This connection was further secured after the invasion of Poland and the start of World War II on September 1, 1939. Himmler and Heydrich hoped to combine the SD and the Security Police into one organization. Heydrich was also the chief of the SS intelligence service (SD). It included the Kripo (criminal police) and the political police or Gestapo (officially called the Secret State Police). The Main Office of the Security Police ( Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei, SiPo) was under Himmler’s deputy Reinhard Heydrich. It signaled that these organizations belonged with the SS, in spirit if not by law. The use of the phrase “main office” was typical for SS administrative structures. This measure further institutionalized the SS-police relationship. Himmler created two new police “main offices” in June 1936. Rather, as Reichsführer SS and Chief of the German Police, Himmler personally embodied this connection. However, the SS and the police were not officially united in 1936. From that point forward, Himmler officially controlled all SS forces and all police forces in Germany. Adolf Hitler appointed Himmler as the chief of the German police ( Chef der Deutschen Polizei ). An important milestone in this effort came on June 17, 1936. Over the course of the 1930s, Himmler gradually took control of and centralized the police. They were also tasked with the elimination of Jews. They were responsible for the expulsion and enslavement of Poles, Russians, and other Slavic peoples. The SS and police were tasked with carrying out measures to meet this goal. He intended this effort to provide Germans with “living space” ( Lebensraum). They would also be responsible for eliminating racial, social, and criminal enemies, especially Communists and Jews.ĭuring World War II, Himmler planned to implement massive demographic changes. Together, the SS and police would be responsible for crushing political opposition. Himmler planned to use the executive authority of the police to implement the SS interpretation of Nazi ideology.
He also aimed to turn it into a stronger power base for himself. Himmler’s goal was to turn this system into an effective weapon for the Nazi regime. He wanted to create an SS and police system. Himmler intended to combine the SS and the German police into a new “state protection corps” ( Staatschutzkorps ). This unit was the SS intelligence service called Sicherheitsdienst (literally, Security Service, often called the SD). One of these units is the most important to understanding the relationship between the SS and the police. Part of the Nazi Party, the SS ( Schutzstaffel, Protection Squadron) was an elite paramilitary organization. SS Chief Heinrich Himmler had taken control of and centralized Germany’s police organizations. But by the beginning of World War II in September 1939, this had changed. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they did not have a detailed plan for Germany’s decentralized uniformed, criminal, and political police forces.