- Reichssicherheitsdienst
The Reichssicherheitsdienst (RSD) was an SS
security force ofNazi Germany . Originally the personalbodyguard s ofAdolf Hitler , it later protected other high-ranking individuals of the Nazi regime.The RSD was founded on
March 15 1933 as the "Führerschutzkommando" ("Führer protection command"), and renamed "Reichssicherheitsdienst" ("Reich 's Security Service") onAugust 1 1935 . Its members originally belonged to theBavaria n police and were charged with personally protecting Hitler inside the borders of Bavaria. Outside of that state, Hitler's protection was insured by the "SS-Begleitkommando des Führers ", an eight-member bodyguard. The RSD replaced the "Begleitkommando" throughout the country in 1934.Members of the RSD were made
Wehrmacht officers by a resolution of theOberkommando der Wehrmacht upon the outbreak ofWorld War II , granting them extra jurisdiction and privileges. Their official designation in 1939 was "Reichssicherheitsdienst Gruppe Geheime Feldpolizei z. b. V." The group's leader for its entire existence wasOberführer Johann Rattenhuber . After Hitler's suicide onApril 30 1945 in theFührerbunker , Rattenhuber was captured by theRed Army onMay 1 and placed in a Soviet prison.References
External links
* [http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=3115 Article] at
Axis History
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