Terror and Intimidation in Nazi Germany

What is a “Police State”?

What is a “Police State”?

A country that maintains repressive control over the people by means of police (especially secret police) .

• Nearly 17 million people in Germany had not voted for Hitler and the Nazis.

• These people were likely to be a constant thorn for Hitler unless they were dealt with. For these people, the Nazis developed a policy of intimidation.

• Hitler’s police state worked on the rule that if you said nothing, no harm, could come to you. If you had doubts about the way the country was going, you kept them to yourself - or paid the price

• The wrong comment overheard by a Nazi official could have very serious consequences.

The Nazi Police State

Terror & Intimidation

“Terror is the best political weapon for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death.”

- Adolf Hitler

How did Hitler keep control of Germany?

Everyone was scared of being arrested by the

Gestapo and being put in a concentration camp.

Hitler Youth & the Young Maidens.

Propaganda

Mass Rallies, Posters and Propaganda films.

The Nazis controlled and censored the radio

& newspapers.

School children were indoctrinated with Nazi

ideas at school.

The Terror State

Secret police called the Gestapo would spy on and arrest enemies of

the state.

SS were responsible for running the

concentration camps.

Popularity

Creating Jobs

Ripping up the Treaty of Versailles.

The Terror State

• Both the Gestapo and the SS were run by Heinrich Himmler.

• The Gestapo employed an army of spies who would inform on people.

• Who were “Enemies of the State”?

Enemies of the State

• Communists• Social Democrats• Jews• Trade Unionists.• Work Shy• Homosexuals• Gypsies

• Germans who bought from Jews

• Pacifists• Radical Christian

Organisation• Anyone who criticised

Hitler or the Nazi Party.

Enemies of the State

• A list of German women who were still purchasing goods from Jewish shops.

• Printed to scare or terrorise other people into not buying from the Jews.

How did the Terror State Work?

Gestapo Spies inform on you

You are woken up by the Gestapo at 1 am in the morning and told

that you have 5 minutes to pack your bags.

You are arrested and thrown into a cell at the police

station

Days or maybe weeks later you are

interviewed and asked to sign form

D11

By signing this form you are giving your

consent to be put into a concentration camp.

You are handed over to the SS who

run the concentration

camps.

You are imprisoned for up to six months doing hard physical

labour.

When you are released you tell

everybody what has happened to you

Fear

Question

To what extent was Nazi Germany a police state?

Pastor Martin Niemoller

When the Nazis came for the Communists I was silent, I was not a Communist.When the Nazis came for the Social Democrats I was silent, I was not a Social Democrat.When the Nazis came for the Jews I was silent, I was not a Jew.When the Nazis came for me there was nobody left to protest.