Section 3: The security services: the SS, SD and Gestapo

What did the SS offer as an elite group?

Career advancements, kudos and status; for many it inspired great devotion; many Germans believed that the concentration camps provided an important safeguard for law-abiding citizens.

In addition, what did the Nazi state use?

Existing organisations like the courts to maintain repression in 1935, for example: ~5,000 people were convicted for high treason. ~the prison population increased by 53,000 and 23,000 inmates were classed as political prisoners.

Who was Heinrich Himmler?

He was an active member of the Nazi Party from 1923. He became head of the SS in 1929.

What was the impact of Himmler working loyally for Hitler and advancing his ideological goals?

Himmler and the SS gradually accumulated more and more control over security and intelligence in Nazi Germany.

What happened to the Gestapo from 1936?

It was controlled directly by the SS.

What happened to the Gestapo from 1934?

It was infiltrated by members of the SS.

The security sevices

One way in which the Nazi state ensured its power and control was through its security apparatus.

What changed had been made to the Gestapo from 1936?

The Gestapo had essentially unlimited powers of repression over the people of Germany.

The terror state

The Nazis ran an extensive network of terror and repression. From 1936, the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, was in charge of a huge security network.

What had happened by the 1930s?

The SS had thousands of members.

From 1936

The SS oversaw the Gestapo and the Criminal Police as well as enforcing ideological conformity through repression. They took over the concentration camp network and, by 1939, 162,000 people were in 'protective' custody.

What was the SS responsible for?

The design and implementation of the holocaust, and the Waffen SS, the organisation's military arm, becoming a huge and murderous army.

The SD

The intelligence service of the SS. The SD secretly observed public opinion and detected and rooted out supposed enemies of Nazism.

What made it hard for people to speak out?

The network of informants the Gestapo had, even though there was not many members of the Gestapo.

The Gestapo

The secret police. This organisation secretly monitored the behaviour of Germans and arrested those who were perceived as a threat to Nazi values or the security of the state.

What happened during WW2 in terms of the SS?

They were given a responsibility for enforcing and implementing Nazi ideology in conquered territories.

The SS

This repressive organisation became a dominant force in Nazi Germany. It was the most ideologically extreme part of the regime and its members were supposed to be pure Aryans. The organisation had started as Hitler's personal bodyguards and consequently swore an oath of loyalty to him.

What were the differences in opinion in Nazi Germany?

Those opposed to the Nazis would have genuine reason to fear the security services but there is also evidence to suggest many welcomed their presence in Germany.

How could the Gestapo control people?

Via agents such as Party officials and Block Wardens who watched their local areas for signs of deviancy.

The network of terror created serious impediments to people's freedom:

~The Nazis established a system of concentration camps to house their opponents and asocial elements. ~People had no civil rights or freedom.

In what ways did the German people have no civil rights or freedom?

~The Reichstag Fire Decree removed the Weimar constitution's protections in this area. People lost the right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and so had little power to organise any kind of opposition. ~The Gestapo could arrest and hold people in custody for any reason or none, while a law of 24 April 1933 made the penalty for seeking to reduce Hitler's power, beheading.

Some of the main parts of the terror state were:

~The SS ~The SD ~The Gestapo

There is some debate about the effect of the security services on the German population up to the outbreak of war:

~Were people frightened and bullied into conformity? ~Were they genuinely loyal?