S.S. or Gestapo?

Question

Was it the SS or the Gestapo that was dedicated entirely to dealing with the Jews in WWII?? i need to know for a midterm paper

Answer 1

No one here has gotten "Gestapo" correct... it is Geheime Staatspolizei: secret state police.

Under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel (SS), it was administered by the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) (“head office of the reich security service”) and was considered a dual organization of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) (“security service”) and also a suboffice of the Sicherheitspolizei (SIPO) (“security police”).

The SS was responsible for establishing and operating concentration camps and extermination camps in which millions of inmates died of systematic mass gassing, inhumane treatment, overwork, malnutrition, or medical experiments. After the war, the judges of the Nuremberg Trials declared the SS a criminal organization responsible for the implementation of racial policies of genocide and committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The SS consisted of several different groups... some were concentration camp guards (SS-Totenkopfverbände) while others were just elite combat troops (SS-Verfügungstruppe)

For specific information, to to wikipedia and do a search

Answer 2

Contrary to an answer above, Gestapo was not an Italian term.

It was short for "GESTAtz POlizei". They were involved in many kinds of security, not just "dealing with the Jews".

The S.S. were the elite of the military. They also had functions not related to the concentration camps. There were SS tank and infantry units, heavier combat forces than the regular Wehrmacht.

The concentration camps themselves were not solely for Jews. Slavs, gypsies, homosexuals, communists, and some other "undesireables" died there as well.

So, the answer to your question is that neither were dedicated entirely to "dealing with the Jews", and even those that individually were part of the death camps were not dedicated entirely to "dealing with the Jews".

Answer 3

Both were under the command of Reichs Fuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler. The Gestapo = "German State Police" and the SS = "Himmler's private NAZI military" did many different duties such as direct Concentration Camps and serve along side the regular German Army. If needed the SS could make certain the regular German Army remained loyal to the Fuhrer Adolph Hilter's order's.

Answer 4

Robert S came the closest to the answer. The whole criminal SS organization dealt with the Jews.... the Gestapo did the roundup of Jews in the occupied countries and the SS death camp guards directed the execution. Some of the answers above make me laugh, where did they get their information? When you refer to the "SS", you're referring to a rather large, organization with overlapping duties and 'spheres of influence' ....from the Waffen SS on the battlefields to the guards at the death camps, to the secret service and foreign security offices...to the office that ran the search for paranormal artifacts.

Answer 5

I second Robin S's motion!

1. Geheime Staats Polizei: GE - STA - PO is German.

2. The fine dividing line of responsibilities for the Jews between the SS (Schutz Staffeln) and the Gestapo should be looked for elsewhere, too many conflicting and erroneous answers here.

Answer 6

it was the SD technically, which was the security arm of the SS, which covered the Gestapo and Einsatzgruppen, death squads commiteed to murdering Jews, Slavs and others

the SS also did the same work, but primarily were for combat duties.

some SS were worse than others. none have a clean record.

the Hanschar SS units (Muslims) were recruited because of their hatred of Jews, among other things

Answer 7

Neither one, actually. The SS was an arm of the German Army, sort of the special forces of the day for them. They were in charge of many of the concentration camps also, but played a big part in military operations, especially on the Russian front.

The Gestapo was more of an internal security branch, not really actively involved in the military. They played a large part in the gathering up the Jews, but it was not their exclusive tasking. They did a fine job in rounding up millions of other enemies of the Fatherland along with the millions of Jews.

Answer 8

The group running the death camps was the Einsatz Grupen SS. But, even at the height of their manpower, they only costituted about 5,400 personnel. They were assisted throughout all of the German-occupied areas by German police (not Gestapo), local inhabitants who were anti-semitic and by Jews who collaborated with their Nazi captors by serving as "Kapos" or "Zonder Kommandoes", so that they would be spared from death.

Answer 9

Neither was dedicated entirely to dealing with the Jews, but source will tell you who was responsible for the " Final Solution" of the Jews.
S.S. Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich, he was Chief of the Security Police and of the S.D.
Click on source and it will give you intimate details of the meeting in Berlin delegating responsibility to Heydrich. It will give minutes of the meeting writtin by Adolf Eichmann.

Answer 10

'Gestapo' is an Italian term, meaning heavy-handed police, which the Italians also employed during WWII, so the SS might be a better answer because at least we know they were German and not also Italian, but the SS were a pain to a lot of people, let alone the Jews, and not least the US and Russian military forces.. Strange question, but I'd still choose the SS.
Anyway LOOK IT UP, that's the entire reason the teacher assigns you questions to begin with, just to try to at least know what both terms mean, so you can at least hold a discussion.