[156], In 1997, Cologne transformed the former regional Gestapo headquarters in Colognethe EL-DE Hausinto a museum to document the Gestapo's actions. [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. SIPO was the security police involved in protecting the security of the country it was state funded. [113] In Dsseldorf, the local Gestapo office of only 281 men were responsible for the entire Lower Rhine region, which comprised 4 million people. Some participants were sent to concentration camps. [25] The idea was to fully identify and integrate the party agency (SD) with the state agency (SiPo). In the occupied territories, the formal relationship between local units of the Gestapo, criminal police, and SD was slightly closer. History has indeed told us terrifying tales of the Holocaust and World War II, which claimed countless innocent lives. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The long-time head of the Gestapo, Heinrich Mller, was never found. Post the successful execution of both the leader as well as several of his followers, the SS was granted independent entity by Hitler as a reward for their services and loyalty to the Nazi Party, and more importantly, to Hitler. "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. 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! [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. by Walter Schellenberg 12 Aug 2002, 20:05, Post [117] The Gestapoat timeswas overwhelmed with denunciations and most of its time was spent sorting out the credible from the less credible denunciations. 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. [138], As an instrument of Nazi power, terror, and repression, the Gestapo operated throughout occupied Europe. Nevertheless, in practice there was jurisdictional overlap and operational conflict between the SD and Gestapo. 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). Gestapo members were included in the Einsatzgruppen (deployment groups), which were mobile death squads that followed the German regular army into Poland and Russia to kill Jews and other undesirables. Bureau IV B4 of the Gestapo, under Adolf Eichmann, organized the deportation of millions of Jews from other occupied countries to the extermination camps in Poland. Yet a significant number of them still worked against the National Socialist government. [125] The Gestapo always showed a special interest in denunciations concerning sexual matters, especially cases concerning Rassenschande with Jews or between Germans and foreigners, in particular Polish slave workers; the Gestapo applied even harsher methods to the foreign workers in the country, especially those from Poland,[126] Jews, Catholics and homosexuals. [121], The popular picture of the Gestapo with its spies everywhere terrorising German society has been rejected by many historians as a myth invented after the war as a cover for German society's widespread complicity in allowing the Gestapo to work. However, these tactics were quite useful for the rise of the Nazi movement. [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. These cookies do not store any personal information. There were strict protocols protecting the identity of Gestapo field personnel. [118] The information supplied by denunciations often led the Gestapo in determining who was arrested. Complaints from the Waffen-SS led to a change of rank insignia shoulder boards from those of the Waffen-SS to those of the Ordnungspolizei. When a group or organisation was thus declared criminal, the competent national authority of any signatory had the right to bring persons to trial for membership in that organisation, with the criminal nature of the group or organisation assumed proved. [140] To this end, the Gestapo was "a vital component both in Nazi repression and the Holocaust. 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". Himmler was given command over Grings Gestapo in April 1934. A similar co-ordination existed in the local offices. [32] The Gestapo became Amt IV (Department IV) of RSHA and Mller became the Gestapo Chief, with Heydrich as his immediate superior. [9], The first commander of the Gestapo was Rudolf Diels, a protg of Gring. [106] In Wrzburg, which is one of the few places in Germany where most of the Gestapo records survived, every member of the Gestapo was a career policeman or had a police background. Already in early June, [96][97], In total, there were some fifty-four regional Gestapo offices across the German federal states. At that time, the SS consisted of approximately 300 members. [62] From the Nazis rise to national power in 1933, the number of court verdicts against homosexuals steadily increased and only declined once the Second World War started. The sole purpose of SS is supposedly to protect the top leader Nazi Hitler. [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. [7][8] He originally wanted to name it the Secret Police Office (Geheimes Polizeiamt), but the German initials, "GPA", were too similar to those of the Soviet State Political Directorate (Gosudarstvennoye Politicheskoye Upravlenie, or GPU). [6] This gave Gring command of the largest police force in Germany. The right collar patch was black without the sig runes. [17] Himmler wanted to free himself entirely from Rhm, whom he viewed as an obstacle. [63], Despite male homosexuality being considered a greater danger to "national survival", lesbianism was likewise viewed as unacceptabledeemed gender nonconformityand a number of individual reports on lesbians can be found in Gestapo files. Under the leadership of Rhm, the number of employees in the SA increased dramatically. It was also largely responsible for planning and carrying out the Holocaust. Among the first to speak out were religious dissenters but following in their wake were educators, aristocratic businessmen, office workers, teachers, and others from nearly every walk of life. [118] Many of the local offices were understaffed and overworked, struggling with the paper load caused by so many denunciations. From 27 September 1939, it was administered by the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). by Schmauser 13 Aug 2002, 13:44, Post While they may seem very similar, they actually differed in the roles they played. by Walter Schellenberg 14 Aug 2002, 03:29, Post However, very few arrests were made. [131] Beyond that, sleep deprivation and various forms of harassment were used as investigative methods. [87] Describing the activities of the organisation, Gring boasted about the utter ruthlessness required for Germany's recovery, the establishment of concentration camps for that purpose, and even went on to claim that excesses were committed in the beginning, recounting how beatings took place here and there. [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. [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. [69] Efforts to resist the Nazi regime amounted to very little and had only minor chances of success, particularly since a broad percentage of the German people did not support such actions. Although an agent in uniform wore the collar insignia of the equivalent SS rank, he was still addressed as, e.g., Operation Crossbow Preliminary missions for the Operation Overlord, https://english.radio.cz/petscheks-palace-once-headquarters-nazi-secret-police-8575365, USHMM, "Law and Justice in the Third Reich", US National Archives, "German Police Records Opened at the National Archives", Avalon Project, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, The National Socialist Document Center of Cologne, "From Nazi to Criminal to Post-War Spy: German Intelligence Hired Klaus Barbie as Agent (20 January 2011)", "Press Release nr00-52: German Police Records Opened at the National Archives", Festung Furulund magasinet Dagbladet.no, Collection of testimonies concerning Gestapo activity in occupied Poland during WWII in "Chronicles of Terror" database, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gestapo&oldid=1151862694, Reactionaries, liberals and opposition (A3). Canaris was appointed to head the Abwehr Military Intelligence in 1935. [25] This action effectively merged the police into the SS and removed it from Frick's control. What is the difference between the SD and the Gestapo? "[135] The involvement of ordinary Germans in denunciations also needs to be put into perspective so as not to exonerate the Gestapo. 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. [93], The creation of the RSHA represented the formalisation, at the top level, of the relationship under which the SD served as the intelligence agency for the security police. [70], Between 1934 and 1938, opponents of the Nazi regime and their fellow travellers began to emerge. [24], On 17 June 1936, Hitler decreed the unification of all police forces in Germany and named Himmler as Chief of German Police. Within Germany and areas which were incorporated within the Reich for the purpose of civil administration, local offices of the Gestapo, criminal police, and SD were formally separate. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. by Wilfried Abenaschon 13 Aug 2002, 02:31, Post During World War II, the Gestapo played a key role in the Holocaust. [27] Heinrich Mller was at that time the Gestapo operations chief. Read on for the difference between the three ruthless organizations. The Gestapo had its own system of arrests, judiciary, and execution. The Jewish Question needed to be solved, and it was the SS who took up the job. Sign up to receive the latest and greatest articles from our site automatically each week (give or take)right to your inbox. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. [130], Normal methods of investigation included various forms of blackmail, threats and extortion to secure "confessions". [58], In Dachau: The Official History 19331945, Paul Berben wrote that clergy were watched closely, and frequently denounced, arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps: "One priest was imprisoned in Dachau for having stated that there were good folk in England too; another suffered the same fate for warning a girl who wanted to marry an S.S. man after abjuring the Catholic faith; yet another because he conducted a service for a deceased communist". The gestapo were Nazi Germany's brutal secret-police. Answer (1 of 4): It was of a piece with the Nazi governing policy: the Fhrerprinzip that created a a plethora of government agencies engaged in non-stop internecine bureaucratic turf wars. The Nazi Party was well aware of homosexual preferences of Rhm and some other SA members. The official positions of defendants as heads of state or holders of high government offices were not to free them from responsibility or mitigate their punishment; nor was the fact that a defendant acted pursuant to an order of a superior to excuse him from responsibility, although it might be considered by the IMT in mitigation of punishment. Meaning Protective Echelon in German, the SS was made up of fervently anti-Semite Germans who possessed deep racial hatred. Night of Long Knives and the Downfall of Sturmabteilung. Hitler initially refused to believe the claims against Rhm, even though his officials provided him with created evidence. [64][c] Between 1933 and 1935, some 4,000 men were arrested; between 1936 and 1939, another 30,000 men were convicted.