Editing Reich Security Main Office (section)

==History==
The RSHA were formally established by [[Heinrich Himmler]] on 27 September 1939 in order to amalgamate all German police and security organizations into one body. At the time of establishment it was led by [[Reinhard Heydrich]]. 

As governing body of all security and police organizations, the RSHA was immensely involved in the planning and execution of [[The Holocaust]] and other Nazi extermination campaigns such as the [[Porajmos]] and [[Action T4]]. Its activities included the spreading of Nazi [[propaganda]], monitoring public opinion and criminal investigation. They were also in charge of the suppression of all "enemies of the Reich", who included Jews, Communists, Freemasons, pacifists, Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses and anti-government activists. In addition to dealing with identified enemies the RSHA planned the expansion of German territories. They devised ''[[Generalplan Ost]]'', the plan to occupy Eastern Europe and, through a systematic campaign of [[genocide]] and [[ethnic cleansing]], exterminate or assimilate all Slavic peoples in order to create living space ("''Lebensraum''") for German citizens.

The RSHA oversaw the ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'', [[death squad]]s operated by the SS which played an integral role in the implementation of the Holocaust. The ''Einsatzgruppen'' were responsible for many of the [[war crimes]] and associated mass killings which took place during the Nazi invasion of Poland, with over two million deaths, mostly Jews, accredited to them. The RSHA also appointed "Jewish advisory officials" under the direct command of Department Leader [[Adolf Eichmann]] in order to coerce other nations into handing over their Jews to the Nazis.

After Heydrich's assassination in 1942 control of the RSHA was passed to [[Ernst Kaltenbrunner]]. One of his first actions as RSHA chief was to round up all Jews working in armament factories, who had previously been protected due to being deemed essential labour, at the direct order of [[Joseph Goebbels]]. The RSHA directed the Gestapo to quietly round up all of these Jews so that they could be deported. However, half of these Jews could not be apprehended as they were protected by their employers, and most of those who were caught were later found to be married to Gentile women. Due to the mass protest caused by this action the RSHA were forced to release all but 25 of the captured Jews. The remaining 25 were sent to [[Auschwitz Birkenau]] [[concentration camp]] to be used as labourers.

After the end of [[World War II]] the RSHA were declared a criminal organization by the Allied Control Council. Many members of the RSHA and associated organizations were arrested and convicted of war crimes, [[crimes against humanity]] and similar offences and sentenced to death or life imprisonment.