Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. It was formed in 1933. It was led by Hermann Göring, Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Himmler. It became part of the Schutzstaffel (SS) in 1939.

Hermann Göring, the Minister-President of Prussia, formed the unit in 1933. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of SS national leader Heinrich Himmler. In 1936, Himmler was appointed Chief of German Police (Chef der Deutschen Polizei) by Hitler.

The name stands for Geheime Staatspolizei. This means "secret state police". It was under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel.

The Gestapo were allowed to arrest people that offended the government. The government could use the secret police to accuse and arrest anyone they wanted without being questioned. They were important to the SS in enforcing The Holocaust.

Gestapo Media

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  Rudolf Diels, first Commander of the Gestapo; 1933–1934

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  Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Göring at the meeting to formally hand over control of the Gestapo (Berlin, 1934)

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  1938 Gestapo border inspection stamp applied when leaving Germany

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  Photograph from 1939: shown from left to right are Franz Josef Huber, Arthur Nebe, Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Müller planning the investigation of the bomb assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on 8 November 1939 in Munich.

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  Heinrich Müller, Chief of the Gestapo; 1939–1945

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  Members of the Geheime Staatspolizei in Klatovy 1939-1945

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  Gestapo building at Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8, after the 1945 bombing

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  German Gestapo agents arrested after the liberation of Liège, Belgium are pictured in a cell at the Citadel of Liège, October 1944

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  Rang insignia of the SS/Waffen-SS, here universal collar patches to the NCO-rank/ Officer Aspirant rank “SS-Oberscharfuehrer/SS-Standartenjunker” until 1945.

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  Rang insignia of the SS/Waffen-SS, here universal collar patches to the NCO-rank/ Officer Aspirant rank “SS-Hauptscharfuehrer/SS-Standartenoberjunker” until 1945.