The Senior Leadership Cadre of the Geheime Feldpolizei, 1939-1945

In the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal proceedings, the Geheime Feldpolizei (GFP) was adjudged not to have been a criminal organization as defined "within the charge of criminality contained in the Indictment." The tribunal did, however, determine that GFP personnel committed both war crimes and crimes against humanity "on a wide scale." Despite this judgment, senior GFP officials were never prosecuted for crimes committed by GFP personnel. This article provides a detailed analysis of forty-five senior GFP leaders, based in part on hitherto unavailable primary sources. It examines four main areas: the leaders' social origins and career patterns; the role of the GFP in the Vernichtungskrieg during the invasion of the Soviet Union; the senior GFP officials' political affiliations and attempts to influence postwar denazification; and their postwar careers.