The ‘Terror State’ And Nazi Propaganda Flashcards
What is a totalitarian state?
One where there is total obedience to the state/leader
What is a ‘terror state’?
A state where everyone is living in fear
Who overall controlled the police system in the Third Reich and what were the main factions?
Himmler
Main factions: SS, SD and Gestapo
What was the SS, what did it do and when was it expanded?
Main Nazi organisation involved in identifying and arresting political prisoners
. Its role expanded after the NOTLK
How powerful were the SS by 1936?
. Full control over police system
. Tightened their control
. Increased repression
. There were more concentration camps than ever, showing how brutal the SS were
What were Himmler’s intentions for the SS members as chief of German police?
. Strictly disciplined members
. Racially ‘pure’
. Unquestionably obedient
How did the SS operate more systematic than the SA’s street brawls?
. Actions of violence and murder were up to the state powers decision and were carried out without any reference to moral standards (brutal)
. The SS concentration camp guards were brutalised so they didn’t feel any sympathy towards prisoners and they wouldn’t move out of line out of fear of being brutalised further (more evidence for ‘terror state’)
When was the SD created?
1931
How did the role of the SD develop?
. Initially just an internal security service of Nazi party
. By 1933, it became an intelligence gathering system
Why was the SD set up?
To investigate claims over the Nazi Party being threatened/infiltrated by political enemies
How did the SD carry out its intelligence gathering role from 1933?
. Monitored public opinion
. Identified ‘no’ voters in plebiscites (small elections)
This information was reported back to Hitler
How important was the SD and how is this seen?
Had an important role in the Nazi Party as it reached 50,000 officers by 1939
- clearly the Nazi’s felt they needed to completely disintegrate political enemies, and such a large membership contributes to the idea of living in fear
How was the SD different to the Gestapo?
. SD staffed by amateurs committed to Nazis but Gestapo were professional police officers
. Gestapo was a state organisation but SD was working closer to Nazis
This meant they caused overlap and confusion as they were independent of each other while carrying out similar roles
How did the Nazis develop the Gestapo initially?
Extended its operations from only Prussia to all of Germany
What was the belief vs reality of the Gestapo in the eyes of ordinary Germans?
Belief: Gestapo agents were in every pub, workplace and gained a reputation of being all knowing
Reality: in 1939, there were only 20k officers for the whole country, it was a small organisation
However, as the Gestapo still caused the ordinary Germans to live in fear, this myth about the Gestapo helped the Nazis establish a terror state without needing extreme membership in the Gestapo
What is the truth about the agents of the Gestapo?
. They weren’t typically Nazi members
. Their work was more office-based, relying on informers to do field/investigative work
. They were really professional police with a role to serve the State
How did the Gestapo get their information?
. Nazi party activists were asked to spy on workmates and neighbours
. There was a ‘block leader’ in every block of flats and residential street that would report suspicious activity.
. Voluntary denunciations from ordinary Germans
How was it clear that there were too many alleged crimes for the Gestapo to deal with?
They increasingly used arbitrary arrest (without reason) and protective custody
What was the main reason for voluntary denunciations to the Gestapo?
To settle personal grudges, not because of political commitment
How did the Gestapo impact ordinary German people?
. Instilled fear and suspicion despite small size
. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 worked to get more Jews in concentration camps as ordinary Germans denounced the Jewish people to divert suspicion from themselves
. Political debate and criticism of the Nazi party went away out of fear
. Myth that Gestapo were everywhere forced people in line with Nazi principles
How is torture methods of Gestapo seen with Richard Krebs (communist)?
Arrested by the Gestapo and wrote about his conditions under arrest:
. Whipped and beaten for several weeks while being questioned
. Chained to a cot in his cell, couldn’t wash
. His wife was arrested as a threat which made him give in info
After Richard Krebs agreed to provide info to Gestapo, what did he actually do?
Became a double-dealer, secretly providing the communists with Nazi info
Who was Jacques Delarue and what were his views on the Gestapo?
Member of the French resistance
- made the Gestapo seem like they were in complete control of German society using effective methods to terrorise citizens
- he chose this view as he wanted the French resistance to seem less weak by portraying Germany as an almost indestructible force
What was the true average size of the Gestapo from 1934 onwards?
Around 32,000 in a 65 million population
= around 1 Gestapo for 2000 people (not significant control)
What did a Whittenburg survey show on where cases to the Gestapo came from?
57% cases were voluntary denunciations
0.5% were observations by Gestapo agents
What was the problem with ordinary citizens voluntarily denouncing to the Gestapo to move suspicion away from them or settle personal grudges?
The denunciations were taken extremely seriously by the Gestapo as the brutality was certainly there
Which part of the Gestapo’s methods isn’t extremely exaggerated?
The brutality and torture methods:
. Murder
. Beatings
. Press censorship
. Dismissal from jobs
. Execution
. Concentration camps
How was the state of the January 1933 justice system against the Nazis?
. Few judges and lawyers were part of Nazi party, and many were conservative
. Lawyers and judges couldn’t be politically interfered with, they had to be put into line
What was the Nazis problem with judges and lawyers being free from political interference?
Meant SS and SA activities were illegal and prosecutions against stormtroopers started to happen as judges wanted to uphold law
- Hitler was annoyed that only one defendant in the Reichstag Fire case in Supreme Court was punished
How did Hitler ‘coordinate’ the justice system?
. Nazi regime dismissed some judges and state prosecutors
. April 1933: League of National socialist lawyers and various professional associations of judges and lawyers merged into the Front of German Law
. New courts introduced
How were the professional associations of lawyers and judges in the Front of German Law threatened?
Their career prospects depended on doing the Nazi regimes bidding
What two new courts did the Nazis introduce and when?
. 1933: Special Courts
. April 1934: People’s courts
How did the Nazi’s new courts help them solidify the ‘terror state’?
. Dealt with political crimes in a biased manner
- 3 Nazi ‘judges’ and two professional judges
. No juries
. Defendants had no rights to appeal against sentences
There was basically no point in appealing to a trial
Who were most likely to be tried by the People’s courts?
Former communists and socialists
How did the role of concentration camps change through the Third Reich?
At the start, used to house political prisoners
Later housed asocials (people that didn’t fit into the Third Reich)
How did the Nazis overall change the justice system to establish a terror state?
. Made sure the system had no power to interfere with Nazi terror
. Old court system still existed and many non-Nazi judges kept jobs, but their careers were dependent on how well they served the Nazi regime
How was the brutality of the People’s courts seen from 1934-39?
Around 3400 people were tried, and most were given the death penalty
What was the aim of Nazi propaganda?
To indoctrinate the people with their Weltanschaung (Nazi philosophy) and created committed members of the Volksgemeinschaft
When was the propaganda ministry created and under who?
1933 under Joseph Goebbels
How did the Nazis control film?
The Reich film chamber was in charge of all German and imported films
- Goebbels was responsible for approving every film to be played in Germany
What parts of art and culture did Nazis like?
. Country life
. Loyalty
. Struggle
. Self-sacrifice
. Discipline
What aspects of art and culture did Nazis dislike?
. Abstract art
. Sexualised art
. Art focused on the individual was viewed as ‘degenerate’
How did Nazis control art and culture in Germany?
September 1933: Reich chamber of culture set up
- overseen by Goebbels
- ensured cultural activities were consistent with nazi ideas
- cultural activity disagreeing with nazi ideology was banned
- artists who weren’t members of this chamber couldn’t teach, produce or sell art
What are some examples of German art and culture that the Nazis approved?
. Huge buildings, giving the impression of power and performance
. Richard Wagner’s music
. American film ‘captain courageous’
What are some examples of German art and culture that were banned by the Nazis?
. Works by post-impressionists such as Van Gough
. Bauhaus
. Jazz
. All quiet on the western front
. Books by Einstein (from Jewish family)
. Freud (jewish)
What were the two main Nazi newspapers?
Der Sturmer: got onto the headlines, influencing opinion
- however, was extremely anti-Semitic and not read much
Volkischer Beabachter: more moderate Nazi paper
How did the number of radio sets expand greatly under the Nazis to indoctrinate the masses?
1935: 7 million radio sets
1939: 70% of households owned a radio set
1943: 16 million radio sets
How did Goebbels censor radios to indoctrinate the masses?
Couldn’t dial in on a foreign radio station
However, some anti-Nazi’s got around this by tweaking the frequencies of the radio to get into the BBC etc, such as for the case of Wladyslav Szpilman
Who was Nazi propaganda most effective on?
The people who needed a scapegoat to their problems, such as a lower-class minority
- German businessmen didn’t approve of this forceful indoctrination and loyalty to the state
