32-610: Units and commands of the Schutzstaffel were organizational titles used by the SS to describe the many groups, forces, and formations that existed within the SS from its inception in 1923 to the eventual fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. The SS unit nomenclature can be divided into several different types of organizations, mainly the early titles used by the SS, SS unit titles of the Allgemeine SS ,
64-410: A Regierungs- und Kriminalrat or Kriminaldirektor ; and 698 Kripo-Aussendienstellen and Kripo-Aussenpost , of which the latter per definition had less than ten detectives. There were two separate criminal investigation officer careers: the junior criminal investigation career (einfacher Vollzugsdienst) and the executive criminal investigation career (leitender Vollzugsdienst) . There were also
96-682: A criminal investigation department. This article deals with the agency during the Nazi era . In Nazi Germany, the Kripo consisted of the Reich Criminal Police Department (RKPA) , which in 1939 became Department V of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). There were criminal investigation centers directly subordinated to RKPA as well as criminal investigation divisions of the local state and municipal police departments. In 1943 both
128-600: A 12 months course at the Kriminalfachschule (Criminal investigation college) in Berlin-Charlottenburg . After the college came a 12 months period as probationary detective (Kriminalassistent aus Probe) . First employment was as apl. Kriminalassistent (supernumerary detective) until a billet was free and he could be appointed to a permanent position as Kriminalassistent . Externally recruited senior detective trainees (Kriminalkommissaranwärter) must have taken
160-554: A command billet within the General-SS. The Allgemeine SS also formed several cavalry commands, which were mainly intended to attract German nobility into the ranks of the SS. These formations were little more than equestrian riding clubs and, by the start of World War II, the General-SS Cavalry had mostly ceased to exist except for a handful of members. The command names of the General-SS cavalry were modeled after those of
192-623: A female criminal investigation career (weibliche Kriminalpolizei) . In addition there were criminal investigation employees, who were salaried public employees but not civil servants. A detective trainee had to be a policeman in the Ordnungspolizei or a soldier in the Waffen-SS with the rank of SS- Unterscharführer or above, having served at least 4 ½ years, and not be older than 24 years. The Kriminalassistentanwärter (detective trainee) began his training as an intern for 12 months, followed by
224-611: A key role in the Holocaust . As part of the Nazi doctrines on crime and race, the Rassenhygienische und Bevölkerungsbiologische Forschungsstelle (English: Racial Hygiene and Demographic Biology Research Unit ) headed by psychiatrist and medical doctor Robert Ritter , was attached to the Kripo. Its role was to create racial profiles of non-Aryans, in particular, Roma . Both the Gestapo and
256-594: A municipal criminal investigation division ( Gemeindekriminalpolizeiabteilung ). It was supervised by the nearest Kripo-Stelle . From 1943 all municipal criminal investigation divisions with over ten detectives, i.e. mainly in towns with over 50,000 inhabitants, were transferred to the state criminal police. Local state criminal investigations divisions were henceforth not subordinated to the local state police commissioner. In 1944 there were 22 Kripo-Leitstellen with 150-250 detectives under an Oberregierungs- und Kriminalrat ; 44 Kripo-Stellen with 80-120 detectives under
288-622: A similar education could be hired as female detectives. Female youth leaders, lawyers, business administrators with experience in social work, female leaders in the Reichsarbeitsdienst and personnel administrators in the Bund Deutscher Mädel were hired as detectives after a one-year course if they had several years professional experience. Later also nurses, kindergarten teachers and trained female commercial employees with an aptitude for police work were hired as female detectives after
320-753: A two-year course. After two years as Kriminaloberassistentin promotion to Kriminalsekretärin could take place, after another two or three years in that grade the female detective could be promoted to Kriminalobersekretärin . Further promotions to Kriminalkommissarin and Kriminalrätin was also possible. Criminal Investigation Aids, from 1935 Criminal Investigation Employees, were salaried public employees but not civil servants . There were three kinds of Criminal Investigation Employees, Kriminalangesteller (A) in outer service, Kriminalangesteller (K) were drivers, Kriminalangesteller (F) were telex operators. The fact that Criminal Investigation Employees were not civil servants made it possible to recruit reliable members of
352-640: The Führerschule der Sicherheitspolizei in Berlin-Charlottenburg. The trainee was then promoted to Hilfskriminalkommissar ; normally he was within a few days given a six months probationary appointment as Kriminalkommissar auf Probe , before being promoted to außerplanmäßigen Kriminalkommissar as a supernumerary. According to regulations issued by the Reich Security Main Office in 1940, women that had been trained in social work or having
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#1733093290426384-644: The Nazi Party , irrespective of civil service regulations concerning employment requirements and regardless of budget plans. The only requirements that were made beyond the normal conditions for public employment in Nazi Germany was that the applicant were physically and mentally fit for police duties. Not all Criminal Investigation Employees were volunteers; members of the Nazi Party and the Allgemeine SS could, after
416-482: The SS and Police Leaders and the SS Main Office Commanders. A wartime office which was granted considerable power was that of the SS and Police Leader . This unique position was a command authority of every SS unit in a given geographical area. SS and Police leaders had control over administrative SS commands, Nazi concentration camps , security forces, and (as World War II progressed) certain units of
448-422: The "General-SS" were the mustering formations spread throughout Germany, divided into several division sized formations and extending downwards into brigade, regiment, battalion, company, and squad like formations. Most of these formations were "part time" and mustered weekly or monthly without pay. The Allgemeine SS used unique names for these formations which were different from standard military terms in use by
480-505: The German military. Initially, General-SS formations were operated strictly in Germany and Austria but were later formed in occupied countries during World War II . Most often, Allgemeine SS units in occupied territories were "paper commands", formed under the authority of an SS and Police Leader (who would serve as a dual commander) in order to give senior SS officers in occupation commands
512-409: The Kripo deferred their policies and guidelines to the criminal biology department on how to deal with "Gypsies". The Kripo aided in the round ups of Roma and their deportations to concentration camps and extermination camps . The official mission of Amt V was to: In 1945 Amt V had the following bureaus: Towns with over 10,000 residents having a municipal police department were obliged to have
544-760: The Prussian central criminal investigation department (Landeskriminalpolizeiamt) became the central criminal investigation department for Germany, the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt (RKPA). It was combined, along with the secret state police, the Geheime Staatspolizei or Gestapo into two sub-branch departments of the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo), which had a central command office known as the Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei . Reinhard Heydrich
576-461: The Waffen-SS. There were three levels of SS and Police Leaders, these being: By 1942 all activities of the SS were managed through twelve main offices. The hierarchy of command in the main offices was: Below the level of Department heads existed a plethora of administrative and bureaucratic titles to indicate positions as Assistant Department Heads, staff officers, and other clerical duties within
608-468: The beginning of the war in 1939, be conscripted into criminal police service. During the German occupation of Denmark, Danish citizens would also be employed as Kriminalangestellter, but with the Gestapo . Mean annual pay for an industrial worker was 1,459 Reichsmark in 1939, and for a privately employed white-collar worker 2,772 Reichsmark. The Criminal Investigation Employees were not paid according to
640-459: The general university entrance exam ( Abitur ) and been selected through a special selection procedure (Ausleselager) . Internally recruited senior detective trainees came from the lower ranks of the Ordnungspolizei or from the junior criminal investigation career. They were selected through a civil service exam. The training began with a 12 months internship, followed by a 9 months course at
672-721: The head of the Reich Security Main Office after Heydrich's assassination in 1942. The Kriminalpolizei mostly consisted of plainclothes detectives and agents, and worked in conjunction with the Gestapo, the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo; uniformed police) and the Geheime Feldpolizei . The policy directives came from the SS-Hauptamt (SS Main Office) and after 1940, the SS Führungshauptamt (SS Leadership Main Office). The Kripo
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#1733093290426704-507: The latter became directly subordinated to the criminal investigation centers. The personnel consisted of detectives in the junior, executive, and female careers, as well as criminal investigation employees. After Adolf Hitler took office in January 1933, the Nazis began a programme of " coordination " of all aspects of German life, in order to consolidate the Nazi Party's hold on power. In July 1936,
736-528: The military formation titles used by the Waffen-SS , titles of commands associated with the SS Security Police , and special units titles used by such SS organizations as the mobile death squad units of the Einsatzgruppen . From 1920 through 1925, several early paramilitary terms were used to describe the various groups which would eventually become the SS. Among the most were: In September 1925,
768-446: The occupied Soviet Union, including mass murder of Jews, communists, prisoners of war, and hostages, and played a key role in the Holocaust . SS">SS The requested page title contains unsupported characters : ">". Return to Main Page . Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany) Kriminalpolizei (English: Criminal Police), often abbreviated as Kripo , is the German name for
800-461: The regular mustering SS formations and were separate from the military cavalry terms of the Waffen-SS. The Waffen-SS used standard Army military unit titles, in the following hierarchy. By the mid-1930s, the SS leadership had grouped itself into two major senior commands which would last throughout World War II . The two most senior positions in the SS, apart from the Reichsführer-SS , were
832-550: The similarly organized Kriminalpolizei were overseen by an SS Police official known as Inspektor des Sicherheitspolizei und SD . In occupied territories, this commander was known by the alternate title Befehlshaber . The Totenkopfverbände maintained a hierarchy of Nazi concentration camp titles, in the following order: The Einsatzgruppen were regimental sized mobile death squads that were further sub-divided into Einsatzkommandos , which were company-sized formations. The Einsatzgruppen units perpetrated atrocities in
864-399: The then fledgling SS established its first organizational structure, using the following titles: In January 1929, after Heinrich Himmler took over leadership of the SS, old organizational titles were done away with and the following terms came into being: In 1931, as SS membership began to surpass 100,000, Himmler again reorganized the SS and created these new command titles: The core of
896-467: The various main offices. The offices of the Gestapo in major towns and cities were known as "Stapo-Leitstellen". Smaller towns and some villages maintained smaller Gestapo offices known simply as "Stapostellen". The Sicherheitsdienst was organized in a different manner, grouped in SD-Abschnitte with smaller SD-Unterabschnitte commands (SD districts and sub-districts). Both the Gestapo, SD, and
928-517: Was also one of the sources of manpower used to fill the ranks of the Einsatzgruppen when the units were re-formed prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Several senior Kripo commanders, Arthur Nebe among them, were assigned as Einsatzgruppen commanders. The Einsatzgruppen mobile death squad units perpetrated atrocities in the occupied Soviet Union, including mass murder of Jews, communists, prisoners of war, and hostages, and played
960-643: Was in overall command of the SiPo, including its central command office. Arthur Nebe was appointed head of the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt , and reported directly to Heydrich. In September 1939, the Reichssicherheitshauptamt ( Reich Security Main Office ; RSHA) was created as the overarching command organization for the various state investigation and security agencies. The Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei
992-650: Was officially abolished and its departments were folded into the Reich Main Security Office. The Reichskriminalpolizeiamt became Amt V (Department 5), the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) in the RSHA. It was commanded by Nebe until the summer of 1944, when he was denounced and executed subsequent to the failed 20 July plot to kill Hitler. In the last year of its existence, Amt V was commanded by Friedrich Panzinger who answered directly to Ernst Kaltenbrunner ,
Units and commands of the Schutzstaffel - Misplaced Pages Continue
1024-578: Was organized in a hierarchical system, with central offices in all towns and smaller cities. These, in turn, answered to headquarters offices in the larger German cities which answered to Amt V in Berlin. The Kriminalpolizei was mainly concerned with serious crimes such as rape , murder and arson . A main area of the group's focus was also on "blackout burglary ," considered a serious problem during bombing raids when criminals would raid abandoned homes, shops and factories for any available valuables. The Kripo
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