2. How did the Nazis Keep Control of Germany?

Question 1

How does the political system of modern democracies prevent tyranny and dictatorship?

Answer 1

They ensure that the powers are separated

Question 2

What doesn’t one person or group have control of in modern democracies?

Answer 2

No one person or group has control over all three branches of government

Question 3

3 branches of government

Answer 3

Executive (government)
Legislature (law-making)
Judiciary (law-enforcing)

Question 4

What law took away all civil liberties in Nazi Germany?

Answer 4

The Law for the Protection of the People

Question 5

What removed democratic law making in Nazi Germany?

Answer 5

The Enabling Act

Question 6

What did the Fuhrer Prinzip do?

Answer 6

It subjected all past and future laws to the will of the fuhrer

Question 7

How was law applied in Nazi Germany?

Answer 7

In an arbitrary and inconsistent way

Question 8

Arbitrary

Answer 8

Based on random choice

Question 9

Police in Nazi Germany

Answer 9

Policing controlled by Nazis and police loyal to Hitler, not the German people

Question 10

6 methods of Nazi control

Answer 10

Gestapo
SS
SD
Camps
Informers
Police and courts

Question 11

Gestapo

Answer 11

State secret police

Question 12

Role of the Gestapo

Answer 12

Find and report anyone who was anti-Nazi

Question 13

How many Gestapo were recruited in Nazi Germany?

Answer 13

160,000

Question 14

Powers of the Gestapo

Answer 14

Powers to arrest without trial, to torture and to send to concentration camps

Question 15

What reputation did the Gestapo develop?

Answer 15

A reputation of being all-knowing even though they were a small organisation in reality

Question 16

Impact of the Gestapo on German civilians

Answer 16

Civilians always afraid as they believed the Gestapo were everywhere

Question 17

Who controlled the SS?

Answer 17

Himmler

Question 18

Who were the SS?

Answer 18

Hitler’s personal bodyguards

Question 19

Only people recruited to SS

Answer 19

Physically strong, pure aryans

Question 20

SS’ loyalty to Hitler

Answer 20

Fiercely loyal

Question 21

Powers of the SS

Answer 21

Had powers to search and arrest without trial

Question 22

How did the SS act?

Answer 22

In a very systematic way
Not afraid to use violence or murder

Question 23

Who were the SD?

Answer 23

A branch of the SS

Question 24

Main aim of the SD

Answer 24

To discover actual and potential enemies, and to make sure they were removed

Question 25

Who did the SD attract?

Answer 25

Many processional and highly trained people such as lawyers

Question 26

What did the SD maintain?

Answer 26

Pro-Nazi public opinion

Question 27

Who was the SD staffed by?

Answer 27

Amateurs

Question 28

When were concentration camps first used in Germany?

Answer 28

In 1933

Question 29

Who were concentration camps prisons for?

Answer 29

Prisons for “enemies of the state”

Question 30

Examples of enemies of the state

Answer 30

Political opponents Gypsies Those who refused to conform

Question 31

What were concentration camps used for?

Answer 31

Torture Questioning Hard labour

Question 32

By the late 1930s, who ran the concentration camps?

Answer 32

The “death’s head” arm of the SS

Question 33

Who were informers?

Answer 33

“Block wardens” in charge of Nazi loyalty in local areas

Question 34

Duties of informers

Answer 34

Go check how loyal people were to Nazi regime E.g. whether they saluted, hung Nazi flags etc

Question 35

Who did judges swear an oath to?

Answer 35

An oath of loyalty to Hitler

Question 36

Examples of crimes punishable by death

Answer 36

Sexual relationships with Jews Listening to anti-Nazi radio Habitual (constant) criminality

Question 37

Lawyers and judges in the Nazi party by January 1933

Answer 37

Few judges and lawyers belonged to the Nazi Party by January 1933

Question 38

What aspect of lawyers and judges was a problem for the Nazis?

Answer 38

Their long tradition of freedom from political interference

Question 39

Why did Hitler want to get lawyers and judges to join the Nazi Party?

Answer 39

Because the actions of the SS and SA were illegal and he didn’t want them to be punished

Question 40

How did lawyers treat the SS?

Answer 40

Many prosecutions against the SS were begun by lawyers who were determined to uphold the law

Question 41

What event made Hitler angry with the Supreme Court?

Answer 41

When they acquitted (freed from trial) all but one of the defendants of the Reichstag fire trial

Question 42

Court set up by the Nazis in 1933

Answer 42

Special Courts

Question 43

Court set up in 1934 by the Nazis

Answer 43

People’s Court

Question 44

Purpose of the Special Courts and People’s Court

Answer 44

To run alongside the existing court system and deal with political crime

Question 45

Judges of the Special Courts and People’s Court

Answer 45

Three Nazi judges and 2 professional judges

Question 46

What did the Front of German Law 1933 make clear to judges and lawyers?

Answer 46

It made it clear to them that their career prospects depended on their compliance to the Nazi regime

Question 47

Two factors that made judges and lawyers comply with Nazi regime

Answer 47

Front of German Law 1933 SS/SA threats

Question 48

Due to Hitler’s actions by 1934, what power did the justice system have over the Nazi’s use of terror?

Answer 48

Justice system had no power to interfere with the Nazi’s use of terror