General Directorate of Imperial Security

(RSHA)

General Directorate of Imperial Security (Reichssicherheitshauptamt, RSHA) was the governing body of the political intelligence and security police of the Third Reich. Created on September 27, 1939 as a result of the merger of the Reichsführer SS Main Security Office (Sicherheitshauptamt RfSS) and the Security Police Headquarters (Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei), established in 1935 and 1936, respectively.

Security Service ( SD) was at first the internal party security service of the NSDAP, since 1932 - the security service of the Reichsfuehrer SS (Sicherheitsdienst Reichsführer-SS, abbr. - SD), since 1935 - General Directorate of Security of the Reichsfuehrer SS (Sicherheitshauptamt RfSS).

General Directorate of Imperial Security(RSHA) was one of the 12 main directorates of the SS with a staff of 3,000. It was personally subordinate to the Reichsfuehrer SS and the chief of the German police, Heinrich Himmler.

The RSHA was responsible for the security of the state (German Reich) from external and internal enemies and controlled all the special services of the empire. It performed intelligence and counterintelligence functions in Germany and abroad. His activities also included the fight against crime, spying on "dissidents" and the study of public opinion.

Designation "RSHA" was semi-official and was used almost exclusively in the internal documentation of the SS, and was never called so officially in the press or in correspondence with other organizations. The head of the Imperial Main Directorate of Imperial Security was called the "Chief of the Security Police and SD".

Head of the RSHA was appointed SS Obergruppenfuehrer and Police General Reinhard Heydrich, who led this organization until May 27, 1942, when an attempt was made on his life by Czech partisans. On June 4, Heydrich died. From that time until January 30, 1943, the General Directorate of Imperial Security (RSHA) was personally headed by the Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler.

First Chief of the General Directorate of Imperial Security
SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich

On January 30, 1943, SS Obergruppenfuehrer and Police General Dr. Ernst Kaltenbrunner, who held this post until the surrender of the Third Reich.

Chief of the General Directorate of Imperial Security
SS Obergruppenführer and Police General Ernst Kaltenbrunner

Structure
General Directorate of Imperial Security

At first, there were 6 departments in the RSHA. Since September 1940, there were 7 departments - due to the reorganization of 1 department (administrative and legal), from which two were formed. At the same time, the controls were renamed and their tasks were changed.

I DEPARTMENT (personnel).

The service of the personnel of the RSHA.I -th department was engaged in personnel issues, professional and sports training of the RSHA employees, the investigation of official crimes, etc.

Leaders:

SS Oberfuehrer Karl Rudolf Werner Best (from the moment of creation until 06/12/1940),

SS Gruppenführer, then SS Obergruppenführer and Police General Bruno Streckenbach
(06/12/1940 - 12/31/1942),

SS Brigadeführer and Police Major General Erwin Schultz (January - November 1943),

SS Oberfuehrer Erich Erlinger (04/01/1943 - May 1945),

SS Standartenfuehrer Frake Grikske (May 1945).

I A: personnel (chief - Brunner) - with abstracts:

- I A 1: general personnel issues;
- I A 2: personal files of the Gestapo employees;
- I A З: personal files of the criminal police officers;
- I A 4: personal files of the staff of the Board of Directors;
- I A 5: personal files of members of the NSDAP and SS;
- I A 6: social security.

I B: education and upbringing (head - Schultz) - with abstracts:

- I B 1: ideological education;
- I B 2: the younger generation;
- I B 3: preparation of curricula for colleges and schools;
- I B 4: continuing education programs.

I C: physical development (supervisor - von Daniels) - with abstracts:

- I C 1: general physical education;
- I C 2: physical education schools and military training.

I D: inspection (concurrently - Bruno Streckenbach) - with abstracts:

- I D 1: investigation of official crimes;
- I D 2: Investigation of internal disciplinary cases.

II DEPARTMENT (administrative)

The Administrative and Economic Department of the RSHA (created on the basis of the 1st Directorate after the reorganization of the RSHA in 1941), was engaged in maintaining the entire accounting department of the Main Directorate of Imperial Security, supply and technical support, organizing other departments of the RSHA, legal and legal issues.

Leaders:

Oberführer / SS Brigadeführer Werner Best (from inception until July 1940),

SS Standartenfuehrer Hans Nockemann (from July 1940 to June 1941),

SS Standartenfuehrer Rudolf Siegert (from June 1941 to January 1943),

SS Standartenfuehrer Kurt Pritzel (January 1943 to June 1944),

SS Standartenfuehrer Josef Spazil (from June 1944 until the surrender).

The department was subdivided into four departments:

II A organization and legal issues - with abstracts:

- II A 1: organization of SD and security police;
- II A 2: legislation;
- II A 3: legal relations, claims for damages;
- II A 4: issues of state defense;
- II A 5: general issues (legal definition of enemies of the people or
states, confiscation of property, deprivation of citizenship;
in the future, all these tasks were transferred to the jurisdiction of the abstract "IV B 4" of the Gestapo).

II B: issues of the passport regime and the border police (Krause). Abstracts:

- II B 1: passport service I;
- II B 2: passport service II;
- II B 3: expulsion from the country and identification file;
- II B 4: organization of border police and border protection issues.

II C a: budget and economy of the security police (Siegert) - with abstracts:

- II C 1: budget and pay;
- II C 2: supply and material costs;
- II C 3: accommodation of personnel, issues of accommodation of arrested persons;
- II C 4: economic.

II C b: SD budget and economy - with abstracts:

- II C 5: budget and pay;
- II C 6: supply, insurance, contracts, real estate, transport;
- II C 7: control and audit;
- II C 8: 6 accounting and reporting.

II D: technical support (head - Rauff) - with abstracts:

- II D 1: radio, photographic and film equipment;
- II D 2: teletypes and telephones;
- II D 3 a: transport for the needs of the security police;
- II D 3 b transport for the needs of the SD;
- II D 4: weapons;
- II D 5: air transport;
- II D 6: distribution of technical funds.

III DEPARTMENT (SD - internal political service)

The organ of the party is the operational service of internal political intelligence and counterintelligence. Official name - Security Service / Germany (Sicherheitsdients / Deutschland). She was engaged in the study and supervision of all spheres of German public life, the service was also engaged in the study of ideological opponents and the development of strategies to combat them, as well as compiling reports on the mood of the population, material for which was supplied by numerous informants. The summaries were regularly transmitted to the top leaders of the NSDAP and the state, and were the only objective source of information about the real situation in the country. However, under pressure from the party nomenklatura, which did not like the SD interference in its affairs, Himmler was forced in 1944 to ban the compilation of reports.

The main territorial unit of the SD was the main section (SD-Leitabschnitt), which was divided into several sections (SD-Abschnitt). The headquarters of the main sections of the SD were located in the same place as the main departments of the secret state police (Stapo-Leitstellen), and the headquarters of the SD sections were located in the same place as the offices of the secret state police (Stapo-Stellen). These regional offices received direct orders from the chief of the security police and SD in Berlin. They also reported to the Security Police and SD inspectors. (Inspekteur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD; IdS). In the occupied countries, the local SD offices were coordinated with the security police departments under the leadership of the security police and SD commanders. (Kommandeur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD; KdS), who were subordinate to the commanders of the security police and SD (Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD; BdS), who answered directly to the chief of the security police and SD in Berlin.

By the end of the war, there were 300-400 employees in the central administrative apparatus, and taking into account the local SD bodies - about 25,000-30,000 people.

Supervisor: Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, CC Gruppenfuehrer and Lieutenant General of Police Otto Ohlendorf.

The management consisted of 5 departments:

III A: issues of law and government (head - Gengenbach)
- with abstracts:

- III A 1: general issues of public life;
- III A 2: legal issues and courts;
- III A 3: legislation and administration;
- III A 4: study of the life of the population (the abstract regularly compiled reports
on the general mood and behavior of the population).
- III A5: issues of police law and police law.

III B: Germanic ethnic community (Germanism), national relations
(head - Elikh) - with abstracts:

- III B 1: strengthening the national spirit;
- III B 2: national minorities;
- III B 3: issues of race and health of the nation;
- III B 4: issues of immigration and resettlement;
- III B 5: occupied territories.

III C: the sphere of culture and media (head - Spengler) - with abstracts:

- III C 1: science;
- III C 2: public education and religious life;
- III C 3: arts and folk art;
- III C 4: press, publishing, radio.

III D: the sphere of economics and industry - with abstracts:

- III D 1: food industry,
- III D 2: trade, transport, crafts;
- III D 3: finance, foreign exchange operations, banks and stock exchanges, insurance companies;
- III D 4: industry and energy;
- III D 5: Labor Force Issues and Social Issues.
- III D West: Occupied Western Areas.
- III D Ost: occupied eastern regions.

Later, department III E was formed, which was engaged in the so-called "honorary agents", that is, espionage in high society.

IV DEPARTMENT (secret state police - Gestapo)

The organ of the state is the operational service for the search and destruction of the enemies of the Nazi regime. Other major tasks of the secret state police (Geheime Staatspolizei, Gestapo) there were counterintelligence and border guards.

The Gestapo used executive power (the power to make arrests) in the area of ​​political crimes.

The Gestapo had an extensive network throughout the Reich. There were several main types of local organizations: the main offices of the Gestapo (Staatspolizeileitstellen), the offices of the Gestapo (Staatspolizeistellen) and the commissariats of the Gestapo and border police (Stapo-Grenzpolizei-Kommissariate).

By the end of the war, the total number of employees of the secret state police reached 45 thousand people. The central office had 1,500 employees.

Supervisor: Reich Crime Director SS Gruppenfuehrer and Police Lieutenant General Heinrich Müller... The department consisted of six departments:

IV A: opponents of Nazism, anti-sabotage measures, security service (chief - Obersturmbannführer Oberregirungsrat Panzinger) - with abstracts:

- IV A 1: communist, Marxist and ideologically close political organizations and movements, war crimes, illegal and enemy propaganda;

- IV A 2: general counterintelligence, combating sabotage and sabotage, conducting political and police counterintelligence;

- IV A 3: reactionary, oppositional, legitimist, liberal, émigré political organizations and movements, issues of "perfidy" (other than those that were in charge of abstract IV A 1 ");

- IV A 4: security service, prevention and prevention of attempts, outdoor surveillance, police supervision, special assignments, operational search.

IV B: political activities of religious organizations and sects, Jews, Freemasons (head - Hartl) - with abstracts:

P; - IV В 1: political activity of the Catholic Church;

- IV B 2: political activity of the Protestant church, sect;

- IV B 3: other confessions, freemasonry;

- IV B 4: Jewish question, eviction issues.

IV C: accounting and statistics, preventive internment, preventive detention, printing, party issues (chief - Rank) - with abstracts:

- IV C 1: information processing, main card index, personal records, information bureau, “A” card index, observation of foreigners, registration of special signs;

- IV C 2: issues of preventive detention;

- IV C 3: press and printing;

- IV C 4: the party and its structural subdivisions.

- IV C 5: registration of all Gestapo agents, control over their effectiveness, the amount of remuneration, duplicates of their personal files.

IV D: work in the occupied territories, foreign workers in Germany (supervisor - Weinman) - with abstracts:

- IV D 1: issues of the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Czech Republic, observation of Czechs in the territory of the Reich, occupied territories: Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia and other regions of the former Yugoslavia, Greece;

- IV D 2: questions of the general government, observation of the Poles on the territory of the Reich;

- IV D 3: work with proxies, foreigners of hostile states;

- IV D 4: occupied territories: France, Luxembourg, Alsace and Lorraine, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark;

- IV D 5: occupied territories in the East.

IV E: counterintelligence (chief - Walter Schellenberg, until 1941) - with abstracts:

- IV E 1: general issues of counterintelligence, drawing up opinions on cases of state crimes (treason and high treason), operational support of Reich enterprises, protection of valuables and departmental security;

- IV E 2: general economic issues, economic counterintelligence;

- IV Е 3: counterintelligence in Western countries;

- IV E 4: counterintelligence in the Nordic countries;

- IV E 5: counterintelligence in the countries of the East;

- IV E b: counterintelligence in the countries of the South.

IV F: border police, passports, identity cards, surveillance of foreigners.

- IV F 1: border police;

- IV F 2: passport bureau.

"IV P": contacts with the intelligence services of the allied states, the activities of police attachés abroad, special assignments. (Since 1943, the abstract is subordinated directly to the chief of the RSHA.)

Since 1941, the chief of the Gestapo had at his disposal an additional independent unit. N "(centralization of intelligence information).

V CONTROL
(criminal police, kripo - crime fighting)

The organ of the state is the operational service in the criminal sphere. The 5th board had executive power. The tasks of the Imperial Criminal Police Directorate or Kripo (Kriminalpolizei, Kripo) included the investigation and prevention of criminal offenses, detectives, and the training of professional personnel.

The local criminal police bodies were subdivided into main departments (Kripo-Leitstellen) and departments (Kripo-Stellen). In addition, criminal police departments operated in Germany. (Saatliche Kriminalabteilungen), which were organizationally part of land administrations (Landesamt), local police departments (Polizeiamt), police directorates (Polizeidirektion) and police presidiums (Polizeipraesidium).

By the end of the war, about 12-15 thousand people worked in all these departments, divisions and directorates. The central office had up to 1200 employees.

Leaders:

- SS Gruppenfuehrer and Police Lieutenant General, Reich Crime Director Arthur Nöbe (from the day of foundation until July 20, 1944),

- SS Oberfuehrer and Police Colonel Friedrich Panzinger (July 20, 1944 to May 1945).

The department was subdivided into 4 departments:

V A: criminal police and preventive measures - policy development in the field of combating crime and crime prevention (chief - Werner) - with abstracts:

- V A 1: legal issues, international cooperation and crime research;
- V A 2: crime prevention;
- V A Z: Women's Criminal Police.

V B: operational actions (chief - Glazov) - with abstracts:

- V B 1: especially grave crimes;
- V B 2: fraud and counterfeiting;
- V B 3: crimes against morality (homosexuality);

V C: identification service and operational search (head - Berge). Abstracts:

- V C 1: Reich Central Identification Service;
- V C 2: search service.

V D: the Security Police Forensic Institute (headed by Heess).
Abstracts:

- V D 1: identification by fingerprint and appearance;
- V D 2: chemical and biological expertise;
- V D 3: examination of handwritings and documents,
- V D 4: technical laboratory.

V Wi: economic crimes.

VI DEPARTMENT (SD - foreign intelligence)

Party organ, the official name of the department - Security Service / Abroad (Sicherheitsdienst / Ausland). Was engaged in conducting political intelligence and counterintelligence abroad, the formation of "fifth columns" abroad, as well as sabotage activities. The youngest and most educated management of the RSHA, about 45% of employees were born from 1902 to 1909, and 80% of employees had higher education. The number of management is about 400 employees

Leaders:
- SS Brigadeführer and Police Major General Heinz Jost (from the day of foundation until June 22, 1941),
- SS Brigadeführer and Police Major General Walter Schellenberg(from June 22, 1941 until the end of the war).

The department was first subdivided into six departments, then into eight:

VI A: general organization of the intelligence service, control over the work of regional branches of the SD (head - Filbert) - with abstracts:

P; - VI A 1: monitoring and rechecking of all intelligence links;

- VI A 2: verification and enforcement of assigned reconnaissance tasks;

- VI A 3: control over the work of districts and sectors of the SD of the western direction;

- VI A 4: control over the work of districts and sectors of the SD of the northern direction;

- VI A 5: control over the work of the districts and sectors of the SD of the eastern direction;

- VI A 6: control over the work of the districts and sectors of the SD of the southern direction;

- VI A 7: control over the work of districts and sectors of the SD of the central direction.

VI B: leadership of intelligence activities in the zone of German-Italian influence (Europe, Africa and the Middle East). Abstracts VI B 1 - VI B 10, including:

- VI B 1: France;

- VI B 2: Spain and Portugal;

- VI B 3: North Africa.

VI C "East": leadership of intelligence activities in the zone of Russian-Japanese influence. Abstracts VI C 1 - VI C 11, including:

VI C 1: USSR;

VI C 2: limitrophe countries;

VI C 3: Far East;

VI C / Z: coordination of the activities of the special services within the Zeppelin.

Later, the department consisted of an abstract VI C 13 (Arab branch) and a special unit - Sonderreferat VI C, which was involved in the organization of sabotage and sabotage in the USSR.

VI D "West": leadership of intelligence activities in the area of ​​Anglo-American influence (chief - Theodore Pfaffgen). Abstracts VI D 1 - VI D 9, including:

- V1 D 1: reconnaissance in the US and North America;

- VI D 2: intelligence in Great Britain and Ireland;

- VI D 3: exploration in Scandinavian countries;

- VI D 4: exploration in South America;

- VI D 5 - VI D 9: other regions of Anglo-American influence.

VI E: study of ideological opponents abroad; intelligence in Southern and Eastern Europe (chief - Knochen). Abstracts:

VI E1: Italy;

VI E2: Hungary and Slovakia;

VI E3: Serbia and Croatia;

VI E4: Romania and Bulgaria;

VI E5: Greece;

VI F: technical support of exploration - development of technical means for the needs of exploration (chief - Rauff). Abstracts VI F 1 - VI F 7.

In 1942, the "VI G" (industrial espionage) department was created with the task of using scientific information and the "VI S" (sabotage and sabotage) department, which prepared and carried out "material, moral and political sabotage".

VII ADMINISTRATION

(studying the ideology of the enemy, accounting and processing information)

Party organ. The VIIth Directorate of the RSHA (before the reorganization of the RSHA in 1941 - the II Directorate) was engaged in the study and struggle against enemy ideology, preparing reports for other departments of the RSHA, maintaining written documentation and was a kind of ideological expert center. Heads of management: SS Oberführer Franz Six (until September 1942), SS Obersturmbannführer Paul Dittel.

The department consisted of three departments:

VII A: study and synthesis of documentation (head - Milius). Abstracts:

- VII A 1: library;
- VII A 2: reporting to management, translation service, study, processing
and evaluation of print materials;
- VII А 3: information service and liaison office.

VII B: analysis of materials, preparation of summary data - with abstracts:

– VII В 1: Freemasonry and Jewry;
- VII В 2: political confessions;
- VII В 3: Marxism;
- VII В 4: other enemy groups;
- VII В 5: research on selected domestic political issues;
- VII В 6: scientific research on selected foreign policy problems.

VII C: centralization of archives. (Improvement of methods of classification, use of data, filing. Work of a museum, library, photo library.)
Abstracts:

– VII С 1: archive;
- VII С 2: museum and exhibitions;
- VII C 3: special scientific research.

VIII DEPARTMENT (government communications)

There are no indisputable facts confirming the existence of the VIII-th administration of the RSHA, but according to indirect data, it can be concluded that this administration was engaged in ensuring uninterrupted communication of the highest state authorities, and above all the Headquarters of the Fuhrer. After the assassination attempt on Hitler in July 1944, it turned out that the connection with the headquarters was in the hands of the conspirators, which gave them the opportunity to cut it off from the outside world. Naturally, the leadership of the Third Reich tried to protect itself from this in the future and transferred control over government lines of communication to the Main Directorate of Imperial Security.

One of the indirect confirmations of the existence and specialization of the VIII Department of the RSHA is the fact that in the "List of SS Ranks" (Dienstaltersliste, DAL) for November 1944, SS Standartenfuehrer Richard Sansoni is listed as "the head of the VIIIth Department of the RSHA" (Chef Amt VIII / SS -RSHA). Sansoni, on the other hand, was a specialist in communications, at various times he held the positions of commander of the 2nd communications company of the "Dead's Head" subdivisions, the 3rd communications battalion of the 3rd SS division "Dead Head", the SS reserve communications regiment, and from August 28, 1944 Standartenfuehrer Richard Sansoni - Head of the VIII Directorate of the RSHA.

MILITARY ADMINISTRATION (formerly Abwehr - Abwehr)

In January 1944, after the disclosure in the Gestapo of the case of the "anti-fascist circle", in which military intelligence officers were involved ( abwehr), and after a series of failures of the Abwehr agents and the transition of some of them to the side of the enemy, Hitler, in a fit of rage, subordinated military intelligence to the Main Directorate of Imperial Security.

On February 14, 1944, the Military Directorate (Militärisches Amt) was formed within the RSHA after the Abwehr was disbanded. The department included departments Abwehr-1 and Abwehr-2. The Abwehr-3 department (counterintelligence) was divided between the IV and VI directorates of the RSHA, the Abwehr department "Abwehr" came under the jurisdiction of the Wehrmacht High Command. Formally, the transfer of the Abwehr to the RSHA took place in May 1944 at a meeting of the leadership of the SS and OKW near Salzburg.

Leaders:

Colonel of the Wehrmacht Georg Hansen (February - July 1944),

Brigadefuehrer SS Walter Schellenberg(08/01/1944 - 05/08/1945).

Military command structure:

Mil A Organization

ZO Organizational matters

ZK Central filing cabinet

ZR Legal issues

ZF Financial questions

ZA Adjutant

Mil B Operational intelligence in the West

Mil C Operational intelligence in the East

ZH Ground troops

ZM Navy

ZL Air Force

ZSch Personnel

Mil D Sabotage and sabotage operations

Mil E Intelligence technical support

Mil F Frontline intelligence and counterintelligence

Mil G Forged documents, cryptography, photographic equipment, etc.

Material from BLACKBERRY - site - Academic Wiki-Encyclopedia on Jewish and Israeli Topics

Ss and sd(abbreviations from the German Schutzstaffeln, `security forces` and Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS,` security service of the imperial SS leader`), the main repressive and punitive institutions of Hitlerite Germany, which were in charge of the "final solution" of the Jewish question.

The emergence of SS and SD

The SS emerged in 1923 within the Sturmabteilungen as a small group of A. Hitler's personal bodyguards. Since 1929, when they were headed by G. Himmler (see National Socialism), they began to form as security units that ensure the safety of the entire Nazi leadership. SD were created by G. Himmler in 1931 as the internal security service of the Nazi party, designed to monitor the purity of the party ranks and prevent the penetration of alien and hostile elements into them. After the establishment of the Nazi regime in Germany in January 1933 and unification with the SD in March 1934, the SS turned into an all-powerful organization of political terror, ready to reliably and effectively carry out any orders of the Nazi party.

Hitler's role in the formation of the SS

A decisive role in the formation of the SS as the main support of the Nazi regime was played by A. Hitler, who did not trust traditional state institutions (including the army, political and criminal police). Hitler believed that even after a total cleansing of these institutions, they would not be able to become a reliable tool for pursuing the political course he was planning.

SS - a fundamentally new type of power structure

The SS were conceived as a fundamentally new type of power structure; their purpose, structure, principles of personnel selection, ideological and psychological attitudes, symbols were supposed to embody the ideals and goals of the Nazi regime and, above all, its racist ideology. The Nazi leaders made the party elite out of the SS, membership in them became a sign of distinction and honor - many millions of Germans considered the SS to be the embodiment of strength and courage, knights without fear and reproach, the best sons of the German race. Until 1940, membership in the SS was exclusively voluntary (the massive influx of volunteers did not stop until the last days of the Third Reich), and not every member of the Nazi party was accepted into their ranks. A member of the SS had to have an impeccable racial origin (documented at least from the end of the 18th century), in addition, an "Aryan" appearance was desirable; SS members were required to prove their selfless devotion to the Fuhrer and the racial idea, a willingness to stop at nothing to carry out any orders from their superiors, good physical characteristics and a stable psyche. The prestige of the SS was so high that many heads of state departments (for example, I. von Ribbentrop, G. Goering and many others), major bankers, industrialists, engineers, scientists, etc. officer ranks (Obergruppenführer - SS General, Standartenführer - Colonel, Obersturmbannführer - Lieutenant Colonel, Sturmbannführer - Major, Sturmführer - Lieutenant, etc.).

SS - service for special assignments

The political course of the Nazi regime more and more did not correspond to the norms of international law and the entire European Christian cultural tradition, Nazi leaders more and more often instructed the SS with such practical actions that, except them, no one was ready to perform.

Growth in the number of SS and SD

Scope of activity Ss and sd continuously increased, their numbers grew rapidly - from 280 people in 1929 to 52 thousand in 1933, several hundred thousand in 1939 and about a million by 1945 (including the Waffen SS - the most reliable military formations, which took part in hostilities).

Subordination of state structures to the services of the SS and SD

At the same time, more and more complete submission took place Ss and sd state structures responsible for internal and external security (it was not completely possible to subordinate only the army). In 1933, the head of the SS G. Himmler also headed the Munich police, in April 1934 - the Gestapo of Prussia, in June 1936 - the entire police system of the Third Reich, and in August 1943 - the Reich Ministry of the Interior. Parallel to this, there was an expansion of the prerogatives of the SD, a kind of elite within the SS: in June 1936, the favorite of A. Hitler and H. Himmler, the chief of the SD since its inception, R. Heydrich (see National Socialism) became the head of the security police of the Third Reich. In September 1939, the absorption of state structures by the party (including Ss and sd) culminated in the creation of the Imperial Security Directorate (RSHA - Reichszicherheitshauptamt), headed by Heydrich. The RSHA, which united the Gestapo and the SD under one command, became part of the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while remaining at the same time one of the most important units of the SS (in both capacities it was subordinate to G. Himmler). The RSHA was transferred entirely the functions and powers to eliminate any, including potential opponents of the Nazi regime and racial ideology, which included persons suspected of high treason (special vigilance was shown in relation to journalists, some church leaders and former members of banned non-Nazi parties and trade unions), as well as all representatives of the "inferior and inferior" races, and above all the Jews. The "final solution" of the Jewish question could not have been conceived and implemented without Ss and sd and the human type formed in them - ideological and therefore ruthless and cold-blooded killers, and often just sadists, for whom Nazi ideology served as a convenient justification for their criminal inclinations.

SS and SD - organizers and performers of anti-Jewish actions

Since the establishment of the Nazi regime in Germany, all anti-Jewish actions were entrusted only to Himmler's department. Ss and sd directed and controlled the process of ousting Jews from civil, political, economic, cultural and other spheres of life, which began in 1933. The same punitive bodies monitored the observance of the Nuremberg Laws, which actually deprived Jews of elementary human rights. Directly SD and Heydrich were instructed to provoke throughout Germany on November 9, 1938, a wave of "spontaneous" Jewish pogroms (see "Kristallnacht"). Administered Ss and sd there was also a campaign carried out before the start of World War II to cleanse the entire territory of Greater Germany from the Jewish presence, as the Nazis began to call the united country after the Anschluss of Austria. A. Eichmann was one of the main organizers of the forced Jewish emigration, accompanied by the confiscation of almost all the property of the expelled Jews.

Decision to exterminate European Jewry

Formally, the decision to exterminate all European Jewry was made at the Wannsee Conference in 1942, but immediately after the attack on the Soviet Union, the SS began the total murder of Jews in the occupied territories. Together with the police, they formed special detachments - Einsatzgruppen - to "restore order" in the rear of the German troops. At the head of each of the Einsatzgruppen were senior SS officers.

Death camps

The death camps were under the exclusive jurisdiction of the SS: Himmler's department was entrusted with their design, construction, security, and then ensuring their uninterrupted operation. Scientific and design institutes that were part of the SS system (among them, along with the institute of "racial hygiene," there were engineering and technological, chemical, biomedical and others), developed the most effective and cheapest equipment and chemical means for the rapid killing of people. The RSHA clearly and orderly ensured the delivery of Jews from European countries controlled by Nazi Germany to the death camps. After the assassination of R. Heydrich in May 1942 by Czech partisans, the RSHA was headed by E. Kaltenbrunner (a lawyer from Austria, who since 1935 led the Austrian SS; he, in particular, carried out an operation in Lithuania in 1941, during which a group of 18 SS men under his direct command killed more than 60 thousand Jews). Specially created in 1934, SS "Dead's Head" units guarded the death camps. The main administrative and economic department of the SS - VFKhA, which was in charge of the camps, developed and established a mode of maximum rationalization of the death conveyor - first, children, pregnant women, the sick and the elderly were destroyed; the service was introduced by prisoners of those operations of the process of killing people, which were abhorred not only by the SS themselves, but also by their henchmen from the populated occupied countries; all the forces of slave labor were siphoned out of able-bodied prisoners before their destruction; personal belongings and even the remains of the victims were disposed of (gold crowns, hair, often skin, ashes from crematoria furnaces). As a rule, only those doctors and scientists who had officer and sometimes SS general ranks were entrusted with biomedical experiments on prisoners of concentration camps, mainly Jews. At the last stage of the war, when the defeat of Nazi Germany became inevitable, it was the SS units that were entrusted with the elimination of the death camps and all traces of Nazi atrocities.

Encyclopedia of the Third Reich Voropaev Sergey

General Directorate of Imperial Security (RSHA)

It was created a few weeks after the outbreak of World War II - September 27, 1939. It was one of the 12 main directorates of the SS. From September 1939 to May 1942, the RSHA was headed by SS Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, and after his death by Ernst Kaltenbrunner.

The main task of the RSHA in the context of the outbreak of war and the prospects for expanding the territorial domination of the Third Reich was to coordinate the actions of the Zipo and SD. At the first stage of its existence, the RSHA consisted of several departments dealing with various problems:

I - administrative and legal issues (supervisor Werner Best).

II - Systematic political analysis of the content of publications with a view to waging psychological warfare (Dr. Franz Six).

III - (SD-Inland) control over especially important areas of the internal life of society and the party (Otto Ohlendorf). In turn, it was divided into four sections: culture, population, social life and economy. Twice a week he prepared surveys of the situation in the country for the top leadership of the NSDAP.

IV - State secret police of the Gestapo (Heinrich Müller). His task was to identify the enemies of the Third Reich and fight them.

V - the criminal police of the Reich (Arthur Nebe), whose task was to fight crime.

VI - Foreign Intelligence Service SD (Ausland-SD) (headed by Heinz Jost until June 22, 1941, then by Walter Schellenberg until the end of the war). In the fall of 1940, the RSHA was further reorganized. Department I took over personnel issues, the system of training and organization of the SD and ZIPO. A new II department was created, which was engaged in economic and administrative affairs and supply. The former II department was transformed into the VII department, which, headed by Franz Six, was engaged in the "scientific information service" - the analysis of the situation in a particular area. It published a bulletin containing an analytical review of information from the German and foreign press and acted as a censor of publications published in the Reich.

The headquarters of the RSHA was located in Berlin in the complex of buildings on the Prinz Albrechtstrasse, but many services were scattered throughout the city, occupying 38 buildings.

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Control VI - shield and sword of the RSHA

For the sake of completeness of our story, it makes sense to mention another structure of the German special services - the General Directorate of Imperial Security (RSHA). In fact, the RSHA was the main coordinator of the entire punitive policy in Germany and in the occupied territories. It was formed in 1939 as a result of the merger of the Main Directorate of the Security Police and the Main Directorate of the Security Service (Directorate of the SD). The first stage included six departments (September 27 - October 1, 1939): RSHA AMT I (administrative and legal issues); RSHA AMT II (political analysis of the content of publications used in psychological warfare); RSHA AMT III (control over internal life and the NSDAP); RSHA AMT IV (Secret State Police); RSHA AMT V (criminal police); RSHA AMT VI (foreign intelligence).

RSHA was in double subordination - the Reichsfuehrer SS and the chief of police (Ministry of Internal Affairs); both of these posts were held by G. Himmler. It was finally formed by September 1940. The departments within the RSHA were distributed as follows: Amt I (personnel and legal issues, study and organization); Amt II (organizational matters and law); Amt III (security service; SD); Amt IV (Gestapo); Amt V (KRIPO); Amt VI (foreign intelligence); Amt VII (questions of the study of the worldview). In 1944, Amt VIII, a department that dealt with communications issues, was included in the RSHA.

Within the RSHA itself, the Security Service consisted of two directorates: Amt III - Security Service / Germany (Sicherheitsdienst / Deutschland) and Amt VI - Security Service / Abroad (Sicherheitsdienst / Ausland). Ill The Office conducted political intelligence inside the country and exercised total control over the "state of mind". The VI Directorate was responsible for political intelligence on the territory of foreign states (in 1944, this department actually absorbed most of the military intelligence - the Abwehr).

Let us dwell in more detail on the VI Directorate (Amt VI) - "Schellenberg's department", since it was it that planned and carried out subversive operations on the Soviet-German front.

The main enemy of the Soviet counterintelligence during the Second World War, along with the Abwehr (military intelligence), was the VI Directorate of the RSHA (external intelligence; German Amt VI SD Ausland). In this regard, it is advisable to talk about the structure of this unit. On March 1, 1941, it included six departments, each of which, in turn, consisted of 6-11 abstracts.

The department consisted of the following divisions VI A (general organization of the intelligence service); VI B (development and use of communications, interception service); VI C (reconnaissance in the Soviet-Japanese zone of influence, as well as in the Middle and Far East); VI D (reconnaissance in the US zone of influence); VI E (fighting an ideological enemy abroad); VI F (technical means of reconnaissance); VI Kult (exploration and culture); VI G (use of scientific information) and VI S (material, moral and political sabotage).

In 1943, the structure of the VI Directorate of the RSHA was as follows:

Division VI А - organizational and informational (German: Allegemeine nachrichtendienstliche Aufgaben) - 7 abstracts; Chiefs: SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Dr. Alfred Fiebert (until 1943); Hermann Müller (1943) Martin Sandberger (December 1943 to May 1945).

VI В - Western Europe (German Westeuropa) - 10 abstracts; Chief Obersturmbannfuehrer SS Eugen Steimle (from February 1943 to May 1945).

VI С - East, Russian-Japanese zone of influence (German Osten, russisch-japanisches Einflussgebiet) - 11 abstracts; Chiefs: SS Obersturmbannführer Dr. Heinz Graefe (1942), SS Obersturmbannführer Albert Rapp (1943), SS Sturmbannführer Dr. Erik Hengelhaupt (1944).

VI D - Anglo-American zone of influence, West (Westen, englisch-amerikanisches Einflussgebiet) - 9 abstracts; chief - Dr. Paeffgen.

VI E - Central Europe, including the South-East (or the study of the enemy's worldview abroad; German Erkundung weltanschaulicher Gengner im Ausland) - 6 abstracts; Chiefs: Dr. Hammer (until 1943), SS Sturmbannführer Willy Vanek.

VI F - technical support ( German Technische Hilfsmittel) - 7 abstracts; chiefs: Alfred Nuayoks (until January 1941), then Bernhard Kruger and SS Obersturmbannführer Walter Rauf.

VI G - Department of Scientific and Methodological Research ( German Wissenschaftlich-methodischer Forschundsdienst); head - G. Schmidt.

VI S - sabotage and sabotage ( German Sabotage); Chief - SS Sturmbannfuehrer Otto Skorzeny.

VI Wi - economy ( German Wirtschaft).

An interesting source on the history of the German secret services, in particular on the VI Directorate of the RSHA (Amt VI), is represented by the memoirs of Walter Schellenberg himself. His memoirs represent a sophisticated mixture of omissions, reservations, and sometimes targeted disinformation on various issues, but nevertheless contain a lot of valuable information about intelligence and counterintelligence of the Third Reich.

Schellenberg described in detail the main tasks of the intelligence activity that his directorate carried out against the USSR, including plans for sabotage in the Soviet rear: “I was asked to pay special attention to reconnaissance in the immediate rear of the enemy, but no one took into account the difficulties that were involved. Our staff was inadequate both quantitatively and qualitatively, and ill-conceived and contradictory orders coming from above complicated the process of continuous improvement of intelligence work. On the other hand, it should be noted that we would have to face the elaborate and ruthless counterintelligence measures of the Russian secret police.

The leadership of our activities against Russia was entrusted to three departments. The duties of the first department included the collection and comparison of information obtained by agents who permanently resided abroad. We tried to get as much information from them as possible from both secret and unclassified sources. Unclassified sources included the press, official statistics, books, and other publications. This information was mainly required for making decisions in the field of long-term planning, and persons with highly developed intelligence had to be involved in its study. These employees belonged to different nationalities, and, therefore, they had to be selected regardless of race, religion, and so on. For the deployment of this work in all the capitals of European countries, intelligence centers were created, as a model for which the organization of our headquarters in Berlin was adopted ... The second department of management was in charge of Operation Zeppelin. The main task of this operation was the massive drop of groups of Russian prisoners of war by parachute into the deep rear of the Soviet Union. They were in the same position as the German soldiers and wore Wehrmacht uniforms, received excellent food and were well quartered. For them, demonstrations of propaganda films and trips to Germany were organized. While they were preparing, those who were responsible for their preparation had the opportunity, with the assistance of informants, to reveal their true face: did they only want to take advantage of the advantages provided, or did they actually become opponents of the Stalinist system of terror, or maybe, torn apart by internal contradictions, are still continued to oscillate between Nazism and Stalinism? "

It is this section VI C ( German VI C), or "Eastern Division", and was the main enemy of the Soviet special services. Initially, the department included 13 abstracts, then increased by one more, and from the end of 1944 it "shrank" to four: VI C 1 (Soviet Union); VI C 2 (limitrophe countries); VI C 3 (Far East) and VI C / Z (since 1942 - "Enterprise" Zeppelin "").

On the structure of the “Eastern Division” - VI C, during the interrogation on May 31, 1949, a German intelligence officer, a former soldier of the Brandenburg division, an expert in oriental languages, Otto Grüning gave detailed testimony: “[...] Question: Were you an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a civilian employee?

Answer: In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I was not on the staff of officials, but was a civilian employee, but I had an academic rank equal to the rank of major in the army. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was interested in keeping its personnel, which after the war were automatically at its disposal, therefore it paid me a salary [...].

Question: Tell us about the structure of the VI-C department at the time of your joining the RSHA.

Answer: By the time I joined the VI-C department, this department included 13 abstracts, I know the work of abstracts VI-C-12 and VI-C-13 and, in addition, the newly organized abstract VI-C-14, in which I myself have worked. Abstract VI-C-12 dealt with Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey; the chief was Sturmbannführer [SS] Kurt Shubak. At the beginning of 1944, an abstract VI-C-14 was organized under the leadership of Hauptsturmführer [SS] Hamot. In this abstract, Iran and Afghanistan departed from abstract VI-C-12 and only Turkey remained. Abstract VI-C-13 dealt with Arab countries, including Egypt and, in addition, Japan and China. The head of this essay was Sturmbannführer [SS] Vairauch.

Question: What abstracts worked against the Soviet Union?

Answer: I do not know anything about the abstracts that carried out subversive work against the Soviet Union, since they were located not on Berkaerstrasse, but in Berlin-Wannsee, along the street Am Grasen See.

Question: When did the VI-C department reorganize?

Answer: The reorganization of the VI-C department took place in June - July 1944. After this reorganization, in department VI-C, instead of 14 abstracts, there were 4 abstracts.

Question: Tell us what you know about the activities of the newly created abstracts?

Answer: Abstracts VI-C-1 and VI-C-2 were in the Berlin-Wannsee area. I know that the head of the abstract VI-C-1 was Sturmbannführer [SS] Hengelhaupt Rudolf and the head of the abstract VI-C-2 was Hauptsturmführer Lumm. Personally, I was not familiar with Hengelhaupt and Lumm […].

Question: What did abstract VI-C-Z do after the reorganization?

Answer: After the reorganization, abstract VI-C-Z conducted intelligence work in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Arab countries. Sturmbannführer [SS] Kurt Shubak was appointed to supervise this essay.

Question: In which countries did you conduct intelligence work abstract VI-C-4?

Answer: Abstract VI-C-4 carried out intelligence work against Japan and China. Sturmbannführer [SS] Vairuch was appointed as the head of this essay. "

So, directly the reconnaissance and sabotage activities on the Soviet-German front were dealt with by department VI C and its abstract VI C / Z, or "Unternemen Zeppelin".