The Gestapo. The Gestapo (GeheimeStaatspolizei) wasNazi Germany’sfeared secret police force. During World War Two the Gestapo was under the direct control ofHeinrich Himmlerwho controlled all the police units within Nazi Germany. The first head of the Gestapo was Rudolf Diels but for most of its existence, the Gestapo was led by Heinrich Müller. The Gestapo acted outside of the normal judicial process and it had its own courts and effectively acted as judge, jury and frequently executioner. The Gestapo’s main purpose was to hunt out those considered a threat to Nazi Germany. By the time World War Two started these included Jews, Communists, Jehovah Witnesses, homosexuals – basically anyone who was thought to challenge the hegemony of the Nazi Party within Germany.
After the outbreak of World War Two, the work of the Gestapo covered Occupied Europe where it had two main tasks. The first was to hunt out Jews and other ‘Untermenschen’ while the second was to tackle the threat of resistance movements. The role of the SS and Gestapo. What was the role of the SS and Gestapo? Using the interactive diagram to develop a mindmap that helps you answer the key question. You might use the following headings: HimmlerSSGestapoPoliceCourts Once you have constructed your diagram add notes that explain the role of each.
Finally, add explanations how each level would affect the situation with Germany. In order to control Germany, Hitler needed the support of a well-organised Nazi party machine. The SS and the Gestapo were the instruments that Hitler usedFrom its establishment in 1925, by 1933 the SS had become a ruthless state with a state, whose members were fanatically loyal to Adolf Hitler. In addition to controlling the police, the SS developed, administered and controlled the Nazi concentration camp system. Independent organisation After the murder of Ernst Rohm and the SA leadership, Hitler announced that the SS would be an independent organisation led by Heinrich Himmler and answerable only to the Fuhrer. The SS and terror. Concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Concentration camps in Nazi Germany served a number of purposes. First, these camps were used to jail those who opposed Hitler’s government or were thought to threaten it.
Second, knowledge of what life was like in a concentration camp was allowed to leak out – or came out when someone was released. The fear of ending up in such a camp was sufficient for a great many Germans to openly declare their loyalty to Hitler even if this was not the case. Therefore for the Nazi leaders, concentration camps served the dual purpose of controlling the majority of the population because of the fear they engendered and also locking away those who crossed the line- a line imposed by the Nazi government.
Hitler had no issues with the harshness of these institutions. “We must be ruthless. Officially concentration camps were to “reform” those who had expressed opposition to Hitler’s regime and to turn “anti-social members of society into useful members”. Map of Nazi concentration camps, 1933-1934. Nazi concentration camps, 1933-1934 — US Holocaust Memorial Museum The first concentration camps in Germany were established soon after Adolf Hitler's appointment as chancellor in January 1933. The Storm Troopers (SA) and the police established concentration camps beginning in February 1933. These camps were set up to handle the masses of people arrested as alleged political opponents. They were established on the local level throughout Germany.
Gradually, most of these early camps were disbanded and replaced by centrally organized concentration camps under the exclusive jurisdiction of the SS (Schutzstaffel; the elite guard of the Nazi state). Browse all Animated Maps Browse all Maps Next Copyright © United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.