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Gestapo
The Nazi secret police (Geheime Staatspolizei), responsible for investigating and suppressing political opposition. It operated outside the legal system and used surveillance, informants, torture, and arbitrary detention.
SS (Schutzstaffel)
The Schutzstaffel, originally founded in 1925 as Hitler's personal bodyguard. Under Heinrich Himmler (appointed head in 1929), it expanded into a vast organization that controlled the entire Nazi terror apparatus. The SS ran the Gestapo (secret police), the SD (Security Service), the concentration camp system, and later the Waffen-SS (military units). By 1945, it had around 800,000 members across its various branches. The SS was ideologically the most committed Nazi organization: members were selected on racial criteria and subjected to intensive ideological training. The SS was the primary instrument of the Holocaust.