When Hermann Goering became minister of the interior in Prussia in 1933 he recruited Rudolf Diels as head of Dept 1A of the Prussian State Police. Goering was impressed by Diels and made him head of what became known as the Gestapo. Others who held senior positions in the organisation included Arthur Nebe and Kurt Daluege

Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich became jealous of the power of the Gestapo and began to spread rumours about Diels's loyalty to Adolf Hitler. One of these stories claimed that Diels had joined the conspiracy being organized by Ernst Roehm. Without the support of Hermann Goering Diels would have been killed during the Night of the Long Knives.

In April 1934, Hermann Goering, under pressure from Heinrich Himmler and Wilhelm Frick, agreed to hand over control of the Gestapo to the Schutzstaffel (SS). In 1936 Himmler placed the Gestapo under the command of Reinhard Heydrich with Heinrich Muller becoming the chief of operations.

During the Second World War there were 45,000 members of the Gestapo. However, it is estimated they also employed 160,000 agents and informers.

When the German Army occupied countries they were accompanied by the Gestapo. When on foreign duties they wore civilian clothes or SS uniforms. They were responsible for rounding up communists, partisans and Jews and others who were considered to be a threat to German rule. The Gestapo quickly developed a reputation for using brutal interrogation methods in order to obtain confessions.

At the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial the Gestapo was indicted for crimes against humanity. By this time most of its leaders were dead or like Heinrich Muller, had escaped capture by assuming another identity.