The police state and terror: the SS, the Gestapo, concentration camps, the Nazi control of the courts, and the role of informers in keeping Germans in line.

What this dot point is asking

You need to explain how the Nazis used terror and the law to control Germany: the role of the SS, the Gestapo, concentration camps, the Nazi takeover of the courts, and the part played by fear and informers. CCEA examiners reward precise knowledge of these instruments and an understanding that the police state worked alongside propaganda and genuine popularity, not on its own. The strongest answers explain why resistance felt almost impossible.

The SS and the Gestapo

The Gestapo encouraged Germans to denounce one another, so people came to fear that anyone might be an informer. This made open opposition extremely dangerous and kept most people quiet, even when they grumbled in private.

Concentration camps

From 1933 the Nazis set up concentration camps, the first major one at Dachau, to hold political prisoners, communists, trade unionists and others judged enemies of the state. Prisoners were held without trial, often brutally treated, and the threat of the camps hung over anyone tempted to resist. In the 1930s the camps were used mainly for political control; during the war the system expanded into the network of forced labour and extermination camps.

Nazi control of the law

The police state was reinforced by the destruction of the rule of law.

• Judges had to swear loyalty to Hitler and join the Nazi League of Lawyers, so the courts could not protect citizens.
• A new People's Court tried political offences, with harsh sentences and little chance of a fair hearing.
• Because the law itself served the regime, there was no legal defence against the Gestapo.

With the courts in Nazi hands, arrest by the Gestapo meant there was no protection to appeal to.

Why the police state worked

The police state was effective because terror, law and society reinforced one another. The Gestapo could arrest at will; the camps awaited; the courts offered no protection; and the informer network meant that fear reached into every home and workplace. Yet historians stress that terror alone did not control Germany. It worked alongside propaganda and real popularity, built on jobs and restored order. Most Germans were kept in line by a mixture of fear and consent, not by terror by itself.

Examples in context

Model causation paragraph. "The most important reason the Nazis could control opposition was the combination of the secret police and the informer network. The Gestapo could arrest without trial and send people to camps such as Dachau, while the destruction of the independence of the courts meant there was no legal protection. What made this so effective was that the Gestapo relied on ordinary Germans denouncing one another, so the fear of being reported reached into every home and workplace and made resistance feel impossible. Terror through the SS and camps mattered, but it was the everyday fear created by informers that did most to silence opposition." This scores highly because it ranks the instruments of control and explains why fear was so pervasive.

Try this

Q1. What was the Gestapo and what power did it have? [2 marks]

• Cue. The secret police, who could arrest people without trial and send them to concentration camps.

Q2. Why was the informer network so important to the police state? [2 marks]

• Cue. Ordinary Germans denounced one another, so the fear of being reported reached into every home and made resistance dangerous.

Q3. Why was there no legal protection against the Gestapo? [2 marks]

• Cue. The Nazis controlled the judges, who swore loyalty to Hitler, and set up the People's Court, so the law served the regime.