''Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei'' (Main Office of the Security Police) was a central state police agency command office in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

entrusted with overseeing the ''Kriminalpolizei'' (Criminal Police;

Kripo ''Kriminalpolizei'' (, "criminal police") is the standard term for the criminal investigation agency within the police forces of Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland. In Nazi Germany, the Kripo was the criminal polic ...

) and the ''Geheime Staatspolizei'' (Secret State Police;

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

) for the years 1936–1939.

Foundation

On 17 June 1936 all police forces throughout Germany were united, following

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's appointment of

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

as Chief of German Police. Himmler immediately reorganised the police into two groups: the ''

Ordnungspolizei The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...

'' (Order Police; Orpo), consisting of both the national uniformed police and the municipal police, and the ''

Sicherheitspolizei The ''Sicherheitspolizei'' ( en, Security Police), often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Germany for security police. In the Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the ...

'' (Security Police; SiPo), consisting of the Kripo and Gestapo.

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...

was appointed chief of the SiPo and was already head of the party ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

'' (Security Service; SD) and the Gestapo. In 1936, the ''Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei'' was founded by Himmler, in order to create a centralized command office under Nazi control of the German criminal investigation and secret state police organizations. Therefore, the central office of the national criminal police department, then known as the ''

Reichskriminalpolizeiamt ''Reichskriminalpolizeiamt'' (RKPA), was Nazi Germany's central criminal investigation department, founded in 1936 after the Prussian central criminal investigation department ''(Landeskriminalpolizeiamt)'' became the national criminal investigati ...

'' (RKPA), along with the central office of the Gestapo were integrated into the ''Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei'' under Heydrich's overall command. In September 1939, the ''Reichssicherheitshauptamt'' or

Reich Security Main Office The Reich Security Main Office (german: Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and ''Reichsführer-SS'', the head of the Nazi ...

(RSHA) was created as the command organization for the various state investigation and security agencies. The ''Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei'' was officially abolished and its departments were folded into the RSHA. The Gestapo became Amt IV (Department IV) and the ''Reichskriminalpolizeiamt'' became Amt V (Department V), the ''Kriminalpolizei'' in the RSHA.

Organization

''Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei'' was organized as a central office with three branches.''Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei''
Retrieved 2012-06-11. * ''Hauptbüro'' (central office): Reinhard Heydrich; deputy: Siegfried Taubert * ''Amt Verwaltung und Recht'' (administration and law branch) with nine groups:

Werner Best Karl Rudolf Werner Best (10 July 1903 – 23 June 1989) was a German jurist, police chief, SS-''Obergruppenführer'', Nazi Party leader, and theoretician from Darmstadt. He was the first chief of Department 1 of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany's secret ...

** V.1 Law: Karl Zindel ** V.2 Finances: Rudolf Siegert ** V.3 Personnel I (

): Hans-Joachim Tesmer ** V.4 Personnel II (

): Johannes Thiele ** V.5 Training: Johannes Thiele ** V.6 Passports and identification cards: Johannes Krause ** V.7

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

och border police: Dr Wetz ** V.8

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

och national defense:

Heinz Jost Heinz Jost (9 July 1904 – 12 November 1964) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He was involved in espionage matters as the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (Security Service) or (SD) section chief of office VI (foreign intelligence) of the ...

** V.9 Technology: Walter Staudinger * ''Amt Politische Polizei'' (political police branch) with two divisions and nine groups: **PP.IIA Communists and other marxists **PP.IIB Churches, sects, political refugees, Jews, and free masons **PP.IIC Reactionary opposition, Austria **PP.IID Protective custody,

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

**PP.IIE Economy, social policy, associations **PP.IIG Broadcasting surveillance **PP.IIH Party matters **PP.IIJ

**PP.IIP Press **PP.IIS

Homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

s **PP.III Counter espionage * ''Amt Kriminalpolizei'' (criminal investigation branch) with three divisions: ** S-Kr.1: Johannes Krause ** S-Kr.2: Karl Zindel ** S-Kr.3: Johannes Thiele

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei Government of Nazi Germany Police forces of Nazi Germany Police of Nazi Germany Reinhard Heydrich