Nazi Police State Flashcards
Who were the SS?
The elite aryan army
Who were the SD?
The intelligence service
Who were the gestapo?
Secret state police
Which Nazi group did Heydrich lead?
SD
Which Nazi group did Heinrich Himmler lead?
SS
Name the three branches of the SS and their functions
The Kripo - carried out general policing duties
The Gestapo - The secret state police which had responsibility for hunting down the Nazis’ opponents who became known as ‘enemies of the state’.
The SD - The Intelligence Arm of the SS monitoring the security of the Reich.
What was the Gestapo law and what did it entail?
The Gestapo Law of 1936 put the Gestapo above the law, allowing them to do whatever they wanted in the line of duty. The Gestapo also had the right of imprisonment without trial (custody) which affected thousands of people during Hitlers rule.
How and where were potential SS members trained?
They were trained in ‘Junker Schools’ to be ruthless and cruel, and were told that they were the master race and the forces of light. They were taught total unquestioning loyalty, which is why they formed Hitler’s personal bodyguard and why SS officers were always used to carry out massacres and illegal actions.
What did Himmler order in 1935?
He conducted a purge to get rid of unfit officers, alcoholics and homosexual people, and members who could not prove that they did not have Jewish ancestors.
Why was the People’s Court set up and what did it achieve?
After Germany’s law courts found a number of communists not guilty of setting the Reichstag Fire in 1933, Hitler set up a special Peoples Court in 1934 which gave the ‘right’ verdict on those accused of crimes against the state. He used this to get rid of people who he thought to be enemies or a threat to the Third Reich
How many people were sentenced to the People’s Court?
Quarter of a million
Who did the Nazis persecute?
- Homosexuals
- Jews
- The asocial
- Jehovahs Witnesses
When was the first concentration camp set up?
Dachau was set up in March 1933
Where did the SS again most of its information on potential Nazi opponents?
Through neighbours’ reports
If one person committed a ‘crime’ in a German family, would the rest of the family be persecuted because of them?
Yes. This was known as the clan responsibility
What did the Protection of People and State decree allow the Nazis to do?
To suspend people’s civil rights and arrest opponents, placing them in ‘protective custody’ in newly constructed concentration camps.
Under the influence of the Gestapo encouraging neighbours to speak out against their friends and family for opposing the regime in any way, how did the Germans learn to speak?
They learnt to ‘speak through a flower’ (say only nice things about the government) even with their closest friends.
What did the Enabling act do?
Allowed the government to introduce laws without Reichstag approval
What was the Volksgemeinschaft ?
A people’s community where people were taught that their primary loyalty was to the Führer
What was the Gleichschaltung?
Coordinating all aspects of life to fit in with Nazi ideals
What did the Law against the establishment of Political Parties entail?
Made the Nazis the only legal political party
Who were considered opponents in the Nazi State’s mind?
Members of the German population such as criminals, Jews, the work shy and homosexuals.
How were gypsies and Jews viewed by the Nazis?
Gypsies were viewed as a dangerous ‘foreign’ race which may corrupt the Aryan bloodline, and Jews were represented by the Nazis as an ‘anti-race’ that had come into being through negative selection
Who was the leader of the German Labour Front
Dr Robert Ley
