By 1932, the SA employed about 400,000 people and by the time Hitler had come to power in 1933, it consisted of over 10,00,000 people. Nearly all of them, including: the Rmer Group, Robby Group, Solf Circle, Schwarze Reichswehr, the Party of the Radical Middle Class, Jungdeutscher Orden, Schwarze Front and Stahlhelm were either discovered or infiltrated by the Gestapo. [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". [117] The Gestapoat timeswas overwhelmed with denunciations and most of its time was spent sorting out the credible from the less credible denunciations. GESTAPO short for geheime Staatspolizei formed in Prussia by Goring . [9], The first commander of the Gestapo was Rudolf Diels, a protg of Gring. by Walter Schellenberg 16 Aug 2002, 02:48, Post Answer (1 of 3): There were three secret services/police in the Third Reich. [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. The force was created by Hermann Gring in 1933 by combining the various security police agencies of Prussia into one organisation. Their victims also included the unemployed, the disabled, homosexuals, religious leaders, and political opponents. [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. In late 1933, the Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick wanted to integrate all the police forces of the German states under his control. [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. [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. 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. This led to corresponding arrests, being sent to concentration camps and execution. Before establishing the SA as a paramilitary wing, it was known as a sports division in the party to avoid suspicion. ), however, is missing: a security-classified withdrawal card remains in place, and the withdrawn item is listed among the contents of an envelope of withdrawn items subsequently declassified by the IWG, however that document was not in the . (2013). Under his leadership, the SS grew to a sizable organization of over 2,50,000 members. Discussions on all aspects of the SS and Polizei. It became known as Amt (Dept) 4 of the RSHA and was considered a sister organisation to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service). Night of Long Knives and the Downfall of Sturmabteilung. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1943, he was sent to. [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. Three othersHans Fritzsche, Hjalmar Schacht, and Franz von Papenwere acquitted. In 1929 General Kurt von Schleicher combined all service units under his Ministry of Defence. [155] These groupsthe Nazi Party and government leadership, the German General staff and High Command (OKW); the Sturmabteilung (SA); the Schutzstaffel (SS), including the Sicherheitsdienst (SD); and the Gestapohad an aggregate membership exceeding two million, making a large number of their members liable to trial when the organisations were convicted. [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). These three organizations always rivaled each other and their competences often overlapped. The Gestapo supplied the information which implicated the SA and ultimately enabled Himmler and Heydrich to emancipate themselves entirely from the organisation. [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". [64][c] Between 1933 and 1935, some 4,000 men were arrested; between 1936 and 1939, another 30,000 men were convicted. 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. Here are some examples of how abfraction and abrasion might be used in a sentence: Examples Of Using Abfraction In A Sentence. [112], Contrary to popular belief, the Gestapo was not the all-pervasive, omnipotent agency in German society. [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. [94] However, Gestapo leader Heinrich Mller was never tried, as he disappeared at the end of the war. The SS remained in existence until the end of the war. 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. 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. [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. Nevertheless, in practice there was jurisdictional overlap and operational conflict between the SD and Gestapo. Bonhoeffer was initially charged with conspiring to rescue Jews, using his foreign travels for non-intelligence matters, and misusing his intelligence position . "[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. [68] During the first five months of 1943, the Gestapo arrested thousands suspected of resistance activities and carried out numerous executions. The Abwehr ( German for resistance or defence, but the word usually means counterintelligence in a military context; pronounced [apve]) was the German military-intelligence service for the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht from 1920 to 1945. [154], The IMT subsequently convicted three of the groups: the Nazi leadership corps, the SS (including the SD) and the Gestapo. The killing units wiped out entire villages as a result. Before 1929, the SS wore uniforms similar to the SA. Excellent Work! This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 18:29. There were plenty of intelligence agencies in Nazi Germany with overlapping portfolios. The killed SA members were further demeaned by making their homosexuality public. 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. The difference between SS and the Gestapo The Gestapo is an organization of the police that existed only around 1934-1939 while the SS exited longer for about sixteen years between 1929 and 1945, before being abolished. Denunciation was the exception, not the rule, as far as the behaviour of the vast majority of Germans was concerned. [143] Correspondingly, Gestapo offices were established in a territory once occupied. 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. The Abwehr was a German intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. In the occupied territories, the formal relationship between local units of the Gestapo, criminal police, and SD was slightly closer. [61] Homosexuals were correspondingly considered a threat to the Volksgemeinschaft (National Community). They nearly drowned suspects in ice-cold water, gave them electric shocks, hung them by their wrists, or beat them savagely. by Schmauser 13 Aug 2002, 13:44, Post Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene mixed up gazpacho and the Gestapo while criticizing Rep. Nancy Pelosi. 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. However, it was an important part of the brutal attacks against Jews in Germany. Joins the Abwehr Schrader escaped from the Concentration Camp in 1934. An organization that would become one of the most-feared ones in Nazi Germany was created so as to strengthen Nazi rule by weeding out anyone who could be perceived as a threat to the Party. Just like its parent organization, the Schutzstaffel, the Gestapo was officially declared a criminal organization and banned in 1945. Leading members of the most famous of these groups, the White Rose, were arrested by the police and turned over to the Gestapo. The Abwehr was the German military intelligence organization from 1866 to 1944. 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. 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. [150], Between 14 November 1945 and 3 October 1946, the Allies established an International Military Tribunal (IMT) to try 22 major Nazi war criminals and six groups for crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. 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. 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 only thing distinguishing them was the black hat with a skull and bones on it. [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. Copyright Historyplex & Buzzle.com, Inc. (Hitler felt he deserved the chance to kill himself rather than have someone else kill him.) 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. From 27 September 1939, it was administered by the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). 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. What was the difference between the SD and the Gestapo? [130], Normal methods of investigation included various forms of blackmail, threats and extortion to secure "confessions". Rhms leadership and not-so-secret desire of merging with the Army made many senior Nazi officials feel threatened. To claim that Josef Jakobs was a "Gestapo agent" is to fail to understand the difference between the Secret State Police and the Army. Though all largely contributed to Hitlers rise to power and his abuse of that power, the three organizations differed slightly in their functions. Abwehr. [111] This admixture certainly shaped the Gestapo's public image which they sought to maintain despite their increasing workload; an image which helped them identify and eliminate enemies of the Nazi state. 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. 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. Student opposition leaders were executed in late February, and a major opposition organisation, the Oster Circle, was destroyed in April 1943. With Frick's support, Himmler (pushed on by his right-hand man, Reinhard Heydrich) took over the political police in state-after-state. Hitler, accompanied by the SS and the Gestapo, arrested and murdered important SA leaders who may or may not have been in connection with Rhm in any way. [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. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These officials were helped and supported by a mysterious organization called the ODESSA, which helped provide them identification, passports, and visas to South American countries. The Schutzstaffel has also been held responsible for planning, coordinating, and implementing the Final Solution, in which countless Jews and people of other seemingly undesirable ethnic groups were murdered. This move also gave Himmler operational control over Germany's entire detective force. [102], In 1933, there was no purge of the German police forces. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. Schutzstaffel Agency overview Type Paramilitary Jurisdiction Nazi Germany German-occupied Europe Headquarters Prinz-Albrecht-Strae . [25], The Gestapo had the authority to investigate cases of treason, espionage, sabotage and criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany. [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. "[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. The Nazi Party felt the need for a secret police organization, and hence, the Geheime Staatspolizei was born in 1933. After another two or three years in that grade, the female detective could advance to Kriminalobersekretrin. The SS was given the complete authority of all the concentration camps in Germany as well as the occupied regions after 1934. The Gestapo was somewhat of a division of the SS, making SS the parent organization. The Jewish Question needed to be solved, and it was the SS who took up the job. Deans were to be targeted as the "eyes and ears of the bishops" and a "vast network" established to monitor the activities of ordinary clergy: "The importance of this enemy is such that inspectors of security police and of the security service will make this group of people and the questions discussed by them their special concern". [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. They were subject to co-ordination by inspectors of the security police and SD on the staffs of the local higher SS and police leaders, however, and one of the principal functions of the local SD units was to serve as the intelligence agency for the local Gestapo units. What is the difference between the SD and the Gestapo? Diels was appointed with the title of chief of Abteilung Ia (Department 1a) of the Prussian Secret Police. The organisation of the security structures in the Nazi Germany was very complicated, often quite illogical, and the limit between different organisations like Gestapo or the SD or the Abwehr, is often difficult to draw. 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. This disc identified the operative as a member of the Gestapo without revealing personal information, except when ordered to do so by an authorised official. 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 . [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. [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. [88] On 26 April 1933, he reorganised the force's Amt III as the Gestapa (better-known by the "sobriquet" Gestapo),[89] a secret state police intended to serve the Nazi cause. 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. [63], Between June 1942 and March 1943, student protests were calling for an end to the Nazi regime. At that time, the Gestapo was condemned as a criminal organisation, along with the SS. Anyone suspected of even having made an anti-Nazi joke would be subjected to such treatment, or worse. [158], The Gestapo was a secretive plainclothes agency and agents typically wore civilian suits. Abwehr was the German military intelligence organization. [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. 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. Hitler vehemently rejected the centuries' old Habsburg pluralist principles of "live and let live" with regard to ethnic groups, peoples, minorities, religions, cultures and languages. within the Reich as the Gestapo, in the occu-pied countries it was known as the Sipo-SD. Some pastors, like the Protestant clergyman Dietrich Bonhoeffer, paid for their opposition with their lives. Himmler was given command over Grings Gestapo in April 1934. [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. On 20 April 1934, oversight of the Gestapo passed to the head of the Schutzstaffel (SS), Heinrich Himmler, who was also appointed Chief of German Police by Hitler in 1936. There were strict protocols protecting the identity of Gestapo field personnel. 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. Fearful of an internal overthrow, the forces of the Gestapo were unleashed on the opposition. [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. As Evans makes clear, "it was not the ordinary German people who engaged in surveillance, it was the Gestapo; nothing happened until the Gestapo received a denunciation, and it was the Gestapo's active pursuit of deviance and dissent that was the only thing that gave denunciations meaning. In 1931, the SA was handed over to Ernst Rhm, who headed it till his murder in 1934. [22] Once persuaded, Hitler acted by setting Himmler's SS into action, who then proceeded to murder over 100 of Hitler's identified antagonists. [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. The SS initially had an all-black uniform specially designed for its men, which was replaced by uniforms in camouflaging colors during the war. [10] Diels was best known as the primary interrogator of Marinus van der Lubbe after the Reichstag fire. Rhm had been one of the earliest supporters of Hitler and was a personal friend to him too. Soon afterward, Gring detached the political and intelligence sections from the police and filled their ranks with Nazis. 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. [118] The information supplied by denunciations often led the Gestapo in determining who was arrested. 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. [71] Most people quickly learned that open opposition was dangerous since Gestapo informants and agents were widespread. In this article, we will explore the differences between Gestapo and SS, and shed light on their respective histories and legacies. We've created informative articles that you can come back to again and again when you have questions or want to learn more! Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [42] Habsburg loyalist Karl Burian's (who was later executed) plan to blow up the Gestapo headquarters in Vienna represented a unique attempt to act aggressively against the Gestapo. These groups became a special focus of the Gestapo because of their insurrectionist goalsthe overthrow of the Nazi regime, the re-establishment of an independent Austria under Habsburg leadershipand Hitler's hatred of the Habsburg family.
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