Police state

• Police state

  The SS:

  The SS were formed in 1925 to protect hitler, with himmler in charge. from 1929, they were given the black uniforms to distinguish them from the SA. during the night of long knives, the SS were trusted to eliminate opponents. as hitler's power grew, the SS expanded to 240,000 men & were made responsible for other security forces in germany.
• Police state

  The SD:

  The SD were focussed on monitoring & challenging threats to the nazi party, instead of just the government. it was created in 1931 by himmler to monitor opposition, with heydrich made leader.
• Police state

  The gestapo:

  the gestapo were the secret police of germany; initially created in 1933 by goering. goering's control was short, as it was soon handed over to heydrich, leader of the SD, in 1936. they used espionage to find those opposing the government, alongside mail reading and secret informants. unlike members of the SS and SD, they were plain clothed so germans couldn't tell them apart. fear was spread throughout germany through the use of morning arrests & rumours about concentration camp conditions. in reality, nazi security forces were actually quite small. however, an illusion was created to control the population.
• Police state

  Concentration camps:

  concentration camps were makeshift prisons set up to hold opponents and opposers of nazi regime. prisoners didn't receive trials since they were classed as being under protective custody. the camps were stafted by SS members. the nazis built a network of camps away from urban areas to keep secrecy, as prisoners increased, the wannsee conference created a final solution for jews to be exterminated, which led to the creation of death camps.
• Police state

  Nazi legal system:

  hitler created the national socialist league for maintenance of law when he came ro power. this was a group where members could subscribe to nazi ideals & were expected to act accordingly; hitler made all judges join the group. hitler then told them that if there was ever conflict between the nazis and law, the nazis should always win since their needs were more important. he also got rid of trial by jury and created the people's court, which decided cases about treason (it was made of judges that hitler selected).
• Police state

  Nazi’s and the catholic church:

  despite hitler's efforts to align nazism to catholic teachings, conflict was always going to occur between the two institutions. catholics particularly placed loyalty in the pope, which infuriated hitler. in addition to this, catholics ran schools & hospitals across the country. eventually, an agreement was made between the catholic church & the nazis: the concordat. it separated the catholic church from the nazi party & stated that priests wouldn't interfere with german politics, however, the concordat didn't last; the nazis closed down church schools & arrested many catholic priests.
• Police state

  Nation reich church:

  the national reich church was a collection of protestant churches merged in 1936, headed by reich bishop muller. those who preached in the reich church were able to continue as long as they agree with hitler's views. some protestant churches began to display the swastika, whereas others opposed.