Abteilung: A branch, section or sub-section of a main department or office (Hauptamt, Amstgruppe or Amt, q.v.) Also a military or paramilitary unit of up to battalion strength, i.e. approximately 700 men.
Aktion Reinhardt: The code name used in honor of Reinhard Heydrich for the mass murder of Polish Jewry program
Allgemeine-SS: General body of the SS consisting of full-time, part-time, and inactive or honorary members, as distinct from the Waffen-SS (see entry for Waffen-SS).
Amt: A directorate or an office of a ministry.
Amtsgruppe: A branch of a Hauptamt.
Anschluß: Annexation of Austria to the German Reich in March 1938
Arbeitslager: Labor / Work Camp.
Außenstelle / Außendienststelle: Out-station of an office, agency or ministry.
Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD: Commander in Chief of the SIPO and SD.
Deutsche Ausrüstungswerke (DAW): German Armaments Factories
Gau: One of 42 main territorial divisions of the Nazi Party.
Gauleiter: The highest ranking party official in a Gau, responsible for all political and economic activity, mobilization of labor, and civil defence.
Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo): Secret State Police which became Amt IV of the RSHA in September 1939. Headed by SS-Obergruppenführer Heinrich Müller.
Generalgouvernement: German-occupied Poland administered by Hans Frank from his headquarters in Krakow.
Hauptamt: A main or central office.
Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer: Higher SS and Police Leader. Himmler’s personal representative in each military region. Also established in the occupied territories. Nominally the commander of all SS and police units in his area, as well as acting liaison officer with the military and senior regional authorities.
Judenrat: Jewish Councils established by the Nazis for Jewish self-administraton, in all its various facets, food, housing, labor allocation, welfare, police, economic, and social, etc.
Kapo: A prisoner-functionary in the Nazi camps who was assigned by the SS camp staff to supervise labor brigades, maintain discipline, or fulfil administrative tasks.
Kanzlei der Führers: Hitler’s Chancellery.
Kommando: A brigade, squad, or detail.
Kommissariat: A Regional HQ of the police; also a political administration in the occupied eastern territories (e.g. Reichskommissariat Ukraine).
Kreishauptmann: The principal district official in the Generalgouvernement and occupied territories.
Kriminalpolizei (Kripo): Criminal Police, the plainclothes detective squads which together with the Gestapo formed the Sicherheitspolizei. In 1939 the Kripo became Amt V of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA). Headed by Reichskriminaldirektor Arthur Nebe.
Lagerältester: Camp elder, a senior prisoner in a Nazi camp.
Leitstelle: A Regional HQ of the Gestapo or Kripo established at the HQ of a Military District or capital of a county.
Oberkapo: Senior Kapo in a Nazi camp.
Oberzugführer: Senior platoon leader; in charge of the platoon leaders.
Ordnungspolizei (Orpo): Order Police. The regular uniformed police, comprising the Schutzpolizei (Schupo), Gendarmarie (rural constabulary), and Feuerschutzpolizei (fire-fighting police), together with certain technical and auxiliary services.
Organisation Todt: A paramilitary government organization used mainly for the construction of strategic highways and military installations.
Reichsgau: One of eleven regions formed from territories annexed to the Reich.
Reichskanzlei: Chancellery of the Reich directed by Hans Lammers.
Referat: A sub-section within a Gruppe.
Referent: The official in charge of a Referat.
Reichsführer-SS: Reich Leader of the SS. Heinrich Himmler’s SS title from June 1936.
Reichskriminalpolizeiamt (RKPA): Berlin HQ of the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo) which in September 1939 became Amt V of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA).
Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA): Reich Security Main Office, formed in September 1939 and combined the Sicherheitspolizei and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). It was both an SS-Hauptamt and a branch of the Reich Ministry of the Interior.
Schutzpolizei (Schupo): Protection Police. The regular uniformed municipal constabulary forming the bulk of the Ordnungspolizei.
Sicherheitsdienst (SD): Security Service. The intelligence branch of the SS headed by Reinhard Heydrich.
Sicherheitspolizei (Sipo): Security Police, comprising the Kripo and Gestapo, headed by Reinhard Heydrich.
Sonderkommando: A special unit of the SS employed for police and political tasks in occupied territories. Also used to denote the special brigades of prisoners in Auschwitz who dealt with the corpses.
SS-Leibstandarte “Adolf Hitler”: Hitler’s bodyguard regiment. The oldest of the SS militaized formations, established in 1933. Commanded by Joseph “Sepp” Dietrich.
SS- und Polizeiführer: SS and Police Leader. In command of a district in the eastern occupied territories, subordinate to a Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer.
Standarte: SS or SA formation equivalent to a regiment, i.e. approximately 3,000 men.
Sturmabteilung (SA): Storm Detachment, also called the “Brown Shirts” after their uniform. The original Nazi paramilitary organization founded in 1921.
Sturmbann: An SA or SS unit, equivalent to a battalion, i.e. 750–1,000 men.
Volksdeutsche: Ethnic Germans.
SS-Totenkopfverbände: SS Death’s Head units that guarded the concentration camps. In 1939 they formed the nucleus of the SS-Totenkopf division, one of the first field formations of the Waffen-SS.
SS-Verfügungstruppen: The prewar militarized formations of the SS, renamed the Waffen-SS in 1939.
Volksdeutsche: Ethnic Germans.
Vorarbeiter: Foreman of a team of workers.
Waffen-SS : Fully militarized SS formations. Initially composed of the SS-Verfügungstruppen and the SS-Totenkopf units. During the Second World War it comprised of 40 divisions, both German and non-German units.
Wehrkreis: Military region, usually indicated on maps by a Roman numeral.
Wehrmacht: The German Armed Forces, i.e. the army, air force, and navy.
Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungshauptamt (WVHA): Administration and Economic Main Office of the SS, formed from the SS-Hauptamt Haushalt-und Bauten in 1940. Headed by Oswald Pohl, the WVHA supervised the SS economic enterprises and administered the concentration camps.
Zugführer: Military term for platoon leader.