Gestapo

The {{Audio|De-Gestapo.ogg|Gestapo}} (acronym of Geheime Staatspolizei; "secret state police") was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Under the overall administration of the SS, it was administrated by the RSHA and was considered a dual organization of the Sicherheitsdienst and also a suboffice of the Sicherheitspolizei.

Organization

When the Gestapo was founded, the organization was already a well-established bureaucratic mechanism, having been created out of the already existing Prussian Secret Police. In 1934, the Gestapo was transferred from the Prussian Interior Ministry to the authority of the SS, and for the next five years the Gestapo underwent a massive expansion.

Related Topics:
Prussian Secret Police - SS

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In 1939, the entire Gestapo was placed under the authority of the RSHA, a main office of the SS. Within the RSHA, the Gestapo was known as "Amt IV". The internal organization of the group was as follows:

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Referat N: Central Intelligence Office

The Central Command Office of the Gestapo, formed in 1941. Before 1939, the Gestapo command was under the authority of the office of the Sicherheitspolizei und SD, to which answered the Commanding General of the Gestapo. Between 1939 and 1941, the Gestapo was run directly through the overall command of the Reichsicherheitshauptamt (RSHA).

Related Topics:
Sicherheitspolizei - SD

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Department A (Enemies)

• Communists (A1)
• Countersabotage (A2)
• Reactionaries and Liberals (A3)
• Assassinations (A4)

Department B (Sects and Churches)

• Catholics (B1)
• Protestants (B2)
• Freemasons (B3)
• Jews (B4)

Department C (Administration and Party Affairs)

The central administrative office of the Gestapo, responsible for card files of all personnel.

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Department D (Occupied Territories)

• Opponents of the Regime (D1)
• Churches and Sects (D2)
• Records and Party Matters (D3)
• Western Territories (D4)
• Counter-espionage (D5)
• Alients (D6)

Department E (Counter-Intelligence)

• In the Reich (E1)
• Policy Formation (E2)
• In the West (E3)
• In Scandinavia (E4)
• In the East (E5)
• In the South (E6)

Department F (Frontier and Border Police)

The border guards of Germany answered directly to the Gestapo as an effort to keep close track of immigration and emigration to and from the Reich. After the start of the Second World War, the office of the Border Police lost most of its authority to the German military, who patrolled the borders of Germany and the occupied territories as part of counter efforts to an Allied invasion.

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Local Offices

The local offices of the Gestapo were known as Gestapostellen and Gestapoleitstellen. These offices answered to a local commander known as the Inspektor der Sicherheitspolizei und SD who, in turn, was under the dual command of Referat N of the Gestapo and also local SS and Police Leaders. The classic image of the Gestapo officer, dressed in trench coat and hat, can be attributed to Gestapo personnel assigned to local offices in German cities and larger towns.

Related Topics:
SS and Police Leader - Trench coat - Hat

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Auxiliary Duties

The Gestapo also maintained offices at all Concentration Camps, held an office on the staff of the SS and Police Leaders, and supplied personnel on an as-needed basis to such formations as the Einsatzgruppen. Such personnel, assigned to these auxiliary duties, were typically removed from the Gestapo chain of command and fell under the authority of other branches of the SS.

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