The Police State
By August 1934 Hitler was a dictator with absolute power. In order to maintain this power he needed organisations that could control the population to ensure absolute loyalty to the F眉hrer. After the demise of the Also known as Storm Troopers or Brown shirts. A military style organisation of the Nazi party formed in 1921 under Hitler. on the In response to demands from the SA to take over the German army, Hitler ordered a purge of his own political party. On 30 June 1934, the SS murdered around 400 members of the SA, including R枚hm and a number of other opponents like the previous Chancellor, von Schleicher., there were three main interlinked organisations (in addition to the regular German police force) involved in controlling the German people through spying, intimidation and if necessary imprisonment:
- Schutzstaffel (SS) - Led by Heinrich Himmler, the SS was the most important of these organisations and oversaw the others. Initially set up as Hitler鈥檚 personal bodyguard service, the SS was fanatically loyal to the F眉hrer. It later set up concentration camps where 鈥榚nemies of the state鈥 were sent
- Gestapo - This was the Nazis鈥 secret police force. Its job was to monitor the German population for signs of opposition or resistance to Nazi rule. It was greatly helped by ordinary German people informing on their fellow citizens.
- Sicherheitsdienst (SD) - This was the intelligence gathering agency of the SS. It was responsible for the security of Hitler and other top Nazis and was led by Himmler鈥檚 right hand man, Reinhard Heydrich.
Nazi control of the legal system
The Nazis quickly swept away many of the freedoms that Germans had enjoyed under the Weimar constitution. The party鈥檚 control of the legal system made opposition to the regime very difficult indeed:
- Judges had to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler and were expected to act always in the interests of the Nazi state.
- All lawyers had to join the Nazi Lawyers' Association, which meant they could be controlled.
- The role of defence lawyers in criminal trials was weakened.
- Standard punishment for crimes were abolished and so local prosecutors could decide what penalties to impose on those found guilty.
These changes more than halved the number of criminal offences between 1933 and 1939, whilst the number of crimes that carried the death penalty increased from three to 46. Many convicted criminals were not released at the end of their sentences but instead were moved to the growing number of concentration camps being established by the SS.