life in nazi germany: how the nazis used terror to control people. Flashcards
what is a police state?
a country whose government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over society and the peoples rights.
what methods of terror did the nazis use to control people?
- gestapo.
- SD.
- concentration camps.
- police, courts and prisions.
- judges and courts.
gestapo: what were they commonly known as?
secret police.
gestapo: what did they do and why?
spied ont he public to remove opposition.
gestapo: what did it begin as and what did it expand to be?
prussian state police. natiowide group.
gestapo: who was the original leader?
goring.
gestapo: what did goring say their role was?
’ to investigate all poltical activities in entire state that posed danger to the state.’
gestapo: how many officers to police population did it have and what did that mean for ratio of officer to people?
15,000.
66 million.
1 officer per 4,400 people.
gestapo: how did the public feel about them?
deeply feared them.
gestapo: why were they highly effective?
power to arrest and imprision any person suspected of opposing nazi state.
gestapo: when were the early years?
1933.
gestapo: what did they focus on in the early years but how did that change later on?
nazis political opponents but later on jewish, gay people and religious dissenters were targeted.
gestapo: what gave them fightining power?
ability to identify opponents.
gestapo: what were they able to do as a means to gain information?
- tap phones.
- open mail.
gestapo: who did they mostly rely on and what would they be told?
informants who might pass on remarks they’d heard/ general suspicions.
SD: what were they known as?
secret service.
SD: what were they?
main official intelligence agency.
SD: why were they originally set up?
serve nazi party.
SD: who were they developed under?
reinhard heydrich.
SD: when did reinhrad heydrich become state secret service?
1938.
SD: what were role?
indentify actual or potential enermies of nazi leadership.
SD: how many memebers were there?
few hundred full time agents.
several thousand volunteer informants.
SD: what were most of the members like?
young, well educated men who showed no signs of being fanatical nazis.
SD: what did they focus on?
anyu opposition to the party itself.
SD: what did they spy on?
all aspects of education, arts, governemnt and administration, churches and jewish community.
SD: what did they track?
foreign reporting or german affairs.
SD: what did they look out for?
spy networks serving other nations.
SD: when they write and what did this enable to nazi leadership to do?
agents wrote extensive reports on the morale and attitude of german people.
moiniter impact of changes they made and tailor propoganda.
SD: what didn’t they do?
take actions against inderviduals.
concentration camps: how were these different to extermination camps such as auschwitz?
aimed to gather people who threatend the state and to ‘concentrate’ them where they could be kept from scoiety and in harsh conditions.
concentration camps: how mnay were set up in 1933?
over 70.
concentration camps: how many of what type of people did they imprision?
45,000 communists, trade unionsts and political opponents.
concentration camps: how did early ‘wild’ camps look?
extreme punishments. soem guards jailed for torture.
concentration camps: who ran them?
SA.
concentration camps: what was the issue with the SA running them and what had to be done and why?
disorganised and extreme conditions.
became an embarrasment and closed in second half of 1933.
concentration camps: what happend when soem were closed and what did the total number drop to?
most prisioners freed.
7500.
concentration camps: in june 1933 who was brought in to run dachau and why?
theodor eicke.
bring order.
concentration camps: what was theodor eickes unit called and what did their unifroms look like?
death heads.
skulls on their SS hats.
concentration camps: what did theodor eickes establish and what did it outline?
code of conduct used in all camps.
specific punishments for different offences.
concentration camps: what were the punishments for lesser offences?
diet of bread and water.
concentration camps: what were the punishments for greater offences?
floging and beatings in frount of other prisioners.
concentration camps: in 1937 what did himmler declare and what did that result in?
guards couldn’t be sent to jail for actions.
deaths went back up.
concentration camps: at dachau how many deaths were there since the declaration by himmler?
69 deaths in 1937. nearly 7 times as many than previous years.
concentration camps: what did the c amps start using prisioners for?
labour. forcing them to do manual albour in and out of camps.
concentration camps: who did the early year camps imprision then who did they start having more of by the mid 1930’s?
political opponents. other groups such as criminals, work shy, religious opponents and to lesser extent jewish people.
concentration camps: in 1938 at buchenwald how many work shy prisioners were there?
4600 out of 8000.
concentration camps: what did camp authorities impose on the imprisioned and what were the differences and how/ why did these vary?
uniform.
different groups forced to wear different coloured triangles.
concentration camps: by the start of the war what had the total number of prisioners risen to?
21,000.
police, courts & prisions: how were these affected?
nazis modified and crontrolled them.
police, courts & prisions: who were removed from ranks and who were they replaced with?
potential enermies. nazis moved into leadership positions.
police, courts & prisions: by controlling judical system what could the nazis do?
fully enforce any new laws they passed and issue whatever punishments they wanted against who they found guilty.
police: why did they react positivly to nazi rule?
their powers were extended.
police: what did the nazis do to the police organisations and what did they provide?
centrelised.
better funding.
police: in 1936 who were the police under control of and what were they encouraged to do?
SS.
to join forces.
police: who were the orpo?
ordinary police.
police: who were the kripo?
criminal police.
police: what did the orpo and kripo continue to do?
carry out everyday duties in communities and investigated crimes.
police: what did the orpo and kripo become important part of and what did they provide?
terror system.
providing intelligence on potential enermies and arresting them.
judges and courts: what did they have to do to hitler and what became more severe?
swear oath to hitler.
sentences.
judges and courts: what happend to the numebr of criminal offences punishable by death?
rose from 3 in 1933 to 46 .in 1943 40,000 people sent to death.
judges and courts: those who were given death sentences who did they recieve them from and why?
peoples court.
a lack of jury and predetermined guilty verdicts meant the proceedings were no more than show trials.
