Nazi Germany : The Gestapo Essay Example

“To conquer a nation, first disarm its citizens.” (Adolf Hitler). The Gestapo was the brutal police force tasked with finding information that could condemn politicians, while also torturing innocent lives. Started by Nazi inner circle member, Hermann Göring, the Gestapo fulfilled many tasks, such as gaining inside political knowledge of rival parties, particularly the Communists. They also executed the transferring of people to the concentration camps, making their lives a living hell. The Gestapo helped carry out the views of Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, through violent and inhumane means. They saw to it that Germany was the Aryan paradise that Göring, Hitler, and eventually Himmler had envisioned.

The Gestapo was first started by Nazi party inner circle member, Hermann Göring. After the Nazis first gained power in 1933, Göring wanted a way to ensure their position at the top. In the documentary series, “Hitler’s Circle of Evil'', the start of the Gestapo is discussed, and how Göring “...turn[ed] the Prussian police into a new type of police force,” one that aimed for military perfection (HCE). Even though Hitler was the formal minister of Prussia, Göring undertook all the duties, including Nazifying the Prussian police. Göring took charge of this new police force, now called the Geheime Staatspolizei (German for Secret State Police or Gestapo). He wanted them to enforce and help create the Nazi’s “pure Aryan Germany”. “Recruitment to the political police and then the Gestapo was based on relevant police experience, and not determined by membership of the Nazi party, the SS, the SD, or the SA” (McDonough 336). In order to ensure that the Gestapo officials were the cream of the crop, those recruited were chosen for their police and military experience. Those who were recruited did not have to be a part of the Nazi party, but if they spoke out against Nazi party views, they would be deemed as an enemy of the party, and arrested. "On 20 April 1934, Göring appointed Himmler as inspector of the Gestapo...From this day the Gestapo had jurisdiction throughout Germany” (McDonough 524). As a result of Himmler’s new position, he was now the main person in charge of the Gestapo, helping expand the extent of their power. Since Himmler was a fellow inner circle member and creator of the SS, the Gestapo now had more power through Germany and could expand its control over the people. Despite starting fairly small, with about 32,000 members, the Gestapo was able to make their way to the top with the help of rapidly climbing Nazi allies.

Although the Gestapo held significant influence in Germany, the burning of the Reichstag set in motion a change of leadership that would vastly expand their powers. Taking into account that a key member of the Nazi party was in charge of the Gestapo, it is no surprise that they quickly gained power. The Reichstag, the meeting place of Germany’s legislature, burned down. With this, Hitler composed a story, making the Communists the antagonists. He wrote the Reichstag Fire Decree, and gave himself complete dictatorship, making it seem like he would be the one to prevent any act like this from happening again. Once Hitler gave himself dictatorship, he was able to give extreme powers to the Gestapo. Author Frank McDonough writes, “The Reichstag Fire Decree was important not just in giving the Gestapo the power to use ‘protective custody’, but also in restricting the independence of the jurisdiction of all the federal German states…” (McDonough 404). Considering the fact that Hitler now had complete power over Germany, he could now let the Gestapo do whatever they saw fit when it came to arresting and punishing possible enemies. Along with the Reichstag fire, the “Night of Long Knives” helped both the Gestapo and the SS assert their dominance throughout Germany.  "The 'Night of Long Knives' greatly increased the power of the SS and the Gestapo” (McDonough 637). During the “Night of Long Knives,” both the Gestapo and the SS carried out a purge, where over 150 people were murdered. Among those murdered was a colleague of Hitler’s, Ernst Rohm, who had been found with other men. The putsch was originally planned to “clean out” the SA of any people that did not fit their Aryan ideal. This includes homosexuals. The Gestapo and SS also used the “Night of Long Knives” to remove any political enemies. “The list of targets had been drawn up by Heinrich Himmler and Reinard Heydrich, with Herman Göring and top Gestapo official Willi Lehmann adding the names of the ‘undesirables’ outside of the SA” (Saul 154). From then on, Gestapo and SS began to not just remove political enemies, but Jews, homosexuals, and any others that did not fit the Nazi criteria. As the Gestapo grew its power, it was then able to do more and more. With the everlasting support and guidance of Hitler, the Gestapo was an unstoppable force that could use any means to get their job done.

With Hitler as dictator, the Gestapo was able to aid the Nazis in everything from arresting individuals right off the street, to orchestrating the torture of prisoners in the concentration camps. “The Gestapo operated without civil restraints. It had the authority of ‘preventive arrest,’ and its actions were not subject to judicial appeal. Thousands of leftists, intellectuals, Jews, trade unionists, political clergy, and homosexuals simply disappeared into concentration camps after being arrested by the Gestapo” (“Gestapo”). The Gestapo carried through with normal political police investigations, but they had no limit as to what they could do. This meant they could use any form of torture or interrogation they saw fit, and with the support of the Nazi government. Author Lucas Saul writes, “Even this early in its history, the Gestapo had a strong presence in the concentration camps that would later come to epitomize the horror of the Nazi regime” (Saul 122). The Gestapo played a key role in both the deportation and the torture of those in the concentration camps. They had the ability to take anyone off the street and interrogate them. Each individual Gestapo member had the power to choose the fate of those they arrested. “Gestapo members were included in the Einsatzgruppen (‘deployment groups’), which were mobile death squads that followed the German regular army into Poland and Russia to kill Jews and other ‘undesirables’” (“Gestapo”). The Gestapo members now operating under the Einsatzgruppen were a part of constant mass murders of everyone and anyone considered an enemy to the Nazi regime, ranging from religious leaders to Communist party members. Over time, the Gestapo gained more and more power and made sure to take advantage of every privilege they received.

Following Hitler’s demise in April of 1945, the Nazi party fell to pieces, taking the Gestapo along with it. Captured in a raid, Himmler was held by the Allies. In an attempt to escape he was caught and “...bit on a deadly poison cyanide capsule and died a few minutes later” (McDonough 225).  Many key Nazi members carried these pills with them. The party would rather kill themselves than be held captive and give away information. Those who could not avoid their crimes by death were put on trial. “A key part of the proceedings at the 

Nuremberg was a sub-trial of the Gestapo, which was branded a ‘criminal organisation’” (McDonough 226). Notwithstanding that the Gestapo was considered a criminal organization, most members of the Gestapo were never actually convicted, or even put on trial. Only about 1,878 people were actually put on trial in Western German courts for any crimes committed. “Under West German law, only individuals could be charged for murder, not organisations. This seemingly ruled out a full-scale trial of the Gestapo” (McDonough 242). “Under West German law, only individuals could be charged for murder, not organisations. This seemingly ruled out a full-scale trial of the Gestapo” (McDonough 242). At long last, after twelve years of terror inflicted by the Gestapo, its reign came to an end.

The Gestapo took part in taking the lives of over 75 million people, carrying out Hitler’s every command. It is with their help that the Nazi party was able to ascend throughout Germany. They did so by uniting ruthless individuals towards one supreme ideology. With the help of Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, and Heinrich Himmler, the Gestapo was able to build itself from the ground up. With their momentum, they killed, arrested, and tortured countless lives, all working to create Hitler’s Aryan idyll. The Gestapo existed long before the war even began, helping Hitler climb Germany’s political ladder. Without the Gestapo, Hitler might have never reached such heights. He took advantage of Germany’s precarious position, spreading hate throughout the people. Hate is not the most powerful thing in the world, but it spreads quickly and incessantly, like a wildfire.