The Nazi Police State

The Nazi Police State

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• The Nazis wanted to create a totalitarian state. In a totalitarian state there are no political rivals and no political debate. The ordinary citizen diverts all their time and attention into serving the state and the demands of their leader.
• The rest of these slides will demonstrate the various ways and means the Nazis used to control the German population.

The Schutzstaffel (SS)

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• Formed in 1925 from fanatics loyal to Hitler
• Huge organisation from 1934 onwards - By 1939, 240,000 members and 1 million members by 1944
• Leader of the SS was Heinrich Himmler
• Highly trained and loyal to Hitler, the SS had primary responsibility for destroying opposition and carrying out Nazi racial policies
• SD was the internal security service of the SS
• The Death's Head units looked after the concentration camps and the transportation and eventual murder of Jews
• As it grew in power, the SS set up its own courts and carried out many activities similar to the Gestapo
• Around 200,000 Germans were sent to concentration camps by these courts
• Bildunterschrift: The SS symbol

The Gestapo

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• The Gestapo were the secret state police
• Their commander was Reinhard Heydrich
• Gestapo agents had sweeping powers, which meant they could arrest and send citizens to concentration camps without trial
• Perhaps, the organisation that was most feared by ordinary citizens

The Police and the Courts

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• Top jobs in the local police force were given to high-ranking Nazis who reported to Himmler
• The police were under strict instructions to ignore crimes that were committed by Nazi agents
• The Nazis also controlled magistrates, judges and courts
• They appointed judges they approved of and sacked those that they disapproved
• Due to their influence in the magistrate, opponents of Nazism rarely received a fair trial

Concentration Camps

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• Bildunterschrift: German concentration camp at Wobbelin
• Set up as soon as Hitler came into power
• 1933 - The first concentration camps were makeshift prisons in disused factories and warehouses
• Soon, purpose-built camps were constructed, mainly in isolated rural regions
• These were run by the SS Death's Head units
• Prisoners were forced to do hard labour
• Food was limited
• Prisoners suffered beatings, discipline and random executions
• Jews, socialists, communists, trade unionists, churchmen and anyone who criticised the Nazis end up in these camps
• Historians estimate around 1.3 million Germans spent some time in concentration camps between 1933-1939
• By the late 1930s, deaths were very common and few people came out alive from the camps
• These camps were harsh and many died, but they were not built with the purpose of killing people the same way later camps were
• The aim of these camps was to 'correct' opponents of the regime