KRIPO (Kriminal Polizei) in Nazi Germany 1933-45.

RSHA/GESTAPO/KRIPO.

Prior to the Nazis coming to power in January 1933, all German State police forces had, aspart of their structure, a KRIPO section which in part containes a political wing to deal with subversion or political uprising.

On 26th April 1933, Hermann Goring, in his capacity as Interior Minister created the Gestapo by decree to replace the political wing in the KRIPO. The KRIPO then became part of the Gestapo within the framework of the RSHA, with Heydrich as its overall chief.

The Gestapo's main office was in Berlin, and known as the Gestapa. Responsible to the Gestapa were 15 regional branches each headed by a Oberst der Polizei (Colonel of Police). These regional branches each had a number of "outposts" in various cities. (E.g., The Branch HQ in Dusseldorf covered the cities of Cologne, Koblenz, Krefeld etc.,).

The outposts were headed by an officer of captain rank.(refer rank list below). The qualification for this position was a doctorate in law degree. The highest rank a policeman could attain without a Gymnasium (High School) education was that of KK (Kriminal Kommisar).

The offices of the outposts and branches were structured the same as the Berlin Gestapa, that is each office was called a "desk" and designated Amt IVA, IVB, IVC, IVD, IVE & IVF. (The KRIPO desk designations were Amt V, VA, VB, VC & VD). This denoted each desks resposibilities.

There were typically no Gestapo members operating in the German countryside at all. In rural localities the Ordnungspolizei, commonly known as "Schutzpolizei", working under the authority of the local Mayor's office and Gauleiter, performed the police work that would normally be done by the Gestapo in the cities. Only the most serious cases were passed on to the Gestapo.

Gestapo members were not "ordinary" men. They were quite plain individuals. Other than the commanders, many were middle-aged reserve police officers called up for short periods of active duty. As stated elsewhere, some went to Poland and Russia with the Einsatzgruppen to shoot Jews, returning home to their normal duties as if nothing had happened!

Not all Gestapo officers were highly trained police officers, nor were there many trained in scientic procedures, E.g., forensic, fingerprinting etc., Most of the rank and file men only had a formal education plus basic police training before being joining the RSHA. Not all were members of either the SS nor the NSDAP, but they were police officers nevertheless, and obeyed orders without question.

The Gestapo's commanding officers were different. They were young, middle-class, highly educated to doctorate degree in law level, were intrepid, career orientated and were all members of the NSDAP. They were all typical of their boss's Heydrich and Kaltenbrünner and were without any compassion whatsoever! These men never missed the opportunity to attend as many courses as they could at the SD police leadership school in Berlin.

Although it was illegal for any German police officer to belong to any political party most of them had joined either the SA, SS, NSDAP or some other Nazi organisation and kept it quiet. After the Nazis came to power there were purges of Communist and other anti-Nazis from the police ranks, but as can be seen from the files of many police officers who kept their jobs until the end of WW2, some had not joined the SS, and fewer had not joined the NSDAP!

During WW2 there was approximately 1 Gestapo member to every 15 of the population!

Gestapo members of all ranks took time out from their desks and went along with their other RSHA colleagues as volunteers in the Einsatzgruppen and SIPO Sonderkommandos.

The Gestapo maintained space in various prisons throughout Germany and the occupied countries. Klaus Barbie occupied space in the Lyons Prison for exaple. Another example is the Klingelputz Prison in Cologne, a section of which was taken over by them from October 1944, when the ten cells in the basement of their own HQ in the EL-DE-HAUS on the corner of the Elisen Strasse and Appendorfplatz not far from the Cathederal, suffered extreme overcrowding. Note: The Klingelputz prison served as the place of execution for those sentenced to death by the Regional People's Courts of Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Essen, Hagen, Duisburg, Aachen, Wuppertal, Koblenz, Munster & Krefeld. Records for most of the Nazi period (except for that between February 1941 & March 1944), show that at least 529 men & 22 women were executed during this period. Death was usually by decapitation on the prisons guillotine. Of the men who were executed in the above period, 38 had been born in Cologne;5 in Aachen;2 in Bonn & 2 in Bruhl. Another 23 had been born in Paris; 4 in Brussels and the rest were Russians. A copy of the Cologne Gestapo Organisation Chart dated 27th April 1942, today hangs in one of the cells of the EL-DE-HAUS former Gestapo HQ, and can be viewed by the public free of charge!

The Berlin Gestapo used the Plötzensee Prison to detain and/or execute their victims. Here over 1,800 men and women of many nationalities were either shot, hanged or beheaded with the guillotine in the execution hall between 1933 and 1945 after being tried by the People's Courts. Included were 89 German officers and civilians accused and found guilty of treason who were executed after the attempt on Hitler's life on July 20th 1944. In 1952 this section of the prison was made into a memorial (Gedenkstätte), although the prison itself is now used as a prison for young offenders. To get there - catch bus No.23, 65 or 89 to the Hüttig-Pfad, Charlottenburg.

All police used their police ranks unless they wore SS uniform then their SS rank was used.

EQUIVALENT SS RANKS.

KK Kriminal Kommisar=Inspector (officer rank)= SS Hauptsturmfuhrer.

KOS Kriminal Obersekretar=German Staff Sergeant=SS Sturmscharffuhrer.

KS Kriminal Sekretar=German Sergeant-Major=SS Oberscharffuhrer.

KOA Kriminal Oberassistent=German Sergeant=SS Scharffuhrer.

PS Polizeisekretar=German Stabsgefreiter=SS Rottenfuhrer.

EQUIVALENT AUSTRALIAN POLICE RANKS.

KK Inspector.

KOS Assistant or Acting Inspector.

KS Senior Sergeant.

KOA Sergeant.

PS Senior Constable.