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The Police State was central to the whole Nazi project. It was a major part of their machinery to achieve their goals of making the German society racially pure and totally loyal to the Fuhrer. It did this with an aim of controlling every aspect of people's lives. This was achieved through the creation of an environment of fear and terror. This is the way that Hitler put it himself “Terror is the best political weapon for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death.
” The German people learned that they will be safe if they did what they were told.
Speak through a flower' was simply the best advice at the time. The impact of the Nazi Police State on German people was beyond what had ever been seen. In fact people continued to be willing to denounce relatives, friends or neighbours several years after the Nazi regime had fallen. The Nazi Police State was comprised of four pillars: the SS, the Courts, the Gestapo and the Concentration camps.
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The SS was formed in 1925 from fanatics loyal to Hitler. It was made up of "Aryan" people and led by Heinrich Himmler. SS’ primary responsibility for destroying Nazi opposition and carried out racial policies.
It had 2 units; Death’s Head Units which were responsible for concentration camps and the "Jewish Question" and Waffen-SS working alongside the army. The Court system supported the Nazi dictatorship. Police were under strict instructions to ignore crimes committed by Nazi agents. Opponents of Nazism didn’t get a fair trial.
Gestapo was the most feared part of the police state machinery. Its agents were given sweeping forces meaning they could arrest citizens on suspicion and send them to concentration camps without trial or explanation.
Through terror and fear, the large official network was augmented by a many amateur helpers on which it could rely on for information. Inside Nazi Germany there seemed to be a perception that eyes and ears are everywhere. Hardly anyone felt entirely safe, whether at work, play, during leisure activities, at school or even in the privacy of the home. This made Gestapo much larger than what it was. It was also shrouded in secrecy which created an impression of omnipotence. As a result, Gestapo intimidated German people that they informed on each other because they thought the Gestapo would find out anyway.
Historians concluded that Gestapo was not simply a foreign apparatus imposed on Germans from outside, and its success was largely dependent on the extent it attained the cooperation from society at large. To put simply, ordinary citizens cooperated in policing themselves. Concentration Camps were established to punish the outcasts, the unwanted people in Hitler’s new Germany. People were sent there for minor discretions against the regime or for expressing dissatisfaction with any aspects of their lives. They were subject to hard labour, torture or executions.
Despite the brutality of the police state, some Germans could see something good about it. For them, it stopped ‘Enemies of the state’. People felt safe from ‘enemies’. It got rid of people unaccepted in society e. g. Jews, Communists, homosexuals. People admired the SS’ courage and military skills. There was a perception that SS and Gestapo gave Germany order and looked smart. The creation of this terrifying regime was seen as a necessary action to help make Germany strong again. The role of police was extended to become "friend and helper", by watching prices, protecting the youth and curbing unwanted social developments such as abortion.
Some people even used the system for their advantage e. g. business people got rid of their competitors by reporting them to the Gestapo. Those few apparent advantages of the police state are nothing to compare to its corrosive on the German society. This huge machine was the brutal instrument by which the Nazi regime controlled the German population. It eroded all aspects of democracy and freedom. People lived in fear. They lost trust in each other as denouncing the closest people to you became the norm rather than the exception. People became very careful about what they said to each other.
If they were making a joke or forgot to say ‘Heil Hitler’ when they crossed one another they could be easily accused of insulting Hitler. Even some businessmen reported their competitors to the police to get rid of them. Business owners were frightened and this had a negative impact on local businesses. It is sad to find German people in the mid-1950s still reporting fellow citizens to the police. All aspects of a democratic society almost vanished. There was no freedom of speech, independence of the courts or fairness of trials. Police was given orders not to prosecute Nazi officials.
On the other hand anyone considered to be a political threat was arrested. Even normal behaviour was criminalised. New crimes were created such as being a friend of a Jew and racial defilement. Those crimes simply referred to talking to or having a relationship with a Jew. After all, maintaining the pure, ‘Aryan’ race was an explicit aim of the Nazi government. Persecution and racial separation are the natural consequences of such policies. It did not stop at that but proceeded to torture, killing and genocide. Jews weren’t the only victims of the Nazis ruthless pursue of a pure Aryan race.
Other victims included Blacks, Trade Unions, Communists, Homosexuals, disabled people, Gypsies, Mixed coloured people, unemployed and anyone who did not fit the Aryan identity. Germans were terrorised into submission. What is worse than forcing someone to sign what could be their own death sentence? Police asked people to sign a sheet of paper called “Order for Protective Custody”, meaning sending themselves to a concentration camp. Those camps were the grimmest reality of the Nazi regime. People were subject to hard labour, lashing, torture and killing.
This inhumane treatment was often inflicted for the sole purpose of entertaining the guards. Now then was the Police State good or bad for the German people? If you lived under the Nazi Regime, you could be forgiven for feeling that your country safe and strong. People could leave their front door open or leave their clothes hanging to dry without fear of being robbed. People were more than happy to get rid of those portrayed as ‘Enemies of the State’. Looking closer at the situation, everyone lived in fear of falling foul with the system. It didn’t take much at all to do something that landed you in a concentration camp.
This could simply be the outcome of complaining about your business if you are a shopkeeper, or not responding to a passer-by saying ‘Heil Hitler’. Nobody trusted anyone. The German society changed beyond recognition. People became willing informants to the Police State. Even Hitler summed up the purpose of the Police State by saying “The great strength of the totalitarian state is that it forces those who fear it to imitate it. ” This was an evil contradiction. Fear was behind the strength of the totalitarian state, as it was behind the misery of the German people.
The Nazi Police State: A Double-Edged Sword of Order and Fear. (2020, Jun 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/nazi-police-state-new-essay
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