German leader Adolf Hitler issued a decree today to combine various agencies into one organisation called the RSHA.
The RSHA’s full name is the Reich Security Main Office (in German: ‘Reichssicherheitshauptamt’). It combines the SS intelligence service the SD (‘Sicherheitsdienst’), and the secret police the SiPo (‘Sicherheitspolizei’). The joining of these agencies will ensure that they will be able to share intelligence and work in a more coordinated manner as they attempt to suppress freedoms and oppress people who oppose Nazi rule.
The RSHA will be led by SS-Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, under the ultimate command of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. The RSHA, which includes the infamous Gestapo, will go on to become a main instrument of terror during the Holocaust and throughout the Nazi-occupied territories.
The RSHA’s stated aim is to fight all “enemies of the Reich” inside and outside the borders of Nazi Germany.
