Reich Security Head Office Referat IV B4, known as RSHA IV B4 (German: ' IV D4 until March 1941, or ''Judenreferat''), was a sub-department of Germany's Reich Security Head Office (''Reichssicherheitshauptamt'' or RSHA) and the
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 ...
during
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
Obersturmbannführer
__NOTOC__
''Obersturmbannführer'' (Senior Assault-unit Leader; ; short: ''Ostubaf'') was a paramilitary rank in the German Nazi Party (NSDAP) which was used by the SA (''Sturmabteilung'') and the SS (''Schutzstaffel''). The rank of ''Obersturm ...
German-occupied Europe
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
, and specifically for the deportation of Jews from outside Poland to concentration or extermination camps. Within Poland, the liquidation of the
ghettos
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
and transport of Jews was handled by the SS and local police departments.
Following a reorganization of the RSHA, in March 1941 Eichmann's Office changed name and remit from ''Group of countries IV D'' (''Ländergruppe IV D'') to ''Group of churches IV B'' (''Kirchengruppe IV B''), and was finally called ''Referat IV B 4''. RSHA IV B4 managed the categorization of Jews, the imposition of anti-Jewish legislation in the country concerned, the eventual removal of Jews from that country, and their deportation to a camp and usually the gas chamber. Unit IV B4 was also in charge of the
Reich Association of Jews in Germany
The Reich Association of Jews in Germany (german: Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland), also called the ''new one'' for clear differentiation, was a Jewish umbrella organisation formed in Nazi Germany in February 1939. The Association branc ...
, which oversaw all Jewish organizations.
Jews were carried to the camps in freight trains that had to be booked and paid for. The
Deutsche Reichsbahn
The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...
(German state railway) charged a one-way fare for the deportees and a return fare for the guards. The RSHA was billed for trains carrying Jews.
Hierarchy
Unit IV B4 was based in Kurfürstenstraße 115/116, Berlin. The hierarchy, according to
Raul Hilberg
Raul Hilberg (June 2, 1926 – August 4, 2007) was a Jewish Austrian-born American political scientist and historian. He was widely considered to be the preeminent scholar on the Holocaust. Christopher R. Browning has called him the founding fath ...
, was:
:
RSHA
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 ...
: led by
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 ...
until his death in June 1942, followed by
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 ...
and
Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 190316 October 1946) was a high-ranking Austrian SS official during the Nazi era and a major perpetrator of the Holocaust. After the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942, and a brief period under Heinrich ...
::Amt IV (
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 ...
):
Heinrich Müller Heinrich Müller may refer to:
* Heinrich Müller (cyclist) (born 1926), Swiss cyclist
* Heinrich Müller (footballer, born 1888) (1888–1957), Swiss football player and manager
* Heinrich Müller (footballer, born 1909) (1909–2000), Austrian ...
:::IV-B (Sects):
Albert Hartl
Albert Hartl (1904–1982) was a former Catholic priest in Germany who joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) in 1933 and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD, an intelligence agency) the following year.
Early life and education
Har ...
Rolf Günther
Rolf Günther (8 January 1913 – August 1945) was a German functionary who served in the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) as an ''Sturmbannführer'' and who acted as deputy to Adolf Eichmann. He first joined the '' Sturmabteilung'' (SA) in 1929 and became ...
::::::General matters: Fritz Wöhrn
::::::Transport:
Franz Novak
Franz Novak (10 January 1913 – 21 October 1983Berndt Rieger: ''Der Fahrdienstleiter des Todes. Franz Novak, der transportexperte Eichmanns. Eine Biographie'', Norderstedt 2001, S.127f) was an Austrian SS-''Hauptsturmführer'' (captain). He w ...
::::::"Single cases": Ernst Moes
:::::IV-B-4-b (Law):
Friedrich Suhr
Friedrich Suhr (6 May 1907 – 31 May 1946) was a German lawyer and SS-''Obersturmbannführer''. He worked in the Reich Security Main Office under Adolf Eichmann. During the Second World War, he led Einsatzkommando death squads in Ukraine. H ...
, followed by Otto Hunsche
::::::Deputy: Otto Hunsche
::::::Finance and property: Richard Gutwasser
::::::Foreign areas:
Friedrich Boßhammer
Friedrich Boßhammer (1906–1972) was a German jurist, SS-'' Sturmbannführer'' and close associate of Adolf Eichmann, responsible for the deportation of the Italian Jews to extermination camps from January 1944 until the end of the war in Euro ...