THE TERROR STATE Flashcards
HOW did the Nazis use the courts and law in their Terror State?
They introduced new courts and police organisations, where judges couldn’t act independently of the government and people could be arrested and imprisoned without trial.
HOW MANY concentration camps were there by the end of 1933?
50
HOW MANY Gestapo officers were there at its peak?
Only 30,000
WHAT is the historiography of the Gestapo?
Until the late 1980s, historians believed they must have been an extremely numerous organisation (due to how Germans spoke of them), but the investigation of East and West German archives revealed that this was far from true.
WHAT percentage of Gestapo cases were from reports by the public?
59%
HOW did the proliferation of police forces aid the Nazi Terror State?
- There was confusion and competition within the many different forces and between their leaders, due to their overlapping responsibilities
- Hitler was kept in power due to this infighting
- Also made sure each force was active in its role
WHAT was the People’s Court?
A court which dealt with political opponents and had trials without juries
WHEN was the People’s Court established?
1934
WHAT was the Law on Malicious Gossip?
It was a law which made it a criminal offence to make any statement that could be viewed as critical of the Nazi regime, including jokes.
WHEN was the Law on Malicious Gossip passed?
1933
WHAT did the Front of German Law do?
It coordinated various legal organisations under Nazi control.
WHEN did Himmler take control of the SS?
1929
HOW MANY members of the SS were there in 1933?
52,000
HOW MANY people were in the SS by World War II?
250,000
WHAT was the Waffen-SS?
The military section of the SS which fought in WWII and was meant to replace the army after Germany won.
WHEN was the SD founded?
1931
WHAT was the role of the SD?
- It was an intelligence-gathering offshoot of the SS, finding and neutralising any potential opponents (overlap with the Gestapo).
- Members would generally be committed Nazis, rather than professional officers
WHAT did the Reich Security Department HQ do?
It meant that all police organisations were placed under the control of the SS (and Himmler)
WHAT was the name of the most feared Nazi judge?
Roland Freisler
WHO was Reinhard Heydrich?
Director of the RHSA and man responsible for coordinating the final solution.
WHAT was the Einsatzgruppen?
Temporary SS units who would ‘Nazify’ newly occupied areas (seize local governments and create concentration and death camps)
WERE concentration camps hidden from the German people?
Many camps were not in rural areas, and were in fact near major German cities (e.g. Dachau was near Munich). The German people would have known about them
WHAT was ‘Uschala’?
A Nazi party court or tribunal which investigated and dismissed or executed disloyal Nazis
WHAT does polycratic mean and why has Nazi government been described in that way?
Polycratic: governed by many groups/people. The Nazi government could be described in this way as there were many different bodies (pre-existing ones, and new Nazi ones, for example) which had overlapping purposes.
WHY has the Nazi government been described as feudal?
The Nazi organisation leaders were like barons who had personal loyalty to the Fuhrer, like the King.
