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 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 ...

(''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 orga ...

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 Europ ...

. Led by SS-''

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 ''Oberstu ...

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
'' 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 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 Naz ...

: 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 Hi ...

::Amt IV (

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 ...

::::IV-B-4 (Jews)

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
'' 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 d ...

::::::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. He a ...

, 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 Europ ...

Notes

Works cited

* * *

Hierarchy

Notes

Works cited

Further reading