Katana VentraIP

Reich Security Main Office

The Reich Security Main Office[a] (German: Reichssicherheitshauptamt pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯çsˌzɪçɐhaɪ̯t͡sˌhaʊ̯ptʔamt] , 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 Party's Schutzstaffel (SS). The organization's stated duty was to fight all "enemies of the Reich" inside and outside the borders of Nazi Germany.

RSHA overview

27 September 1939 (27 September 1939)

8 May 1945 (8 May 1945)

 • Secret police
 • Intelligence agency

 German Reich
Nazi Germany German-occupied Europe

Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8, Berlin
52°30′26″N 13°22′57″E / 52.50722°N 13.38250°E / 52.50722; 13.38250

50,648 (February 1944 est.)[1]

Ministry of the Interior (nominally)
Allgemeine SS

Amt I, "Administration and Legal", originally headed by SS- Dr. Werner Best.[12] In 1940, he was succeeded by SS-Brigadeführer Bruno Streckenbach. In April 1944, Erich Ehrlinger took over as department chief.

Gruppenführer

Amt II, "Ideological Investigation", headed by SS-Brigadeführer Professor .[12]

Franz Six

Amt III, "Spheres of German Life" or the , headed by SS-Gruppenführer Otto Ohlendorf, was the SS information gathering service for inside Germany.[12] It also dealt with ethnic Germans outside of Germany's prewar borders, and matters of culture.

Inland-SD

Amt IV, "Suppression of Opposition". This was the Geheime Staatspolizei, better known by the sobriquet .[16] It was headed by SS-Gruppenführer Heinrich Müller.[17] SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann, one of the main architects of the Holocaust, was head of the Amt IV sub-department called Referat IV B4.[18]

Gestapo

Amt V, "Suppression of Crime" (Kripo), originally led by SS-Gruppenführer Arthur Nebe[19] and later by SS-Oberführer Friedrich Panzinger.[20] This was the Criminal Police, which dealt with serious non-political crimes, such as rape, murder, and arson. Amt V was also known as the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt (Reich Criminal Police Department or RKPA).

Kriminalpolizei

Amt VI, "Foreign Intelligence Service" or , originally led by SS-Brigadeführer Heinz Jost[19] and later by SS-Brigadeführer Walter Schellenberg.

Ausland-SD

Amt VII, "Ideological Research and Evaluation" was a reconstitution of Amt II overseen by SS-Brigadeführer Professor Dr. .[21] Later it was headed by SS-Obersturmbannführer Paul Dittel. It was responsible for the creation of anti-semitic, anti-masonic propaganda, the sounding of public opinion, and monitoring of Nazi indoctrination by the public.

Franz Six

Glossary of Nazi Germany

List of SS personnel

– Fascist Italy's secret police, similar to the Gestapo

OVRA

(WVHA, the economic & administrative department of the SS)

SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt

– RSHA operations against a wartime Soviet espionage ring.

Red Orchestra

Avalon Project–Yale University. . Retrieved 14 November 2018.

"Judgement: The Accused Organizations"

USHMM. . United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – Holocaust Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14 November 2018.

"Adolf Eichmann"

USHMM. . United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – Holocaust Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14 November 2018.

"Adolf Eichmann: Key Dates"