Gestapo

The Gestapo was the Geheime Staatspolizei or the secret police of Nazi Germany and would become a part of the SS.

Originally the Gestapo was established in 1933 on April 26 and made up of the Prussian Secret Police.

Their first commander was Gestapo agent Rudolf Deils who ran the Gestapo not unlike the FBI, it was not until Hermann Göring took over as commander that things changed. They changed in a way that the citizens learned to fear them, if detained they were tortured and held without formal charges, however they were made to sign a paper stating that they had asked to be confined in the Gestapo prison.

Hermann Göring, Gestapo chief petitioned the Nazi government to enlarge the scope of their reach, including the whole of Germany. Hermann Göring’s plan went well with the exception of Bavaria where Heinrich Himmler was the Bavarian police president and the head of the local SS.

In 1934, Göring transferred control of the Gestapo to Heinrich Himmler to reward him for his participation in the Night of the Long Knives .

Other Gestapo facts are that their role was to investigate all things dangerous to the state, including things such as treason, espionage, and sabotage, along with attacks on the Nazi Party or Germany. They were given the power to imprison people without any type of judicial proceedings and during World War II the size of the Gestapo rose to approximately 45,000 members.

As citizens became increasingly disturbed with the actions of the Nazi Party and the Gestapo facts when they came out were that the first half of 1943 saw the Gestapo making thousands of arrests and executions, however this did not stop the protests and plots against, the Nazi Party. Although the people behind this were more hidden for fear of torture and death and quite possibly their families.

The end of the Gestapo came with the end of World War II and the members who were found were present at the Nuremberg trials that were held November 14^th, 1945 through October 3^rd, 1946. An International Military Tribunal that was established by the allies tried the Gestapo along with others present at the Nuremberg Trials.

While many of the Gestapo agents were tried, there were also many others who fled to other countries to avoid prison or worse should they be convicted at the Nuremberg Trials.