Reich Security Main Office (RSHA)

The Reich Security Main Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA), was a Nazi agency that oversaw the intelligence service SD (Sicherheitsdienst) and the police forces Gestapo and KriPo (Criminal Police).The RSHA was created by SS chief Heinrich Himmler in September 1939, shortly after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. Led by Reinhard Heydrich, the RSHA was responsible for coordination and implementation of many of the most brutal policies of the Holocaust.

See also Police in the Nazi State.