3.2 The police state

Question 1

What does a police state mean?

Answer 1

Means the Nazi government used the police/secret police to control what people did and said
People who said anything against the government were punished

Question 2

What happened to the SS during the 1930s?

Answer 2

Expanded to 240,000
Put in charge of all other police and security services
Leader (Heinrich Himmler) didn’t believe they were obliged to act within the law

Question 3

What did Himmler expect SS members to be like?

Answer 3

Wanted examples of perfect German manhood

Expected to marry racially pure wives to create racially pure Germans for the future

Question 4

When was the SD (Security Force) formed and by whom?

Answer 4

1931 by Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS

Made Reinhard Heydrich leader

Question 5

What information did the SD keep?

Answer 5

Card index with details of everyone suspected of opposing Nazis or German government at home or abroad

Question 6

What were the Gestapo?

Answer 6

Non-uniformed secret police force

Set up by Goering

Question 7

What was the main aim of the Gestapo?

Answer 7

Identify people who criticised/opposed Nazis
Spied, tapped phones, and used network of informants
Given permission to use torture when questioning/gaining confessions

Question 8

How many people were arrested for political offences in 1939?

Answer 8

160,000

Question 9

What was the main weapon of the Gestapo?

Answer 9

Fear
Germans couldn’t distinguish them from normal people
Offenders could be imprisoned without trial
Many were sent to conc. camps which increased fear even more
Made them more powerful than police force

Question 10

How many Gestapo members were there?

Answer 10

30,000 for a population of 80 million, fewr than 50 in Hamburg

Question 11

Why were concentration camps set up?

Answer 11

By 1939, 150,000 people ‘under protective arrest’ (in prison for doing things Nazis didn’t agree with
Prisons created run by SA and SS to cope with influx of prisoners

Question 12

When was the first concentration camp set up?

Answer 12

1933 in Dachau

Question 13

What were inmates of concentration camps like?

Answer 13

‘undesirables’ e.g. prostitutes, homosexuals
minority groups e.g. Jews
political prisoners e.g. intellectuals, communists

Question 14

.How did Hitler control judges?

Answer 14

Set up Nazi League for Maintenance of the Law
All judges had to be members - any judges the Nazis didn’t like denied membership
Nazis instructed that in matters between Nazis and law, Nazi interests more important

Question 15

What did Hitler do to trial by jury?

Answer 15

Abolished

Judges decided innocence/guilt and punishments

Question 16

What was the People’s Court?

Answer 16

Court to hear cases of treason against the state
Judges hand picked and trials in secret
No right to appeal verdict in People’s Court

Question 17

What was the difference between the number of people sentenced to death for political offences between 1930-32 and 34-39?

Answer 17

1930-32 = 8 people 
1934-39 = 534 people

Question 18

Why was there likely to be friction between the Nazis and Christians?

Answer 18

Nazis glorified strength, violence, ratial superiority

Christianity preached, tolerance, peace, repect for all

Question 19

Why did the Catholic Church clash with Catholic beliefs?

Answer 19

Catholic first allegiance = pope not Hitler

Catholics had own schools teaching different values

Question 20

What was the agreement that the Pope reached with Hitler and when did it take place?

Answer 20

a concordat in 1933
Hitler agreed to confirm freedom of worship for Catholics and not interfere in Cath schools
Catholic church agreed that priests wouldn’t interfere in politics and bishops to swear loyalty to Nazi regime

Question 21

Did Hitler keep the terms of the concordat?

Answer 21

No
Priests harassed and arrested - many ended up in conc. camps
Catholic schools brought in line with state ones or closed
Catholic youth activities e.g. Catholic Youth League banned

Question 22

What did the Pope issue in 1937?

Answer 22

A criticism of Nazis called ‘With Burning Anxiety’ when he realised the concordat was worthless

Question 23

What was the Reich Church?

Answer 23

A combination of all of the Protestant churches that wanted to work with the Nazis
Came together in 1936
Leader was Ludwig Muller - Hitler made him Reich Bishop

Question 24

What were the terms of the Reich Church?

Answer 24

Protestand pastors who supported Hitler allowed to keep continue doing church
Some Protestant pastors allowed swastika to be displayed in their churches
Nazis said Jews couldn’t be baptised into Reich Church and Old Testament (Jewish) excluded from teaching

Question 25

Who was Martin Niemoller?

Answer 25

Protestand pastor who spoke up against Hitler
Set up Pastor’s Emergency League in 1933
Put in a conc. camp in 1937 and PEL banned

Question 26

What is a totalitarian state?

Answer 26

A country where government controls every section of the state incl. Reichstag, NSDAP, army, police and legal system