Rudolf Diels

Rudolf Diels was a German civil servant and the first head of the Gestapo after the Nazi seizure of power in 1933. He was connected to Hermann Göring and helped organise political policing during the dictatorship’s early consolidation.

Diels later lost influence as the SS took control of the security apparatus. He survived the Nazi period, gave evidence after the war and published memoirs that remain important but self-protective sources.

In Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts, in 1933, historian William E. Dodd becomes United States ambassador to Germany and moves to Berlin with his wife, son and daughter Martha. Dodd expects conventional diplomacy but encounters a regime rapidly dismantling civil liberties, persecuting Jewish citizens and replacing law with intimidation. Martha is initially captivated by the energy and social glamour of the new Germany, forming relationships with figures including Rudolf Diels while meeting Nazi leaders whose charm and theatricality disguise the violence supporting their power.