Republik—became more commonly known as the Gauck-Behörde
(or Gauck Agency). Despite considerable controversy surround-
ing the opening of the files for personal inspection, the Bundestag
reelected him to a second term without significant opposition. The
recipient of numerous awards for his speeches and public service,
Gauck retired in 2000, legally ineligible for another term, and was
succeeded by Marianne Birthler.GEHEIME FELDPOLIZEI (GFP). The counterintelligence unit
charged with the security of the German armed forces during
World War II, the Geheime Feldpolizei (Secret Field Police) was
originally attached to the Abwehr and placed under the com-
mand of Willi Krichbaum in November 1940. Like Krichbaum,
however, all senior officials belonged to the Sicherheitspolizei
(Security Police) directed by Reinhard Heydrich, and many had
had criminal police experience in the pre-Nazi era. Despite their
title, members of the GFP wore regular military uniforms and
openly displayed their insignia, but they could don civilian clothes
or other uniforms if necessary. Ultimately comprising a force of
nearly 3,000, they were deployed principally on the eastern front,
where intense ideological and partisan warfare became a common
occurrence. Those stationed in occupied countries such as Norway
and Denmark functioned more like military police. According
to the structural reorganization of 1 October 1944, the GFP was
placed under the auspices of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt, the
main security office.
Following the GFP’s dissolution in May 1945, many of its per-
sonnel discarded their uniforms and insignia to hide their affiliation
from the Allied armies. Some had obtained false identification pa-
pers issued by the Berlin headquarters as the end approached. Al-
though the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg excluded
the GFP from its list of criminal organizations, it stated that GFP
personnel had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity
on a “wide scale.” To his American captors, however, Krichbaum
persistently portrayed the GFP in a more favorable light, stressing
his own close ties to Wilhelm Canaris and his estrangement from
Heydrich (testimony to the contrary was presented by Walter Schel-
lenberg). No prosecution of GFP officers ultimately took place, and
126 • GEHEIME FELDPOLIZEI