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SS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi
National Socialist German Workers Party

The 'National Socialist German Workers' Party', , commonly known in English as the , was a racialist, totalitarian political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945....
 officials that commanded large units of the SS
Schutzstaffel

The , abbreviated SS- or - was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the F?hrer's "Praetorian Guard," the Nazi Party's "Shield Squadron" and a force that, fielding almost a million men, managed to exert as much political influence as th...
 during and prior to World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
.

"The Higher SS and Police Leaders or HSSPF and their subordinate SS and Police Leaders (SSPF) were the most powerful (and feared) SS posts created by Himmler"-Mark Yerger, Allgemeine-SS


History
The first Higher SS and Police Leaders were appointed in 1937 from the existing SS-Oberabschnitt
SS-Oberabschnitt

The SS-Oberabschnitt was the main administrative district for the Allgemeine-SS in Nazi Germany. They evolved from previous districts of the SS , and came to be called Oberabschnitt only in 1933....
 Führers (leaders of the main districts).






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SS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi
National Socialist German Workers Party

The 'National Socialist German Workers' Party', , commonly known in English as the , was a racialist, totalitarian political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945....
 officials that commanded large units of the SS
Schutzstaffel

The , abbreviated SS- or - was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the F?hrer's "Praetorian Guard," the Nazi Party's "Shield Squadron" and a force that, fielding almost a million men, managed to exert as much political influence as th...
 during and prior to World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
.

"The Higher SS and Police Leaders or HSSPF and their subordinate SS and Police Leaders (SSPF) were the most powerful (and feared) SS posts created by Himmler"-Mark Yerger, Allgemeine-SS


History


The first Higher SS and Police Leaders were appointed in 1937 from the existing SS-Oberabschnitt
SS-Oberabschnitt

The SS-Oberabschnitt was the main administrative district for the Allgemeine-SS in Nazi Germany. They evolved from previous districts of the SS , and came to be called Oberabschnitt only in 1933....
 Führers (leaders of the main districts). The purpose of the Higher SS and Police Leader was to be a direct command authority for every SS and police unit in a given geographical region with such authority answering only to Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was a Nazi Germany German politician and head of the Schutzstaffel. He was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, competing with Hermann G?ring, Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels....
 and Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born Germany politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party....
.

Inside the 'Reich', the person at the HSSPF post was usually the same person who was the SS-Oberabschnitt
SS-Oberabschnitt

The SS-Oberabschnitt was the main administrative district for the Allgemeine-SS in Nazi Germany. They evolved from previous districts of the SS , and came to be called Oberabschnitt only in 1933....
 Führer for that region. Outside the Reich, there was no Oberabschnitt, so the HSSPF existed on their own. However, they had something the Reich HSSPFs did not - Several "SS and Polizei Führer" (SSPF) posts underneath them to aide them in their deeds.

There were also two "Höchste SS und Polizeiführer" posts (Supreme SS and Police Leader). They were named "Italien" (1943-1945) and "Ukraine" (1943-1944), and had various HSSPF and SSPF under them.

SS and Police Leaders directly commanded a headquarters staff with representatives from almost every branch of the SS. This typically included the Ordnungspolizei
Ordnungspolizei

The Ordnungspolizei was the name for the uniformed regular Germany police force in existence during the period of Nazi Germany, notably between 1936 and 1945....
 (regular police
Police

Police are agents or agencies, usually of the executive , empowered to enforce the law and to ensure public and social order through the legitimized use of force....
), Gestapo
Gestapo

The was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel , it was administered by the Reichssicherheitshauptamt and was considered a dual organization of the Sicherheitsdienst and also a suboffice of the Sicherheitspolizei ....
 (secret police
Secret police

Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy to maintain national security against internal threats to the state.Secret police forces are typically associated with totalitarianism regimes, as they are often used to maintain the political power of the state rather than uphold the rule of law....
), Totenkopfverbände (Nazi concentration camps
Nazi concentration camps

Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazism concentration camps were greatly expanded in Germany after the Reichstag fire in 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime....
), SD
Sicherheitsdienst

The Sicherheitsdienst was primarily the intelligence service of the Schutzstaffel and the NSDAP. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the Gestapo, which the SS had infiltrated heavily after 1934....
 (intelligence service), and certain units of the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel or SS. It was founded in Germany in 1939 after the SS was split into two units but the title of Waffen-SS only became official on 2 March, 1940....
 (combat
Combat

Combat, or fighting, is purposeful violence conflict intended to establish dominance over the opposition.The term "combat" typically refers to armed conflict between military forces in warfare, whereas the more general term "fighting" can refer to any violent conflict....
 units). In theory, an SS and Police Leader had authority to command and commandeer any SS unit available in a particular region; however, in practice SS units answered to their immediate chain of command and would only be requisitioned by the SS and Police Leader in the event of an emergency.

War crimes


One of the more notorious functions of the SS and Police Leaders was to serve as the Commanding SS General for any Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen

Einsatzgruppen were paramilitary groups formed by Heinrich Himmler and operated by the Schutzstaffel before and during World War II. Their principal task, per SS General Erich von dem Bach, at the Nuremberg Trials: "was the annihilation of the Jews, Roma people, and Soviet Union political commissars"....
 (mostly death squad
Death squad

A death squad is an armed squad that kills civilians, terrorists or guerillas. These groups tend to commit extrajudicial punishment assassinations / extra-judicial killings and forced disappearances of persons....
s) that were activated in the SS and Police Leader’s area. Such duties typically involved ordering the deaths of tens of thousands of persons and, following the close of World War II, nearly every SS and Police Leader, who had served in Poland
History of Poland (1939–1945)

The history of Poland from 1939 to 1945 encompasses the German invasion of Poland through to the end of World War II. On September 1, 1939, without a formal declaration of war, Germany invaded Poland....
 and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
, was charged with war crime
War crime

War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war"; including but not limited to "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoner of war", the killing of hostages, "the wanton destruction of cities, towns and villages, and any devast...
s. A large number of the SS and Police Leaders, who had been involved with such crimes, committed suicide
Suicide

Suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"....
 before capture.

SS and Police Leaders were also the overseeing authority of the Jewish Ghetto
Ghetto

A ghetto is described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure."...
s in Poland and, as such, directly coordinated deportations to extermination camps with the administrative help of the RSHA
RSHA

The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt , was a subordinate organization of the Schutzstaffel. The RSHA was created by Heinrich Himmler on September 22 1939 through the merger of the Sicherheitsdienst , the Gestapo , and the Kriminalpolizei ....
. The SS and Police Leaders were also afforded direct command over Police Battalions and SD Regiments that were assigned to keep order in the ghettos. The classic image of SS troops, storming through a Jewish Ghetto murdering victims at random, can be attributed to troops under the command of the SS and Police Leaders.

SS Lord


The grand dream of Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was a Nazi Germany German politician and head of the Schutzstaffel. He was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, competing with Hermann G?ring, Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels....
 was to evolve the SS and Police Leader into an SS Lord of the Lebensraum
Lebensraum

served as a major motivation for Nazi Germany's territorial aggression. In his book Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler detailed his belief that the German people needed Lebensraum , and that it should be taken in the East....
 which the SS would rule and control after Germany had won World War II. Himmler’s dream envisioned twenty eight SS States, spread throughout the East, each one of which would be ruled by an SS and Police Leader, militarily controlled by the Waffen-SS, and worked and lived on by SS warriors of the Allgemeine-SS. Whether or not Himmler’s vision was plausible, and if the more rational elements of the Nazi government would have permitted an SS nation in the east, remains one of the great “what-ifs” of history.

Late war promotions to Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel or SS. It was founded in Germany in 1939 after the SS was split into two units but the title of Waffen-SS only became official on 2 March, 1940....
 


In 1944 and 1945 Many HSSPF were promoted to being Generals in the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel or SS. It was founded in Germany in 1939 after the SS was split into two units but the title of Waffen-SS only became official on 2 March, 1940....
 by Himmler. This was apparently to give them protection under the Hague Convention rules of warfare. An HSSPF who was a nuremberg witness claimed that it was so that the HSSPF could legally guard POW camps under the rules of warfare.

Notable SS and Police Leaders


Note - Men were often transferred, promoted, etc, as the war went on. HSSPF areas themselves might change, be absorbed, cease to exist, etc. This list is by no means exhaustive.

HöSSPF

  • Karl Wolff
    Karl Wolff

    File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1969-171-29, Karl Wolff.jpgKarl Friedrich Otto Wolff was a high-ranking member of the Nazism SS. He held the rank of SS-Obergruppenf?hrer and General of the Waffen-SS....
     - "Italien"
  • Hans-Adolf Prützmann
    Hans-Adolf Prützmann

    Hans-Adolf Pr?tzmann was a Superior Schutzstaffel and Police Leader, as well as an SS Obergruppenf?hrer. He was a senior Nazi in the administration of Latvia following the German conquest of that country in 1941, and was responsible at a minimum for forcing the Jews of Latvia into ghettos in Latvia's major cities, which made it easier for o...
     - "Ukraine"


HSSPF

  • Udo von Woyrsch
    Udo von Woyrsch

    Udo Von Woyrsch was the SS and Police Leader in Elbe, in 1934 Von Woyrsch participated in the Night of the Long Knives, Von Woyrsch order the execution of his SS rival Emil Sembach....
     - "Elbe"
  • Carl Oberg
    Carl Oberg

    General Carl Albrecht Oberg was the Higher SS and Police Leader of France during the Second World War.From 1942 to 1944, Oberg headed all German police units in France, including SD and Gestapo, then headed by SS colonel Helmut Knochen....
     - France
  • Ernst Kaltenbrunner
    Ernst Kaltenbrunner

    Ernst Kaltenbrunner was a senior Germany official during World War II, holding the offices of Chief of the RSHA, and President of Interpol. He was the highest-ranking Schutzstaffel leader to face trial, having the full rank of Obergruppenf?hrer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS....
     - Donau
    Danube

    The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
  • Karl Hermann Frank
    Karl Hermann Frank

    Karl Hermann Frank was a prominent Sudeten-German Nazism official in Czechoslovakia prior to and during World War II and an SS-Obergruppenf?hrer....
     - Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
    Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

    The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was the majority Czech people protectorate which Nazi Germany established in the central parts of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia in what is today the Czech Republic....
  • Friedrich Jecklen - Northern Russia
    Soviet Union

    The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
  • Richard Hildebrandt - Black Sea
    Black Sea

    The Black Sea is an inland sea sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolia and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Seas and various straits....
  • Erwin Rösener
    Erwin Rösener

    Erwin Friedrich Karl R?sener was an Schutzstaffel-Obergruppenf?hrer who was responsible for mass executions of civilians in Slovenia and was posthumously on the indictment at Nuremberg Trials for war crimes....
     - Alpenland
  • Odilio "Globus" Globocnik
    Odilo Globocnik

    Dipl.-Ing. Odilo Lotario Globocnik was a prominent Austrian Nazism and later an SS leader. He was one of the persons most responsible for the murder of millions of people during The Holocaust....
     - Adriatic Coast
  • Hanns Albin Rauter
    Hanns Albin Rauter

    Johann Baptist Albin Rauter was Higher SS and Police Leader in the occupied Netherlands during the period of 1940-1945. He reported to Heinrich Himmler and Arthur Seyss-Inquart....
     - Netherlands
    Netherlands

    The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
  • Erich von dem Bach
    Erich von dem Bach

    Erich Julius Eberhard von Zelewski or Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski , was a Nazism official and a member of the Schutzstaffel, in which he reached the rank of SS-Obergruppenf?hrer....
     - Central Russia
  • Wilhelm Rediess
    Wilhelm Rediess

    Wilhelm Rediess was the SS and Police Leader during the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany in the Second World War. He was also the commanding General of all SS troops stationed in occupied Norway, assuming command on 22 June 1940 until his death in 1945....
     - Norway
  • Günther Pancke
    Günther Pancke

    G?nther Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Pancke was an Schutzstaffel-Obergruppenf?hrer and the Higher SS and Police Leader of Denmark.Pancke was born in Gniezno , Province of Posen, German Empire....
     - Denmark
  • Jürgen Stroop
    Jürgen Stroop

    J?rgen Stroop, was a Germany SS and police general who oversaw the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation of Poland in World War II....
    , then Walter Schimana
    Walter Schimana

    Walter Schimana...
    , then Hermann Franz - Greece
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger
    Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger

    Friedrich Wilhelm Kr?ger was a Nazism official and high-ranking member of the Sturmabteilung and SS. He was a high-ranking Nazi official in German-occupied Poland and as such he organized concentration camps, mass murder, and other war crimes....
    , then Wilhelm Koppe
    Wilhelm Koppe

    Wilhelm Koppe was a German Nazi commander who was responsible for numerous atrocities against Poles and Jews in Reichsgau Wartheland and the General Government during the German occupation of Poland in World War II....
     - General Government
    General Government

    The General Government refers to a part of the territories of Poland under German military occupation during World War II by Nazi Germany and was an autonomous part of "Greater Germany"....
     (Poland)


SSPF

  • Jürgen Stroop
    Jürgen Stroop

    J?rgen Stroop, was a Germany SS and police general who oversaw the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation of Poland in World War II....
     - Warsaw
    Warsaw

    Warsaw is the Capital and World's largest cities of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains....
  • Julian Scherner
    Julian Scherner

    Julian Scherner was a Nazi Party official who served in the Schutzstaffel as an SS-Oberf?hrer. Scherner is most notorious for his career as SS and Police Leader of Cracow, Poland....
     - Kraków
    Kraków

    Krak?w , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow , is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland, with a population of 756,336 in 2007 ....
  • Odilo "Globus" Globocnik
    Odilo Globocnik

    Dipl.-Ing. Odilo Lotario Globocnik was a prominent Austrian Nazism and later an SS leader. He was one of the persons most responsible for the murder of millions of people during The Holocaust....
     - Lublin
    Lublin

    Lublin is the largest city in Poland east of the Vistula, and the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 355,954 . It is List of cities and towns in Poland....


External links

  • Lists of SSPF