Befehlshaber der Sicherheistpolizei und des SD
SD sleeve insignia
Type	Commanding officer
Status	Abolished
Abbreviation	BdS
Member of	Schutzstaffel (SS)
Reports to	Reich Security Main Office
Appointer	Reinhard Heydrich (1939–1942) Heinrich Himmler (1942–1943) Ernst Kaltenbrunner (1943–1945)
Precursor	Inspekteur der Sicherheistpolizei und des SD (IdS)
Formation	2 June 1939
Abolished	8 May 1945
Deputy	Kommandeur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (KdS)

Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (BdS), or Commanders of the Security Police and the SD, were regional commanders of the NaziSicherheitspolizei (SiPo – security police) and theSicherheitsdienst (SD – security service). They reported directly to theReich Security Main Office (RSHA) of theSchutzstaffel (SS). The first of these positions was created in 1939 before theSecond World War to administer security and intelligence functions inGerman-occupied Europe. They were instrumental in executing the Nazi policy of terror, mass murder andgenocide during theHolocaust.

TheSchutzstaffel (SS) was the eliteparamilitary organization of theNazi Party. In June 1936,Reichsführer-SSHeinrich Himmler was also appointed the Chief of German Police inNazi Germany. One of Himmler's first actions was to place theKriminalpolizei or Kripo (criminal police) and theGestapo (secret state police) under a new umbrella organization called theSicherheitspolizei (SiPo), or security police. He placed this under the command ofReinhard Heydrich who already headed the Gestapo. Heydrich's new office was called theHauptamt Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police Main Office). Heydrich was also the chief of theSicherheitsdienst (SD), the SS intelligence organization, in the separateSicherheits Hauptamt (Security Main Office).^[1]

The local SD units were organized in SD-Oberabschnitte (main districts), whereas the more numerous Gestapo and Kripo units were organized in localStelle (offices) andLeitstelle (lead offices). In order to establish more cohesion and coordination between these separate components, Heydrich created regional commands headed by anInspekteur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (IdS) in the thirteenWehrkreise (military districts). Each IdS oversaw and coordinated the separate local SiPo and SD units located throughout his jurisdiction.^[2] After the March 1938Anschluss withAustria, an IdS command was established for theannexed state.

WhenCzechoslovakia was dismembered in March 1939,Bohemia-Moravia was not formally annexed to Germany, but established as a Germanprotectorate. It became necessary to deploy outposts of the SiPo and SD, similar to theLeitstelle andOberabschnitte in the Reich, to establish intelligence and security police functions in the newly occupied territory.^[3] To lead and coordinate these units, Heydrich created the post ofBefehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (BdS) who reported directly to him, modeled on the existing IdS positions in Germany.^[4] The first BdS was appointed on 2 June 1939.

On 27 September 1939, just weeks after the outbreak of theSecond World War, Himmler enacted a major reorganization of the security services by uniting them into one combined main office in SS headquarters. This newReich Security Main Office (RSHA) was entrusted to Heydrich, bringing an even greater unity between the SiPo and the SD by combining the two separateHauptamt.^[2]

As theWehrmacht conquered more of Europe, one BdS was appointed for each occupied country. The exceptions were the larger nations ofFrance, theSoviet Union andItaly where multiple BdS commands were established. Each regional BdS oversaw several subordinate local offices, which in turn were led by aKommandeur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (KdS). The chain of command ran from the RSHA in Berlin to the regional BdS and from them to the local KdS.^[5]

There was no specific designated rank for a BdS, but holders of the post generally ranged from SS-Standartenführer to SS-Brigadeführer. In most instances, the BdS obtained their instructions directly from Heydrich and his successors at RSHA. However, in certain emergency situations or for certain special tasks designated by Himmler, the senior SS commanders in the occupied areas, theHigher SS and Police Leaders (HSSPF) who were directly subordinate to Himmler, were authorized to utilize all units of the SS and the police and were therefore empowered to give instructions and orders to the BdS.^[6] Late in the war, as the approachingAllied forces threatened to turn border areas of the Reich into theaters of war, the existing IdS commands inKönigsberg,Breslau andSalzburg were given the designation of BdS commands.^[7]

The RSHA staff in Berlin actively directed anti-partisan and counter-espionage activities in the occupied territories, as well as the deportation of Jews toghettos,concentration camps orextermination camps.^[8] The RSHA oversaw theEinsatzgruppen, death squads that were formed at the direction of Heydrich. The organizational structure of these units corresponded to the RSHA, and they sometimes were referred to as mobile RSHA units. They were recruited from all components of the RSHA (SD, Gestapo and Kripo), as well as personnel from theOrdnungspolizei (Orpo – order police) and theWaffen-SS.^[9] They operated in the German rear areas, systematically identifying and gathering up the Jewish population for extermination. As commanders of the SiPo and SD, the BdS were directly involved in the mass murders executed by theEinsatzgruppen.^[10] As the occupation administrations were established, theEinsatzgruppen and their subordinateEinsatzkommando sub-units were turned into static territorial SiPo and SD organizations headed by a BdS.^[11] In some instances, the same individual served as both the commander of theEinsatzgruppe and as the BdS; likewise, many anEinsatzkommando commander became a KdS.^[12] At the end of the war, several of the BdS took their own lives, and most of the rest were tried and convicted aswar criminals, as illustrated in the following table.

• Höhne, Heinz (1971).The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS. New York: Ballantine Books.ISBN 0-345-28333-3.
• Buchheim, Hans (1983).Anatomy of the SS State. Academy Chicago Publishers.ISBN 978-0-586-08028-3.
• McNab, Chris (2009).The SS: 1923–1945. London: Amber Books.ISBN 978-1-906-62649-5.
• Yerger, Mark C. (1997).The Allgemeine-SS: The Commands, Units and Leaders of the General SS. Schiffer Publishing Ltd.ISBN 0-7643-0145-4.

• Organizational Chart showing BdS chain of command

• 1945 disestablishments in Germany
• 1939 establishments in Germany
• Nazi SS
• Reich Security Main Office
• The Holocaust

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• Use dmy dates from April 2025