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Gestapo facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R96954, Berlin, Hermann Göring ernennt Himmler zum Leiter der Gestapo
Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Göring at the meeting to formally hand over control of the Gestapo (Berlin, 1934).

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany.

Hermann Göring formed the unit in 1933. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of SS national leader Heinrich Himmler, who in 1936 was appointed Chief of German Police (Chef der Deutschen Polizei) by Hitler.

The name stands for Geheime Staatspolizei. This means "secret state police". It was under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel (SS).

The Gestapo were allowed to arrest people that offended the government in any way. The government could use the secret police to accuse and arrest anyone they wanted without being questioned.

Images for kids

  • Bundesarchiv Bild 183-K0108-0501-003, Rudolf Diels

    Rudolf Diels, first Commander of the Gestapo; 1933–1934

  • Gestapo border inspection stamp - 1938

    1938 Gestapo border inspection stamp applied when leaving Germany.

  • Heinrich Müller

    Heinrich Müller, Chief of the Gestapo; 1939–1945

  • Gestapo Klatovy

    Gestapo members in Klatovy, German-occupied Czechoslovakia

  • Capturedgestapoagents

    German Gestapo agents arrested after the liberation of Liège, Belgium are pictured in a cell at the Citadel of Liège, October 1944

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Gestapo para niños

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