Nazi control - Terror.

Question 1

SS.

Answer 1

• The SS were established as an elite bodyguard for Hitler, originally was part of the SA, became more independent and important - but eventually became a “state within a state”.
• Became a key part of the police state and was crucial in upholding the regime ; playing a leading role in terror by its role in running the concentration camps.
• The SS included:
  -> The Wafen - SS, an armed military unit that played an increasing role in WW2.
  -> The SS - Totenkopfverbändr (Deaths head unit), who ran the concentration camps
• The SS’s role were far reaching and included policing, intelligence gathering, security, ideology, race, economy and some military issues.
• The head of the SS was Himmler - he developed it into one of the most brutal of the regimes agencies.
• By 1939, all police and security organisations had been amalgamated under the Reich Security Office (RSHA) which was overseen by Himmler, although in practice it was co-ordinated by his deputy, Reinhard Heydritch.
• It included:
  -> Kripo: the criminal police who were responsible for maintaining law and order.
  -> SD: the party securiry agency.
  -> SIPO: state security.

Question 2

Gestapo.

Answer 2

• The Gestapo was the police of the Nazi Party, with a reputation of being all seeing and all knowing.
• This was enforced by the Gestapo as a pressure factor in order to push people into conforming or else they would be caught.
• The Gestapo consisted of around 20,000 - 40,000 members meaning cities would only have 40 - 50 members.
• Many were office workers that depended on informers or block wardens.
• However, they’re efficiency was increased when they targeted areas of the population such as Jewish communities and socialists.
• Due to the limited size of the Gestapo, commented on by historians, K.M. Mallman, G. Paul and R. Gellately, 50 - 80% of their work was triggered by informers.
• Furthermore, the Gestapo had to further rely on the Kripo (Kriminalpolizei), a police force devoted to maintaining general law and order who were linked to the Gestapo in 1936.
• However, despite these limitations, in 1962, historian Jacques Delarue described the Gestapo as, “The all knowing totalitarian police state”.

Question 3

Treatment of Opponents.

Answer 3

• Within a matter of weeks of Hitler coming to power, camps were built to confine political opponents (e.g: Socialists and Communists).
• However by early 1934, many people had been released.
• Later a more formal system of camps had evolved, following Dachau in Munich.
• These were: Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald and Litchenburg.
• In Dachau a system was put in place by the commandant Theodore Eicke.
• This was a strict system with rules, routines and punishments (which were carried out by SS guards).
• Conditions were harsh, with prisoners sleeping on wooden planks, without blankets, they were also forced to attend parades for registration as well as work long shifts (about 12 hours).
• On top of this, they also had minimal amounts of food and their lack of cooperation (working) would result in death.
• These camps were brutal and not kept secret unlike the concentration camps in wartime - this was because the Nazis wanted their existence to be used as a deterrent to opposition.
• For a few years, the number of prisoners did not exceed 6000, however, past 1936, more and more people were rounded up (homosexuals, gypsies, beggars etc) and by 1939 the number of prisoners had exponentially increased, reaching 21,000 inmates.
• Eventually, by the time the war years came around, the system expanded greatly.

Question 4

Courts.

Answer 4

• Courts gave legal credibility to Nazi actions.
• The peoples court tried enemies of the state.
• Judges were instructed to issue harsher sentences.
• There were new laws about political offences.
• Judges that didn’t full fill Nazi rule were replaced meaning that opponents didn’t retrieve a fair trial.