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. [148] Other Danish civilians, like in many places across Europe, acted as Gestapo informants but this should not be seen as wholehearted support for the Nazi program, as motives for cooperation varied. 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. [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. Josef Jakobs - Agent of the Abwehr or the Gestapo? Under the leadership of Rhm, the number of employees in the SA increased dramatically. Meanwhile, there was also a great deal of overlapping of authority on many of these matters too. These cookies do not store any personal information. "[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. [149] Whereas in France, the number of members in the Carlingue (French Gestapo) who worked on behalf of the Nazis was upwards of 30,000 to 32,000; they conducted operations nearly indistinguishable from their German equivalents. [65] If homosexuals showed any signs of sympathy to the Nazis' identified racial enemies, they were considered an even greater danger. Nominally under the Ministry of the Interior, Germanys police, including the political police, the detective force, and the uniformed police forces, were now unified under Himmler. Meaning Protective Echelon in German, the SS was made up of fervently anti-Semite Germans who possessed deep racial hatred. [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. [102], In 1933, there was no purge of the German police forces. The Gestapo had its own system of arrests, judiciary, and execution. It ransacked homes, tortured people, deported them to concentration camps, and also killed them for no apparent reason. [92], In September 1939, the SiPo and SD were merged into the newly created Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA; Reich Security Main Office). [84] The Gestapo cracked down ruthlessly on dissidents in Germany, just as they did everywhere else. [50] Meanwhile, the SA and police occupied trade union headquarters, arrested functionaries, confiscated their property and assets; all by design so as to be replaced on 12 May by the German Labour Front (DAF), a Nazi organisation placed under the leadership of Robert Ley. The Gestapo was somewhat of a division of the SS, making SS the parent organization. In lieu of naming convention changes, the original construct of the SiPo, Gestapo, and Kripo cannot be fully comprehended as "discrete entities", since they ultimately formed "a conglomerate in which each was wedded to each other and the SS through its Security Service, the SD". The Abwehr was a German intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. by Walter Schellenberg 16 Aug 2002, 02:48, Post [35] During the Holocaust, Eichmann's department within the Gestapo coordinated the mass deportation of European Jews to the Nazis' extermination camps. [74] One of the methods employed by the Gestapo to contend with these resistance factions was 'protective detention' which facilitated the process in expediting dissenters to concentration camps and against which there was no legal defence. Gestapo vs. Ss - What's the difference? | Ask Difference In the occupied territories, the formal relationship between local units of the Gestapo, criminal police, and SD was slightly closer. The SS has been held responsible for some of the most horrific crimes ever committed in the history of the world. National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized (RG 242) After another two or three years in that grade, the female detective could advance to Kriminalobersekretrin. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. However, certain Polish information about the movement of German police and SS units to the East during 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union was similar to information British intelligence secretly obtained through intercepting and decoding German police and SS messages sent by radio telegraphy. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene mixed up gazpacho and the Gestapo while criticizing Rep. Nancy Pelosi. However, these internal departments remained and the Gestapo continued to be a department under the RSHA umbrella. 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. [108] Heydrich thought along similar lines and advocated both defensive and offensive measures on the part of the Gestapo, so as to prevent any subversion or destruction of the National Socialist body. Gradually, with time, the SS became one of the most-feared organizations in Germany. Himmler's subsequent appointment to Chef der Deutschen Polizei (Chief of German Police) and status as Reichsfhrer-SS made him independent of Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick's nominal control. 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. He appointed General Ferdinand von Bredow, as head of Abwehr. Rhm himself was arrested, put into prison and given a chance to commit suicide. The SS was given the complete authority of all the concentration camps in Germany as well as the occupied regions after 1934. [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. Whereas the Gestapo agents, were mostly of police background. [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. History has indeed told us terrifying tales of the Holocaust and World War II, which claimed countless innocent lives. 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 vs Ss: Differences And Uses For Each One [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. (Hitler felt he deserved the chance to kill himself rather than have someone else kill him.) Opposition became more difficult. 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. [94], At the trial of any individual member of any group or organisation, the IMT was authorised to declare (in connection with any act of which the individual was convicted) that the group or organisation to which he belonged was a criminal organisation. by Schmauser 13 Aug 2002, 13:44, Post Before 1929, the SS wore uniforms similar to the SA. [33] After Heydrich's 1942 assassination, Himmler assumed the leadership of the RSHA until January 1943, when Ernst Kaltenbrunner was appointed chief. 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 . [131] Failing that, torture and planting evidence were common methods of resolving a case, especially if the case concerned someone Jewish. The SS initially had an all-black uniform specially designed for its men, which was replaced by uniforms in camouflaging colors during the war. Additionally, many of its members were handed over to the armed forces. The Gestapo operated without civil restraints. 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. 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. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). As early as 1935, a Prussian administrative court had ruled that the Gestapo's actions were not subject to judicial review. In an attempt to assassinate Hitler, Stauffenberg planted a bomb underneath a conference table inside the Wolf's Lair field headquarters. At that time, the SS consisted of approximately 300 members. Abwehr | Encyclopedia.com 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. [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. 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 December, 1932, Schleicher became chancellor. 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. [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. The Geheime Staatspolizei (German pronunciation: [ham tatspolitsa] (listen); transl. Sabotage efforts were undertaken by members of the Abwehr (military intelligence) leadership, as they recruited people known to oppose the Nazi regime. The SD was mainly an information-gathering agency, while the Gestapoand to a degree the Criminal Police (Kriminalpolizei or Kripo)was the executive agency of the political police system. It was mainly used in riots, demonstrations, and the ransacking and destroying of Jewish homes and synagogues. What was the difference between the SS, SA, SD, Abwehr, Gestapo, and Although Maier and the other group members were severely tortured, the Gestapo did not uncover the essential involvement of the resistance group in Operation Crossbow and Operation Hydra. 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. More than that, the Anglo-American common language and capital interests kept Stalin at a distance since he felt the other Allied powers were hoping the fascists and Communists would destroy one another. [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. Thousands of leftists, intellectuals, Jews, trade unionists, political clergy, and homosexuals simply disappeared into concentration camps after being arrested by the Gestapo. Excellent Work! [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. Difference Between the Gestapo, SS, and SA - Historyplex To understand the political system at the time in Germany, it can be helpful to learn about the differences between the functioning of the three organizations by identifying every individual organization properly. 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. 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. Gestapo | Definition, History, Facts, & Tactics | Britannica Dietrich Bonhoeffer | Holocaust Encyclopedia What Is The Difference Between The SD And The Gestapo? by Wilfried Abenaschon 13 Aug 2002, 02:31, Post 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". [71] Most people quickly learned that open opposition was dangerous since Gestapo informants and agents were widespread. [59] Over 2,700 Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox clergy were imprisoned at Dachau alone. [32] Although the Sicherheitspolizei was officially disbanded, the term SiPo was figuratively used to describe any RSHA personnel throughout the remainder of the war. [156], In 1997, Cologne transformed the former regional Gestapo headquarters in Colognethe EL-DE Hausinto a museum to document the Gestapo's actions. 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. [143] Correspondingly, Gestapo offices were established in a territory once occupied. 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. [129] The "administrative control" category concerned those who were breaking the law concerning residency in the city. 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. [11] Gring took over the Gestapo in 1934 and urged Hitler to extend the agency's authority throughout Germany. The stricter laws did not apply to lesbians as their behaviour was never officially criminalised, even though their behaviours were labelled "deviant". It became known as Amt (Dept) 4 of the RSHA and was considered a sister organisation to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service). [63], Between June 1942 and March 1943, student protests were calling for an end to the Nazi regime. [144], Throughout the Eastern territories, the Gestapo and other Nazi organisations co-opted the assistance of indigenous police units, nearly all of whom were uniformed and able to carry out drastic actions. This was partly because of the Venlo incident of 9 November 1939,[76] in which SD and Gestapo agents, posing as anti-Nazis in the Netherlands, kidnapped two British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) officers after having lured them to a meeting to discuss peace terms. [115] The Gestapo office in Saarbrcken had 50 full-term informers in 1939. The ordinary uniformed ones doing office jobs were called Algemeine SS or ordinary SS The size of the SS increased dramatically and eventually had 38 Divisions of which half were not German. [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. Himmler was given command over Grings Gestapo in April 1934. Differences among: KRIPO, SIPO, GESTAPO & SD - Axis History Forum Post [50], Many parts of Germany (where religious dissent existed upon the Nazi seizure of power) saw a rapid transformation; a change as noted by the Gestapo in conservative towns such as Wrzburg, where people acquiesced to the regime either through accommodation, collaboration, or simple compliance. [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. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. [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. [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. 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. [129] Most of the political investigations took place between 1933 and 1935 with the all-time high of 57 cases in 1935. [113] In Dsseldorf, the local Gestapo office of only 281 men were responsible for the entire Lower Rhine region, which comprised 4 million people. Copyright Historyplex & Buzzle.com, Inc. Schleicher and Bredow tried to control the activities of the National Socialist . [130], Normal methods of investigation included various forms of blackmail, threats and extortion to secure "confessions". 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[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. [29] The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue the state to conform to laws. 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.) To summarize the information above, we have provided the following short table. 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. 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. [46] Because the Gestapo seemed omniscient and omnipotent, the atmosphere of fear they created led to an overestimation of their reach and strength; a faulty assessment which hampered the operational effectiveness of underground resistance organisations. With Frick's support, Himmler (pushed on by his right-hand man, Reinhard Heydrich) took over the political police in state-after-state. [25] This action effectively merged the police into the SS and removed it from Frick's control. The Gestapo was officially declared to be answerable only and only to Hitler, and could not be reviewed by the judiciary in any way. In late 1933, the Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick wanted to integrate all the police forces of the German states under his control. Abfraction is a common dental problem caused by the flexing of teeth during biting and . the United States . Updates? When asked for identification, an operative was required only to present his warrant disc and not a picture identification. 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. [66] According to Gestapo case files, the majority of those arrested for homosexuality were males between eighteen and twenty-five years of age. [32] The Gestapo became Amt IV (Department IV) of RSHA and Mller became the Gestapo Chief, with Heydrich as his immediate superior. The Gestapo committed widespread atrocities during its existence. [25] The idea was to fully identify and integrate the party agency (SD) with the state agency (SiPo). Sources: 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.