THE TERROR STATE

Question 1

HOW did the Nazis use the courts and law in their Terror State?

Answer 1

They introduced new courts and police organisations, where judges couldn’t act independently of the government and people could be arrested and imprisoned without trial.

Question 2

HOW MANY concentration camps were there by the end of 1933?

Answer 2

50

Question 3

HOW MANY Gestapo officers were there at its peak?

Answer 3

Only 30,000

Question 4

WHAT is the historiography of the Gestapo?

Answer 4

Until the late 1980s, historians believed they must have been an extremely numerous organisation (due to how Germans spoke of them), but the investigation of East and West German archives revealed that this was far from true.

Question 5

WHAT percentage of Gestapo cases were from reports by the public?

Answer 5

59%

Question 6

HOW did the proliferation of police forces aid the Nazi Terror State?

Answer 6

• There was confusion and competition within the many different forces and between their leaders, due to their overlapping responsibilities
• Hitler was kept in power due to this infighting
• Also made sure each force was active in its role

Question 7

WHAT was the People’s Court?

Answer 7

A court which dealt with political opponents and had trials without juries

Question 8

WHEN was the People’s Court established?

Answer 8

1934

Question 9

WHAT was the Law on Malicious Gossip?

Answer 9

It was a law which made it a criminal offence to make any statement that could be viewed as critical of the Nazi regime, including jokes.

Question 10

WHEN was the Law on Malicious Gossip passed?

Answer 10

1933

Question 11

WHAT did the Front of German Law do?

Answer 11

It coordinated various legal organisations under Nazi control.

Question 12

WHEN did Himmler take control of the SS?

Answer 12

1929

Question 13

HOW MANY members of the SS were there in 1933?

Answer 13

52,000

Question 14

HOW MANY people were in the SS by World War II?

Answer 14

250,000

Question 15

WHAT was the Waffen-SS?

Answer 15

The military section of the SS which fought in WWII and was meant to replace the army after Germany won.

Question 16

WHEN was the SD founded?

Answer 16

1931

Question 17

WHAT was the role of the SD?

Answer 17

• It was an intelligence-gathering offshoot of the SS, finding and neutralising any potential opponents (overlap with the Gestapo).
• Members would generally be committed Nazis, rather than professional officers

Question 18

WHAT did the Reich Security Department HQ do?

Answer 18

It meant that all police organisations were placed under the control of the SS (and Himmler)

Question 19

WHAT was the name of the most feared Nazi judge?

Answer 19

Roland Freisler

Question 20

WHO was Reinhard Heydrich?

Answer 20

Director of the RHSA and man responsible for coordinating the final solution.

Question 21

WHAT was the Einsatzgruppen?

Answer 21

Temporary SS units who would ‘Nazify’ newly occupied areas (seize local governments and create concentration and death camps)

Question 22

WERE concentration camps hidden from the German people?

Answer 22

Many camps were not in rural areas, and were in fact near major German cities (e.g. Dachau was near Munich). The German people would have known about them

Question 23

WHAT was ‘Uschala’?

Answer 23

A Nazi party court or tribunal which investigated and dismissed or executed disloyal Nazis

Question 24

WHAT does polycratic mean and why has Nazi government been described in that way?

Answer 24

Polycratic: governed by many groups/people. The Nazi government could be described in this way as there were many different bodies (pre-existing ones, and new Nazi ones, for example) which had overlapping purposes.

Question 25

WHY has the Nazi government been described as feudal?

Answer 25

The Nazi organisation leaders were like barons who had personal loyalty to the Fuhrer, like the King.