Rudolf Diels
Rudolf Diels | |
|---|---|
Diels in 1933 | |
| Director of the Gestapo | |
| In office 26 April 1933 – 20 April 1934 | |
| Appointed by | Hermann Göring |
| President | Paul von Hindenburg |
| Chancellor | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | None (office established) |
| Succeeded by | Reinhard Heydrich |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 December 1900 |
| Died | 18 November 1957 (aged 56) |
| Cause of death | Accidental gunshot wound |
| Party | Nazi Party |
| Spouse(s) | Hildegard Mannesmann, Ilse Göring |
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Rudolf Diels (16 December 1900 – 18 November 1957) was a German civil servant and first head of the Gestapo from 1933 to 1934. He obtained the rank of SS-Oberführer and was a protégé of Hermann Göring.
Diels was forced from the Gestapo by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. Aided by Göring, he later held several government posts: serving as assistant police commissioner of Berlin and the administrative president of Cologne. In the 1940s, Diels refused to participate in anti-Jewish initiatives.
Diels was imprisoned in 1944 after the July bomb plot to kill Adolf Hitler. He survived the war, and worked in the post-war government of Lower Saxony.