The title of SS and Police Leader () designated a senior Nazi Party (NSDAP) official who commanded various components of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo; regular uniformed police), before and during World War II in the German Reich proper and in the occupied territories.
Levels Three levels of subordination were established for holders of this title:
SS and Police Leader (SS- und Polizeiführer, SSPF) Higher SS and Police Leader (Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer, HSSPF) Supreme SS and Police Leader (Höchster SS- und Polizeiführer, HöSSPF)
Establishment The office of Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer (Higher SS and Police Leader, HSSPF) was authorized by a decree of 13 November 1937, signed by Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick. This decree authorized the creation of HSSPF in each of the 13 German armed forces Wehrkreise (military districts) in the German Reich, but only in the event of mobilization. At that time, the HSSPF would serve as deputies under the jurisdiction of Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer-SS and chief of the German police, for the purpose of leading, coordinating and integrating all local and regional SS and police formations into the defense organization of the Reich. The first HSSPF activated were those appointed in the Wehrkreise bordering Austria during the Anschluss crisis in March 1938, and Czechoslovakia during the summer and autumn of the same year.On the Historiography of the SS in Museum of Tolerance Retrieved 14 February 2022.
The Oberabschnitte were the Allgemeine-SS regional commands in each of the Wehrkreise. Their commanders carried the title of SS-Oberabschnittsführer (SS Main District Leader) and usually held the rank of Gruppenführer or Obergruppenführer. The SS-Oberabschnitte were subordinated to the HSSPF; however, in nearly every instance, the SS-Oberabschnittsführer held both positions simultaneously. The purpose of the Higher SS and Police Leader was to be a direct command authority for every SS and police unit in these given geographical regions, answering only to Himmler and, through him, to Adolf Hitler. They were to act as Himmler's chief liaison to, and unifier of, all Allgemeine SS and police components in a region.
After the March 1938 Anschluss when Austria was absorbed into the German Reich, two new Wehrkreise and corresponding HSSPF were established there. Likewise, after the October 1939 conquest of Poland, two additional Wehrkreise and corresponding HSSPF were created for those Polish areas that were directly incorporated into the Reich.
In all other occupied territories, no Wehrkreise were established, so the HSSPF were independent commands with several subordinate SS- und Polizeiführer (SS and Police Leader, SSPF) commands reporting to them. These positions were created beginning in November 1939 to assist the HSSPF in administering the large areas under their jurisdiction.
Finally, in the autumn of 1943, Himmler created two Höchster SS- und Polizeiführer (Supreme SS and Police Leader, HöSSPF) posts with jurisdiction over very large territories; these were Italien (1943–1945) and Ukraine (1943–1944), each of which had both HSSPF and SSPF reporting to them.
Operations Within given areas, SS and Police Leaders commanded and controlled multiple SS and police units. This typically included the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo; regular police), SiPo (security police), including the Gestapo (secret police) and Kriminalpolizei (Kripo; criminal poilce), Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV; Nazi concentration camps), and SD (intelligence service). Most of the HSSPF normally held the rank of SS-Gruppenführer or above, and answered directly to Himmler in all matters pertaining to the SS within their area of responsibility. Most SSPF normally held the rank of SS-Oberführer or SS-Brigadeführer and reported to their HSSPF. The role of all SS and Police Leaders was to be part of the SS control mechanism within their jurisdiction, policing the population and overseeing the activities of the SS men within each respective district. The HSSPF could bypass the chain of command of the administrative offices for the SS, SD, SiPo, SS-TV, Waffen-SS and Orpo in their district under the "guise of an emergency situation", thereby gaining direct operational control of these groups.
Himmler authorized SS and Police Bases (SS- und Polizeistützpunkte) to be established in occupied Poland and occupied areas of the Soviet Union. They were to be "armed industrialized agricultural complexes" to maintain order where they were established. This did not go beyond the planning stage.Ingrao, Charles W.; Szabo, Franz A. J. (2008). The Germans and the East. Purdue University Press, p. 288.
In 1944 and 1945, many HSSPF were promoted to their corresponding general's rank in the Waffen-SS by Himmler. This was apparently an attempt to provide potential protection for them, by giving them combatant status under the Hague Convention rules of warfare.
War crimes and crimes against humanity
The SS and Police Leaders were key figures in many of the war crimes committed by SS personnel. The HSSPF served as commanding SS generals for any Einsatzgruppen (death squads) operating in their area. This entailed ordering the deaths of tens of thousands of persons. In addition, they launched anti-partisan operations and directed police units to acquire forced labor for war-related projects.
The SS and Police Leaders were the overseeing authority of the Jewish ghettos in Poland and directly coordinated deportations to Nazi extermination camps. They had direct command over Order Police battalions and SD regiments that were assigned to guard the ghettos. The HSSPF regularly provided SS and police guards and other support personnel for the transports to the death camps, and also negotiated with the agencies and ministries of the Reich for rolling stock, supplies and provisions, rail schedules, and an array of other requirements necessary to keep the roundups and the death trains moving efficiently. And, in the satellite and client states, the HSSPF negotiated directly with the puppet or collaborationist governments to hand over their Jews for deportation to the East. Finally, the HSSPF were also directly involved in the construction and operation of the extermination camps.On the Historiography of the SS in Museum of Tolerance Retrieved 14 February 2022. Following the end of the war, many SS and Police Leaders, particularly those who had served in Poland and the Soviet Union, either committed suicide or were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Tables There were two HöSSPF commands and 38 HSSPF commands, 19 in the Reich and 19 in the occupied lands. Most of these had several different commanders over the lifetime of the post. Similarly, there were 49 SSPF commands subordinated to those HSSPF leaders in the occupied territories, also with multiple commanders over the years. Some of these areas were renamed, merged, or dissolved during the duration of their existence, particularly as German military control over the eastern territories was relentlessly eroded later in the war.
The tables below provide as complete an accounting of the SS and police commands and their leaders as is known. They list the permanent appointees, but omit any substitutes who temporarily acted in that capacity when the incumbent was on leave or on another assignment.
+ Table of Supreme SS and Police Leader (HöSSPF) Commands SS Designation Area HQ HöSSPF Dates Italien Italy Rome;Verona;Bolzano Karl Wolff September 1943 – May 1945Ukraine Ukraine Kiev Hans-Adolf Prützmann October 1943 – September 1944
+ Table of Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) Commands in the German Reich(By Wehrkreis) SS Designation Wehrkreis Area HQ HSSPF Dates Nordost I East Prussia Königsberg Wilhelm RediessJakob SporrenbergHans-Adolf Prützmann June 1938 – June 1940June 1940 – May 1941May 1941 – May 1945 Ostsee(Nord prior to April 1940) II PomeraniaMecklenburg Stettin Emil Mazuw August 1938 – May 1945 Spree(Ost prior to November 1939) III BerlinBrandenburg Berlin August Heissmeyer September 1939 – May 1945 Elbe IV SaxonyHalle-Merseburg Dresden Theodor BerkelmannUdo von WoyrschLudolf-Hermann von Alvensleben June 1938 – April 1940April 1940 – February 1944February 1944 – May 1945 Südwest V WürttembergBaden Alsace Stuttgart Kurt Kaul Otto Hofmann September 1939 – April 1943April 1943 – May 1945 West VI WestphaliaNorthern Rheinland Düsseldorf Fritz WeitzelTheodor BerkelmannFriedrich JeckelnKarl Gutenberger June 1938 – April 1940 April 1940 – July 1940 July 1940 – June 1941 July 1941 – May 1945 Süd VII Upper BavariaSwabia Munich Karl von EbersteinWilhelm Koppe March 1938 – April 1945April 1945 – May 1945 Südost VIII Silesia Breslau Erich von dem Bach-ZelewskiErnst-Heinrich SchmauserRichard Hildebrandt June 1938 – May 1941May 1941 – February 1945February 1945 – May 1945 Fulda-Werra IX HesseHesse-NassauThuringia Arolsen Josias zu Waldeck und Pyrmont October 1938 – May 1945 Nordsee(Nordwest prior to April 1940) X Schleswig-HolsteinNorthern HanoverHamburgOldenburgBremen Hamburg Hans-Adolf PrützmannRudolf QuernerGeorg-Henning Graf von Bassewitz-Behr June 1938 – April 1941May 1941 – January 1943February 1943 – May 1945 Mitte XI AnhaltBrunswickSouthern HanoverMagdeburg Hanover Friedrich JeckelnGünther PanckeWilhelm FuchsHermann HöfleRudolf Querner June 1938 – July 1940 July 1940 – July 1943July 1943 – September 1943September 1943 – October 1944October 1944 – May 1945 Rhein(Merged with Westmark in May 1943 to form Rhein-Westmark) XII Southern RheinlandPalatinateSaarland (to July 1940)Luxembourg (from July 1940) Wiesbaden Richard HildebrandtJakob SporrenbergErwin RösenerTheodor Berkelmann April 1939 – October 1939October 1939 – July 1940July 1940– November 1941December 1941 – May 1943 Westmark(Lothringen-Saarpfalz prior to February 1941)(Merged with Rhein in May 1943 to form Rhein-Westmark) XII SaarlandLorraine Metz;Saarbrücken Theodor Berkelmann July 1940 – May 1943 Rhein-Westmark XII Southern RheinlandPalatinateLuxembourgSaarlandLorraine Wiesbaden Theodor BerkelmannJürgen Stroop May 1943 – November 1943November 1943 – May 1945 Main XIII FranconiaLower BavariaUpper Palatinate Nuremberg Karl von EbersteinBenno Martin March 1938 – December 1942December 1942 – May 1945 Donau XVII Lower AustriaUpper Austria Vienna Ernst KaltenbrunnerRudolf QuernerWalter Schimana September 1938 – January 1943January 1943 – October 1944 October 1944 – May 1945 Alpenland XVIII CarinthiaSalzburgStyriaTyrol Vorarlberg Salzburg Alfred RodenbücherGustav Adolf ScheelErwin Rösener April 1939 – April 1941 April 1941 – November 1941November 1941 – May 1945 Weichsel XX Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Danzig Richard HildebrandtFritz Katzmann September 1939 – April 1943April 1943 – May 1945 Warthe XXI Reichsgau Wartheland Posen Wilhelm KoppeTheodor BerkelmannHeinz ReinefarthWilly Schmelcher October 1939 – November 1943November 1943 – December 1943January 1944 – December 1944December 1944 – May 1945