Gestapo

The Gestapo, whose full German name means "Secret State Police," was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and of the areas of German-occupied Europe. Its name is abbreviated to Gestapo. It should not be confused with the Gestapu, a military group in Indonesia.

Hermann Göring created the force in 1933 by joining together the different political police groups of Prussia. In 1934, control of the Gestapo passed to Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the Schutzstaffel (SS). The next year, Hitler also made Himmler Chief of German Police. The Gestapo was no longer only a Prussian state agency. It became a national organisation and a part of the Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police). From 27 September 1939, the Reich Security Main Office managed it, and it was known as Department 4 of that office. It was seen as a sister organisation to the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service).

The Gestapo targeted many groups of people. These included Nazi political opponents, people who disagreed with Nazi ideas, church leaders and religious groups, and the Sinti and Roma peoples. It also targeted people with disabilities, gay people, and, most of all, Jewish people. Many people it arrested were held without a court process. From 1941, under the Night and Fog Decree, political prisoners in the occupied lands were often never heard from again after they were taken into Gestapo custody. The Gestapo was actually a fairly small organisation, and it could not watch everyone. However, it was still very effective, because many ordinary Germans were willing to report their fellow citizens.

During World War II, the Gestapo played a key role in the Holocaust, in which Jewish people were treated very badly and many were harmed. When the war ended, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at the Nuremberg trials declared the Gestapo a criminal organisation. Several of its top members were sentenced to death.

History

After Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Hermann Göring was named Interior Minister of Prussia. Göring later became the commander of the Luftwaffe and the second most powerful man in the Nazi Party. On 26 April 1933, he combined the political and intelligence police units into the Geheime Staatspolizei. A post office clerk shortened the name to "Gestapo" for a franking stamp. Göring had first wanted the name Secret Police Office, but its initials looked too much like those of the Soviet State Political Directorate. The first leader was Rudolf Diels, who was best known for questioning Marinus van der Lubbe after the Reichstag fire.

Göring took charge of the Gestapo in 1934 and wanted its power to reach across all of Germany. Heinrich Himmler, who led the Schutzstaffel (SS) and was police chief of Bavaria, disagreed with him. With help from Wilhelm Frick, Himmler, encouraged by Reinhard Heydrich, took control of the political police state by state.

On 20 April 1934, Göring handed control of the Gestapo to Himmler. Heydrich became Gestapo chief and still led the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). Himmler and Heydrich put their own people in important jobs, including Heinrich Müller, Franz Josef Huber, and Josef Meisinger, who had come from the Bavarian Political Police. The Sturmabteilung (SA), led by Ernst Röhm, had grown to more than 4.5 million men after it took in militias and veterans groups. Several Nazi leaders persuaded Hitler to act against Röhm. The Gestapo's information helped Himmler and Heydrich become fully independent of the SA. The putsch against Röhm and the SA is known as the Night of the Long Knives.

On 17 June 1936, Hitler named Himmler Chief of German Police, which placed the police under the SS. Himmler also gained control of the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo), led by Kurt Daluege, and the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo). Kripo was merged with the Gestapo into the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo). In 1939, these agencies, except the Order Police, joined the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) under Heydrich. The Gestapo became part of the RSHA, with Müller as its chief. Ernst Kaltenbrunner led the RSHA from January 1943. During the Holocaust, the department of Adolf Eichmann organized the movement of European Jews to the extermination camps.

The Gestapo could investigate treason, espionage, sabotage, and attacks on the Nazi Party. A 1936 law gave it carte blanche to act without judicial review, which put it above the law. Werner Best said, "As long as the police carries out the will of the leadership, it is acting legally." The Gestapo's powers included Schutzhaft, meaning "protective custody," a euphemism for holding people without court proceedings. From 1941, political prisoners under the Night and Fog Decree often disappeared in Gestapo custody. Many people were arrested under these orders.

Counterintelligence

The Polish government-in-exile in London during World War II received important military information about Nazi Germany from agents and informants across Europe. The Gestapo thought they had stopped Polish intelligence after Germany conquered Poland in 1939. In 1942, however, they found Polish intelligence documents in Prague. They were surprised to learn that Polish agents had been sending detailed military information to London through Budapest and Istanbul. As late as 6 June 1944, Heinrich Müller set up a special unit called Sonderkommando Jerzy to stop the Polish intelligence network in western and southwestern Europe.

In Austria, some groups who were loyal to the Habsburgs kept resisting the Nazis, and the Gestapo watched them closely. Hitler strongly disliked the Habsburg family. Habsburg loyalist Karl Burian planned to blow up the Gestapo headquarters in Vienna. This was a rare direct attack on the Gestapo. Resistance groups led by Heinrich Maier passed plans and production locations for V-1, V-2 rockets, Tiger tanks, and aircraft to the Allies. The Gestapo did not discover the group's key role in Operation Crossbow and Operation Hydra.

Suppression of resistance and persecution

Early in Nazi rule, harsh measures were used against political opponents and people who resisted Nazi doctrine, including members of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). The Gestapo seemed omniscient and omnipotent. People feared it so much that they thought its reach was greater than it was, and this weakened underground resistance groups. The Nazis closed the trade unions, and in 1933 the Gestapo arrested many trade union leaders. The German Labour Front (DAF), led by Robert Ley, took their place. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 made it easier for people to report their neighbours and others to the Gestapo.

Churches were watched closely. The Nazi government tried to silence or crush them in the so-called Kirchenkampf. When clergy criticised the euthanasia program and Nazi racial policies, Hitler called them "traitors to the people." Pope Pius XI issued the letter Mit brennender Sorge, which spoke out against Nazism. The Gestapo tracked the bishops' reports to the Vatican. Many clergy were arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps.

Student groups such as the White Rose, led by Hans and Sophie Scholl, spoke out against the regime. The Gestapo watched closely over groups like the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Youth. Many opponents, including teachers and aristocratic businessmen, worked against the government, but speaking out openly was dangerous. The Gestapo broke up several groups, including the Schwarze Reichswehr and the Schwarze Front. Its "protective detention" allowed it to send people to camps without a legal defence.

In 1939, Gestapo and SD agents pretended to be anti-Nazis in the Netherlands. They tricked and captured two British Secret Intelligence Service officers. This led Winston Churchill to ban contact with the German opposition. In July 1944, Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg carried out Operation Valkyrie by planting a bomb at Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters. The 20 July plot failed. The people involved were put on trial by Roland Freisler and executed.

Over time, the Gestapo's methods became part of everyday life for many Germans.

Organisation

In January 1933, Hermann Göring, Hitler's minister without portfolio, became head of the Prussian Police. He filled the political and intelligence units with Nazi Party members. On 26 April 1933, he reorganised part of the force into the Gestapa, better known as the Gestapo. It was a secret state police meant to serve the Nazi cause. In early May 1933, the Gestapo moved into its headquarters in Berlin. Göring later said that he was mainly responsible for removing the Marxist and Communist threat to Germany and Prussia.

In 1936, the Gestapo joined with the Kripo to become part of the Security Police, and it became an official government agency. Heinrich Himmler, who led the SS, took control of the police and the Gestapo. The Security Police was placed under Reinhard Heydrich, who also led the Nazi Party's intelligence service. In September 1939, these groups joined the Reich Security Main Office. The Gestapo became one of its departments, led by Heinrich Müller. In January 1943, Ernst Kaltenbrunner became head of the office, almost seven months after Heydrich had been assassinated. The Gestapo also had offices in the concentration camps and sent staff to the Einsatzgruppen.

Membership

In 1933, the German police forces were not purged. Most Gestapo officers came from the police forces of the Weimar Republic. Some members of the SS, the SA, and the Nazi Party also joined, though there were fewer of them. By March 1937, the Gestapo had about 6,500 workers in fifty-four regional offices across Germany. More staff were added in March 1938, after Austria became part of the Reich, and again in October 1938, when the Sudetenland was taken. In 1939, only 3,000 of the 20,000 Gestapo men held SS ranks, and most of those ranks were honorary. The Nazis valued police skill more than politics, so almost all the men who had served in the state police under the Weimar Republic kept their jobs in 1933. In Würzburg, where most Gestapo records survived, every member was a career policeman or had a police background.

The Canadian historian Robert Gellately wrote that most Gestapo men were not Nazis. However, they did not oppose the Nazi government, and they were willing to do whatever tasks they were given. Training in Nazi ideas grew over time, especially after Werner Best took a leading role in training in April 1936. Best taught that members should see themselves as "doctors" protecting the nation from "diseases," which included groups the Nazis disliked, such as communists, Freemasons, churches, and, above all, Jews. Historian George C. Browder describes a four-part process (authorisation, bolstering, routinisation, and dehumanisation) that helped push Gestapo agents toward radicalised actions. This process was shaped by racism and by SS members who had no police training. Women could also join the Gestapo as detectives. Those trained in social work, and female leaders from the Reichsarbeitsdienst and the Bund Deutscher Mädel, could be hired after a course and some experience.

Leadership

Timeline

Principal agents and officers

• Heinrich Baab (SiPo-SD Frankfurt)
• Klaus Barbie (SiPo-SD Lyon)
• Werner Best (SiPo-SD Copenhagen)
• Karl Bömelburg (Head of Gestapo, Southern France)
• Theodor Dannecker (SiPo-SD Paris)
• Rudolf Diels (Gestapo Chief 1933–1934)
• Adolf Eichmann (RSHA Berlin)
• Gerhard Flesch
• Hermann Göring (Founder of the Gestapo)
• Viktor Harnischfeger (Düsseldorf Gestapo Criminal Commissar)
• Reinhard Heydrich (SD, SiPo, Gestapo Chief 1934–1939, RSHA Chief 1939–1942)
• Heinrich Himmler (Reichsführer-SS)
• Ernst Kaltenbrunner (RSHA Chief 1943–1945)
• Herbert Kappler (SD Chief Rome)
• Werner Knab
• Helmut Knochen (Paris)
• Kurt Lischka (Paris)
• Ernst Misselwitz (Hauptscharführer SiPo-SD Paris)
• Heinrich Müller (Gestapo Chief 1939–1945)
• Carl Oberg (Paris)
• Pierre Paoli (Head of Gestapo, Central France)
• Oswald Poche (Chief of Frankfurt Lindenstrasse station)
• Henry Rinnan (Norwegian agent)
• Karl Eberhard Schöngarth (SiPo-SD General Government; Netherlands)
• Max Wielen

Population ratios, methods, and effectiveness

Many people think the Gestapo was all-powerful in German society, but it was not. Many towns and cities in Germany had fewer than 50 official Gestapo staff. In Düsseldorf, 281 men were responsible for a region of about 4 million people. In lower Franconia, which included Würzburg, there were only twenty-two Gestapo officers for more than 840,000 people.

The secret police relied on ordinary Germans reporting on each other. Most informers were everyday citizens who chose to report others. According to historian Robert Gellately, 80% of Gestapo investigations started with information from ordinary people. Many historians now think the older idea of a "Big Brother" watching everyone is a myth. Historian Eric Johnson wrote that "The Nazi terror was selective terror." It was aimed at political opponents, religious groups, the Sinti and Roma, handicapped persons, homosexuals, and above all, Jews.

The Gestapo often used cruel methods to get confessions and to punish political enemies, and this happened often at the local level. Common methods of investigation included blackmail, threats, and extortion. Many people were held in "protective custody" (Schutzhaft) without a trial and were sent to camps such as Dachau, Buchenwald, or Ravensbrück. The Gestapo's power came from working closely with other police forces, the SS, and Nazi Party organisations. Together, they formed a organised network that harmed many people.

Operations in Nazi-occupied territories

The Gestapo was a tool of Nazi power and fear. It worked across occupied Europe. Like the SS and the SD, it helped force workers from occupied lands to work for Germany, sent people away from their homes, hurt and killed civilians, targeted Jews and treated them very badly, and mistreated Allied prisoners of war. It was an important part of Nazi repression and the Holocaust. When German armies moved into enemy territory, they were followed by Einsatzgruppen. These groups had officers from the Gestapo and Kripo, who usually worked in the rear areas to run and police the occupied land.

Local people sometimes helped the Gestapo, either as police helpers or in other jobs. How much they helped depended on whether they cooperated or resisted. In the Eastern territories, the Gestapo worked with local police units, many of them in uniform. In Poland, reserve police known as the Blue Police were called up and made the Nazi police presence stronger. In Denmark, some uniformed Danes in Copenhagen worked with the Gestapo. In France, the Carlingue (French Gestapo) worked much like the German Gestapo.

Nuremberg trials

Main articles: Nuremberg trials and the Holocaust

From November 1945 to October 1946, the Allies set up an International Military Tribunal to judge 22 major Nazi leaders and six groups. They were accused of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Nineteen of the 22 were found guilty. Some received the death penalty, some were sentenced to life in prison, and others received shorter prison terms. Three were found not guilty. The Gestapo was declared a criminal organisation, along with the SS. The Gestapo leader Heinrich Müller was never put on trial, because he disappeared at the end of the war.

The tribunal found three groups guilty: the Nazi leadership corps, the Schutzstaffel (SS), including the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), and the Gestapo. Some Gestapo members, including Hermann Göring, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and Arthur Seyss-Inquart, were also found guilty as individuals. Three other groups were cleared of the group charges, but their members could still be punished under the denazification programme. Members of the guilty groups could be arrested by Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and France. The groups named in this decision included the Nazi Party and government leadership, the General staff and High Command (OKW), the Sturmabteilung (SA), and the SS and Gestapo.

Aftermath

See also: Ratlines (World War II)

In 1997, Cologne turned the old regional Gestapo headquarters, the EL-DE Haus, into a museum. The museum shows what the Gestapo did.

After the war, the U.S. Counterintelligence Corps hired Klaus Barbie, a former Gestapo chief from Lyon, to do anti-communist work. It also helped him escape to Bolivia.

Ranks and uniforms

The Gestapo was a secret police force. Its agents usually wore plain civilian suits. Strict rules protected the identities of its field staff. When asked for identification, an agent only had to show a warrant disc, not a photo ID. The disc showed that the person worked for the Gestapo, but it did not give personal details unless an authorised official asked for them.

Staff at district offices wore the grey SS service uniform. It had police-pattern shoulderboards and SS rank badges on the left collar. The right collar patch was black, without the sig runes. Gestapo men in the Einsatzgruppen in occupied areas first looked almost the same as the Waffen-SS field uniform. After complaints from the Waffen-SS, their shoulder boards were changed to those of the Ordnungspolizei. The Gestapo used police detective ranks for all of its officers, whether or not they were also SS members.