The Police State Flashcards
What had the SS originally been established as?
Hitler’s elite private bodyguard
What does SS stand for?
Schutz-Staffel (protection squad)
Who led the SS?
Heinrich Himmler
When was the SS established?
1925
By 1936, how many men did the SS have?
50,000
Who were the SS fiercely loyal to?
Hitler
What did the SS help Hitler accomplish in June 1934?
The Night of the Long Knives
What powers did the SS have?
Almost unlimited powers to:
- arrest people without trial
- search houses
- confiscate property
What did the SS run?
Concentration camps
When was the first concentration camp established?
1933
What was the first concentration camp established?
Dachau - near Munich
Initially, who was sent to concentration camps?
Mostly Communists - but also trade unionists and other opponents of the regime
What would prisoners experience at concentration camps?
Questioning, hard labour, torture, and ‘re-education’
If a prisoner died in a camp, what would the Nazis say happened to them?
They died of pneumonia (or a similar disease) OR died trying to escape
How did the regime benefit from concentration camps?
The Nazis used their prisoners for slave labour, extracting raw materials and manufacturing weapons
When did concentration camps become ‘death camps’?
Not until the 1940s - although they were places of great suffering, they weren’t death camps until WWII
What was the Gestapo?
The secret police
Who led the Gestapo?
Heydrich
Name four of the Gestapo’s methods
1) Tapped telephones
2) Intercepted mail
3) Spied on people
4) Used a network of informers
Specifically, which sub-section of the SS ran concentration camps?
The Death’s Head Unit
After June 1936, who did the Gestapo come under the ultimate control of?
Himmler - the head of the SS
What did the Gestapo have throughout Germany?
A network of informers
What was a Block Warden?
A local Nazi who had to report to the government on the ‘political reliability’ of the Germans living in their housing block
What was the role of the Block Warden?
To be the eyes and ears of the Nazis
Give 4 examples of things a Block Warden report a person for:
1) Telling anti-Hitler jokes
2) Refusing to support the Party
3) Hosting illegal political meetings
4) Not flying the Nazi flag on celebration days
Which part of the police state did Germans fear most?
Probably the Gestapo
What did the Nazis do to the POLICE and LEGAL system when they came to power?
Simply took control of them
Who did the police come under the control of?
The police were commanded by the SS
Who did judges have to swear an oath to?
Hitler
How many crimes were punishable by death in 1933?
3
How many crimes were punishable by death in 1943?
46
Give two examples of crimes punishable by death
1) Listening to foreign radio (e.g. BBC World Service)
2) Publishing anti-government leaflets
What did the courts ignore?
Crimes committed by Nazi agents
What did judges have to join?
The National Socialist League for the Maintenance of Law
What court was established in 1934?
The People’s Court
What cases were tried in the People’s Court?
Treason cases (betraying one’s country)
What did Hitler sometimes do when a sentence from the People’s Court was too lenient?
He would sometimes personally alter the sentence
Which historian argues terror was the key factor in the Nazis’ control of Germany?
Richard Evans
