The Nazi Terror State

• Hitler ran Germany as a police state, with the police controlling every aspect of daily life for German citizens.
• Henrich Himmler was in charge of the Nazi’s tools for repression, the Gestapo, SS and SD.
• Himmler was one of Hitler’s closest colleagues, with his career in the Nazi Party beginning when he led the SS in 1929.
• Himmler enthusiastically supported the idea of Aryan superiority and the inferiority of the untermenschen (sub-humans).
• As Himmler was in charge of police and security services, he could act how he wanted to and not fear legal punishment.
• The Nazis controlled the legal system, making it impossible for there to be any opposition.
• The Nazis got rid of trials by jury and instead all decisions rested with the judge alone.
• All judges had to rule in the Nazis favour.
• The People's Court in Berlin tried "political criminals" who opposed Hitler.
• Most people found guilty in the People's Court were sent to concentration camps.
• The Gestapo was Hitler’s secret police service, set up by Hermann Goering in 1933 and led by Reynhard Heydrich.
• The Gestapo did not wear uniforms as they were secret investigators.
• The Gestapo was a small unit of 50,000 police men who relied on informers to identify opponents.
• The Gestapo spied on German citizens and prosecuted people who spoke against the Nazi regime.
• Punishment for speaking against the Nazi regime was torture or being sent to a concentration camp.
• The German population were terrified of the Gestapo’s power.
• The SS was Hitler’s Protection Squad (bodyguards), set up in 1925 and led by Heinrich Himmler.
• The SS recruited Aryans and it was an expectation that SS troops would also have children with Aryan women.
• SS troops were highly trained and very disciplined, which was one reason why Hitler preferred them to the SA.
• The SS were in charge of Germany’s police force and had the power to search people’s property and send them to prison without receiving a trial.
• The SS ran the concentration camps.
• In the Second World War, the SS were in charge of the Einsatzgruppen and death camps.
• Nazi tools for repression, such as the Gestapo and SS, were very successful in creating fear among the German population.
• The Gestapo and SS had so many informants that there was no dissent, meaning everyone was careful about what they said about the Nazis in fear that they would be heard and reported.
• Many German citizens were encouraged to spy, with 200,000 Germans paid by the SS for spying.
• While repression and propaganda worked together to create gleischaltung, repression was more important.