SELBSTANBIETER. A ”walk-in” in American usage, a Selbstanbieter
is a person who voluntarily decides to work for an intelligence orga-
nization. Motives can be widely varied. During World War II, Elyesa
Bazna, the key figure in the Cicero Affair, offered his services to the
Germans for large sums of money, whereas Fritz Kolbe worked for
the U.S. Office of Strategic Services with the sole aim of defeating
Adolf Hitler. Should the person already be a member of another intel-
ligence organization, as was Paul Thümmel, the term employed is
Selbstgesteller, or self-presenter.
SICHERHEITSDIENST (SD). One of the principal intelligence or-
ganizations of the Third Reich, the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Ser-
vice) originated in October 1931 following reports that enemies had
infiltrated the ranks of the Nazi Party. To investigate these charges,
the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, appointed Reinhard Heyd-
rich, who then assembled a small staff based in a Munich suburb.
With the model of the British Secret Intelligence Service in mind, he
sought to infuse his unit with a sober, methodical spirit while recruit-
ing fresh talent from his travels throughout Germany. Relocating to
Berlin after the Nazi seizure of power, the SD saw a rapid growth and
was declared the sole intelligence apparatus of the party by Deputy
Führer Rudolf Hess in June 1934. The creation of the Reichssicher-
heitshauptamt in 1939 made the SD a state institution, even though
its officials remained party functionaries, and its mandate overlapped
considerably with other security branches. By 1944, it had 51 major
installations, more than 6,000 full-time employees, and an estimated
30,000 agents. Unlike the rival Abwehr, its expanding foreign
branch, directed by Walter Schellenberg beginning in 1941, experi-
enced remarkably few penetrations by hostile services.
An elitist organization, the SD attracted a large number of highly
qualified young academics, including Franz Six and Otto Ohlen-
dorf, to its senior positions, and it established its own research
centers, such as the Wannsee Institut. Playing a key role in the
implementation of the Final Solution, the SD also supplied much
of the personnel of the Einsatzgruppen, the mobile killing units
that accompanied the Wehrmacht into Poland and the Soviet Union.
Heydrich remained its head until his assassination in June 1942. He
was succeeded by Ernst Kaltenbrunner six months later. Despite its
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