Organisation Chart until September 1939.

STATE ORGANISATION

State Prussian Ministry of the Interior-then Reich Interior Ministry. (Goering then Frick).

GESTAPO. (Himmler then Heydrich).

KRIPO. (Heydrich).

SIPO Hauptamt. (Heydrich).

PARTY ORGANISATION

Nazi Party. (Hitler-Rudolf Hess then Martin Bormann).

SS Organisation.(Himmler).

SD Security. (Heydrich).

These two organisations amalgamated over the years between when the Nazis came to power in January 1933 and the outbreak of war in September 1939, to form the RSHA. In structure it changed very little although there were numerous other changes, and like all beurocracies, it mushroomed in staff numbers. By August 1943 it had over 100,000!

The RSHA was concerned with all police and security services in Nazi Germany except the Ordnungs Polizei-ORPO.It including the GESTAPO and the Einsatzgruppen [see below]. After the bomb attempt on Hitler`s life on the 20th July 1944, this office also took over the Wehrmacht Intelligence Office-Abwehr, incarcerating its chief, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, in the Flossenburg KZ where he was hanged on the 9th April 1945. Heydrich was its chief ubtil he was appointed as Reichs Protector designate in Prague in March 1942. Ernst Kaltenbrunner took over Heydrich`s position until May 1945. Note:The SD was financed by the NSDAP and the KRIPO/GestaPo/SiPo/OrPo was State financed.

PRE-WAR RSHA STRUCTURE.

The RSHA`s pre-war structure was born out of the old State Prussian Ministry of the Interior, (see above) which incorporated the GESTAPO & KRIPO, joined together by Heydrich to become the RSHA on the one hand, and, the Nazi Party, SS Elite Guard (Himmler) and Heydrich`s SD (Security Service), on the other under the title 'RSHA'. The early structure had Heydrich at the top and offices (Amter) designated I to VII inclusive, beneath. Heydrich became chief of the re-vamped RSHA on 27th September 1939. The RSHA occupied a number of addresses in Central Berlin, including 8, Prinz Albrecht Straße;34, Wilhelmstraße;Hermann-Göring Straße;115-6 Kurfürstenstraße;40, Kurfürstendamm;10, Meinekestraße and in outer Berlin suburbs of Steglitz and Pankow.(Bomb damage may have been the cause).

I - Personnel.

II - Organisation & Law.

III - SD-Inland,

IV- GESTAPO;

IVA-Enemies;

IVA1-Communism; later ALL opposition to Hitler.

IVA2-Sabotage; later a & b to include political sabotage.

IVA3-Liberalism; later a,b & c to include defeatist attitudes in the Wehrmacht.

IVA4-Assassinations;

Later IVA5 a & b to include restricted press & press propaganda.

Later IVA6 a & b to include 'protective' arrest and custody (defeatism among the civil population-especially as a result of Allied bombing).

IVB-Sects;

IVB1-Catholicism;

IVB2-Protestantism;

IVB3-Freemasonry;

IVB4-Evacuations;

IVC-Card Files;

IVD-Spheres of Influence;

IVE-Counterintelligence;

IVE1-Treason;

V-Kripo;

VI-SD-Ausland (Foreign);

VII-Ideology;

This was the combining of ALL State Police & Security functions. Note: The ORPO (Order Police), were not included, and remained throughout the Nazi period outside of RSHA control. This was done by official decree on 29th September 1939.

There were many internal changes made after this date, but the following structure remained virtually intact until the end of the war.

There were seven Amter (Offices):

*Amt I - Personnel & Organisation, which dealt with Recruitment and assignment duties for the entite RSHA.

*Amt II - Administration and Finance, (Logistical support), with sub-sections:

IIA- Organisation & Law, IIA1-Organisation, IIA2-Legislation, IIA3-Indemnification, IIA4-Defence, IIA5-Confiscations.

IIB- Passports, IICa-Sipo Budget, IICb-SD Budget.

IID- Technical (Transport etc).

*Amt III- Police Intelligence (Internal) incorporated a spy network throughout Germany, with sub-sections:

IIIA-Law & Legal Structure, IIIB-Racial & Ethnic matters. Gnadenamt. SS Gericht punishment of SS staff who had committed SS crimes. This department commented on the carrying out of punishments inflicted by SS-Gerichts;monitored prisoners in SS prison camps and submitted to the RFSS suggestions for reduction of sentences. Members of SS or police who received sentences of severe imprisonment ("Zuchthaus") were sent to a punishment camps at Dachau. Men with ordinary prison sentences ("Gefängnis") were sent to a punishment camp at Danzi-Matzkau. IIIC-Cultural and religious matters. IIID-Industry & Commerce, IIIG-High Society.

*Amt IV- Gestapo, who had unlimited powers of arrest on political matters and opponents of the State. This Amt had the largest number of sections,but many were staffed by one or teo operatives and their informants. A special office called a "Referat N" was established in 1941 to centralise all intelligence gathered by its operatives from the following sub-sections:

IVA-Enemies of the State; All persons hostile to the Nazi State, including oppostion groups.

IVA1-Communists;

IVA2-Counter sabotage;

IVA3-Reactionaries;Liberals;

IVA4-Assassinations.

IVB-Sects & Churches; Advice on policy matters inside Germany and in the occupied territories.

IVB1-Catholics;

IVB2-Protestants;

IVB3-Freemasons;

IVB4-Jews.

IVC-Card Index & Party Affairs.

IVD-Occupied Territories; political and relgious opponents of the German Reich.

IVD1-Opponents of the State;

IVD2-Churches & Sects;

IVD3-Records & Party Matters;

IVD4-Western Territories;

IVD5-Counter Espionage;

IVD6-Aliens.

IVE-Counter Intelligence;

IVE1-In the Reich;

IVE2-Policy Formation;

IVE3-In the West;

IVE4-In Scandinavia;

IVE5-In the East;

IVE6-In the South.

IVF-Frontier Police & Border Guards.

Amt V-KRIPO had powers of arrest in criminal matters NOT of a political nature. It had four sub-sections:

VA-Preventive measures;

VB-Repressive measures;

VC-Identification;

VD-Technical and Foresnsic.

Amt VI-External (to Germany) Police Intelligence. It had six sub-sections:

VIA-Organisation of Intelligence Services;

VIB-Espionage in the West;

VIC-Espionage in Russia & Japan;

VID-Espionage in the Americas;

VIE-Espionage in Eastern Europe;

VIF-Technical Section.

Amt VII-Written Records. There were two sub-sections:

VIIA-Administration;

VIIB-Analysis & Evaluation.

Amt VIA was headed by Obf. Heinz Jost from 1934-1939 then by Standartenführer Dr. Herbert Hagen from 1939-1940; by Obersturmbannführer Willi Hoffle (a colleague of Eichmann`s), in 1940, and by Oberführer Walter Schellenburg from 1940 to 1944, after which he became head of Amt VI until the end of the war.

Amt VIB was headed by Sturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny from to

By August 1943 these seven Amter were employing over 100,000 personnel!

As at the 12th August 1937, the staff of IVB4 was:

Officer in Charge-Hauptsturmführer.....Hartmann, and his staff were Sturmführer Gunther Wisliceny, Hauptscharfführer Adolf Eichmann, Oberscharfführer Theodor Dannecker, Scharfführer ? Eisenmeyer & Unterscharfführer ? Hagelmann. Eichmann was not commissioned until the following May. In November 1939 he was promoted to Hauptsturmführer, and put in charge of IVB4.

Note: RSHA went through a number of organisational changes before the end of 1944. Amt IVB; IVB1;IVB2;IVB3 and IVB4 had been redesignated Amt IVA;IVA4a and IVA4b. IVA1, IVA4; (part of IVD).

RSHA-EINSATZGRUPPEN [SPECIAL ACTION GROUPS].

These groups were a product of the chief of the RSHA, Reinhard Heydrich. The first group code-named "Österreich" was headed by Dr.Franz Six, was formed before the German take-over of Austria in March 1938. Their purpose was to deal with intelligence and security matters in the countries to be occupied, and were usually disbanded after completion of their mission.

A draft document prepared for the SD at the time referred to SD & GESTAPO roles within the Einsatzgruppen. "The SD will follow, wherever possible, directly behind the advancing troops and fulfils duties similar to those in the Reich, which are the security of political life and at the same time the security as far as possible of all enterprises necessary to the national economy and so, also, of the war economy". Each group was to be commanded by a senior SD officer.

The group was reformed and code-named "Dresden" in September 1938 again in the take-over of the Sudetenland in October 1938 led by Heinz Jost , in Czechoslovakia [Bohemia-Moravia], in March 1939.

Another group code-named "Prag" led by Dr.Franz Stahlecker, was used in the occupation of Czechoslovakia.

Prior to the September 1939 invasion of Poland, more groups were set up. Five, (each with accompanying einsatz kommandos), designated I (Dr.Bruno Streckenbach), II (Dr.Emanuel Schäfer), III (Dr.Hans Fischer), IV (Lothar Beutel) & V (Ernst Damzog) followed the Wehrmacht there and carried out the systematic shooting of Partisans, Communists and Jews.

In June 1941 Germany invaded Russia, Group 'A' was to operate in the Baltic States and Northern Russia; 'B' White Russia & the South East of Moscow; 'C' Central Russia;'D' the Crimea-Caucusus & 'E' as the "Advance Commando-Moscow. & 'zvB' in Russian occupied Poland [Lvov-Lodz] after German troops after German troops had arrived. Another group 'H' was used in Serbia [Yugoslavia], in October 1941 & in Slovakia in August 1944.

The group leaders and their brigades were trainees at the SS Training Center, a former Frontier Police School at Presch/Duben in Wittemburg, Germany, and their training ended in May 1941. In June they were paraded, drawn up on three sides of the town square of Duben on the River Mulde, where they were lectured by Heydrich. He again spoke to them later in the castle of Presch, when they were given a speech by lawyer, Dr. Martin Sandberger, a deputy commander of group "A".

These groups had varying strengths from 200 to 900 men. Many of the lower ranks were drawn from volunteers from the Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. All had had either military or police training at the Trawniki Labor Camp, a satelite of the Lublin (Majdanek) KZ, which was under the control of the HSSPF for the Lublin district, Odillo Globocnik. These men were known locally as "HIWIS" or "Trawniki Men". The average breakdown of a group consist was: GESTAPO = 9%, KRIPO = 4.1%, Other SD = 3.5%, ORPO = 13.4%, W-SS = 3% and the remainder were "HIWIS". The groups were known in Germany as "Ostensatz" [Eastern Mission].

*GROUP "A" had three successive commanders: Dr. Karl JAEGER, who survived the war but committed suicide in Lithuania in 1953. Dr. Franz STAHLECKER, who was killed by Partisans in 1942, and Heinz Jost, who was sentenced to life imprisonment after the war. He appealed and his sentence was reduced to 10 years plus a fine of DM15,000.

*GROUP "B" had two commanders: Arthur NEBE, the Gestapo chief who was hanged by the Nazis for treachery [implication in the anti-Hitler bomb plot] in January 1945, and Dr. Werner NEUMANN, who was sentenced to death and executed in 1951.

*GROUP "C" had three commanders: Dr. Otto RASCHE, who was too ill to stand trial after the war. Dr. Max THOMAS, whose fate is unknown, and Dr. Werner BRAUNE, who was executed by US authorities in Landsberg Prison in June 1951.

*GROUP "D" had two commanders: Dr. Otto OHLENDORF, who was sentenced to death in 1947, and Dr. BIERKAMP, whose fate is unknown ("D" was re-designated "KAMPFGRUPPE BIERKAMP", in March 1943.

*GROUP "E" was commanded by Dr.Franz SIX, who resigned shortly after he arrived in Russia.

*GROUP "zvB" was commanded by Dr. Eberhardt SCHÖNGARTH, who was arrested by the British, charged with the murder of an RAF pilot in Holland and sentenced to death by a British Military Court in Burgsteinfurt, Germany in January 1946. [His other activities were unknown to the Court at the time of his trial].

*GROUP "H" was commanded by Dr. Josef Witiska. His fate is unknown.

Hitler had ordered that these groups be disbanded after their particular mission. Their members were drafted into fighting formations, police and other branches of the SS organisation. The group leaders returned to their "safe" desk jobs in Berlin. There, with promotions and medals they sat out the rest of the war! Some got other offers and postings, but the job of killing Jews en-masse was given to men like Rudolf Hoss in his big new extermination camp at Auschwitz II [Birkenau], and the smaller camps at Belzec, Sobibor, Chelmno, Majdanek etc., In any event, the gassing was far cheaper, more cost efficient and less messy than shooting! The Berlin Document Center has a complete shelf full of Einsatzgruppen reports.

What kind of men were these group commanders? What motivated them to accept service in Poland, Russia and elsewhere? Most were not military men, although all held military rank. They were all senior SD officers, who were for the most part, professional men. They were lawyers and economists with doctorates! They were specially selected by Heydrich and Himmler, and included a physician and a professional opera singer! There was also a Protestant Pastor! The majority were intellectuals in their early thirties. Their considerable skills and training were to make them efficient executioners. They were ordinary men caught up in a system which offered them some sort of hope for the future. The motivation involved the love of uniform, which associated them with nationality, and a particular group within it. Next, the uniform had to have a rank which determined status. Since all the leaders were of senior SD rank at the time of appointment - they were all "desk-jockey`s and couldn`t visualise promotion beyond that which they already held. But, because they had not served at the Front in the war so far - the medals were going to be the real "Brownie Points" which would decorate the uniform to show that the wearer was a "real" soldier to the civilian population back home, and to other military men who themselves had such decorations! This then is what motivated these group leaders to go and "do their bit in the East".

As for the rest of the groups' consists: Volunteers were mature men whose average age was 36, with very few under 30. They came from working-class backgrounds (35%),middle-class families (62%), and 3% had scholarly backgrounds. The group members were not particularly "Nazified", but they did have a loathing for Slavs, Poles, Russians and Jews - the latter being at the top of their hate list.

A typical unit was "Batallion 101", comprising 550 men, which operated in the Lublin area of Poland for 18 months from June 1942. Its commander was Wilhelm TRAPP. All were volunteers who did their duty with enthusiasm. Some took photo's, [which didn't do them much good when they were later captured by the Russians]. They saw their task as "ethnic cleansing", clearing the occupied lands for Hitler's "Lebensraum" to create a Greater Germany for the Nordic race.

What these men did was inhuman and history has documented the evil deeds of the Einsatzgruppen. Fortunately, their deeds were never completed as the change in the course of the war cut short their activities. The Allies, including the Russians, the Partisans, and the will of the ordinary German soldier all contributed to lessening what the Einsatzgruppen might have got away with. During the period that the groups were shooting people the Wehrmacht lost 250,000 killed: 750,000 wounded in fighting: 44,500 "went missing", and 112,500 got frost-bite and were therefore rendered unfit for duty!

The following is a list of leaders and known members of Einsatzgruppen which were formed in Germany and Poland and later moved into Russian occupied Poland and Russia in the last week of June 1941.

GROUP "A" with Headquarters in Gatcina (Gattschina), 50 Kms south of St. Petersburg (Lenningrad). First leader was Obf. Dr. Karl JAEGER, who , in Lithuania, on the 1st December 1941, was responsible for the death of 230,000 Jews. He committed suicide in Lithuania in 1953. The second leader was ObBf. Dr. Franz Walter STAHLECKER. He was a Heydrich SD man from the early days of the Party, and had been Eichmann`s immediate superior officer in 1939. Stahlecker got rapid promotions from Obf. to OGf. He was responsible for the deaths of 229,052 Jews on the 31st January 1942, with a consist of 990 men of which 350 were SD, 340 W-SS, 130 ORPO, 41 KRIPO & 8 GESTAPO. He was himself killed in 1942 in a Partisan attack. The third leader was Bf. Heinz JOST. He was reported to been sickened by what he saw happening and left his post a few weeks after arriving in Russia! After the war he was sentenced to life imprisonment. This was later reduced to 10 years plus a DM15,000 fine. Deputy leaders of this group were: OBf . Dr. Martin SANDBERGER, who was sentenced to death, but had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Sbf. Dr. Rudolf LANGE. He had attended the "Wannsee Conference" in January 1942 after his return from Latvia, where his Einsatzkommand had killed over 35,000 Jews. He was at the conference to report first hand. He was believed to have been killed later in the war. Others in this group were: Eduard STRAUCH, rank unknown, who was sentenced to death, but he became insane in custody whilst awaiting trial. Waldemar von RADETSKY, rank unknown. He was sentenced to 20 years. He was freed in 1961. OSf.HAMANN, who was attached to a section in Jelgava, Latvia, where on the 3rd August 1941 he commanded a group which murdered 1550 Jews. Erich EHRLINGER, rank unknown. He was sentenced to 12 years. Wilhelm FUCHS. He was executed in Siberia in 1946.

GROUP "B" with Headquarters in Smolensk. Its first leader was Arthur NEBE, the chief of RSHA`s Abteilung V (KRIPO). For his effort he was promoted from Bf. to Gf. He had been implicated in the July 20th 1944 "Bomb-Plot" on Hitler`s life. He got wind of his impending arrest at the end of 1944 and deserted his office, running off to Königsberg, where he was arrested, stripped of his rank and party membership and sentenced by the dreaded "People`s Court" for treachery, and hanged in January 1945. Refer Notes at end. The second leader of this group was Bf. Dr. Werner Erich NEUMANN. He was sentenced to death and hanged in 1951. Others included: Eugen STEIMLE, rank unknown. He was sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment, then reduced to 20 years. He was freed in 1954. Albert RAPP, rank unknown. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1965. Andreas von AMBERGER, rank unknown. He was reported to have said after his arrest, "I signed up for service in Russia because I could speak Russian. I was sent to Minsk on the 18th July 1941, and served under Nebe". His fate is unknown.

GROUP "C" with Headquarters in Kiev.Its first leader was Bf. Dr. Otto RASCHE. He arrived there on 30th September 1941.He was arrested after the war, but was too ill to stand trial. Second was: Bf. Dr. Max THOMAS. His fate is not known. Third was: Bf. Dr. Werner BRAUNE. He was executed by US authorities in Landsberg Prison, Bavaria on the 8th June 1951. Others in this group were: Sbf. Paul BLÖBEL. He was executed in 1951. Erwin SCHULZ, rank unknown, sentenced to 20 years, reduced to 15 years and freed in 1961. Ernst BILBERSTEIN, rank unknown. He was sentenced to death, later commuted to life. Walter BLUME, rank unknown. Sentenced to death, later commuted to life. Lothar FENDLER, rank unknown. Sentenced to 10 years, reduced to 5. Walther HANSCHE, rank unknown. Sentenced to death, later reduced to 15 years imprisonment.

GROUP "D" with Headquarters in Simferpol. Its first leader was: Bf. Dr. Otto OHLENDORF. He was RSHA`s chief of SD`s" Inland and Public Opinion Reporting". He was also a former head of RSHA`s Amt. III. He served with Einsatzgruppe "D" from June 1941 to June 1942. For his efforts he was promoted to Gf. He was sentenced to death and executed in 1947. The Group`s second leader was: Obf. Dr. BIERKAMP. His fate is not known. Others who served with this group were: Felix RUHL, rank unknown. He got 10 years imprisonment. Willi SIEBERT, rank unknown. He was sentenced to death. This was commuted to life imprisonment, then reduced to 15 years, then 10 years. Gustav NOSSKE, rank unknown. Sentenced to life, which was reduced to 10 years. Otto BRADFISCHE, rank unknown. Sentenced to 10 years. Josef LECHTHALER, rank unknown. Sentenced to 3.5 years. OSf. Dr.Max DREXEL. He was to end the war with the rank of OSbf.[ Refer to his individual file]. [Refer also page 205 of Gerald Posner`s book "Hitler`s Children".

GROUP"E" whose Headquarters were to be in Moscow. The group became inoperative because of battle reversals for the German Wehrmacht before it could capture the city. Group "E" was not designated as such, instead it was given the name "Advance Commando-Moscow". Its leader was Bf. Dr. Franz SIX. He resigned shortly after taking up his post in Russia in August 1941.

GROUP "H" with Headquarters in Bratislava. Its leader was OSbf. later Stdf. Dr. Josef WITISKA. He had been the Commander of the Bratislava SD Amt.IV. The group was formed in August 1944, and was held in reserve to put down an anticipated [through SD Intelligence Reports], revolt in Slovakia. The group was not used for its intended purpose. Dr. Witiska was promoted and posted.

GROUP "zvB" with Headquarters in Bursa Abrahamowiczow, Lvov. It had three leaders, one of which was Dr.Eberhardt SCHÖNGARTH. He was promoted to Bf. and then Gf. and finished the war in Holland after service in Yugoslavia. He was arrested by the British for executing a downed RAF pilot. He was sentenced to death and executed in Germany in January 1947. Other who served in this group were: KIPKA.........first name & rank unknown. OTSCH....first name & rank unknown. USf. Wilhelm ROSENBAUM. [With a Jewish name]. He was officer in charge of the Police School in Rabka-Crakow. Philip MÜLLER, rank unknown. OScharff. Pieter MENTEN. He was a Dutch citizen who was very wealthy and whose family had businesses in Lvov (then German Lodz). He joined the SS when Poland was divided in 1939. The Russians occupied Lvov and confiscated all his property. He was a close friend of Schöngarth, and although only holding the SS rank of Oberscharfführer, he lorded it over the younger SS officers who gave him a free-hand. When the group was disbanded he was sent back to Holland where he maintained contact with Schöngarth after the latters return from duty in the Balkans. Refer to Menten's personal file.

NOTES ON SOME OF THE EINSATZGRUPPEN LEADERS IN RUSSIA 1941-42.

Of all the leaders Arthur NEBE was the ONLY volunteer. He thought that, by volunteering for duty in the East (Russian Front), he would earn himself a Clasp to his Iron Cross-First Class, and curry favor with the unpredictable Heydrich. It is true that initially, he didn`t know that he was volunteering for a part in the greatest mass-murder in history!! None of the other leaders volunteered. They each had their own reason for "obeying" Heydrich`s "request" to go. Otto OHLENDORF had fallen foul of Himmler because of his argumentative, cantankerous nature. He had twice refused a request that he serve in the "East", and didn`t want to be branded a coward. He was commonly reffered to as the "Knight of the Holy Grail". STAHLECKER had opposed Heydrich who had him transferred from the RSHA to the Foreign Ministry. He thought that by commanding a group he could win his way back to the RSHA. Otto RASCHE was "as bored as hell" sitting in an SD outpost in East Prussia. He thought that by leading a group he would get promotion and the chance of a senior appointment in the RSHA`s Berlin SD. Franz SIX never got the chance to put his group into action, resigning because his services were not required!

NUREMBURG WAR TRIALS OF EINSATZGRUPPEN MEMBERS.

On the 3rd July 1947 until the 10th April 1948 a US Military Tribunal sat to judge the guilt of 23 officers-in-charge of the various Einsatzgruppen. Only 20 names appeared on the list. This was because, at this time, other members of the groups were not known to the authorities. In the years since that trial more details have come to light. Details of these people are listed in their individual files.

The 20 mentioned above and their resulting sentences are as follows.

OHLENDORF, Otto, sentenced to death.

BLOBEL, Paul, sentenced to death.

BILBERSTEIN, Ernst, sentenced to death then commuted to life imprisonment.

BLUME, Walter, sentenced to death then commuted to 25 years imprisonment.

BRAUNE, Werner, sentenced to death then commuted to life imprisonment.

HANSCH, Walter, Sentenced to death then commuted to 15 years imprisonment.

KLINGELHOFFER, Waldemar, Sentenced to death then commuted to life imprisonment.

NEUMANN, Erich, ditto.

OTT, Adolf, ditto.

SANDBERGER, Martin, ditto.

SCHUBERT, Heinz, Hermann, Sentenced to death then commuted to 10 years imprisonment.

SEIBERT, Willi, ditto.

STEINLE, Eugen, sentenced to death then commuted to 15 years imprisonment.

JOST, Heinz, sentenced to death then commuted to 10 years imprisonment.

NOSSKE, Gustav, ditto.

RADETSKY, Waldemar von, sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

SCHULZ, Erwin, sentenced to 20 years imprisonment then reduced to 15 years.

SIX, Franz, sentenced to 20 years imprisonment then reduced to 15 years.

RÜHL, Felix, sentenced to 20 years imprisonment then reduced to 10 years.

STRACH, Eduard, sentenced to death.

Research:Ian Dixon.

June 1992.