 Flag of the Ordnungspolizei The Ordnungspolizei (OrPo) was the name for the regular German police force that existed in Nazi Germany between the years of 1936 and 1945. After their green uniforms, they were also referred to as Grüne Polizei. Image File history File links Ordnungspolizei_Flag. ...
Image File history File links Ordnungspolizei_Flag. ...
Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...
1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...
History Translated as "order police", Ordnungspolizei referred to uniformed police units formed by an act of the German Interior Ministry in the summer of 1936. The act decreed that the regular German police forces were to be absorbed into the SS, which would then incorporate all local, state, and national level law enforcement agencies. The infamous double-sig rune SS insignia. ...
The police were divided into the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo or regular police)and the Sicherheitspolizei (Sipo or security police). The Orpo assumed duties of regular law enforcement while the Sipo consisted of the secret state police Geheime Staatspolizei or Gestapo and criminal police Kriminalpolizei or Kripo. The Gestapo was a corps of professionals detectives involved in political police duties and the Kriminalpolizei fight against crimes. On september 1939, the Sipo was combined with the secret service ot the SS Sicherheitsdienst or SD into the Main Office for Security of the Reich the Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA. RSHA symbolise the narrow connexion between SS (party organisation) and police (state organisation). The Sicherheitspolizei (security police) was a term used in Nazi Germany to described the combined forces of the Gestapo and Sicherheitsdienst (the SD) between 1934 and 1939. ...
Gestapo is a portmanteau contraction of the name of the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, Geheime Staatspolizei, (German for secret state police). During the reign of Nazi Germany, the Gestapo was the central intelligence agency of Germany, under the overall administration of the SS. It was administrated by...
The Deaths Head emblem similar to skull and crossbones, often used as the insignia of the Gestapo The (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei; Secret State Police) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ...
The Kriminalpolizei was the professional detective service of Germany between 1936 and 1945. ...
The Kriminalpolizei was the professional detective service of Germany between 1936 and 1945. ...
The Deaths Head emblem similar to skull and crossbones, often used as the insignia of the Gestapo The (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei; Secret State Police) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ...
The Kriminalpolizei was the professional detective service of Germany between 1936 and 1945. ...
Sicherheitsdienst (SD) sleeve insignia. ...
SD or sd is an acronym that may mean: Sales and Distribution, business San Diego, a U.S. city SanDisk, US-based multinational corporation which designs and markets flash memory card products SafeDisc, a CD/DVD copy protection solution by Macrovision Corporation Scooby Doo a brown dog Secure Digital, flash...
RSHA, or the Reichssicherheitshauptamt, was a subsidiary organization of the S.S. created by Heinrich Himmler on September 22, 1939, through the merger of the Sicherheitsdienst, the Gestapo and the Kriminalpolizei. ...
Reinhard Heydrich - the first director of RSHA The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office), was a subordinate organization of the SS created by Heinrich Himmler on September 22, 1939, through the merger of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD, or Security Agency), the Gestapo (Secret State Police) and the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police). ...
Organization The Orpo was commanded by SS-Oberstgruppenführer Kurt Daluege, who reported directly to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. As part of his duties as commander of the SS, which now controlled the Orpo, Himmler was also named as Chef der Deutschen Polizei. By 1941, the Orpo had been divided into the following offices, covering every aspect of German law enforcement. SS-Oberstgruppenführer Collar Insignia Oberstgruppenführer was the highest commissioned SS rank with the exception of Reichsführer-SS, which was a special rank held by Heinrich Himmler. ...
Kurt Daluege. ...
Heinrich Himmler as the Reichsführer-SS Reichsführer-SS was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. ...
(October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ...
Hauptamt Ordungspolizei The Hauptamt Ordungspolizei was the central command office of the entire Ordnungspolizei and was considered a full SS-Headquarters command.
Schutzpolizei The Schutzpolizei served as Germany's municipal police force and was tasked with maintaining order in German cities and larger towns. The Schutzpolizei was further divided into the following: - Schutzpolizei des Reiches (cities and large towns)
which include police-station duties (revierdienst)and barracked police units for riots and public safety (Kasernierte Polizei) - Schutzpolizei der Gemeinden (smaller towns)
Gendarmerie The Gendarmerie or rural police ;was tasked with frontier law enforcement to include small communities, landward districts, and mountainous terrain. Members of the Gendarmerie were mainly employed to combat poaching and also as Alpine troops for homeland defense. With the development of a network of motorways in Germany, Motorized gendarmerie companies were set up in 1937 to secure the traffic. A gendarmerie (pronounced ) is a military body charged with police duties among civilian populations. ...
Verwaltungspolizei The Verwaltungspolizei was the administrative branch of the Orpo and had overall command authority for all Orpo police stations. The Verwaltungspolizei also was the central office for record keeping and was the command authority for civilian law enforcement groups, which included the Gesundheitspolizei (health police), Gewerbepolizei (commercial or trade police), and the Baupolizei (building police). In main towns, verwaltungspolizei, schutzpolizei and kriminalpolizei were organised into Police Administrations known as "Polizeiprasidium" or "Polizeidirektion" which had authority upon these police forces in the urban district.
Verkehrspolizei The Verkehrspolizei (traffic police) was the traffic-law enforcement agency and road-safety administration of Germany. The organization patrolled Germany's roads (out of motorways which were controlled by Motorized Gendarmerie) and responded to major accidents. The Verkehrspolizei was also the primary escort service for high Nazi leaders who traveled extensive distances by automobile.
Wasserschutzpolizei The Wasserschutzpolizei ("water protection" police) was the coast guard of the Third Reich. Tasked with the safety and security of Germany's rivers, harbors, and inland waterways, the group also had authority over the SS-Hafensicherungstruppen which were Allgemeine-SS units assigned as port security personnel. now. ...
Bahnschutzpolizei The Bahnschutzpolizei (railway police) was made up of part-time police officers who were also employees of the Reichsbahn (state railway). The Bahnschutzpolizei was tasked with railway safety and also preventing espionage and sabotage of railway property. Transit police, or transport police, are a specialized type of police employed by a common carrier, usually a railroad (but may also include a bus line or other transport carrier) that are tasked to prevent and investigate crimes committed against the carrier or by or against passengers or other customers...
The Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR, literally German Imperial Railway) was the name of the German national railway created from the railways of the individual states of the German Empire following the end of World War I. It was founded in 1920 as the Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen when the Weimar Republic (formally Deutsches...
Postschutz The Postschutz (postal police) comprised roughly 4,500 members and was tasked with security at Germany's post offices and ensuring the security of other communications mediums such as telephone and telegraph lines.
Feuerschutzpolizei In 1938, all of Germany's local fire brigades were absorbed into the Ordnungspolizei. The Feuerschutzpolizei (fire protection police) thus consisted of all of professional fire departments under a national command structure. The Orpo Hauptamt also had authority over the Freiwillige Feuerwehren, the local volunteer civilian fire brigades. Firefighter with an axe A firefighter, sometimes still called a fireman though women have increasingly joined firefighting units, is a person who is trained and equipped to put out fires, rescue people and in some areas provide emergency medical services. ...
At the height of the Second World War, in response to heavy bombing of Germany's cities, the combined Feuerschutzpolizei und Freiwillige Feuerwehren numbered nearly two million in membership.
Luftschutzpolizei The Security and Assistance Service (Sicherheits und Hilfsdienst or SHD) was created in 1935 as air protection police. It was the civil protection service in charge of air raid defence and rescue victims of bombings in connexion with the Technische Nothilfe (Technical Emergency Service) and the Feuerschutzpolizei (Fire Brigades). In April 1942, SHD was re-named Luftschutzpolizei(air civil defence police). The air raid network (Lutschutzdienst) was supported by the Reichsluftschutzbund or RLB (Reich Association for Air Raid Precautions) an organisation controlled from 1935 by the Air Ministry under Hermann Goering. The RLB set up an organisation of air raid wardens who were responsible for the safety of a building or a group of houses.
Technische Nothilfe Known as the TeNo, the Technische Nothilfe (technical emergency corps) was a corps of engineers, technicians and specialist in construction work. Teno was created in 1919 to keep the public utilities and essential industries running during the wave of strikes. In 1930 a gas and air protection service was created as well the emergency branch service was enlarged and equipped to fight natural catastrophes (floods...). From 1937 Teno became a technical auxiliary corps of the police and was absorbed into Orpo Hauptamt. By 1943, the TeNo had over 100,000 members.
Funkschutz The Funkschutz ("radio guard") was made up of SS and Orpo security personnel assigned to protect German radio stations from attack and sabotage. The Funkschutz was the also the primary investigating service for illegal reception of foreign radio broadcasts.
Werkschutzpolizei The Werkschutzpolizei (factory protection police) were the night watchmen of the Third Reich. Its personnel were civilians who answered to a central Orpo office and typically were issued paramilitary uniforms, mostly surplus black or grey Allgemeine-SS jackets with Orpo insignia. A Security Guard or Security Officer is usually a privately-employed person who is paid (directly or through a security firm) to protect property and/or people. ...
now. ...
Police Battalions Between 1939 and 1945, the Ordnungspolizei also maintained separate military formations, independent of the main police offices within Germany. The first such formations were the Police Battalions, established for law enforcement in occupied territories and anti-partisan duties. The Police Battalions were under the authority of local SS and Police Leaders and were used, more often than not, as security forces patrolling the Jewish ghettos of Poland. The Police Battalions were also the primary pool from which the Einsatzgruppen drew personnel in accordance with manpower needs. The majority of police battalions formed 28 Police Regiments in 1942. many of which saw combat on the Eastern Front during the retreat of the German army. ...
Higher SS and Police Leaders were senior Nazi Party officials that commanded large units of the SS during and prior to the Second World War. ...
This article describes some ethnic, historic, and cultural aspects of the Jewish identity; for a consideration of the Jewish religion, refer to the article Judaism. ...
A ghetto is an area where people from a specific racial or ethnic background or united in a given culture or religion live as a group, voluntarily or involuntarily, in milder or stricter seclusion. ...
A member of Einsatzgruppe D is just about to execute a Jewish man kneeling before a filled mass grave in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, in 1942. ...
The Eastern Front of World War II was the theatre of war covering the conflict in central and eastern Europe from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945. ...
It should be noted that the regular military police of the Wehrmacht were separate from the Ordungspolizei. It has been suggested that Gendarmerie be merged into this article or section. ...
Wehrmacht troops of the Heer (military land forces) marching at a military parade in honour of the 50th birthday of Adolf Hitler, on April 20th, 1939. ...
Waffen-SS Police Division The primary military arm of the Ordnungspolizei was the 4th Panzergrenadier Division of the Waffen-SS, known as the SS Polizei Division. Mainly used as a rear guard and reserve formation, the Polizei Division was historically known as being under-trained and lacking in skilled combat tactics. The division consisted of four police regiments comprised of Orpo personnel and was typically used to rotate police members into a military situation, so as not to lose police personnel to the general draft of the Wehrmacht or to the full SS divisions of the regular Waffen-SS. Waffen-SS recruitment poster; Volunteer to the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS was the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel. ...
The SS Polizei Division was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II. The division was formed in 1939 as part of the SS Police, and was transferred to the Waffen-SS in 1942. ...
Waffen-SS recruitment poster; Volunteer to the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS was the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel. ...
Very late in the war several Orpo SS-Police regiments were transferred to the Waffen-SS to form the 35th SS and Police Grenadier Division. The 35th SS and Police Grenadier Division was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS during World War II. It owes its unusual name to the fact that it was created from SS-Police units transferred to the Waffen-SS. It was not formed until the...
Orpo and SS Unity The Ordnungspolizei was separate of the SS and maintained a system of insignia and Orpo ranks. From 1942, the police general ranks are equivalent to SS. It was possible for policemen to be members of the SS but without active duties. Police generals who were members of the SS referred simultaneously by both rank titles during the war. For instance, a Generalleutnant in the Police who was also an SS member would be referred to as SS Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei. In addition, those Orpo police generals which run duties of Senior SS and Police Leaders (Höheren SS und Polizeiführer) gained equivalent Waffen-SS rank in august 1944 when Himmler was appointed Chef der Ersatzheeres (Chief of Home Army)because they had authority over the Prisonners of War camps of their area. It must noted though that the establishment of Orpo did not give Himmler and the SS operational control over Orpo in areas where a civilian administration existed. Whenever Nazi Germany occupied new territories a situation usually emerged where the military relinquished political control over the new territory to the civilian administration before such an administration had materialised except on paper. The result would be a power vaccume which the SS would avidly fill. However as soon as a civilian administration appeared it naturally assumed control over the non-Gestapo police and at times it even gain conrol over the Gestapo. Otherwise the SS authority over Orpo was confined to setting procedures and supervising training. The Ranks and insignia of the Ordnungspolizei developed in 1936 after the incorporation of Germanys regular police forces in the SS. Ordnungspolizei Rank Titles Ordnungspolizei ranks were based on local police titles and were considered a separate system from the ranks of the SS. It was also possible for...
Waffen-SS recruitment poster; Volunteer to the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS was the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel. ...
Heinrich Himmler's ultimate desire for the Ordnungspolizei was to eventually phase the organization out of existence and replace the regular police forces of Germany with a combined racial/state protection corps (Staatsschutzkorps) of pure SS units. In Himmler's dream, local law enforcement would be undertaken by the Allgemeine-SS with the Waffen-SS providing homeland-security and political-police functions. Historical analysis of the Third Reich has revealed that senior Orpo personnel knew of Himmler's plans and were very much against the extinction of the Ordnungspolizei in favor of an SS state police. now. ...
Waffen-SS recruitment poster; Volunteer to the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS was the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel. ...
Orpo legacy At the close of the Second World War, the Orpo ceased to exist; but many of its personnel continued with business as usual, performing police services for the Allied occupation forces. The traditions of the Orpo continued in East Germany, which maintained a state police force "Stasi" designed closely after Orpo and SS structures. In West Germany, the police were decentralized with each federal state establishing its own police force. The exception was the Landespolizei, which continues to this day as the police force patrolling the Bundesländer of Germany. Many Landespolizei regulations, procedures, and even some uniforms and insignia, can be traced back to Orpo origins. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...
GDR redirects here. ...
Logo of East Germanys Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS or Stasi) / Ministry for State Security This article is about Stasi, the secret police of East Germany. ...
Landespolizei is a term used in the Federal Republic of Germany to denote the law enforcement services which patrol the German Bundesländer and is the approximite equivalent to the State police in the United States of America. ...
Germany is a Federal Republic made up of 16 States, known in German as Länder (singular Land). ...
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