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th9 powel.s of the pollce !n
$h.a1weqe
Fdazi
Germany?
Hitler wanted rhe German people to obey him.
One way to achieve this was through propaganda
(see pages 36-7). Hand in hand with-this wlnt
terror. If people would not accept Nazi ideas
through choice then they must be forced to accept
them. Germany became a police state. This ,rr.urn
that the police had the power to do whatever they
wanted. They could decide what needed to be
'for the good of the counrry'. The rights of
$o1e
individual German cirizens counted for very littte.
Hitler developed a number of organisalions to
enforce this terror.
had to search out and deal with enemies of the
Nazis.
2 T'Fze ia,Iaffen SS" These were units r,r'ho foueht
alongside the army.
3
Tlze Deat,Ia's Ffead Undts. These took control of
the concentration camps. Originaliy these had
been in the hands of rhe SA.
it like a seedsman lgho, wan..ng to
improve the sbain of a good old variety. which has
We went about
become crossbred and lost its vigour, goes through the
fields to pick the seeds of tle best plants. We sorted
out the people r+tro we thought ,nsuitable for the
formation of the SS simply on the basis of outward.
aPPearance.
In a future war we shall not only have the Army's front
on land, the Nat's front on sea and the Airforce's
front in the skies over Germany, but we shall have a
fourth theatre of war: the home fiont! These are the
grass roots which we must keep healthy by hook or by
crook because otherwise the three others, the fighting
parts of Germany, would once more be stabb,.:d in the
back.
We must be clear about the fact that our opponent
irr this war is not only an opponent in a military sense,
but also a political opponent .., our natural enemy.
international Bolshevism, led by Jews.
Elte Gesrag:*
The
SS
f!9
SS or Schutzstaffelwere ser up in 1925 as parr
of the SA. In 1934 they were used. to destroy rhe
power of the SA in the Night of the Long Knives
(see pages 28-9). They were led by Heinrich
Himmler. They were torally loyal to Hitler and
would carry out any order. They were supposed to
be perfect examples of Aryan men. The Sb *e.e
eventually divided into three main sections.
tr Th.e,SD or Sicherheitdienst. The SD were
responsible for state security. That means thev
The Gestapo or Geheime Staatspolizeiwere the
secret police. They were firsr set up in 1933 by
Goring when he had been Prussian Minister of the
Interior in Hitler's fi.rst government. In 1936 they
were &as given power in the whole of Germany.
Llke the SD theirjob was ro search our opponents
of the Nazis. The Gestapo could arrest anybne and
send *rem to concentration camps without a rial.
They used informers to uncover any attempm ro
organise opposition (see pages b8-g). ny I^SSS
there were 162 000 Germans imprisoned without
trial. In 1936 Himmler's depury, Richard Heydrich,
became the head of the Gesrapo. This meant rhat
the Gestapo was in effect under SS controi.
r,r
,
I j::t
:,:j ljl:
Since the SD and the Gestapo could put people in
concentration camps without a trial the courts
could not protect Germans from their police.
However, this was not to be the role of ihe courts.
The judges were replaced by Nazi supporters.
This
meanr rhat opponents of the Nazis woutd still be
pr-rnished even if they did ger a rrial. In 1934
Hitler
t:t:,p the People's Courr. This was to rry ,enemies
of the srate'. Of course any opponent of the Nazis
couid be called an enemy of ihe stare. By 1939 it
had sentenced over 500 people to death and sent
many others to the concentration camps.
. a' .'
::
",
-
,-
,
.
f..;r'-: ;r
'
-.
Concentration camps were prisons set up for
Hitler's enemies. The first of th.s. was at Dachau.
It was opened in 1933. Orhers soon followed. Thev
were sllpposedly to ,correct' opponents so that
they stopped opposing the Nazis. As sources
E and
.f suggest rhey were places of torture. Many
prisoners died in the concentration .u-pr. During
the war camps such as Dachau became
extermination camps (see page b4)
I and three other leaders of the gqsirlist Workers,
Party were ordered into the puuishment stockade,
a
wooden structlrre 60 cm by 60 cm. you could. onlv
stand upright in it - you couldn,t sit or eveu bend.
i
was in it for four days. I was beaten repeatedly
in
between. After four days my whole body ius swollen
9166 5anding up.
m*-!
/ ReodsourceC.
light of
this,
ffi
o) What is Himmler referring to when he soys
that German ormed forces,would once '
morebe stabbedintheback?.:;,, , -,
b) According to Himmler, who ore the reol
,, .:
enemies of the SS in o war?
o)What rmpression of the SS is given by,,. ,,,,. ,;,
: -:', '
source A?
b) How occurate is this impression?
o) Exploin how eoch o.f the following hetped
the Nozis agoinst their opponents: , , .,
'1
2
3-
oS5;
punishrnent will be mercilessly handed out whenever
the interests of the Fatherland require it. The fellow
countrymean who is decent but misled will never
be
affected by these regulations.
.,-
.::'I
o
.
t
,,'r
Gestopo;
the cou,ts;
r'
the concentration comps.
b) lf Hitler wos so populor, why did he need all
of these to stoy in power?. , . ,.
,
The S.S. - The "Elite Guard"
> Adolf Hitler handpicked a few top men to serve as bodyguards to him
and other Nazi leaders. He called this group the Schutzstffil, meaning
"protective guard" or the S.S. Because they wore black uniforms, they
were sometimes called "the black shirts". Throughout Nazi-occupied
Europe, however, they were referred to as "Hitler's butchers."
)
Hitler planned to use them
as his elite underlords to help
him rule the
InASSES.
}
blooded" master race of superior "super people'"
By 1933, S.S. membership was 30, 000'
>
FANATICS. Average citizens, young German boys attracted
by the flash black uniform. Power hungry peopie from all
walks of
life. . . doctors. . . nurses
...etc...
...
engineers'
..
lawyers
..
.judges
-.
.
teachers
submitting his family tree dating back to 1750.
F Family medical records were closely examined to prove that there was
no history of hereditarY diseases.
)
)
)
Prospective brides also had to submit the same records before
marriages were permitted.
all enemies of the Fuehor.
He would receive a special dagger as a symbol of his honour.
No law, judge or court could punish him.
killers with a license.
schools, tainees exercised, received military faining, studied Nazi
theories about their superior race, and ate only special foods suitable for
their "pure" blood. By the time they were finished, they had become so
"pump'ed" up with their ovwt glory that they finily be)ieved that they
beheved all non-Germans were sub-trurnan'
Divisions of the S-S.
1. Death's Head Resiment
.
2.
Commanded the Nazi concenffation camps. They wore skull and
crossbones insignia on their uniforms'
Gestapo
.
Or the secret state police. They made Germany a prison. They
had spies living among every German neighborhood and even
among concentration camp prisoners. They made arrests, searched
homes without warrants, and dragged people off to prison camps.
Their spy system spread around the world.
3.
S.D. or Security Police
. Headed by Reinhard Heydrich. They collected intelligence and
information. They handled the organization of the mass murders'
4.
The Einsatzgmppen
Or the S.S. political police. The killing squads that moved through
Poland and Russia. They carried out mass shootings of a million
Jews and others. Most victims were shot over open trenches,
which they were first forced to dig.
5.
The Waffen S.S.
Consisted of military S.S. units - an army within an anny. They
were controlled not by the regular anny Generals but by Hitler arid
the S.S. itself. They fought in the battlefields alongside the
Wehrmacht (the German Army). They also became the hunting
units for Jews throughout EuroPe'
.
.
out the old rule about "pure German blood." He allowed Italians, Dutch,
Hungarians, French, Albanians, Croatians, Norwegians, Flemings and
other "sub-human" races to form their own Waffen S'S' divisions'
Eventually the Waffen S.S. grew to be over 1 million fighting men'
Hirlert Top Hcnchntcn
a tarmer rvirh a pirchfork. Hirlcr
u,rs ftrrious
when hc heard abour his secretary,s
acriolrs. And
the English, who pronounced
Hess crrz),, licpr
him in jail unril
rhe *a,. .i.,J.,,t.
"it.,
Gocbbcls,
Joscf
H i r I er'.s proi)e ga n(la ch i cf,
held.thc collcge degree of docror
Jf philur.,pi.,y.
Bur hc could r.lever keep a job
unril he becanrc a
Nazi. So snrall rl:ar he was'alnrosr
a dwarf, and
lrandicapped wirh a disfigurcd
leg, Gocbbcls was
a birrer, nasry man.
As Hirlert ..nresrcr of rlre big
lics,,, Gocbbcls
nrade surc rhar Gernrans ,""d
,rily books
approved or wrirren by Nazis.
Aliorhers hc sinr_
ply had burned. tn f 933 h. ordcr.J
rhar all
books wrirren by Jewish, .nrnn.,un;rr,
or orher
"unapproved', aurhors be removed
from book_
srore shelves and libraries and rlrrown
inro rhe
srreers. On May l0 he called for
book_bu.ninge
cerenronies. In llerlin alone, 20,000
books
drenched wirh gasolinc wenr up in
smoke.
Afrer Adolf Hirler,s dearh in I945,
Goebbels
pro.u.ei lris loyalry to his Fuchrer.
Dccicling he
and his whole fanrill,could nor
srand ro liie in a
rvorld wirhour Adolf Hirler, he had
his six yourlg
children poisoned. Then he and his rvife
conrir_
red suicidc
Alfrcd ltoscnbcrg, rhe ,,[rrains,, of Ilirlcr,s
nrol>, rvas a rvild fanaric rvlro
had [:ccn cducatcd
as an archirccr in Moscorv
before lre enrigrarcd
ro Cern:any in l91g and joincd
rhe pnrry. IJirlcr
looked up ro l{osenbcrg ,na
,tt t;,
ideas. Ir was Rosenberg *ho "...prJa
gru.'lrim rhe .,scienrific evidence,' proving G.ri.,rn,
a superior
race and Jews subhun.rans.
Hermann Gocring, who hcd joined rhe arnrv
rwo Nazi and a drug
addicr. A well-known pilot rnd hero of Worlj
War I, he used his old war fanre ro bccome
elecred presidenr of the Reichsrag. Fronr
rhis
posirion,.he helped ro desrroy rhl den.,ocrr.y
from wirhin.
.ln rhe Nazi srate, Goering creared the Gescapo, or secret police, who hunred down
Ger_
mans opposed ro Hirler. To house and punish
these "Nazi enemies,', Gocring also direcrcd
rhe
building of the firsr concenrrniion camps.
. Yrilg his prior experience, Coering becanre
head of rhe Lufrwaffe, or Gernran Air Force,
during World Var II. By rhen, howevcr, this
air
force chief had become so horribly fat he could
nor even fit inro rhe cockpir of an airplane. Nor
on-ly did he enjoy food, he also hclped himself
r<;
a forrune's worrh of priceless painiings srolen
by
his Nazis from Jewish vicrims of che Holo."urr.
'When
he was asked his feelings roward the
Nazi torrures and,killings during Hirler,s regin.re,
loering answered, ..1 have no conscien.". ,ily
- -onscience is Adolf Hirler!,,
Rudolf Hess, a big man wirh thick bushy
e.y.eb19ws and piercing black eyes,
was Hirlcrt
rhird in command unril l9al.'So nrcntally
unbalanced rhar his Nazi friends callcd
hinr
"Mad Rudi,,' Hess suffered fronr hallucinarions
and bours of amnesia. His worship
of Adolf
Hirler was fanarical.
.On::, ro please his beloved Fuehrer, Hess
rook off from Germany for England
in an opencockpir Messerschmirr. He plarined
broughr Hirler a fake paper
j:t.nfcrg als.o,,proved',
ro ask prime
,-^
rrom
I(ussta that
Minisrer Vinsron Churchili if he rvouldn,r
.
the Jews were con_
like
spiring ro rake ove.r rhe world. ih.
ro change his nrind and join wirh
p"p.r, rl.,e
rhe Germans
Protocols of the El.ders of Zion,*as'supposedly
againsr rhe Russians. His flighr rook place
on
rhe minures of an inrernarion"t'rn..iing
794t,
righr
of Jewin
rhe
m;ddle
ui furiou,
Yry.10,
ish leaders rvho had gathered in a
bombing raids berween rhe Germans
cemerery
in
and rhe
Praguc ro discuss rheir plans ro
English.
blow up all rhe
world's ciries and rake over all world
Hess finally was forced ro crash-land
banks and
in an
governmenrs. The protocols had
open field in Scorland, where he u,as
long
since lreen
caprured by
proven a roral forgery. However,'Hirler
and his
in
L921,, was rhe nunrber
llitlcr
Nazis belicved rhe telc rvholclrearrcdly.
Thcy
had rhc protoc<tls rcprinred ;n
,i.-igZO,s, and
circulated ir widell,anlong rhe
Gcrman nrasses
during polirica I c"nlp, ignl.
.. Ros_enbcrg also convinced Hirlcr rhar rhc
'same Jervish insrigarors of
rlrc Itussian Ilol-of
shevik Itevolutior.,
i gr ?" ,;;;;;l^1o.,. ;n
Germany.
Heinrich Himnrlcr, Hirler,s
SS chief, rvas
the mosr feared and dreadcd
Nrr; uf rlrcnr all.
Bespecracled, wirlr a receding
.l-.,in
sunkcn
chesr, rhis one_r.irlc chickc'
"n,i
;;;;;;,
trad becn
arresred for killing his girlfriend,
tu, ,u",
released for lack of eu;ience.
,a.'H;rt.r,s n:an in
charge. of rhe
Jewish.slaugt.,r.'. ;;;", rhe Holocausr, he well proved lris
Iapaciry fo, murdcr. In
comrnand of all exrerminrriun
o, d..rh .",;;;;
he persor:al11, chccked
,n. fun.rio,.,;ng of rhe gas
chanrbers end warch.a
.*..uriunr. H.
ordered Nazi docrors ra r,"o:^::.
"tru
huma
n,
;;,";;'.",:
Na:rs
39
l"r:,arrracred by rhc flashy [rleck uni_
l:::lr"with
tornrs
silver rrim. powcr_l.,rngry
people
from all walks of life .'.
. ;;;;;'
engineers. . rawyerc
. .,lJJili;.
Beconring an SS ,.,.,.nr1r.,.
;,;'".
sinrplc nrar_
rcr, lrowever. A prospecrive
SS nr:rn had ro prove
l:is Ccrnran blood,was ,,p;;;
bysubnrircing lris
far,ily rrec daring b"ck riliroltu,,
family nred_
ical records hed ro tr.
.torjy-.ianrirrecl ro prove
he had no
of l,.,r.diry;;;;r.r. Ilesidcs
ell rhrr, lre 'isrory
had t<lbetrll,1i,i,.ri.,
true-eyed, rnd
:rrhleric. prospectivc
SS bridcs lr"; r" su[>mir
rlre
ser.ne records before
nrarriages were pernrirtcd.
Oncc acceDred, an SS nrin
,ool an oarh ro
I-tirler in wlricir 1.,.'r*or.
,"'iiri"Tienenries of
rlre Fuchrcr_even his
ownb;;;;;
if necessary.
I-ie received a special
SS d"gg;;s a symbol
of
rhis "honor.,, And
l;;-j"r?;"'o,. .or* could
"" rlrc
punish him. In shorr,
SS b;r";. norhing
nrore rlran a crinrinal
organizar;;;, group of
killers wirh a licensc.
"
Speciar rraining produced
rhe cord-br.oded
SS killers Hirlel
;;;;;".
;"" il ;,'J lTr?Ji;
"
rnenrs. Oncc,
rvhen asked h,r* 1.,.
.uuld excermi_
nare helpless, innocenr
Jcwish children,
-'immler
proresred, ,,nu, ,rr.f
:H:"::
]r" ]n;,r,rlrt,,
r
ra i n ees
...,;;. ;',:::* *, f# :fi ",:;*il1',
srudied Nazism's rheories
iiru,. superior
race, and are onlv special "l'r"",
foods ruir"U. for rhcir
"pure" blood. Bv rhe ,;-.
,tr.i u].r. nn,rtl.a,
rhey had becom" so. puffed
up with rheir own
glory rh.at rhey firnrly lr"ti;;;
were subhuman.
"ii'"""-c.rmans
THa SS_THE ,.ELrrE
GuertD,,
From rlre ranks of rhe
SA in 19)
ter hrndpicked a ferv,"p;;;';;lJ*.S,Adolf Hirr, body_
guards ro him and orhe,
lVr.i f ."j.rs. He called
rh is g rou p Sch u rzstaffcl,
Guard," or rhe SS. because
"r;;rhey,;;;llpro,..riu.
black unif::*r, rhey rvere somerimes .rll.dwore
i rh. Bl".kThroughou r Nazi-occrp;.a
Eu roo.,
:11::::. ho\vever,
the1, rvere referred to
*H-itlert
as
Butchers.',
In his furure Cernran Enrpire,
Hirler
to use rhe SS as his elire undcrtorarro planned
help him
rule rhe masses. Thry and
rhei,. brides rvere arso
to be rhe parenrs of ih. .,pur.-irl-ooii"o,,
n..,"rr.,.
race of superpeople.
1933, SS membership rvas
,had By
30,000. Who
joined? Fanarics.
Average ciriz-e-,rr young
anc!'tlte
Divisions of thc
SS
There were several divisions
of rhe SS. The
commandanrs <lf all Nazi
.on."nrr"r;
rvere menrbers of
rne Dearlr,s
who wore skull_and-cr"r;;";;;;"or),,
on cheir
uniforms. The Gesrapo,
or secre, ,,Jr. police,
Cernrany a priion Tl*,
t;il;;es riving in
i]id. Cerman
neighborho"d;;;;;:n
amons
:::11
concentration
cam
;-.,,J;il;iJit
a
rresrs,,.,
;, ;'; i,.iJl'il,T1;ll'J.:'::,:
people off
,*:gt_.-,
tlrelr sp1, s)'stenr
t<.r
prison ..nipr.'Euenrrally
around ,1..r.=r*.f a.
sprc:.rd
1,1
l.J
l:ll
;lll
tnl
l]t
Anorher SS agcncy wirh agcnrs irrsidc rnd
Cermany wes chc SD, or sccuriry policc,
3ucsydl
hcrdcd by Rcinhard Hcydrich. Thcy collccrcd
inrclligcncc informr cion. Th ird' in command
afrcr Hicler and HimnrJcr in charge of che ex(errninacion of Jews, Hcydrich rnd his sccuriry
po.lice hrndled che orgrnizacion of ch.nrrs
rn u
rder.
The Einsaczgruppcn, or SS policical police,
wcrc killing squads who moved all abour,
especially chrough Poland and Russie. Thcy carricd
out rnass shoocings of e miliion
Jews rnd orhcrs.
Mosc oF chcir vicrims wcre shoc over opcn
trenches,'which chey werc forccd co dig Ersc.
Finrlly, rhc Vaffen 55 consisccd of SS milirary unirs during rhe Second World !/ar. Thcy
bccamc an a(my wichin an a(my. Buc chey wqls
concrolled noc by che regular 3rmy gencrals buc
by Hicler and chc SS icself. Co.pos.d oIall vol_
unteers, chc Waffcn SS were co be chc guards of
che coming Rcich. During l0bcld \X'ar II, chcy
foughr in che bacrleficlds alongsidc chc W.hrmachc (Hiclcr's ncw nrm. For chc R:ichswehr,
or Cerrnan arrny). fr6wcvcr, rhc Waffen SS aiso
bccame huncing unics for
Jcws rhrougfieu,
w.herever chcy w:nr, ch.y c,imn,;,,.d
!_"tgli crrmes againscJews,
'no.rn0lc
ocher ciuil,irns,
rn,..
prisoncrs of wrr.
In 1943, when F{iclcr wrnccC rc increrse
ilrc
size of lris iorccs, he chrcw che
old rulc
rboul
"pure Ccrrnan blood"
for che SS mcn oui rhc
window. Hc ailowed ica[i:ns,
Ducch, Hungrricns, French, Albanians,.Russians,
Norwcgians,
Flemings, Croacians, and ocher,.sublrum.n-
rrces io form rhcir own !7effcn
SS divisions.
Evenrurlly chc \Uaffcn SS grcw co rnorc
rhrn
a miliion 6ghcing nren.
Thc SS hrd meny ochcr dcparcmcncs
chrc
lpcnrcd chc dirry business of Hiclcrt Third
Rcich. Somc of chcsc depann.,lcncs organizcd
shve
labor and chc hrndling of ,rrr,
of Jcrvish
propcrry, which chcy scolc and ",.noui,,
discribuccd :mong
chcrnscl ves.
Discussion Compare chc SS, Hiclcr\ killcis,
Qucscion: cc hii Nazi chicfs. Were che y
che samc cypc of pcoplc?
Comparc chc SS co chc SA.
L Who is Herman Goering? What did he create?
2. What was the responsibility of ttre Gestapo?
3. Describe Josef Goebbels. What did he do for the Nazi
patrty?
4. what (false) "evidence" did AIfred Rosenberg uncover
for the Nazis?
5. what role did Heinrich Himmler play in the Nazi pafiy?
6. Describe the SS and the people who
Joined it.
7 . What would a German have to prove in order to join
the
SS?
8. Describe the different divisions of the SS. Explain each
one in detail.