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History (Germany 1918-1945) IGCSE > The Police State > Flashcards

Flashcards in The Police State Deck (38)
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1
Q

What had the SS originally been established as?

A

Hitler’s elite private bodyguard

2
Q

What does SS stand for?

A

Schutz-Staffel (protection squad)

3
Q

Who led the SS?

A

Heinrich Himmler

4
Q

When was the SS established?

A

1925

5
Q

By 1936, how many men did the SS have?

A

50,000

6
Q

Who were the SS fiercely loyal to?

A

Hitler

7
Q

What did the SS help Hitler accomplish in June 1934?

A

The Night of the Long Knives

8
Q

What powers did the SS have?

A

Almost unlimited powers to:

  • arrest people without trial
  • search houses
  • confiscate property
9
Q

What did the SS run?

A

Concentration camps

10
Q

When was the first concentration camp established?

A

1933

11
Q

What was the first concentration camp established?

A

Dachau - near Munich

12
Q

Initially, who was sent to concentration camps?

A

Mostly Communists - but also trade unionists and other opponents of the regime

13
Q

What would prisoners experience at concentration camps?

A

Questioning, hard labour, torture, and ‘re-education’

14
Q

If a prisoner died in a camp, what would the Nazis say happened to them?

A

They died of pneumonia (or a similar disease) OR died trying to escape

15
Q

How did the regime benefit from concentration camps?

A

The Nazis used their prisoners for slave labour, extracting raw materials and manufacturing weapons

16
Q

When did concentration camps become ‘death camps’?

A

Not until the 1940s - although they were places of great suffering, they weren’t death camps until WWII

17
Q

What was the Gestapo?

A

The secret police

18
Q

Who led the Gestapo?

A

Heydrich

19
Q

Name four of the Gestapo’s methods

A

1) Tapped telephones
2) Intercepted mail
3) Spied on people
4) Used a network of informers

20
Q

Specifically, which sub-section of the SS ran concentration camps?

A

The Death’s Head Unit

21
Q

After June 1936, who did the Gestapo come under the ultimate control of?

A

Himmler - the head of the SS

22
Q

What did the Gestapo have throughout Germany?

A

A network of informers

23
Q

What was a Block Warden?

A

A local Nazi who had to report to the government on the ‘political reliability’ of the Germans living in their housing block

24
Q

What was the role of the Block Warden?

A

To be the eyes and ears of the Nazis

25
Q

Give 4 examples of things a Block Warden report a person for:

A

1) Telling anti-Hitler jokes
2) Refusing to support the Party
3) Hosting illegal political meetings
4) Not flying the Nazi flag on celebration days

26
Q

Which part of the police state did Germans fear most?

A

Probably the Gestapo

27
Q

What did the Nazis do to the POLICE and LEGAL system when they came to power?

A

Simply took control of them

28
Q

Who did the police come under the control of?

A

The police were commanded by the SS

29
Q

Who did judges have to swear an oath to?

A

Hitler

30
Q

How many crimes were punishable by death in 1933?

A

3

31
Q

How many crimes were punishable by death in 1943?

A

46

32
Q

Give two examples of crimes punishable by death

A

1) Listening to foreign radio (e.g. BBC World Service)

2) Publishing anti-government leaflets

33
Q

What did the courts ignore?

A

Crimes committed by Nazi agents

34
Q

What did judges have to join?

A

The National Socialist League for the Maintenance of Law

35
Q

What court was established in 1934?

A

The People’s Court

36
Q

What cases were tried in the People’s Court?

A

Treason cases (betraying one’s country)

37
Q

What did Hitler sometimes do when a sentence from the People’s Court was too lenient?

A

He would sometimes personally alter the sentence

38
Q

Which historian argues terror was the key factor in the Nazis’ control of Germany?

A

Richard Evans