Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany) in the context of "Heinrich Himmler"

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⭐ Core Definition: Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany)

Kriminalpolizei (English: Criminal Police), often abbreviated as Kripo, is the German name for 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 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.

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👉 Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany) in the context of Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (German: [ˈhaɪnʁɪç ˈluːɪtpɔlt ˈhɪmlɐ] ; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician and military leader. He was the 4th Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful figures in Nazi Germany. He was also one of the main architects of the Holocaust.

After serving in a reserve battalion during World War I without seeing combat, Himmler went on to join the Nazi Party in 1923. In 1925, he joined the SS, which was initially a small paramilitary arm of the Nazi Party that served as a bodyguard unit for Adolf Hitler. Himmler rose steadily through the SS's ranks to become Reichsführer-SS by 1929. Under Himmler's leadership, the SS grew from a 290-man battalion into one of the most powerful institutions in Nazi Germany. Over the course of his career, Himmler acquired a reputation for good organisational skills and for selecting highly competent subordinates, such as Reinhard Heydrich. From 1943 onwards, he was both Chief of the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) and Minister of the Interior, which gave him oversight of all police and security forces (including the Gestapo). He also controlled the Waffen-SS, a branch of the SS that served in combat alongside the Wehrmacht (Germany's armed forces) in World War II.

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Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany) in the context of Ernst Kaltenbrunner

Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 1903 – 16 October 1946) was an Austrian high-ranking SS official during the Nazi era, major perpetrator of the Holocaust and convicted war criminal. After the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942, and a brief period under Heinrich Himmler, Kaltenbrunner was the third Chief of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), which included the offices of Gestapo, Kripo and SD, from January 1943 until the end of World War II in Europe.

Kaltenbrunner joined the Nazi Party in 1930 and the SS in 1931, and by 1935 he was considered a leader of the Austrian SS. In 1938, he assisted in the Anschluss and was given command of the SS and police force in Austria. In January 1943, Kaltenbrunner was appointed chief of the RSHA, succeeding Reinhard Heydrich, who was assassinated in May 1942.

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Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany) in the context of Reinhard Heydrich

Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (/ˈhaɪdrɪk/; German: [ˈʁaɪnhaʁt ˈtʁɪstan ˈʔɔʏɡn̩ ˈhaɪdʁɪç] ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official in Nazi Germany as well as one of the principal architects of the Holocaust. He held the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei. Many historians regard Heydrich as one of the most sinister figures within the Nazi regime. Adolf Hitler described him as "the man with the iron heart."

Heydrich was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (including the Gestapo, Kripo, and SD). He was also Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor (Deputy Reich-Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia. He served as president of the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC, now known as Interpol) and chaired the January 1942 Wannsee Conference which formalised plans for the "Final Solution to the Jewish question"—the deportation and genocide of all Jews in German-occupied Europe.

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Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany) in the context of Police forces of Nazi Germany

There were two main Police forces of Nazi Germany under the Reichsführer-SS, Heinrich Himmler from 1936:

In September 1939, the SiPo and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) were folded into the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA; Reich Security Main Office) where they were made separate departments.

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Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany) in the context of Sicherheitspolizei

The Sicherheitspolizei often abbreviated as SiPo, is a German term meaning "security police". In the Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of the Gestapo (secret state police) and the Kriminalpolizei (criminal police; Kripo) between 1936 and 1939. As a formal agency, the SiPo was incorporated into the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) in 1939, but the term continued to be used informally until the end of World War II in Europe.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Ernst Kaltenbrunner ← Heinrich Himmler ← Reinhard Heydrich ← Police forces of Nazi Germany ← Sicherheitspolizei
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Criminal investigation → Nazi Germany → Reichskriminalpolizeiamt → Reich Security Main Office →