difference between abwehr and gestapo

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 . [115] The Gestapo office in Saarbrcken had 50 full-term informers in 1939. [73] From the mid-1930s into the early 1940svarious groups made up of communists, idealists, working-class people, and far-right conservative opposition organisations covertly fought against Hitler's government, and several of them fomented plots that included Hitler's assassination. The Geheime Staatspolizei (transl. 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. Some participants were sent to concentration camps. What is the difference between the SD and the Gestapo? [138], As an instrument of Nazi power, terror, and repression, the Gestapo operated throughout occupied Europe. The Gestapo was officially declared to be answerable only and only to Hitler, and could not be reviewed by the judiciary in any way. The Gestapo aided and supported the mobile killing units, and even provided its men for the same. 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. 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. to the Allies. This article was most recently revised and updated by, Gestapo - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 18:29. 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. Frick did not have the political power to take on Gring by himself so he allied with Himmler. 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. [48] As a preface to this action, Hitler decreed May 1 as National Labor Day to celebrate German workers, a move the trade union leaders welcomed. Hitler wanted an organization not similar but somewhat linked to the SA that would personally guard Hitler and other important Nazi officials. 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]. 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. [121] 80% of all Gestapo investigations were started in response to information provided by denunciations by ordinary Germans; while 10% were started in response to information provided by other branches of the German government and another 10% started in response to information that the Gestapo itself unearthed. [125] The Gestapo always showed a special interest in denunciations concerning sexual matters, especially cases concerning Rassenschande with Jews or between Germans and foreigners, in particular Polish slave workers; the Gestapo applied even harsher methods to the foreign workers in the country, especially those from Poland,[126] Jews, Catholics and homosexuals. The stricter laws did not apply to lesbians as their behaviour was never officially criminalised, even though their behaviours were labelled "deviant". [83], Some Germans were convinced that it was their duty to apply all possible expedients to end the war as quickly as possible. [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. In 1929 General Kurt von Schleicher combined all service units under his Ministry of Defence. [104][e] Some locals aided the Gestapo, whether as professional police auxiliaries or in other duties. [26] The Gestapo became a national state agency. [67] However, resistance groups and those who were in moral or political opposition to the Nazis were stalled by the fear of reprisals from the Gestapo. Sign up to receive the latest and greatest articles from our site automatically each week (give or take)right to your inbox. The Jewish Question needed to be solved, and it was the SS who took up the job. [140] To this end, the Gestapo was "a vital component both in Nazi repression and the Holocaust. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. In addition, political prisoners throughout Germanyand from 1941, throughout the occupied territories under the Night and Fog Decree (German: Nacht und Nebel)simply disappeared while in Gestapo custody. Complaints from the Waffen-SS led to a change of rank insignia shoulder boards from those of the Waffen-SS to those of the Ordnungspolizei. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Secret State Police), abbreviated Gestapo (German: [tapo]; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. Abfraction is a common dental problem caused by the flexing of teeth during biting and . After his escape, he rejoined the army as a Hauptmann, with seniority dating from May 1st of 1934. . GESTAPO short for geheime Staatspolizei formed in Prussia by Goring . However, this fact was cashed upon to invite empathy from the public as well as to add shock value. [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. Hosted by Andrey. Gestapo members Hermann Gring, Ernst Kaltenbrunner and Arthur Seyss-Inquart were individually convicted. Rhms leadership and not-so-secret desire of merging with the Army made many senior Nazi officials feel threatened. Those who were arrested were tried, and sent to prison or were executed, depending on their role in the Gestapo. 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. 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The power of the Gestapo was used to focus upon political opponents, ideological dissenters (clergy and religious organisations), career criminals, the Sinti and Roma population, handicapped persons, homosexuals, and above all, the Jews. Post the Night of Long Knives, the SA had downsized in its power and value. 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. [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. After the war ended, the Gestapo was declared a criminal organisation by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at the Nuremberg trials, and several top Gestapo members were sentenced to death. We hope the above sections have made the identification of all three organizations clearer. Soon afterward, Gring detached the political and intelligence sections from the police and filled their ranks with Nazis. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. [64][c] Between 1933 and 1935, some 4,000 men were arrested; between 1936 and 1939, another 30,000 men were convicted. The SS was given the complete authority of all the concentration camps in Germany as well as the occupied regions after 1934. [107] Over time, membership in the Gestapo included ideological training, particularly once Werner Best assumed a leading role for training in April 1936. The killed SA members were further demeaned by making their homosexuality public. 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. With their trade union flags waving, Hitler gave a rousing speech to the 1.5 million people assembled on Berlin's Tempelhofer Feld that was nationally broadcast, during which he extolled the nation's revival and working class solidarity. Instead of being exclusively a Prussian state agency, the Gestapo became a national one as a sub-office of the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; Security Police). Abwehr. [103] By March 1937, the Gestapo employed an estimated 6,500 people in fifty-four regional offices across the Reich. [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. They were taught that the SS was not only an elite group in the Nazi regime, but also in all of humanity. Himmler was given command over Grings Gestapo in April 1934. 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. To claim that Josef Jakobs was a "Gestapo agent" is to fail to understand the difference between the Secret State Police and the Army. [41], In Austria, there were groups still loyal to the Habsburgs, who unlike most across the Greater German Reich, remained determined to resist the Nazis. Department C (Administration and Party Affairs), central administrative office of the Gestapo, responsible for card files of all personnel including all officials. by Phil Nix 01 Feb 2004, 12:16. Many others were beaten and tortured to death. Many of the men employed by the Gestapo were former criminals and extremists who were ideal for committing the atrocities the Nazi regime had planned. [70], Between 1934 and 1938, opponents of the Nazi regime and their fellow travellers began to emerge. Arrests, torture, and executions were common. Thereafter, there was a show trial overseen by Roland Freisler, followed by their execution. 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. Answer (1 of 3): There were three secret services/police in the Third Reich. The SS initially had an all-black uniform specially designed for its men, which was replaced by uniforms in camouflaging colors during the war. [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. The Geheime Staatspolizei (German pronunciation: [ham tatspolitsa] (listen); transl. [66] According to Gestapo case files, the majority of those arrested for homosexuality were males between eighteen and twenty-five years of age. [51] For their part, this was the first time the Gestapo operated under its new name since its 26 April 1933 founding in Prussia. [143] Correspondingly, Gestapo offices were established in a territory once occupied. [56][b], In an effort to counter the strength and influence of spiritual resistance, Nazi records reveal that the Gestapo's Referat B1 monitored the activities of bishops very closelyinstructing that agents be set up in every diocese, that the bishops' reports to the Vatican should be obtained and that the bishops' areas of activity must be found out. [129] After that year, political investigations declined with only 18 investigations in 1938, 13 in 1939, two in 1941, seven in 1942, four in 1943 and one in 1944. [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. Both the Gestapo and Kripo became distinct departments within the RSHA. The political section could order prisoners to be murdered, tortured, or released. Opposition became more difficult. At that time, the SS consisted of approximately 300 members. [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. [151][152] Nineteen of the 22 were convicted, and twelveMartin Bormann (in absentia), Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Hermann Gring, Alfred Jodl, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg, Fritz Sauckel, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Julius Streicherwere given the death penalty. [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 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. [13] Also on that date, Hitler appointed Himmler chief of all German police outside Prussia. The sole purpose of SS is supposedly to protect the top leader Nazi Hitler. [79] Despite the fear of the Gestapo after mass arrests and executions in the spring, the opposition still plotted and planned. TL;DR: The Gestapo was the secret police that hunted down enemies of the Reich, while the SS were the brain-child of Himmler, a specially trained division of the military which participated in everything from invasions to crimes against humanity. Most SiPo members joined the SS and held a rank in both organisations. It was also largely responsible for planning and carrying out the Holocaust. 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. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. 6789 Quail Hill Pkwy, Suite 211 Irvine CA 92603. 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.

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