6) Terror and Persuasion Flashcards
Which organisations did the Nazis use to instil fear into people?
The SS, SD (secret service) and the Gestapo
When was the SS formed?
1925 as a bodyguard unit for Hitler
Who built the SS up?
Himmler until it established a clear identity.
What identity did the SS establish?
Members wore black and showed obedience to Hitler.
How many members did the SS have by 1934?
more than 50,000 who were fair examples of the Aryan race and were expected to marry racially pure wives.
What did the SS become responsible for after the Night of the Long Knives?
The removal of all opposition to the Nazis.
What was the membership of the SS by 1939?
250,000
Who set up the Gestapo?
Georing
Who did the Gestapo come under the control of by 1936?
The SS and was supervised by Reinhard Heydrich
What could the Gestapo do?
Arrest and imprison those suspected of opposing the state.
By 1939 how many were under arrest by the gestapo form political crimes?
160,000
When was the SD set up and what was it?
In 1931 and was the intelligence body of the Nazi party.
Who controlled the SD?
Himmler controlled it.
Heydrich organised it.
What was the main aim of the SD?
To discover enemies of the Nazis and to ensure they were removed.
Who did the SD attract?
Many professional, highly educated people e.g. Lawyers, economists and professors of politics.
What were concentration camps usually set up to do?
To detain political opponents e.g. communists, socialists and trade unionists.
Who ran concentration camps?
SA and SS
What were the earliest examples of concentration camps?
Dachau near Munich was the first.
Others included:
Buchenwald, Mautheusen and Sachenhausen
What happened t prisoners in concentration camps?
They were divided into different categories, each one denoted by different coloured triangles which had to be worn. They were assigned work.
What was work like in the concentration camps?
Initially, it was pointless e.g. breaking stones, but gradually, the prisoners were used as forced workers in places like quarries and coal mines.
How were inmates in concentration camps treated?
With brutality and if someone was killed at the camp, their family would not receive a message saying that they had died.
What were the different categories of prisoners?
- Political prisoners
- Foreign forced labour groups (non-German ethnic groups seen as a threat)
- Jews
- Sexual offenders
- ‘Work shy’- included anyone unwilling to work e.g. gypsies, alcoholics and homeless
- Religious students known as the Bibelforscher
How did the Nazis aim to control the legal system?
Judges and lawyers had to belong to the national socialist League for the maintenance of law and order which forced them to accept Nazi policy- those who refused were sacked. October 1933 German lawyers Front was established and its 10,000 members swore an oath of loyalty to the Fuhrer.
Which ministry was set up in March 1934?
the Ministry for popular enlightenment and propaganda was set up by Joseph Geobbels.
