The title of SS and Police Leader () designated a senior Nazi Party official who commanded various components of the SS and the German uniformed police (Ordnungspolizei), prior to and during World War II in the German Reich proper and in occupied territories. Levels Three levels of subordination were established for holders of this title: SS and Police Leader (SS- und Polizeiführer, SSPF) Higher SS and Police Leader (Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer, HSSPF) Supreme SS and Police Leader (Höchster SS- und Polizeiführer, HöSSPF) Establishment The office of Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer (Higher SS and Police Leader, HSSPF) was authorized by a decree of 13 November 1937, signed by Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick. This decree authorized the creation of HSSPF in each of the 13 German armed forces Wehrkreise (Military Districts) in the German Reich, but only in the event of mobilization. At that time, the HSSPF would serve as deputies to Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer-SS and Chief of the German Police, for the purpose of coordinating and integrating all local and regional SS and police formations into the defense organization of the Reich. The first HSSPF activated were those appointed in the Wehrkreise bordering Austria during the Anschluss crisis in March 1938, and Czechoslovakia during the summer and autumn of the same year. Appointments to these posts came from the ranks of existing SS-Oberabschnitte Führer (SS Main District Leaders), and in nearly all instances they held both positions simultaneously. The Oberabschnitte were the SS commands in each of the Wehrkreise. The purpose of the Higher SS and Police Leader was to be a direct command authority for every SS and police unit in these given geographical regions, answering only to Himmler and, through him, to Adolf Hitler. They were to act as Himmler's chief liaison to, and unifier of, all SS and police components in a region. After the March 1938 Anschluss when Austria was absorbed into the German Reich, two new Wehrkreise and corresponding HSSPF were established there as well. Likewise, after the October 1939 conquest of Poland, two additional Wehrkreise and corresponding HSSPF were created for those Polish areas that were directly incorporated into the Reich. However, in all other occupied territories, there was no Wehrkreise established, so the HSSPF existed as independent entities. However, they had something the Reich HSSPFs did not – several subordinate SS- und Polizeiführer (SS and Police Leader, SSPF) commands reporting to