Weimar Republic, Kriegsmarine surface ships and Kriegsmarine in general, Luftwaffe air units and Luftwaffe in general, German Strategy & General German Military Discussion, NSDAP, other party organizations & Government, The Dieter Zinke Axis Biographical Research Section, The Ron Klages Panzer & other vehicles Section, Panzer & other vehicles - Photo threads, Axis Documents, Feldpost numbers, Postcards & Other Paper Items, The United Kingdom & its Empire and Commonwealth 1919-45, The Allies and the Neutral States in general, German Colonies and Overseas Expeditions, The end of the Ottoman Empire 1908-1923, Translation help: Breaking the Sound Barrier, Differences between SD & GESTAPO: practical point of vue, Re: Differences between SD & GESTAPO: practical point of. At that time, the SS consisted of approximately 300 members. Additionally, many of its members were handed over to the armed forces. [140] To this end, the Gestapo was "a vital component both in Nazi repression and the Holocaust. Some historians feel he was killed in the final days of the war, while others believe he escaped to South America and lived the rest of his life unidentified. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Sabotage efforts were undertaken by members of the Abwehr (military intelligence) leadership, as they recruited people known to oppose the Nazi regime. The simple answer is that Josef Jakobs, Karel Richter and all of the Operation LENA spies who landed on the green shores of England were agents of the Abwehr, the military intelligence arm of the German Army. Some pastors, like the Protestant clergyman Dietrich Bonhoeffer, paid for their opposition with their lives. SIPO was the security police involved in protecting the security of the country it was state funded. Just like its parent organization, the Schutzstaffel, the Gestapo was officially declared a criminal organization and banned in 1945. Wilhelm Canaris, born January 1, 1887, in Aplerbeck, Germany, was celebrated as a war hero during the First World War for his exploits as a submarine captain, and he later became a top military spy for Germany. However, it was an important part of the brutal attacks against Jews in Germany. It had the authority of preventive arrest, and its actions were not subject to judicial appeal. The SS was also known as the parent organization of the Secret State Police, the Gestapo, and was responsible for organizing mobile killing units that went on a murder rampage in the occupied territories. [83], Some Germans were convinced that it was their duty to apply all possible expedients to end the war as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, in practice there was jurisdictional overlap and operational conflict between the SD and Gestapo. Before establishing the SA as a paramilitary wing, it was known as a sports division in the party to avoid suspicion. 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. Secret State Police), abbreviated Gestapo (German: [tapo]; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The basic Gestapo law passed by the government in 1936 gave the Gestapo carte blanche to operate without judicial reviewin effect, putting it above the law. by Peter J. Hertel 16 Aug 2002, 05:52, Return to The Phil Nix SS & Polizei section. [25], The Gestapo had the authority to investigate cases of treason, espionage, sabotage and criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany. "[145] Nonetheless, German authorities ordered the mobilisation of reserve Polish police forces, known as the Blue Police, which strengthened the Nazi police presence and carried out numerous "police" functions; in some cases, its functionaries even identified and rounded up Jews or performed other unsavory duties on behalf of their German masters. Terror against "state enemies" had become a way of life to such a degree that the Gestapo's presence and methods were eventually normalised in the minds of people living in Nazi Germany. [70], Between 1934 and 1938, opponents of the Nazi regime and their fellow travellers began to emerge. [121] 80% of all Gestapo investigations were started in response to information provided by denunciations by ordinary Germans; while 10% were started in response to information provided by other branches of the German government and another 10% started in response to information that the Gestapo itself unearthed. He appointed General Ferdinand von Bredow, as head of Abwehr. [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. Post However, very few arrests were made. 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. On June 17, 1936, Himmler, in addition to his position as head of the SS, took control of all German police forces, including the Ordnungspolizei (German: Order Police), with his appointment as Reichsfhrer SS and chief of the German police. 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. In addition, political prisoners throughout Germanyand from 1941, throughout the occupied territories under the Night and Fog Decree (German: Nacht und Nebel)simply disappeared while in Gestapo custody. Further promotions to Kriminalkommissarin and Kriminalrtin were also possible. [127] As time went by, anonymous denunciations to the Gestapo caused trouble to various NSDAP officials, who often found themselves being investigated by the Gestapo. Files, card, indexes, information and administration (C1), Department D (Occupied Territories), administration for regions outside the, Protectorate affairs, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, regions of Yugoslavia, Greece (D1). Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Some participants were sent to concentration camps. 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. [34] The specific internal departments of Amt IV were as follows:[95], In 1941 Referat N, the central command office of the Gestapo was formed.
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