Acronym of “Reichssicherheitshauptamt” , a German term meaning “Reich security main office” – The administration responsible for the police and intelligence services (SD, Gestapo, Kripo), headed by Reinhard Heydrich and, from 1943, by Ernst Kaltenbrunner. It fought against the “enemies of the Party and the National Socialist State”. It was this administration that issued the transfer orders to the concentration camps (KL).
