The leaders of the Nazi state were informed regularly of the mood of the population, the activities of regime opponents, and about state organized measures of persecution. The extensive Reports, that combine two sources, are therefore a valuable source for research on resistance from a Nationalsocialist perspective.
The database contains the following sources:
- Criticism of the Regime, Resistance and Persecution in Germany and the Occupied Areas. Reports from the Geheimes Staatspolizeiamt, SD Hauptamt and Reichssicherheitshauptamt 1933–1945
- Reports from the Reich 1938-1945. The secret reports of the SS Sicherheitsdienst
With the help of the “German History Portal”, these sources can be searched together with the database Daily Reports of the Gestapo Headquarters Vienna 1938–1945, which also contains reports on the political atmosphere and security conditions.
1.
Regimekritik, Widerstand und Verfolgung in Deutschland und den besetzten Gebieten.
Meldungen und Berichte aus dem Geheimen Staatspolizeiamt, dem SD-Hauptamt der SS und dem Reichssicherheitshauptamt 1933–1945
(Criticism of the Regime, Resistance and Persecution in Germany and the Occupied Areas. Reports from the Geheimes Staatspolizeiamt, SD Hauptamt and Reichssicherheitshauptamt 1933–1945).
For this work, 1,742 reports from the Reich, the annexed territories and occupied regions have been compiled from German archives and the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie). Besides the reports from the Reich, there is an extensive collection of reports on the Soviet Union, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium and Northern France. From Poland, France, Luxemburg, Denmark and South-Eastern Europe only individual reports are available. The status reports are a fruitful but sobering source, revealing the measures of control, suppression and persecution practiced by the National Socialists upon the population, and thus represent a unique body of material for research on the persecution of the Jews and the Holocaust, on the organization of National Socialist totalitarianism, resistance in the Reich and in the occupied territories, and on domestic and foreign opposition.
Background
The leaders of the Nazi state were informed regularly about the mood of the population, the activities of regime opponents, and about state organized measures of persecution. Several times a week, the secret state police distributed reports, the “Information from the Secret State Police Department” (“Informationen des Geheimen Staatspolizeiamtes”), summarizing the communications and notices of the regional Gestapo and security forces on the political situation in the Reich. Following the outbreak of war, the occupied territories were also included in this information system, which was placed under supervision of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt, as the central authority for the Gestapo and the SD. These reports, pieces of information and dispatches, written in a standardized form, reveal practical aspects of the total control over the civilian population and the measures of repression and persecution practiced by the National Socialists. Most of the reports are concerned primarily with the resistance and persecution of the, mainly Communist, workers movements. Anti-regime events are reported and the names of those arrested along with the activities of which they are accused are provided. Prohibitions of events and printed material, as well as seizures and numerous other measures are written down. There are reports on the churches and measures taken against Jews and Freemasons, and, during the early years, reports about the “national opposition.” The prohibition of pamphlets and of foreign newspapers is carefully documented, as are the attempts of emigrants to engender anti-regime opposition abroad, up to the outbreak of war. Following the outbreak of war, the number of reports was supplemented by those issued by the task forces advancing into the occupied territories with the German armed forces.
The most extensive records are the dispatches on events in the USSR (“Ereignismeldungen UdSSR”) 1941/42 and the dispatches from the occupied eastern territories (“Meldungen aus den besetzten Ostgebieten”) for the Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states. The “dispatches on events” (“Ereignismeldungen”) contain numerous accounts of inhuman actions taken against the population. For example, the reports regularly record the number of Jews and “communists” murdered. Further, they inform about the effects of propaganda on the mood of the population and about collaboration between the public and both civilian and military occupational authorities.
2.
Meldungen aus dem Reich 1938 –1945.
Die geheimen Lageberichte des Sicherheitsdienstes der SS
(Reports from the Reich 1938-1945. The secret reports of the SS Sicherheitsdienst)
This work contains the secret status reports of the Security Services (Sicherheitsdienst - SD) of the SS about the objective problems faced by the civilian population, public opinion and the effects of measures taken by the state leadership on the attitude of the population. From 1938 on, the Reichsführung-SS, the State leaders and the leaders of the party were informed regularly about the mood of the population, in order to establish an accurate idea of prevailing opinion in the German Reich. Compiled from individual reports by the various SD leaders, the status reports on domestic politics (“Berichte zur innenpolitischen Lage”) were known after December 1939 as reports from the Reich (“Meldungen aus dem Reich”). The reports used a standardized structure and covered up to six subject areas: general opinion and status (“Allgemeine Stimmung und Lage”), opposition (“Gegner”), cultural areas (“Kulturelle Gebiete”), law and administration (“Recht und Verwaltung”), economy (“Wirtschaft”), and national identity and public health (“Volkstum und Volksgesundheit”). Initially reporting took place three times a week, and from the middle of May 1940, twice a week. These standard reports (“Standardberichte) were often supplemented by larger reports on specific subjects. From June 1943, the “Meldungen aus dem Reich” were followed by the SD reports on domestic affairs (“SD-Berichte zu Inlandsfragen”). However, these were limited, only covering specific subject areas, and did not offer such an extensive overview. In the summer of 1944 regular reporting came to an end and only a few SD reports exist for the period up to March 1945, covering individual issues and specifically written for particular interested parties.
The works were first published online in this database:
Deutsche Geschichte im 20. Jh.: Nationalsozialismus, Holocaust, Widerstand und Exil 1933-1945 Online, De Gruyter/K.G. Saur (2006–2022)
The database is based on the following printed works:
Regimekritik, Widerstand und Verfolgung in Deutschland und den besetzten Gebieten. Meldungen und Berichte aus dem Geheimen Staatspolizeiamt, dem SD-Hauptamt der SS und dem Reichssicherheitshauptamt 1933–1945
Herausgegeben von Heinz Boberach. Mikrofiche-Ausgabe in 2 Teilen und einem Supplement mit Erschließungsband. München: K. G. Saur 1999–2003.
Meldungen aus dem Reich 1938–1945. Die geheimen Lageberichte des Sicherheitsdienstes der SS
Herausgegeben und eingeleitet von Heinz Boberach. 17 Bde. Herrsching: Pawlak Verlag 1984.
