Home > Rudolf Diels

He was born in Berghaus in Taunus, the son of a farmer. He served in the army during WW I and afterwards went to study law at the University of Marburg from 1919. He joined the Prussian interior ministry in 1930 and was promoted to an advisory position in the Prussian police in 1932, targeting the suppression of political radicals, both Communists and Nazis. When Adolf Hitler came to power, Diels was head of the Prussian political police in BerlinBerlin [ bɛrˈliːn ] is the national capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,387,404 inhabitants (as of September 2004); down from 4. 5 million before World War II. Berlin is located on the rivers Spree and Havel in the northea.

When Göring was made minister for Prussia in 1933, replacing Karl Severing, he was impressed with Diels work and new commitment to the Nazi party. Göring appointed him as chief of the new Prussian state police department 1A, concerned with political crimes, in April 1933. Department 1A was soon renamed the Gestapo. He was the main interrogator of Marinus van der LubbeMarinus van der Lubbe ( January 13, 1909 January 10, 1934 Leipzig) was a Dutch communist accused of setting fire to the German Reichstag building on February 27, 1933, an event known as the Reichstag fire. Born in Leiden, Holland, Van der Lubbe in his you following the Reichstag fireReichstag fire The Reichstag fire a pivotal event in the establishment of Nazi Germany, began at 9. on the night of February 27, 1933, when a Berlin fire station received an alarm that the Reichstag building, assembly location of the German Parliament, wa of February 27February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 307 days remaining, 308 in leap years. Events 1560 The Treaty of Berhick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland 1594 H, 1933.

Diels soon attracted the attention of political rivals including Reinhard HeydrichReinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (sometimes incorrectly spelled as Reinhardt March 7, 1904 June 4, 1942) was an Obergruppenfuhrer in the Nazi German paramilitary corps the SS led by Heinrich Himmler. He was nicknamed The Butcher of Prague The Blond Beast a. Effectively smeared he narrowly avoided execution during the Night of the Long KnivesThe Night of the Long Knives also known as Reichsmordwoche or "the Blood Purge" ( German, Nacht der langen Messer was a purge ordered by Adolf Hitler of potential political rivals in the Sturmabteilung, or S. The Night of the Long Knives took place during, fleeing his post for five weeks. When control of the Gestapo was given to Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich Himmler ( October 7, 1900 May 23, 1945) was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. As Reichsfuhrer-SS, he led the Schutzstaffel and Gestapo and was put in charge of organizing the mass extermination of Jews and others in extermination camp Diels was dismissed on April 1, 1934. He was briefly Deputy Police President of Berlin before being appointed to the local government of Cologne as a Regierungsprasident.

He maintained his association with Göring, marrying a cousin of his protector. Göring saved him from prison on a number of occasions, notably once in 1940 when he declined to order the arrest of JewThe word Jew is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to either a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or a member of the Jewish culture or ethnicity. This article discusses the term as describing an ethnic group; for as and more vitally after the July 20 Plot.

He presented an affidavit for the prosecution at the Nuremberg trials but was also summoned to testify by Göring's defence lawyer. He later served in the post-war government of Lower Saxony from 1950 and then in the Ministry of the Interior until his retirement in 1953. He died following an accident while hunting.

Diels memoirs, Lucifer Ante Portas: Von Severing bis Heydrich, were published in 1950. A less cautious work was published after his retirement, Der Fall Otto John (1954).