The Sicherheitsdienst (SD), commonly known as the SD, was an intelligence agency operated by the Nazis, responsible for perpetrating the Holocaust.
Led by Reinhard Heydrich for the majority of its existence from 1931 to 1945, the SD was a radical organization that operated under the umbrella of the Schutzstaffel (SS), the Nazi Party's elite paramilitary group led by Heinrich Himmler. T
he SD's primary function was to gather intelligence on the perceived enemies of the Nazi Party, including Jews, freemasons, and political opponents.
The SD played a critical role in providing the Nazi regime with information and knowledge about Jews, proposing and experimenting with various methods to solve the "Jewish Question."
The organization was officially established by Himmler in the summer of 1931, with Heydrich at the helm. Under Heydrich's leadership, the SD grew from a small and underfunded organization into a significant player in the Nazi regime.
In its early years, the SD's focus was on gathering intelligence on political opponents of the Nazi Party, including government officials and other political parties.
They were also concerned with identifying potential police spies and spies from other political movements within the rapidly growing Nazi Party. However, following Hitler's appointment as chancellor in 1933, the SD's role within the regime began to evolve.
The SD's importance grew after it was declared the only Nazi Party intelligence agency in June 1934, with Heydrich and other SD leaders playing a crucial role in the Röhm Purge, which targeted the SA, another Nazi Party paramilitary group.
The brutal purge, encouraged and perpetrated by Himmler and Heydrich, demonstrated the SD's loyalty to Hitler and its commitment to Nazi ideals.
Following the purge, the SD continued to expand, with 850 full-time employees by the end of 1934, many of whom were young, well-educated, and committed to Nazi ideology.
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