Gestapo
Nazi Germany secret police / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Geheime Staatspolizei (German pronunciation: [ɡəˈhaɪmə ˈʃtaːtspoliˌtsaɪ] (
listen); transl. "Secret State Police"), abbreviated Gestapo (/ɡəˈstɑːpoʊ/ gə-STAH-poh, German: [ɡəˈʃtaːpo] (listen)),[3] was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
| Geheime Staatspolizei | |
.svg) | |
 Gestapo headquarters at 8 Prinz Albrecht Street in Berlin (1933) | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 26 April 1933 |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Dissolved | 8 May 1945 |
| Type | Secret police |
| Jurisdiction | Germany and Occupied Europe |
| Headquarters | Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8, Berlin 52°30′25″N 13°22′58″E |
| Employees | 32,000 (1944 est.)[1] |
| Ministers responsible |
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| Agency executives |
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| Parent agency | Allgemeine SS RSHA Sicherheitspolizei |
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organisation. On 20 April 1934, oversight of the Gestapo passed to the head of the Schutzstaffel (SS), Heinrich Himmler, who was also appointed Chief of German Police by Hitler in 1936. Instead of being exclusively a Prussian state agency, the Gestapo became a national one as a sub-office of the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; Security Police). From 27 September 1939, it was administered by the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). It became known as Amt (Dept) 4 of the RSHA and was considered a sister organisation to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service). During World War II, the Gestapo played a key role in the Holocaust. After the war ended, the Gestapo was declared a criminal organisation by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at the Nuremberg trials.