The Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA), commonly called the Reich Security Main Office, was created in 1939 as the central instrument of Nazi state security. It brought together the political intelligence service (SD), the secret state police (Gestapo) and the criminal police (Kripo) under a single headquarters. The RSHA operated under the authority of Heinrich Himmler in his roles as Reichsführer-SS and Chief of German Police, and for much of its existence was directed by Reinhard Heydrich and, after 1942, other senior SS leaders.

Purpose and functions

Its stated mission was to identify and eliminate what the regime called "enemies of the Reich," a remit that covered political opponents, resistance networks, minority groups, and foreign intelligence targets. In practice the RSHA coordinated domestic surveillance, counterintelligence, racial policy implementation and the deportation of Jews and other groups targeted by the regime. It also provided files, directives and operational control for mobile killing units and security operations in occupied territories.

Organization

  • Amtsgruppe I: Administration and legal affairs, overseeing personnel and finance (administration).
  • Amtsgruppe III–VI: Intelligence and security: domestic intelligence (SD-Inland), foreign intelligence (SD-Ausland) and counterespionage (intelligence).
  • Amtsgruppe IV: Gestapo — political police functions and repression (Gestapo).
  • Amtsgruppe V: Kriminalpolizei (Kripo) — criminal investigations and policing (criminal police).

History and role in wartime atrocities

From 1939 to 1945 the RSHA played a central role in implementing Nazi ideological and security policies across Germany and occupied Europe. It supplied intelligence and administrative frameworks for mass deportations and the actions of the Einsatzgruppen in the East. Senior RSHA officials were directly involved in planning and carrying out measures that have been judged crimes against humanity.

Aftermath and legacy

Following the war, leaders associated with the RSHA were prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity at Allied trials; the SS and police apparatus of which the RSHA was a part were central subjects of legal and historical reckoning. The RSHA remains a widely studied example of how centralized security organs can be used to carry out systematic repression and state-organized violence (further reading).

For concise introductions and archival material see general treatments of Nazi security institutions and the biographies of key figures associated with the RSHA, including its founding chief (Heydrich) and the SS leadership that oversaw the office (Himmler).