The Police State Flashcards
What was the role of the Gestapo, the SS, SD and Concentration Camps?
The SS were expanded to 240,000 men and were used to inflict violence on opponents of the Nazis.
The SD were a security force that kept index cards on anyone thought to oppose the Nazis.
The Gestapo existed to identify any and all critics of the Nazi Party. They spied on people, tapped phones and used informants to identify suspects. In 1939 alone, 160,000 people were arrested.
People were placed in Concentration Camps when suspected of being opponents of the Nazis. The first camp was opened at Dachau in 1933.
How did the Nazis control the legal system?
Judges had to be members of the Nazi Party and “Peoples Courts” were set-up where the need for evidence was suspended.
What was the Nazi policy towards the Protestant and Catholic Church?
The Concordat with the Catholic Church: Hitler agreed to let Catholic Churches worship freely if they did not criticise the Nazis. The Catholic Church agreed its priests would not interfere in politics and ordered German bishops to swear loyalty to the Nazis.
Protestant leaders who supported Hitler’s views were allowed to continue providing Church services.
Some Protestant Church leaders allowed Nazi flags to hang inside Churches. The Nazis insisted that no Jewish Old Testament readings be used in services.
