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152-617: Although the circle did not promote violent overthrow of the regime, their planning was considered by the Nazis to be treasonous as it rested on the assumption that Germany would lose the war. The group began to falter after Helmuth von Moltke was arrested by the Gestapo in January 1944 and eventually came to an end when most of its members were arrested following Claus von Stauffenberg 's attempt on Hitler's life on 20 July 1944. The members of

304-621: A Gestapo spy had discovered an anti-Nazi salon in Berlin and that there would be a round-up of all participants. Moltke warned his friend who had been present at the salon, Otto Kiep , of the round-ups. Kiep, former German Consul General in New York and member of the Abwehr 's counterintelligence department under Admiral Wilhelm Canaris , failed to escape and was arrested in January 1944. The Gestapo later discovered that von Moltke had warned him of

456-498: A British publication about having created the organisation on his own initiative and how he was "chiefly responsible" for the elimination of the Marxist and Communist threat to Germany and Prussia . Describing the activities of the organisation, Göring boasted about the utter ruthlessness required for Germany's recovery, the establishment of concentration camps for that purpose, and even went on to claim that excesses were committed in

608-761: A Prussian state agency, the Gestapo became a national one as a sub-office of the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; Security Police). From 27 September 1939, it was administered by the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). It became known as Amt (Dept) 4 of the RSHA and was considered a sister organisation to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service). The Gestapo committed widespread atrocities during its existence. The power of

760-670: A caricature of Hitler to a Catholic teacher suspected of being lukewarm about teaching National Socialism in his classroom. The "administrative control" category concerned those who were breaking the law concerning residency in the city. The "conventional criminality" category concerned economic crimes such as money laundering , smuggling and homosexuality. Normal methods of investigation included various forms of blackmail , threats and extortion to secure "confessions". Beyond that, sleep deprivation and various forms of harassment were used as investigative methods. Failing that, torture and planting evidence were common methods of resolving

912-414: A case, especially if the case concerned someone Jewish. Brutality on the part of interrogators—often prompted by denunciations and followed with roundups —enabled the Gestapo to uncover numerous resistance networks; it also made them seem like they knew everything and could do anything they wanted. While the total number of Gestapo officials was limited when contrasted against the represented populations,

1064-777: A concentration camp. Thereafter, there was a show trial overseen by Roland Freisler , followed by their execution. Some Germans were convinced that it was their duty to apply all possible expedients to end the war as quickly as possible. Sabotage efforts were undertaken by members of the Abwehr (military intelligence) leadership, as they recruited people known to oppose the Nazi regime. The Gestapo cracked down ruthlessly on dissidents in Germany, just as they did everywhere else. Opposition became more difficult. Arrests, torture, and executions were common. Terror against "state enemies" had become

1216-538: A concerted campaign to convince Hitler to take action against Röhm. Both the SD and Gestapo released information concerning an imminent putsch by the SA. Once persuaded, Hitler acted by setting Himmler's SS into action, who then proceeded to murder over 100 of Hitler's identified antagonists. The Gestapo supplied the information which implicated the SA and ultimately enabled Himmler and Heydrich to emancipate themselves entirely from

1368-773: A demand for a meaningful society". Similarly to the youth movements, religious socialism challenged conventional political divisions. The movement asked followers not to focus on the differences between Christianity and socialism but rather see how the two could work together to create a better society. Prison chaplain Harald Poelchau , a member of the Kreisau Circle, was a close follower of Tillich, and other members such as Horst von Einsiedel  [ de ] , Carl-Dietrich von Trotha  [ de ] , Adolf Reichwein , and Adam von Trott zu Solz were also affiliated with religious socialism. The Kreisau Circle

1520-467: A fairer society where opposition was heard, and that if heard together these voices could fashion a better world. They were idealists in a totalitarian regime which threatened to extinguish any trace of resistance. Many of the surviving members of the circle continued to remain active after the war. For example, Marion Yorck received a judgeship in Berlin and Rosemarie Reichwein began her own physical therapy clinic. In addition, Freya von Moltke transformed

1672-499: A few of those rescued or helped by the Poelchaus are known by name. One Jewish family, Manfred and Margarete Latte with their son Konrad , fled from Breslau after they learned they were to be deported, to Berlin where they went into hiding. Through a family friend, Ursula Teichmann, they made contact with Poelchau in late February 1943 and turned to him for help. He provided them with ration cards, cash and found accommodation for

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1824-426: A formal organization. Freya von Moltke said her husband and Yorck searched for, “people who objected, who were opposed to National Socialism and were trying to envisage a better Germany beyond National Socialism, which at the time seemed completely impossible”. Their differences were valued as Moltke and Yorck believed that debate would assist them to accomplish their common goal for a better Germany following “X-day”, or

1976-1016: A lifelong friend and mentor. As a work student at Robert Bosch company in Stuttgart , he gained an insight into the world of workers and industry. After his first theological exam in 1927 in Breslau , he studied social welfare and state welfare policy at the German Academy for Politics in Berlin. Poelchau served as executive director of the German Association for Juvenile Courts and Juvenile Court Assistance  [ de ] in Berlin and as assistant to Paul Tillich at Frankfurt University . In 1931, he passed his second state exam in Berlin and wrote his doctoral thesis under Tillich titled: Die sozialphilosophischen Anschauungen der deutschen Wohlfahrtsgesetzgebung (The Social Philosophical Views of German Welfare Legislation). The paper

2128-501: A long-time friend from his student days, Willi Kranz, canteen manager in the Tegel and Plötzensee prisons and his partner Auguste Leißner, Hermann Sietmann and Otto Horstmeier, two former political prisoners, the couple Hildegard and Hans Reinhold Schneider who worked in social welfare and taught school (they were the parents of [Gesine Schwan] who later became a political scientist). They also included Agnes Wendland  [ de ] ,

2280-535: A memorandum titled, Starting-point, Objectives and Tasks . In this text, the Circle expresses their belief that with the end of the Third Reich would also come the end of nationalism, racism, and party politics. Although a general consensus existed regarding the imminent fall of the Third Reich, the question of what this reformed Germany would look like remained up for debate. According to Freya von Moltke, some of

2432-441: A new Reich structure which would be self-governing and rest upon the, “natural divisions of the nation: family, municipality, and land”. Basic freedoms were to be restored. Germany would become a federal state with a weak central government, divided into provinces of between 3 and 5 million people, the provinces would also be divided into self-governing communities, organised into districts. The regions would have parliaments elected by

2584-566: A new generation of National Socialist adherents, who were hard-working, efficient, and prepared to carry the Nazi state forward through the persecution of their political opponents. By the spring of 1934, Himmler's SS controlled the SD and the Gestapo, but for him, there was still a problem, as technically the SS (and the Gestapo by proxy) was subordinated to the SA, which was under the command of Ernst Röhm . Himmler wanted to free himself entirely from Röhm, whom he viewed as an obstacle. Röhm's position

2736-853: A pastor's wife (who were also named Righteous Among the Nations for hiding Jews), and her daughter Ruth Wendland  [ de ] , the prison doctor Hilde Westrick, and the physicist Carl Friedrich Weiss  [ de ] and his wife Hildegard. In 1942, the Soviet led Red Orchestra espionage network was uncovered by the Abwehr in Germany, France and the Low Countries and many of its members were imprisoned and executed. Poelchau provided support for Arvid and his American wife Mildred Harnack , John Rittmeister , Harro and Libertas Schulze-Boysen , Kurt and Elisabeth Schumacher , Walter Husemann , Adam Kuckhoff , and many others. Only

2888-544: A position in their High Command. Despite this special treatment, both men felt morally obliged to resist Hitler. In 1938, both men began to form separate social circles in which they discussed the problems of the Reich and their hopes for Germany's future. Moltke's circle, which included Einsiedel, was largely preoccupied with the sociological and economic problems that Germany would face after the Reich fell. Yorck's circle, which began to meet frequently at his home, focused mostly on

3040-475: A radical departure from German tradition, which held that law enforcement was (mostly) a Land (state) and local matter. In this, he ran into conflict with Schutzstaffel (SS) chief Heinrich Himmler who was police chief of the second most powerful German state, Bavaria . Frick did not have the political power to take on Göring by himself so he allied with Himmler. With Frick's support, Himmler (pushed on by his right-hand man, Reinhard Heydrich ) took over

3192-499: A rural conservative piety. At the University of Tübingen , Harald Poelchau met the librarian Dorothee Ziegele (1902–1977). The couple married on 12 April 1928, lived in Berlin and cultivated a large group of friends and acquaintances, that proved highly valuable after the handover of power to the Nazis. In 1938 the couple's son, also baptised Harald, was born, and in 1945 Harald's daughter Andrea Siemsen. After graduating from

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3344-639: A similar education could be hired as female detectives. Female youth leaders, lawyers, business administrators with experience in social work, female leaders in the Reichsarbeitsdienst and personnel administrators in the Bund Deutscher Mädel were hired as detectives after a one-year course, if they had several years professional experience. Later, nurses, kindergarten teachers, and trained female commercial employees with an aptitude for police work were hired as female detectives after

3496-544: A threat to the Volksgemeinschaft (National Community). From the Nazis rise to national power in 1933, the number of court verdicts against homosexuals steadily increased and only declined once the Second World War started. In 1934, a special Gestapo office was set up in Berlin to deal with homosexuality. Despite male homosexuality being considered a greater danger to "national survival", lesbianism

3648-564: A total of 41 Gestapo men combined. In Düsseldorf , the local Gestapo office of only 281 men were responsible for the entire Lower Rhine region, which comprised 4 million people. In lower Franconia, which included Würzburg , there were only twenty-two Gestapo officers overseeing 840,000 or more inhabitants; this meant that the Nazi secret police "was reliant on Germans spying on each other". These "V-men", as undercover Gestapo agents were known, were used to infiltrate Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Communist opposition groups, but this

3800-464: A two-year course as Kriminaloberassistentin and could promote to a Kriminalsekretärin . After another two or three years in that grade, the female detective could advance to Kriminalobersekretärin . Further promotions to Kriminalkommissarin and Kriminalrätin were also possible. In 1933, there was no purge of the German police forces. The vast majority of Gestapo officers came from

3952-497: A variety of backgrounds to meet and participate in intellectual resistance to the Third Reich. The German Youth Movement was characterized by the creation of various youth organizations that emphasized a return to nature since 1896. For example, the Wandervogel , a youth movement that arose in the early 20th century, encouraged youth to reject their middle-class upbringings that overemphasized materialism. The movement stressed

4104-638: A way of life to such a degree that the Gestapo's presence and methods were eventually normalised in the minds of people living in Nazi Germany. In January 1933, Hermann Göring, Hitler's minister without portfolio , was appointed the head of the Prussian Police and began filling the political and intelligence units of the Prussian Secret Police with Nazi Party members. A year after the organisation's inception, Göring wrote in

4256-488: Is notably characterized by the work of Paul Tillich , who sought to fashion socialism into an ideology that was complementary with Christian faith. He looked to create “socialist political forms that were rooted in a religious substance”. Tillich called this socialism “ theonomous ”. Tillich emphasized the importance of social justice which he defined as "the demand for a society in which it is possible for every individual and for every group to live meaningfully and purposefully,

4408-415: The 20 July plot , this assassination attempt failed and Hitler was only slightly injured. Reports indicate that the Gestapo was caught unaware of this plot as they did not have sufficient protections in place at the appropriate locations nor did they take any preventative steps. Stauffenberg and his group were shot on 21 July 1944; meanwhile, his fellow conspirators were rounded up by the Gestapo and sent to

4560-650: The British bar . Although these plans were halted by the declaration of war in September 1939, it was during this time that Moltke gained many of his connections outside of Germany. He returned to Berlin and was drafted into the Abwehr , where he attempted to ensure adherence to international law. During this time, Moltke kept in contact with his friends from the Silesian work camps, such as Horst von Einsendel. They largely discussed sociological and economic consequences of

4712-566: The German Labour Front (DAF), a Nazi organisation placed under the leadership of Robert Ley . For their part, this was the first time the Gestapo operated under its new name since its 26 April 1933 founding in Prussia. Many parts of Germany (where religious dissent existed upon the Nazi seizure of power) saw a rapid transformation; a change as noted by the Gestapo in conservative towns such as Würzburg, where people acquiesced to

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4864-756: The Habsburgs , who unlike most across the Greater German Reich, remained determined to resist the Nazis. These groups became a special focus of the Gestapo because of their insurrectionist goals—the overthrow of the Nazi regime, the re-establishment of an independent Austria under Habsburg leadership—and Hitler's hatred of the Habsburg family. Hitler vehemently rejected the centuries' old Habsburg pluralist principles of "live and let live" with regard to ethnic groups, peoples, minorities, religions, cultures and languages. Habsburg loyalist Karl Burian 's (who

5016-709: The Kreisau Circle . He took part in the first meeting of the group. After the attempted coup of 20 July 1944 , the prison chaplain cared for many of those involved in the assassination. Harald Poelchau's extensive resistance involvement remained undiscovered until the end of the war. In 1945, he co-founded the Aid Organisation of the Protestant Churches  [ de ] (Hilfswerk der Evangelischen Kirchen) in Stuttgart, together with

5168-622: The Netherlands , kidnapped two British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) officers after having lured them to a meeting to discuss peace terms. This prompted Winston Churchill to ban any further contact with the German opposition. Later, the British and Americans did not want to deal with anti-Nazis because they were fearful that the Soviet Union would believe they were attempting to make deals behind their back. The German opposition

5320-449: The Night and Fog Decree ( German : Nacht und Nebel )—simply disappeared while in Gestapo custody. Contrary to popular perception, the Gestapo was actually a relatively small organization with limited surveillance capability; still it proved extremely effective due to the willingness of ordinary Germans to report on fellow citizens. During World War II , the Gestapo played a key role in

5472-613: The Reichstag fire . In late 1933, the Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick wanted to integrate all the police forces of the German states under his control. Göring outflanked him by removing the Prussian political and intelligence departments from the state interior ministry. Göring took over the Gestapo in 1934 and urged Hitler to extend the agency's authority throughout Germany. This represented

5624-506: The Sinti and Roma population, handicapped persons , homosexuals and above all, upon the Jews. "Selective terror" by the Gestapo, as mentioned by Johnson, is also supported by historian Richard Evans who states that, "Violence and intimidation rarely touched the lives of most ordinary Germans. Denunciation was the exception, not the rule, as far as the behaviour of the vast majority of Germans

5776-549: The Weimar Republic stayed on in their jobs. In Würzburg , which is one of the few places in Germany where most of the Gestapo records survived, every member of the Gestapo was a career policeman or had a police background. The Canadian historian Robert Gellately wrote that most Gestapo men were not Nazis, but at the same time were not opposed to the Nazi regime, which they were willing to serve, in whatever task they were called upon to perform. Over time, membership in

5928-593: The 84 cases in Würzburg of Rassenschande ("race defilement"—sexual relations with non- Aryans ), 45 (54%) were started in response to denunciations by ordinary people, two (2%) by information provided by other branches of the government, 20 (24%) via information gained during interrogations of people relating to other matters, four (5%) from information from (Nazi) NSDAP organisations, two (2%) during "political evaluations" and 11 (13%) have no source listed while none were started by Gestapo ' s own "observations" of

6080-623: The Allies. The Maier group informed very early about the mass murder of Jews. The resistance group, later discovered by the Gestapo because of a double agent of the Abwehr, was in contact with Allen Dulles , the head of the US Office of Strategic Services in Switzerland. Although Maier and the other group members were severely tortured, the Gestapo did not uncover the essential involvement of

6232-614: The Auschwitz concentration camp. Konrad Latte managed to escape the Große Hamburger Straße deportation center and went back into hiding. Rita Neumann had been in hiding with the resistance fighter and Protestant pastor's wife Agnes Wendland  [ de ] since August 1943. Her brother Ralph Neumann joined Wendland. The siblings worked as bicycle couriers for Poelchau. In February 1945, they were arrested along with Wendland. The siblings managed to escape

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6384-717: The Central Administration of Justice. This was connected with a teaching assignment for criminology and prison science at the Humboldt University of Berlin . Together with Ottomar Geschke and Heinrich Grüber he sat on the central board of the Association of Political Prisoners and Persecutees of the Nazi System  [ de ] (Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes – Bund der Antifaschistinnen und Antifaschisten). When Poelchau

6536-491: The European continent. However, this is not to be mistaken for intolerance of other religions, as Moltke emphasizes that in this new government, "The freedom of [religious] faith and conscience is guaranteed". Moltke hoped this government would create a unified Germany where freedom and personal responsibility would be complementary to order and leadership. In the autumn of 1943, Helmuth von Moltke learned from an informant that

6688-432: The German government and another 10% started in response to information that the Gestapo itself unearthed. The information supplied by denunciations often led the Gestapo in determining who was arrested. The popular picture of the Gestapo with its spies everywhere terrorising German society has been rejected by many historians as a myth invented after the war as a cover for German society's widespread complicity in allowing

6840-598: The German initials, "GPA", were too similar to those of the Soviet State Political Directorate ( Gosudarstvennoye Politicheskoye Upravlenie , or GPU). The first commander of the Gestapo was Rudolf Diels , a protégé of Göring. Diels was appointed with the title of chief of Abteilung Ia (Department 1a) of the Prussian Secret Police . Diels was best known as the primary interrogator of Marinus van der Lubbe after

6992-519: The Gestapo Chief. His direct subordinate Adolf Eichmann headed the Gestapo's Office of Resettlement and then its Office of Jewish Affairs ( Referat IV B4 or Sub-Department IV, Section B4). During the Holocaust , Eichmann's department within the Gestapo coordinated the mass deportation of European Jews to the Nazis' extermination camps . The power of the Gestapo included the use of what

7144-460: The Gestapo applied even harsher methods to the foreign workers in the country, especially those from Poland, Jews, Catholics and homosexuals . As time went by, anonymous denunciations to the Gestapo caused trouble to various NSDAP officials, who often found themselves being investigated by the Gestapo. Of the political cases, 61 people were investigated for suspicion of belonging to the KPD, 44 for

7296-609: The Gestapo chain of command and fell under the authority of branches of the SS. It was the Gestapo chief, SS- Brigadierführer Heinrich Müller, who kept Hitler abreast of the killing operations in the Soviet Union and who issued orders to the four Einsatzgruppen that their continual work in the east was to be "presented to the Führer." According to regulations issued by the Reich Security Main Office in 1940, women who had been trained in social work or having

7448-697: The Gestapo discovered a cache of Polish intelligence documents in Prague and were surprised to see that Polish agents and informants had been gathering detailed military information and smuggling it out to London, via Budapest and Istanbul . The Poles identified and tracked German military trains to the Eastern front and identified four Order Police battalions sent to occupied areas of the Soviet Union in October 1941 that engaged in war crimes and mass murder . Polish agents also gathered detailed information about

7600-494: The Gestapo included ideological training, particularly once Werner Best assumed a leading role for training in April 1936. Employing biological metaphors, Best emphasised a doctrine which encouraged members of the Gestapo to view themselves as 'doctors' to the 'national body' in the struggle against "pathogens" and "diseases"; among the implied sicknesses were "communists, Freemasons, and the churches—and above and behind all these stood

7752-464: The Gestapo to work. Work done by social historians such as Detlev Peukert , Robert Gellately, Reinhard Mann, Inge Marssolek, René Otto, Klaus-Michael Mallmann and Paul Gerhard, which by focusing on what the local offices were doing has shown the Gestapo ' s almost total dependence on denunciations from ordinary Germans, and very much discredited the older " Big Brother " picture with the Gestapo having its eyes and ears everywhere. For example, of

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7904-404: The Gestapo was used to focus upon political opponents, ideological dissenters (clergy and religious organisations), career criminals, the Sinti and Roma population, handicapped persons, homosexuals, and, above all, the Jews. Those arrested by the Gestapo were often held without judicial process, and political prisoners throughout Germany—and from 1941, throughout the occupied territories under

8056-423: The Gestapo's public image which they sought to maintain despite their increasing workload; an image which helped them identify and eliminate enemies of the Nazi state. Contrary to popular belief, the Gestapo was not the all-pervasive, omnipotent agency in German society. In Germany proper, many towns and cities had fewer than 50 official Gestapo personnel. For example, in 1939 Stettin and Frankfurt am Main only had

8208-408: The Gestapo. According to Canadian historian Robert Gellately 's analysis of the local offices established, the Gestapo was—for the most part—made up of bureaucrats and clerical workers who depended upon denunciations by citizens for their information. Gellately argued that it was because of the widespread willingness of Germans to inform on each other to the Gestapo that Germany between 1933 and 1945

8360-542: The Große Hamburger Straße deportation collection camp and make their way back to Poelchau's door. Other people Poelchau helped were Ilse Schwarz and her daughter Evelyne, a young stenographer Ursula Reuber, Anna Drach, Edith Bruck, Charlotte Paech , part of the Baum group and Charlotte Bischoff . From 1941, Poelchau belonged to a resistance group of people around Helmuth James Graf von Moltke known as

8512-752: The Holocaust . After the war ended, the Gestapo was declared a criminal organisation by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at the Nuremberg trials , and several top Gestapo members were sentenced to death. After Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany , Hermann Göring —future commander of the Luftwaffe and the number-two man in the Nazi Party —was named Interior Minister of Prussia . This gave Göring command of

8664-570: The Jews". Heydrich thought along similar lines and advocated both defensive and offensive measures on the part of the Gestapo, so as to prevent any subversion or destruction of the National Socialist body. Whether trained as police originally or not, Gestapo agents themselves were shaped by their socio-political environment. Historian George C. Browder contends that there was a four-part process ( authorisation , bolstering, routinisation, and dehumanisation ) in effect, which legitimised

8816-474: The Kreisau Circle discussion was often limited to the presence of their husbands. Freya von Moltke , a founding participant, was cut off from the circle's correspondence following her husband Helmuth von Moltke's arrest. There are also no known female members who were not married to a male member. However, despite these limitations, women played an integral role in the Kreisau Circle. Margrit von Trotha , for example, utilized her skills as an economist to partake in

8968-423: The Kreisau Circle formed around the idea that the fall of the Third Reich was in the near future. The day after this day when the new government would need to take over was referred to as "Day X". This day would mark the beginning of a new Germany and the end of an historical era. Therefore, based on this assumption, the job of the Kreisau Circle was to prepare for this day. On 24 April 1941, the Kreisau Circle created

9120-776: The Kreisau Circle were heavily influenced by popular movements in Germany that followed World War I, most notably the German Youth Movement and German religious socialism . Although motivated by differing ideologies (the German Youth Movement in a return to nature and religious socialism in a return to Christian values), each faction inspired resistance to the Nazi regime by encouraging their followers to reconsider traditionally rigid political, social, and religious distinctions and engage in discourse with those who disagreed with them. These fundamental similarities created an environment that allowed for persons of

9272-445: The Kreisau Circle's proposals for Germany's future were implemented. Although their plans never came to fruition, the legacy of resistance established by the Kreisau Circle still remains important. The members of Kreisau came together, despite their individual differences, to fashion a Germany which was democratic, anti-racist, and internationalist. Those at the Kreisau Circle committed treason and sacrificed their lives for their belief of

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9424-541: The Kreisau Estate had been stabilized, allowing Helmuth to resume his career in law in Berlin. He eventually opened his own private firm along with his colleague Karl von Lewinski to practice international law. In this occupation, Moltke assisted Jewish émigrés to escape the Nazi regime despite the obvious threat that this presented to his own safety. From 1935 to 1938, he spent time in England in hopes of joining

9576-731: The Kreisau estate into the Krzyzowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe on 10 July 1990. This foundation bases its work on the principles of the Kreisau Circle, and continues to look towards developing understanding between persons from different social, political, and cultural backgrounds. Gestapo The Geheime Staatspolizei ( German pronunciation: [ɡəˈhaɪmə ˈʃtaːtspoliˌtsaɪ] ; transl.  "Secret State Police" ), abbreviated Gestapo ( German: [ɡəˈstaːpo] ),

9728-405: The Kripo (National criminal police) to form sub-units of the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; Security Police), the Gestapo was officially classified as a government agency. Himmler's subsequent appointment to Chef der Deutschen Polizei (Chief of German Police) and status as Reichsführer-SS made him independent of Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick's nominal control. The SiPo was placed under

9880-410: The Nazi government's administration, a decision he made on 7 April 1933. As a preface to this action, Hitler decreed May 1 as National Labor Day to celebrate German workers, a move the trade union leaders welcomed. With their trade union flags waving, Hitler gave a rousing speech to the 1.5 million people assembled on Berlin's Tempelhofer Feld that was nationally broadcast, during which he extolled

10032-513: The Nazi regime amounted to very little and had only minor chances of success, particularly since a broad percentage of the German people did not support such actions. Between 1934 and 1938, opponents of the Nazi regime and their fellow travellers began to emerge. Among the first to speak out were religious dissenters but following in their wake were educators, aristocratic businessmen, office workers, teachers, and others from nearly every walk of life. Most people quickly learned that open opposition

10184-405: The Nazis were stalled by the fear of reprisals from the Gestapo. Fearful of an internal overthrow, the forces of the Gestapo were unleashed on the opposition. Groups like the White Rose and others, such as the Edelweiss Pirates , and the Swing Youth , were placed under close Gestapo observation. Some participants were sent to concentration camps. Leading members of the most famous of these groups,

10336-453: The Ritterakademie Liegnitz in 1921, he studied Protestant theology at the Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel  [ de ] , at the University of Tübingen , and the University of Marburg from 1922. In Tübingen he was secretary of the youth organisation Köngener Bund  [ de ] . The Christian socialist philosopher Paul Tillich , who taught in Marburg in 1924, was the decisive, intellectual influence on him. Tillich became

10488-404: The Römer Group, Robby Group, Solf Circle , Schwarze Reichswehr , the Party of the Radical Middle Class, Jungdeutscher Orden , Schwarze Front and Stahlhelm were either discovered or infiltrated by the Gestapo. This led to corresponding arrests, being sent to concentration camps and execution. One of the methods employed by the Gestapo to contend with these resistance factions

10640-410: The SPD and 69 for other political parties. Most of the political investigations took place between 1933 and 1935 with the all-time high of 57 cases in 1935. After that year, political investigations declined with only 18 investigations in 1938, 13 in 1939, two in 1941, seven in 1942, four in 1943 and one in 1944. The "other" category associated with non-conformity included everything from a man who drew

10792-449: The SS Security Service ( Sicherheitsdienst ; SD). Himmler and Heydrich both immediately began installing their own personnel in select positions, several of whom were directly from the Bavarian Political Police , such as Heinrich Müller , Franz Josef Huber , and Josef Meisinger . Many of the Gestapo employees in the newly established offices were young and highly educated in a wide variety of academic fields and moreover, represented

10944-408: The SS and removed it from Frick's control. Himmler was nominally subordinate to Frick as police chief, but as Reichsführer-SS , he answered only to Hitler. This move also gave Himmler operational control over Germany's entire detective force. The Gestapo became a national state agency. Himmler also gained authority over all of Germany's uniformed law enforcement agencies, which were amalgamated into

11096-593: The SiPo and SD were merged into the newly created Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA; Reich Security Main Office ). Both the Gestapo and Kripo became distinct departments within the RSHA. Although the Sicherheitspolizei was officially disbanded, the term SiPo was figuratively used to describe any RSHA personnel throughout the remainder of the war. In lieu of naming convention changes, the original construct of

11248-425: The SiPo, Gestapo, and Kripo cannot be fully comprehended as "discrete entities", since they ultimately formed "a conglomerate in which each was wedded to each other and the SS through its Security Service, the SD". The creation of the RSHA represented the formalisation, at the top level, of the relationship under which the SD served as the intelligence agency for the security police. A similar co-ordination existed in

11400-592: The Third Reich. In January 1940, Moltke met Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg . By November 1940, the circles of Moltke and Yorck had merged to create the Kreisau Circle. Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg was born on 13 November 1904 to a well-known family of Prussian nobles. The family emphasized the importance of scholarship and the arts and encouraged opposition to authority. Peter's father, Heinrich, called himself "His Majesty's most loyal opposition". Yorck studied law in Bonn and Breslau and during this time became critical of

11552-703: The Volk made for an easy transition for some into Nazi ideology, but for others, such as Helmuth von Moltke, their roots in a youth movement that questioned the status quo led them to resist a regime that undermined the freedom which they sought through their youth organizations. An extension of the German Youth Movement, the Löwenberger Arbeitsgemeinschaften was an organization of college professors, youth movement leaders, unemployed workers, students, and farmers who came together to work in work camps and discuss social and political issues and solve

11704-546: The White Rose, were arrested by the police and turned over to the Gestapo. For several leaders the punishment was death. During the first five months of 1943, the Gestapo arrested thousands suspected of resistance activities and carried out numerous executions. Student opposition leaders were executed in late February, and a major opposition organisation, the Oster Circle , was destroyed in April 1943. Efforts to resist

11856-430: The ability to "project" omnipotence...they co-opted the assistance of the German population by using denunciations to their advantage; proving in the end a powerful, ruthless and effective organ of terror under the Nazi regime that was seemingly everywhere. Lastly, the Gestapo's effectiveness, while aided by denunciations and the watchful eye of ordinary Germans, was more the result of the co-ordination and co-operation amid

12008-442: The administrative questions of how the government should run after Hitler's regime had ended. In January 1940, Moltke was connected to Yorck through a mutual friend. They both agreed that the Third Reich's defeat was inevitable and that a new government would have to be prepared to take over in this event. The two valued their common desire to oppose the regime through intellectual means despite differences in political views. The circle

12160-674: The age of 14. He attended university from 1925 to 1929 and studied law and political science. During this time, he became an important leader of the Lowenberger Arbeitsgemeinschaften. He also found himself drawn to the Schwarzwald Circle in 1929, which was an intellectual discussion group led by Eugenie Schwarzwald, where he met his future wife, Freya Deichmann. Later that year, Helmuth was forced to return home from school to Kreisau to manage his family's estate. He married Freya on 18 October 1931. In 1932,

12312-402: The arrests, and Helmuth himself was then arrested on 19 January 1944. This left the Kreisau Circle without one of its integral members. Freya von Moltke was also ousted from the group following Helmuth's arrest as the members were worried she would be interrogated. During this time, Yorck struggled to maintain cohesion of the group. However, this was not the death knell of the circle as the Gestapo

12464-551: The atmosphere of fear they created led to an overestimation of their reach and strength; a faulty assessment which hampered the operational effectiveness of underground resistance organisations. Shortly after the Nazis came to power, they decided to dissolve the 28 federations of the General German Trade Union Confederation, because Hitler—after noting their success in the works council elections—intended to consolidate all German workers under

12616-467: The authority to investigate cases of treason , espionage, sabotage and criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany. The basic Gestapo law passed by the government in 1936 gave the Gestapo carte blanche to operate without judicial review —in effect, putting it above the law. The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue

12768-588: The autumn of 1939), Gestapo officials believed that they had neutralised Polish intelligence activities. However, certain Polish information about the movement of German police and SS units to the East during 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union was similar to information British intelligence secretly obtained through intercepting and decoding German police and SS messages sent by radio telegraphy . In 1942,

12920-465: The average Volksgenosse (Nazi term for the "member of the German people") was typically not under observation, so the statistical ratio between Gestapo officials and inhabitants is "largely worthless and of little significance" according to some recent scholars. As historian Eric Johnson remarked, "The Nazi terror was selective terror", with its focus upon political opponents, ideological dissenters (clergy and religious organisations), career criminals,

13072-460: The beginning, recounting how beatings took place here and there. On 26 April 1933, he reorganised the force's Amt III as the Gestapa (better-known by the " sobriquet " Gestapo), a secret state police intended to serve the Nazi cause. Less than two weeks later in early May 1933, the Gestapo moved into their Berlin headquarters at Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8. As a result of its 1936 merger with

13224-691: The bishops' reports to the Vatican should be obtained and that the bishops' areas of activity must be found out. Deans were to be targeted as the "eyes and ears of the bishops" and a "vast network" established to monitor the activities of ordinary clergy: "The importance of this enemy is such that inspectors of security police and of the security service will make this group of people and the questions discussed by them their special concern". In Dachau: The Official History 1933–1945 , Paul Berben wrote that clergy were watched closely, and frequently denounced, arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps : "One priest

13376-463: The bombing only injured Hitler and led to a series of arrests. Peter Yorck was arrested and executed on 8 August 1944 for his involvement. Although Moltke himself was not involved, his close association with Yorck proved fatal as he was also executed on 23 January 1945. These arrests and executions signaled the formal end of the activities of the Kreisau Circle. When "X-day" finally came in May 1945, none of

13528-415: The camps, "Representatives of the three social groups in the nation were able to achieve a common language that had proved beyond the grasp of the older generation. A group such as this, which formed a cross-section of the community, was capable of rising above class and party interests". The camp allowed participants to cooperate with people of different upbringings and discuss how they could work together for

13680-540: The central command office of the Gestapo was formed. However, these internal departments remained and the Gestapo continued to be a department under the RSHA umbrella. The local offices of the Gestapo, known as Gestapo Leitstellen and Stellen , answered to a local commander known as the Inspekteur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD ("Inspector of the Security Police and Security Service") who, in turn,

13832-427: The churches in the so-called Kirchenkampf . When Church leaders ( clergy ) voiced their misgiving about the euthanasia program and Nazi racial policies, Hitler intimated that he considered them "traitors to the people" and went so far as to call them "the destroyers of Germany". The extreme anti-semitism and neo-pagan heresies of the Nazis caused some Christians to outright resist, and Pope Pius XI to issue

13984-501: The circle included Horst von Einsiedel, Carl-Dietrich von Trotha, Adolf Reichwein, Otto von der Gablentz, Theodor Steltzer , Adam von Trott , Hans-Bernd von Haeften , Harald Poelchau, and Eugen Gerstenmaier . Catholic members included Hans Peters, Hans Lukaschek , Paulus Husen, Augustin Rösch , Lothar Konig , and Alfred Delp . Socialists members included Carlo Mierendorff , Theodor Haubach , and Julius Leber . The activities of

14136-469: The common good of their community. This lesson that people of differing social classes and political views could collaborate successfully would greatly influence Helmuth James von Moltke in his construction of the Kreisau Circle, who himself was an important contributor to the Löwenberger movement. Religious socialism in 20th century Germany also influenced members of the Kreisau Circle. This movement

14288-443: The day after the end of the Reich. The Kreisau Circle's most notable member was Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, who was considered to be the leader of the organization. Moltke was born on 11 March 1907 in Kreisau, Silesia to one of Prussia's best known military families. The Moltke household encouraged discussion and debate. For instance, although both of Moltke's parents were Christian Scientists , he became an Evangelical Christian at

14440-447: The deportation of Jews from Germany began. Poelchau knew early on that only an escape into hiding would ensure survival. The refugees were supposed to call him at his office in Tegel and only talk if he answered with the code word "Tegel". But the actual conversation took place in his office, deep inside the prison walls. Supported by his wife, he arranged accommodations among his large group of acquaintances. These included Gertie Siemsen ,

14592-504: The direct command of Reinhard Heydrich who was already chief of the Nazi Party's intelligence service, the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). The idea was to fully identify and integrate the party agency (SD) with the state agency (SiPo). Most SiPo members joined the SS and held a rank in both organisations. Nevertheless, in practice there was jurisdictional overlap and operational conflict between the SD and Gestapo. In September 1939,

14744-488: The district assemblies. The minimum voting age would be 27. The All eligible voters, which Moltke defined as all persons over the age of 21 or have served in the military, would elect municipal and county representative assemblies. These district assemblies would then elect the regional legislature, which would have the responsibility of electing those in the Reichstag. In the realm of culture and education, Moltke emphasized

14896-454: The early 1920's, he studied Protestant theology at the University of Tübingen and the University of Marburg , followed by social work at the College of Political Science of Berlin . Poelchau gained a doctorate under Paul Tillich at Frankfurt University . In 1933, he became a prison chaplain in the Berlin prisons. With the coming of the Nazi regime in 1933, he became an anti-fascist. During

15048-581: The encyclical Mit brennender Sorge denouncing Nazism and warning Catholics against joining or supporting the Party. Some pastors, like the Protestant clergyman Dietrich Bonhoeffer , paid for their opposition with their lives. In an effort to counter the strength and influence of spiritual resistance, Nazi records reveal that the Gestapo's Referat B1 monitored the activities of bishops very closely—instructing that agents be set up in every diocese, that

15200-478: The exception of the Order Police—were consolidated into the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), headed by Heydrich. The Gestapo became Amt IV (Department IV) of RSHA and Müller became the Gestapo Chief, with Heydrich as his immediate superior. After Heydrich's 1942 assassination, Himmler assumed the leadership of the RSHA until January 1943, when Ernst Kaltenbrunner was appointed chief. Müller remained

15352-418: The failing republic. Following Kristallnacht in 1938 and a trip to Prague that made him realize the Nazis' imperialist intentions, Yorck became increasingly troubled with Hitler's regime and began to bring groups of dissenters to his home to discuss what was to be done after the fall of the Third Reich. Members of these initial groups would later become a part of the Kreisau Circle. The participation of women in

15504-471: The family. He also found work for Manfred Latte, who became an ice delivery helper, and later gardener. As Konrad Latte was of a typical age to be conscripted Poelchau filled in a registration card for the Volkssturm , a national militia that was independent of the German army, to provide a cover ID. Konrad Latte , established contact between Poelchau and Ruth Andreas-Friedrich , the co-founder of

15656-481: The fear of the Gestapo after mass arrests and executions in the spring, the opposition still plotted and planned. One of the more famous schemes, Operation Valkyrie , involved a number of senior German officers and was carried out by Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg . In an attempt to assassinate Hitler, Stauffenberg planted a bomb underneath a conference table inside the Wolf's Lair field headquarters. Known as

15808-567: The importance of a renewed relationship with the German Evangelical Church and the German Catholic Church. Moltke and other members in the circle wanted a restoration of Christian values that they felt had been lost and led to Hitler's regime. With the return of Christian values, the group believed that greater acceptance and cooperation between all peoples would occur and lead to the political unification of

15960-406: The importance of the individual and emboldened them to pursue their interests rather than follow traditional class expectations. Many members of the German youth groups were sent to war in 1914. Following great losses during the war, young men found themselves fascinated with Volkish ideology, the idea of reunification of the German people that transcended class distinctions. The preoccupation with

16112-576: The largest police force in Germany. Soon afterward, Göring detached the political and intelligence sections from the police and filled their ranks with Nazis. On 26 April 1933, Göring merged the two units as the Geheime Staatspolizei , which was abbreviated by a post office clerk for a franking stamp and became known as the "Gestapo". He originally wanted to name it the Secret Police Office ( Geheimes Polizeiamt ), but

16264-405: The local offices. Within Germany and areas which were incorporated within the Reich for the purpose of civil administration, local offices of the Gestapo, criminal police, and SD were formally separate. They were subject to co-ordination by inspectors of the security police and SD on the staffs of the local higher SS and police leaders, however, and one of the principal functions of the local SD units

16416-465: The majority of those arrested for homosexuality were males between eighteen and twenty-five years of age. Between June 1942 and March 1943, student protests were calling for an end to the Nazi regime. These included the non-violent resistance of Hans and Sophie Scholl , two leaders of the White Rose student group. However, resistance groups and those who were in moral or political opposition to

16568-619: The morale of German soldiers in the East. After uncovering a sample of the information the Poles had reported, Gestapo officials concluded that Polish intelligence activity represented a very serious danger to Germany. As late as 6 June 1944, Heinrich Müller—concerned about the leakage of information to the Allies—set up a special unit called Sonderkommando Jerzy that was meant to root out the Polish intelligence network in western and southwestern Europe. In Austria, there were groups still loyal to

16720-414: The most pressing questions that the group sought to answer were, "How can I make democrats out of Germans who had not been able, really, to run a democracy properly?" and "How to build a new economy and whether it should be free or not free". In 1943, Moltke began to prepare formal drafts for a new German constitution to answer these questions. In a constitutional draft made on 9 August 1943, Moltke outlined

16872-401: The nation's revival and working class solidarity. On the following day, the newly formed Gestapo officers, who had been shadowing some 58 trade union leaders, arrested them wherever they could find them—many in their homes. Meanwhile, the SA and police occupied trade union headquarters, arrested functionaries, confiscated their property and assets; all by design so as to be replaced on 12 May by

17024-562: The new Ordnungspolizei (Orpo; Order Police), which became a national agency under SS general Kurt Daluege . Shortly thereafter, Himmler created the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo; Criminal Police), merging it with the Gestapo into the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; Security Police), under Heydrich's command. Heinrich Müller was at that time the Gestapo operations chief. He answered to Heydrich, Heydrich answered only to Himmler, and Himmler answered only to Hitler. The Gestapo had

17176-585: The occupied territories under the Night and Fog Decree ( German : Nacht und Nebel )—simply disappeared while in Gestapo custody. Up to 30 April 1944, at least 6,639 persons were arrested under Nacht und Nebel orders. However, the total number of people who disappeared as a result of this decree is not known. The Polish government-in-exile in London during World War II received sensitive military information about Nazi Germany from agents and informants throughout Europe. After Germany conquered Poland (in

17328-463: The organisation. For the Gestapo, the next two years following the Night of the Long Knives , a term describing the putsch against Röhm and the SA, were characterised by "behind-the-scenes political wrangling over policing". On 17 June 1936, Hitler decreed the unification of all police forces in Germany and named Himmler as Chief of German Police. This action effectively merged the police into

17480-504: The people of Würzburg. An examination of 213 denunciations in Düsseldorf showed that 37% were motivated by personal conflicts, no motive could be established in 39%, and 24% were motivated by support for the Nazi regime. The Gestapo always showed a special interest in denunciations concerning sexual matters, especially cases concerning Rassenschande with Jews or between Germans and foreigners, in particular Polish slave workers ;

17632-532: The plans for Germany's future economy. In addition, in Marion Yorck von Wartenburg 's memoirs, she refers to the circle as "our group", indicating that she was a part of the circle's membership and discourse. A known list of female members of the circle includes: Freya von Moltke (lawyer), Marion Yorck von Wartenburg (lawyer), Margrit von Trotha (economist), Rosemarie Reichwein (physician/therapist), and Irene Yorck von Wartenburg. Additional Protestant members of

17784-600: The police forces of the Weimar Republic; members of the SS, the SA, and the Nazi Party also joined the Gestapo but were less numerous. By March 1937, the Gestapo employed an estimated 6,500 people in fifty-four regional offices across the Reich. Additional staff were added in March 1938 consequent the annexation of Austria and again in October 1938 with the acquisition of the Sudetenland . In 1939, only 3,000 out of

17936-501: The political police in state after state. Soon only Prussia was left. Concerned that Diels was not ruthless enough to effectively counteract the power of the Sturmabteilung (SA), Göring handed over control of the Gestapo to Himmler on 20 April 1934. Also on that date, Hitler appointed Himmler chief of all German police outside Prussia. Heydrich, named chief of the Gestapo by Himmler on 22 April 1934, also continued as head of

18088-459: The problems Silesia faced (i.e. high unemployment) in the aftermath of WWI. Between the days of 14 March and 1 April 1928, approximately one-hundred people from a variety of backgrounds came together for the first Silesian work camp. In the mornings, participants would partake in physical labour. This was followed by lecture courses, discussion groups, and leisure time. Two additional camps followed in 1929 and 1930. One participant described his time at

18240-449: The psycho-social atmosphere conditioning members of the Gestapo to radicalised violence. Browder also describes a sandwich effect, where from above; Gestapo agents were subjected to ideologically oriented racism and criminal biological theories; and from below, the Gestapo was transformed by SS personnel who did not have the proper police training, which showed in their propensity for unrestrained violence. This admixture certainly shaped

18392-457: The regime either through accommodation, collaboration, or simple compliance. Increasing religious objections to Nazi policies led the Gestapo to carefully monitor church organisations. For the most part, members of the church did not offer political resistance but simply wanted to ensure that organizational doctrine remained intact. However, the Nazi regime sought to suppress any source of ideology other than its own, and set out to muzzle or crush

18544-516: The resistance group Onkel Emil  [ de ] , along with the conductor Leo Borchard . The resistance group was motivated more by humanitarian concerns, rather than ideology and was made up on middle-class professionals. They began to work with Poelchau, who could arrange accommodations, forged identity papers, and food ration stamps. The Gestapo apprehended the Latte family in October 1943. Manfred and Margarete Latte were immediately deported to

18696-574: The resistance group in Operation Crossbow and Operation Hydra . Early in the regime's existence, harsh measures were meted out to political opponents and those who resisted Nazi doctrine , such as members of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD); a role originally performed by the SA until the SD and Gestapo undermined their influence and took control of Reich security. Because the Gestapo seemed omniscient and omnipotent ,

18848-595: The son of Harald (1866–1938) and Elisabeth Poelchau ( née  Riem ; 1871–1945) and was brought up in the Silesian village of Brauchitschdorf . His father was a Lutheran pastor in the village. Poelchau attended the Ritterakademie Gymnasium in Liegnitz, where he participated in Bible classes and became involved in the German Youth Movement ( Jugendbewegung ), which influenced him to turn away from

19000-429: The state to conform to laws. As early as 1935, a Prussian administrative court had ruled that the Gestapo's actions were not subject to judicial review. The SS officer Werner Best , one-time head of legal affairs in the Gestapo, summed up this policy by saying, "As long as the police carries out the will of the leadership, it is acting legally". On 27 September 1939, the security and police agencies of Nazi Germany—with

19152-404: The theologian and resistance fighter Eugen Gerstenmaier and became its General Secretary. The Aid Organisation took care of the problems of refugees, the construction of apartments (settlement work) and homes for the aged and apprentices, and emergency churches. After returning to Berlin in 1946, Poelchau became involved in reforming the prison system in the Soviet occupation zone as councillor of

19304-498: The total of 20,000 Gestapo men held SS ranks, and in most cases, these were honorary. One man who served in the Prussian Gestapo in 1933 recalled that most of his co-workers "were by no means all Nazis. For the most part they were young professional civil service officers..." The Nazis valued police competence more than politics, so in general in 1933, almost all of the men who served in the various state police forces under

19456-495: The unsuccessful coup attempt of 20 July 1944, many of his close friends were sentenced to death. To help their families, he would smuggle letters and messages in and out of the prison cells. In 1937, the first political prisoners began to appear that were members of the prohibited Communist Party. Poelchau cared for Robert Stamm and Adolf Rembte who were executed in november of that year, in Plötzensee. In October 1941,

19608-470: The various police organs within Germany, the assistance of the SS, and the support provided by the various Nazi Party organisations; all of them together forming an organised persecution network. Harald Poelchau Harald Poelchau (5 October 1903 – 29 April 1972) was a German prison chaplain, religious socialist and member of the resistance against the Nazis. Poelchau grew up in Silesia . During

19760-461: The war, Poelchau and his wife Dorothee Poelchau helped victims of the Nazis, hiding them and helping them escape. At the same time, as a prison chaplain he gave comfort to the many people in prison and those sentenced to death. After the war, he became involved in the reform of prisons in East Germany. In 1971, Yad Vashem named Poelchau and his wife Righteous Among the Nations . Poelchau was

19912-551: Was 'protective detention' which facilitated the process in expediting dissenters to concentration camps and against which there was no legal defence . Early efforts to resist the Nazis with aid from abroad were hindered when the opposition's peace feelers to the Western Allies did not meet with success. This was partly because of the Venlo incident of 9 November 1939, in which SD and Gestapo agents, posing as anti-Nazis in

20064-447: Was a prime example of panopticism . The Gestapo—at times—was overwhelmed with denunciations and most of its time was spent sorting out the credible from the less credible denunciations. Many of the local offices were understaffed and overworked, struggling with the paper load caused by so many denunciations. Gellately has also suggested that the Gestapo was "a reactive organisation...constructed within German society and whose functioning

20216-401: Was called, Schutzhaft —"protective custody", a euphemism for the power to imprison people without judicial proceedings. An oddity of the system was that the prisoner had to sign his own Schutzhaftbefehl , an order declaring that the person had requested imprisonment—presumably out of fear of personal harm. In addition, political prisoners throughout Germany—and from 1941, throughout

20368-481: Was concerned." The involvement of ordinary Germans in denunciations also needs to be put into perspective so as not to exonerate the Gestapo. As Evans makes clear, "...it was not the ordinary German people who engaged in surveillance , it was the Gestapo; nothing happened until the Gestapo received a denunciation, and it was the Gestapo's active pursuit of deviance and dissent that was the only thing that gave denunciations meaning." The Gestapo's effectiveness remained in

20520-649: Was dangerous since Gestapo informants and agents were widespread. However, a significant number of them still worked against the National Socialist government. In May 1935, the Gestapo broke up and arrested members of the "Markwitz Circle", a group of former socialists in contact with Otto Strasser , who sought Hitler's downfall. From the mid-1930s into the early 1940s—various groups made up of communists, idealists, working-class people, and far-right conservative opposition organisations covertly fought against Hitler's government, and several of them fomented plots that included Hitler's assassination. Nearly all of them, including:

20672-517: Was formed in November 1940, against the backdrop of Hitler's successes in France. The membership of the Kreisau Circle was varied, with affiliates ranging from conservatives to socialists, religious and non-religious, and all of the above. Although Freya von Moltke, Helmuth von Moltke, Peter von Yorck and Marion von Yorck were at the center of the circle, the group was more of a network of friends than

20824-718: Was imprisoned in Dachau for having stated that there were good folk in England too; another suffered the same fate for warning a girl who wanted to marry an S.S. man after abjuring the Catholic faith; yet another because he conducted a service for a deceased communist". Others were arrested simply on the basis of being "suspected of activities hostile to the State" or that there was reason to "suppose that his dealings might harm society". Over 2,700 Catholic , Protestant , and Orthodox clergy were imprisoned at Dachau alone. After Heydrich (who

20976-474: Was in an unenviable position by the late spring and early summer of 1943. On one hand, it was next to impossible for them to overthrow Hitler and the party; on the other, the Allied demand for an unconditional surrender meant no opportunity for a compromise peace, which left the military and conservative aristocrats who opposed the regime no option (in their eyes) other than continuing the military struggle. Despite

21128-658: Was later executed) plan to blow up the Gestapo headquarters in Vienna represented a unique attempt to act aggressively against the Gestapo. Burian's group had also set up a secret courier service to Otto von Habsburg in Belgium. Individuals in Austrian resistance groups led by Heinrich Maier also managed to pass along the plans and the location of production facilities for V-1 , V-2 rockets , Tiger tanks , and aircraft ( Messerschmitt Bf 109 , Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet , etc.) to

21280-419: Was likewise viewed as unacceptable—deemed gender nonconformity—and a number of individual reports on lesbians can be found in Gestapo files. Between 1933 and 1935, some 4,000 men were arrested; between 1936 and 1939, another 30,000 men were convicted. If homosexuals showed any signs of sympathy to the Nazis' identified racial enemies, they were considered an even greater danger. According to Gestapo case files,

21432-411: Was menacing as more than 4.5 million men fell under his command once the militias and veterans organisations were absorbed by the SA, a fact which fuelled Röhm's aspirations; his dream of fusing the SA and Reichswehr together was undermining Hitler's relationships with the leadership of Germany's armed forces. Several Nazi chieftains, among them Göring, Joseph Goebbels, Rudolf Hess, and Himmler, began

21584-492: Was more the exception than the rule. The Gestapo office in Saarbrücken had 50 full-term informers in 1939. The District Office in Nuremberg , which had the responsibility for all of northern Bavaria , employed a total of 80–100 full-term informers between 1943 and 1945. The majority of Gestapo informers were not full-term employees working undercover, but were rather ordinary citizens who chose to denounce other people to

21736-404: Was not yet aware of the resistance. Prior to the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler, Helmuth von Moltke was treated fairly in prison and allowed to correspond with his wife Freya. On 20 July 1944 a group of dissidents attempted to assassinate Hitler with a bomb and failed. Claus von Stauffenberg, cousin of Peter Yorck, was among the leading figures in this attempt to create "Day-X". However,

21888-507: Was officially formed in 1940 with the merging of the intellectual circles of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke and Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenberg. Moltke and Yorck were descendants of prominent Prussian nobility and therefore were initially favored by Hitler's regime. Helmuth von Moltke, for example, descended from Field Marshal von Moltke , who was a prominent military commander in the Bismarck era. The Nazis honored his family title by giving him

22040-530: Was opposed to the Nazis from the beginning, but did not join the Confessing Church (Bekennende Kirche). With the beginning of the World War II in 1939, death sentences against opposition members increased. Poelchau soon became an important source of support for the victims of Nazi persecution, and gave spiritual comfort to hundreds of people sentenced to death as they faced execution After

22192-644: Was published in 1932 as a book titled Das Menschenbild des Fürsorgerechtes: Eine ethisch-soziologische Untersuchung (The Image of Man in the Law of Welfare: An Ethical-Sociological Investigation). Poelchau applied for a position as prison chaplain at the end of 1932 and was instated on 1 April 1933 as the first clergyman in a prison appointed under the Nazi regime. As an official in the Justice Department he worked at Tegel Prison in Berlin as well as at several other prisons such as Plötzensee and Moabit. He

22344-520: Was staunchly anti-Catholic and anti-Christian) was assassinated in Prague, his successor, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, relaxed some of the policies and then disbanded Department IVB (religious opponents) of the Gestapo. Violence and arrest were not confined to that opposing political parties, membership in trade unions, or those with dissenting religious opinions, but also homosexuality. It was viewed negatively by Hitler. Homosexuals were correspondingly considered

22496-665: Was structurally dependent on the continuing co-operation of German citizens". After 1939, when many Gestapo personnel were called up for war-related work such as service with the Einsatzgruppen , the level of overwork and understaffing at the local offices increased. For information about what was happening in German society, the Gestapo continued to be mostly dependent upon denunciations. 80% of all Gestapo investigations were started in response to information provided by denunciations by ordinary Germans; while 10% were started in response to information provided by other branches of

22648-564: Was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe . The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organisation. On 20 April 1934, oversight of the Gestapo passed to the head of the Schutzstaffel (SS), Heinrich Himmler , who was also appointed Chief of German Police by Hitler in 1936. Instead of being exclusively

22800-535: Was to serve as the intelligence agency for the local Gestapo units. In the occupied territories, the formal relationship between local units of the Gestapo, criminal police, and SD was slightly closer. The Gestapo became known as RSHA Amt IV ("Department or Office IV") with Heinrich Müller as its chief. In January 1943, Himmler appointed Ernst Kaltenbrunner RSHA chief; almost seven months after Heydrich had been assassinated . The specific internal departments of Amt IV were as follows: In 1941 Referat N ,

22952-625: Was unable to push through his ideas for prison reform in the east, he resigned his position. From 1949 to 1951, he was again appointed as the prison chaplain at Tegel Prison . In 1951, Bishop Otto Dibelius appointed him as the first social and industrial pastor of the Protestant Church in Berlin-Brandenburg (Industrie- und Sozialpfarramt) with the mission to connect the church to the industrial workers. Harald Poelchau dedicated himself to this task until his death in 1972. He

23104-482: Was under the dual command of Referat N of the Gestapo and also his local SS and Police Leader . In total, there were some fifty-four regional Gestapo offices across the German federal states. The Gestapo also maintained offices at all Nazi concentration camps, held an office on the staff of the SS and Police Leaders, and supplied personnel as needed to formations such as the Einsatzgruppen . Personnel assigned to these auxiliary duties were often removed from

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