difference between abwehr and gestapo

On one hand, it was next to impossible for them to overthrow Hitler and the party; on the other, the Allied demand for an unconditional surrender meant no opportunity for a compromise peace, which left the military and conservative aristocrats who opposed the regime no option (in their eyes) other than continuing the military struggle. Updates? [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. 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. Schutzstaffel Agency overview Type Paramilitary Jurisdiction Nazi Germany German-occupied Europe Headquarters Prinz-Albrecht-Strae . [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. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Answer (1 of 3): There were three secret services/police in the Third Reich. 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. Sabotage efforts were undertaken by members of the Abwehr (military intelligence) leadership, as they recruited people known to oppose the Nazi regime. [124], An examination of 213 denunciations in Dsseldorf showed that 37% were motivated by personal conflicts, no motive could be established in 39%, and 24% were motivated by support for the Nazi regime. 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. [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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. 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. These were Waffen S. The SS Schutz Staffel were originally Hitler's bodygaurd. Many of the SS officials had predicted defeat as the war came to a possible end, and escaped to South America with or without their families to avoid arrest, trial, and an almost guaranteed execution by the Allies. 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. After Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Hermann Gringfuture commander of the Luftwaffe and the number two man in the Nazi Partywas named Interior Minister of Prussia. Bauz, Ingrid; Sigrid Brggemann; Roland Maier, eds. This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 18:29. Those who were arrested were tried, and sent to prison or were executed, depending on their role in the Gestapo. The Sipo-SD had initially been forbidden to set up offices in Belgium. 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". [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). Rhm harbored the same intentions. [140] To this end, the Gestapo was "a vital component both in Nazi repression and the Holocaust. [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. [14] Himmler and Heydrich both immediately began installing their own personnel in select positions, several of whom were directly from the Bavarian Political Police, such as Heinrich Mller, Franz Josef Huber and Josef Meisinger. It successfully thwarted Operation Valkyrie, wherein an attempt to assassinate Hitler was made by some senior Nazi officials themselves. 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. Their victims also included the unemployed, the disabled, homosexuals, religious leaders, and political opponents. [104][e] Some locals aided the Gestapo, whether as professional police auxiliaries or in other duties. Gestapo members Hermann Gring, Ernst Kaltenbrunner and Arthur Seyss-Inquart were individually convicted. The stricter laws did not apply to lesbians as their behaviour was never officially criminalised, even though their behaviours were labelled "deviant". The Gestapo had its own system of arrests, judiciary, and execution. Bonhoeffer was initially charged with conspiring to rescue Jews, using his foreign travels for non-intelligence matters, and misusing his intelligence position . Diels was appointed with the title of chief of Abteilung Ia (Department 1a) of the Prussian Secret Police. During World War II, the Gestapo played a key role in the Holocaust. [160], The Gestapo maintained police detective ranks which were used for all officers, both those who were and who were not concurrently SS members. 1938 Gestapo border inspection stamp applied when leaving Germany On 17 June 1936, Hitler decreed the unification of all police forces in Germany and named Himmler as Chief of German Police. 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. [94] However, Gestapo leader Heinrich Mller was never tried, as he disappeared at the end of the war. 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. Nevertheless, in practice there was jurisdictional overlap and operational conflict between the SD and Gestapo. 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. [154], The IMT subsequently convicted three of the groups: the Nazi leadership corps, the SS (including the SD) and the Gestapo. [21] Both the SD and Gestapo released information concerning an imminent putsch by the SA. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. [129] Most of the political investigations took place between 1933 and 1935 with the all-time high of 57 cases in 1935. The Poles identified and tracked German military trains to the Eastern front and identified four Order Police battalions sent to occupied areas of the Soviet Union in October 1941 that engaged in war crimes and mass murder. [63], Between June 1942 and March 1943, student protests were calling for an end to the Nazi regime. The Gestapo was officially declared to be answerable only and only to Hitler, and could not be reviewed by the judiciary in any way. Department C (Administration and Party Affairs), central administrative office of the Gestapo, responsible for card files of all personnel including all officials. [103] The vast majority of Gestapo officers came from the police forces of the Weimar Republic; members of the SS, the SA, and the Nazi Party also joined the Gestapo but were less numerous. [83], Some Germans were convinced that it was their duty to apply all possible expedients to end the war as quickly as possible. [5] Up to 30 April 1944, at least 6,639 persons were arrested under Nacht und Nebel orders. Later on, the SS had its own special uniforms that distinguished it from other organizations such as the SA and the Gestapo. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. 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. [25] Shortly thereafter, Himmler created the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo; Criminal Police), merging it with the Gestapo into the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; Security Police), under Heydrich's command. [118] Many of the local offices were understaffed and overworked, struggling with the paper load caused by so many denunciations. 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. 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. What was the difference between the SD and the Gestapo? [157], After the war, U.S. Counterintelligence Corps employed the former Lyon Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie for his anti-communist efforts and also helped him escape to Bolivia. [d], The German opposition was in an unenviable position by the late spring and early summer of 1943. [85], In January 1933, Hermann Gring, Hitler's minister without portfolio, was appointed the head of the Prussian Police and began filling the political and intelligence units of the Prussian Secret Police with Nazi Party members. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1943, he was sent to. [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. [129] The "other" category associated with non-conformity included everything from a man who drew a caricature of Hitler to a Catholic teacher suspected of being lukewarm about teaching National Socialism in his classroom. This led to corresponding arrests, being sent to concentration camps and execution. 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. Simultaneously, Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, the Nazi paramilitary corps, together with his aide Reinhard Heydrich, similarly reorganized the police of Bavaria and the remaining German states. [113] In Germany proper, many towns and cities had fewer than 50 official Gestapo personnel. 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. The Gestapo operated without civil restraints. "[136] The Gestapo's effectiveness remained in the ability to "project" omnipotencethey co-opted the assistance of the German population by using denunciations to their advantage; proving in the end a powerful, ruthless and effective organ of terror under the Nazi regime that was seemingly everywhere. 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. Additionally, many of its members were handed over to the armed forces. [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 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). These three organizations always rivaled each other and their competences often overlapped. [29] The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue the state to conform to laws. 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. Opposition became more difficult. [28] He answered to Heydrich, Heydrich answered only to Himmler, and Himmler answered only to Hitler. 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. These cookies do not store any personal information. [59] Over 2,700 Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox clergy were imprisoned at Dachau alone. 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 . The Geheime Staatspolizei (transl. [32] The Gestapo became Amt IV (Department IV) of RSHA and Mller became the Gestapo Chief, with Heydrich as his immediate superior. 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.) We hope the above sections have made the identification of all three organizations clearer. A similar co-ordination existed in the local offices. "[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. 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. Abfraction is a common dental problem caused by the flexing of teeth during biting and . 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. [153][f], Leaders, organisers, investigators and accomplices participating in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit the crimes specified were declared responsible for all acts performed by any persons in execution of such plan. Discussions on all aspects of the SS and Polizei. [118] The information supplied by denunciations often led the Gestapo in determining who was arrested. 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. [25] This action effectively merged the police into the SS and removed it from Frick's control. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The Gestapo was the political police force of the Nazi state. Abwehr was the German military intelligence organization. After another two or three years in that grade, the female detective could advance to Kriminalobersekretrin. by Schmauser 13 Aug 2002, 13:44, Post by Peter J. Hertel 16 Aug 2002, 05:52, Return to The Phil Nix SS & Polizei section. [66] According to Gestapo case files, the majority of those arrested for homosexuality were males between eighteen and twenty-five years of age. [145] Many of the auxiliary police personnel operating on behalf of German Order Police, the SD, and Gestapo were members of the Schutzmannschaft, which included staffing by Ukrainians, Belorussians, Russians, Estonians, Lithuanians, and Latvians. There were reports that Mller ended up in the foreign secret service at Washington D.C., some allege he was in Moscow working for the Soviets, still others claimed he escaped to South Americabut none of the myths have ever been proven; all of which adds to the "mysterious power of the Gestapo". 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. The Jewish Question needed to be solved, and it was the SS who took up the job. Student opposition leaders were executed in late February, and a major opposition organisation, the Oster Circle, was destroyed in April 1943. 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. At the beginning of the war, the Gestapo employed about 40,000 men. Though the Gestapo, the SS, and the SA were all created to serve Hitler and his Nazi regime, they differed somewhat in their functioning and the way they were controlled. by Starinov 12 Aug 2002, 21:51, Post The Gestapo was somewhat of a division of the SS, making SS the parent organization. Some participants were sent to concentration camps. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. [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). The Gestapo is a short-lived police organization that existed around 1934-1939 only while the SS is longer since they existed for sixteen years around 1929-1945 before being abolished. Whereas the Gestapo agents, were mostly of police background. Hitler's 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. by Wilfried Abenaschon 13 Aug 2002, 02:31, Post Rhm wanted the SA to be run like the German Army, and he went about creating a structural hierarchy in the organization, a general staff, a training college, and placed Hitler himself at the very top of the hierarchy he had created. Frick did not have the political power to take on Gring by himself so he allied with Himmler. With Frick's support, Himmler (pushed on by his right-hand man, Reinhard Heydrich) took over the political police in state-after-state. Already in early June, Fearful of an internal overthrow, the forces of the Gestapo were unleashed on the opposition. [25] This action effectively merged the police into the SS and removed it from Frick's control. Rhm had been one of the earliest supporters of Hitler and was a personal friend to him too. [120], After 1939, when many Gestapo personnel were called up for war-related work such as service with the Einsatzgruppen, the level of overwork and understaffing at the local offices increased. Three othersHans Fritzsche, Hjalmar Schacht, and Franz von Papenwere acquitted. There were plenty of intelligence agencies in Nazi Germany with overlapping portfolios. The Gestapo committed widespread atrocities during its existence. [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. The Abwehr was the German military intelligence organization from 1866 to 1944. by Phil Nix 01 Feb 2004, 12:16. In an attempt to assassinate Hitler, Stauffenberg planted a bomb underneath a conference table inside the Wolf's Lair field headquarters. The Gestapo was somewhat of a division of the SS, making SS the parent organization. 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. [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. 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. In 1939, the SA was largely used as a training center for the Army when the war started. Post the Night of Long Knives, the SA had downsized in its power and value. [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". [33] After Heydrich's 1942 assassination, Himmler assumed the leadership of the RSHA until January 1943, when Ernst Kaltenbrunner was appointed chief. Under his leadership, the SS grew to a sizable organization of over 2,50,000 members. In 1929 General Kurt von Schleicher combined all service units under his Ministry of Defence. 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. [11] Gring took over the Gestapo in 1934 and urged Hitler to extend the agency's authority throughout Germany. Soon only Prussia was left. The SS also identified and arrested Jews in the German-occupied territories. The killing units wiped out entire villages as a result. The gestapo were Nazi Germany's brutal secret-police. With its dramatic rise to power, the SA began to slowly assume themselves to be somewhat of a replacement to the German Army. Even a Gestapo Agent would understand it now! The SS initially had an all-black uniform specially designed for its men, which was replaced by uniforms in camouflaging colors during the war. 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). [91], As a result of its 1936 merger with the Kripo (National criminal police) to form sub-units of the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; Security Police), the Gestapo was officially classified as a government agency. 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. [139] Much like their affiliated organisations, the SS and the SD, the Gestapo "played a leading part" in enslaving and deporting workers from occupied territory, torturing and executing civilians, singling out and murdering Jews, and subjecting Allied prisoners of war to terrible treatment. In late 1933, the Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick wanted to integrate all the police forces of the German states under his control. Further promotions to Kriminalkommissarin and Kriminalrtin were also possible. [113] In Dsseldorf, the local Gestapo office of only 281 men were responsible for the entire Lower Rhine region, which comprised 4 million people. 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. [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. The SS officer Werner Best, one-time head of legal affairs in the Gestapo,[30] summed up this policy by saying, "As long as the police carries out the will of the leadership, it is acting legally".[31]. [129] The "conventional criminality" category concerned economic crimes such as money laundering, smuggling and homosexuality.

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