The Nazi Dictatorship - The Terror State

Question 1

What different political police forces were introduced alongside the already existing police forces?

Answer 1

The SS, The SD, The Gestapo.

Question 2

What was the role and responsibilities of the SS?

Answer 2

• Were originally Hitler’s bodyguard.
• By 1936 Himmler had been appointed chief of the German police and the SS controlled the entire Third Reich police system and concentration camps.
• Membership based on adherance to Nazi ideology, discipline and obedience to the Fuhrer.
• Violence and terror was applied in a more systematic way that with the SA.
• In 1936 Himmler took control overall control of the SD and Gestapo. In 1939 the Reich Security Department Headquarters was established placing all Party and state police forces under Himmler’s control.

Question 3

What was the role and responsibilities of the Gestapo?

Answer 3

• Secret police force whose were given the role to eliminate political opposition.
• Consisted of a relatively small number of professional agents, mostly office based work.
• Relied on a network of informers and Nazi Party activists who reported on neighbours, etc.
• There was a false fear that the Gestapo were everywhere.

Question 4

What was the role and responsibilities of the SD?

Answer 4

• Internal security service of the Nazi Party.
• After 1933 its main role was intelligence gathering and to monitor public opinion and identify those who voted no in plebiscites.
• Led by Reinhard Heydrich and was a relatively small organisation.
• Staffed by amateurs who were committed Nazis.

Question 5

Where was the first permanent concentration camp set up and how did the role of concentration camps change over time?

Answer 5

1) It was set up at Dachau in 1933.
2) The camps were originally used for the ‘re-education’ of political opponents but after 1936 the emphasis changed to imprisoning those who were deemed Untermentch (undesirables).
3) From 1934, the SS took control of and ran all camps.

Question 6

What things brought the justice system under Nazi control?

Answer 6

• The Front of German Law, established in April 1933, made it clear that the careers of lawyers and judges rested on obedience to the regime.
• Nazi special courts, established in 1933, followed by People’s Courts in 1934 functioned alongside the existing courts but dealt with political crimes, had Nazi judges and professionals along with no juries.