Oflag VI-B was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers ( Offizierlager ), 1 km (0.6 mi) southwest of the village of Dössel (now part of Warburg ) in Germany. It held French , British, Polish and other Allied officers.
177-529: In 1939, before it was a POW camp, the area was originally planned to be an airfield. The POW camp was opened in September 1940. At first French , and then British officers were housed there. The serial escaper Eric Foster in his autobiography explained that upon arrival he chatted to a guard to ask about the conditions of the camp. Foster explained the guard confided, "the camp was a very, very bad camp indeed". Foster stressed that this guard desperately wanted
354-498: 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
531-853: A Christian in the event of victory against the Visigothic Kingdom , which was said to have guaranteed the battle. Clovis regained the southwest from the Visigoths and was baptised in 508. Clovis I was the first Germanic conqueror after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire to convert to Catholic Christianity; thus France was given the title "Eldest daughter of the Church" by the papacy, and French kings called "the Most Christian Kings of France". The Franks embraced
708-425: A European counterweight between American and Soviet spheres of influence. However, he opposed any development of a supranational Europe , favouring sovereign nations . The revolt of May 1968 had an enormous social impact; it was a watershed moment when a conservative moral ideal (religion, patriotism, respect for authority) shifted to a more liberal moral ideal (secularism, individualism, sexual revolution). Although
885-434: A German Unteroffizier , led a party of 10 POWs disguised as orderlies, and two more disguised as guards complete with dummy rifles, up to the gates of the camp. The sentry was not satisfied with their gate pass, so Stevens marched his party back into the camp. As the sentry was apparently unaware that the party was not genuine, a second attempt was made a week later. This time the sentry demanded to see their Army paybooks, so
1062-761: 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
1239-670: 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
1416-414: 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,
1593-759: A combination of social, political and economic factors, which the Ancien Régime proved unable to manage. A financial crisis and social distress led in May 1789 to the convocation of the Estates General , which was converted into a National Assembly in June. The Storming of the Bastille on 14 July led to a series of radical measures by the Assembly, among them the abolition of feudalism , state control over
1770-777: 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
1947-538: 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
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#17328017425702124-569: A coup and civil war. During the May 1958 crisis , the weak Fourth Republic gave way to the Fifth Republic , which included a strengthened presidency. The war concluded with the Évian Accords in 1962 which led to Algerian independence , at a high price: between half a million and one million deaths and over 2 million internally-displaced Algerians. Around one million Pied-Noirs and Harkis fled from Algeria to France. A vestige of empire
2301-566: 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
2478-532: A period of economic prosperity and cultural and scientific flourishing known as the Belle Époque . France was one of the major participants of World War I , from which it emerged victorious at great human and economic cost. It was among the Allies of World War II , but it surrendered and was occupied in 1940. Following its liberation in 1944 , the short-lived Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in
2655-475: 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
2832-639: 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
3009-649: 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
3186-564: 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
3363-464: 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
3540-638: 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
3717-636: Is a founding and leading member of the European Union and the eurozone , as well as a member of the Group of Seven , North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Francophonie . Originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire , the name France comes from the Latin Francia , or "realm of the Franks ". The name of
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#17328017425703894-597: Is a public establishment in France between local authorities and the national government covering an inhabited rural area of outstanding beauty, to protect the scenery and heritage as well as setting up sustainable economic development in the area. As of 2019 there are 54 PNRs in France. Gestapo The Geheime Staatspolizei ( German pronunciation: [ɡəˈhaɪmə ˈʃtaːtspoliˌtsaɪ] ; transl. "Secret State Police" ), abbreviated Gestapo ( German: [ɡəˈstaːpo] ),
4071-593: Is now France date from approximately 1.8 million years ago. Neanderthals occupied the region into the Upper Paleolithic era but were slowly replaced by Homo sapiens around 35,000 BC. This period witnessed the emergence of cave painting in the Dordogne and Pyrenees , including at Lascaux , dated to c. 18,000 BC. At the end of the Last Glacial Period (10,000 BC),
4248-572: Is the French overseas departments and territories . During the Cold War , de Gaulle pursued a policy of "national independence" towards the Western and Eastern blocs . He withdrew from NATO's military-integrated command (while remaining within the alliance), launched a nuclear development programme and made France the fourth nuclear power . He restored cordial Franco-German relations to create
4425-486: Is the world's leading tourist destination , receiving 100 million foreign visitors in 2023 . A developed country , France has a high nominal per capita income globally , and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world . It is a great power , being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and an official nuclear-weapon state . France
4602-765: The francisca ), although these weapons may have been named because of their use by the Franks, not the other way around. In English, 'France' is pronounced / f r æ n s / FRANSS in American English and / f r ɑː n s / FRAHNSS or / f r æ n s / FRANSS in British English. The pronunciation with / ɑː / is mostly confined to accents with the trap-bath split such as Received Pronunciation , though it can be also heard in some other dialects such as Cardiff English . The oldest traces of archaic humans in what
4779-512: The 1973 oil crisis , which now accounts for 75 per cent of its electricity production and results in less pollution. According to the 2020 Environmental Performance Index conducted by Yale and Columbia , France was the fifth most environmentally conscious country in the world. Like all European Union state members, France agreed to cut carbon emissions by at least 20% of 1990 levels by 2020. As of 2009 , French carbon dioxide emissions per capita were lower than that of China. The country
4956-632: The 1995 public transport bombings , France has been targeted by Islamist organisations, notably the Charlie Hebdo attack in 2015 which provoked the largest public rallies in French history, gathering 4.4 million people, the November 2015 Paris attacks which resulted in 130 deaths, the deadliest attack on French soil since World War II and the deadliest in the European Union since
5133-415: 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
5310-607: The Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror added "King of England" to his titles, becoming vassal and the equal of the king of France, creating recurring tensions. The Carolingian dynasty ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet was crowned king of the Franks . His descendants unified the country through wars and inheritance. From 1190, the Capetian rulers began to be referred as "kings of France" rather than "kings of
5487-591: The British Isles and Switzerland . The wars were ended by Henry IV 's Edict of Nantes , which granted some freedom of religion to the Huguenots. Spanish troops, assisted the Catholics from 1589 to 1594 and invaded France in 1597. Spain and France returned to all-out war between 1635 and 1659. The war cost France 300,000 casualties. Under Louis XIII , Cardinal Richelieu promoted centralisation of
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5664-564: The Carnac stones site (approximately 3,300 BC). In 600 BC, Ionian Greeks from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia (present-day Marseille ). Celtic tribes penetrated parts of eastern and northern France, spreading through the rest of the country between the 5th and 3rd century BC. Around 390 BC, the Gallic chieftain Brennus and his troops made their way to Roman Italy , defeated
5841-683: The Catholic Church in France , and a declaration of rights . The next three years were dominated by struggle for political control, exacerbated by economic depression . Military defeats following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in April 1792 resulted in the insurrection of 10 August 1792 . The monarchy was abolished and replaced by the French First Republic in September, while Louis XVI
6018-609: The Consulate seized power in a coup led by Napoleon . Napoleon became First Consul in 1799 and later Emperor of the French Empire (1804–1814; 1815). Changing sets of European coalitions declared wars on Napoleon's empire . His armies conquered most of continental Europe with swift victories such as the battles of Jena-Auerstadt and Austerlitz . Members of the Bonaparte family were appointed monarchs in some of
6195-853: The European Union (green) France , officially the French Republic , is a country located primarily in Western Europe . Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America , Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies , and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean , giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in
6372-855: The First French Empire . The collapse of the empire initiated a period of relative decline, in which France endured the Bourbon Restoration until the founding of the French Second Republic which was succeeded by the Second French Empire upon Napoleon III 's takeover. His empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. This led to the establishment of the Third French Republic , and subsequent decades saw
6549-566: 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
6726-756: 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
6903-1103: The Hercynian uplift in the Paleozoic Era , the Armorican Massif , the Massif Central , the Morvan , the Vosges and Ardennes ranges and the island of Corsica were formed. These massifs delineate several sedimentary basins such as the Aquitaine Basin in the southwest and the Paris Basin in the north. Various routes of natural passage, such as the Rhône Valley , allow easy communication. The Alpine, Pyrenean and Jura mountains are much younger and have less eroded forms. At 4,810.45 metres (15,782 ft) above sea level, Mont Blanc , located in
7080-405: The House of Plantagenet , rulers of the County of Anjou , established its dominion over the surrounding provinces of Maine and Touraine , then built an "empire" from England to the Pyrenees , covering half of modern France. Tensions between France and the Plantagenet empire would last a hundred years, until Philip II of France conquered, between 1202 and 1214, most continental possessions of
7257-406: The Madrid train bombings in 2004 . Opération Chammal , France's military efforts to contain ISIS , killed over 1,000 ISIS troops between 2014 and 2015. The vast majority of France's territory and population is situated in Western Europe and is called Metropolitan France . It is bordered by the North Sea in the north, the English Channel in the northwest, the Atlantic Ocean in the west and
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7434-402: The Mediterranean Sea in the southeast. Its land borders consist of Belgium and Luxembourg in the northeast, Germany and Switzerland in the east, Italy and Monaco in the southeast, and Andorra and Spain in the south and southwest. Except for the northeast, most of France's land borders are roughly delineated by natural boundaries and geographic features: to the south and southeast,
7611-447: 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
7788-398: 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
7965-469: The North Sea . Its eighteen integral regions (five of which are overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 km (248,573 sq mi) and have a total population of 68.4 million as of January 2024 . France is a semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris , the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Metropolitan France was settled during the Iron Age by Celtic tribes known as Gauls before Rome annexed
8142-459: The Popular Front government (e.g., annual leave , eight-hour workdays , women in government ). In 1940, France was invaded and quickly defeated by Nazi Germany . France was divided into a German occupation zone in the north, an Italian occupation zone and an unoccupied territory, the rest of France, which consisted of the southern France and the French empire. The Vichy government , an authoritarian regime collaborating with Germany, ruled
8319-406: 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
8496-488: The Seven Years' War (1756–1763). Its European territory kept growing, however, with acquisitions such as Lorraine and Corsica . Louis XV's weak rule, including the decadence of his court, discredited the monarchy, which in part paved the way for the French Revolution . Louis XVI (r. 1774–1793) supported America with money, fleets and armies , helping them win independence from Great Britain . France gained revenge, but verged on bankruptcy—a factor that contributed to
8673-404: 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
8850-421: The Thirty Years' War and further increased its influence during the reign of Louis XIV . The French Revolution of 1789 overthrew the Ancien Régime and produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man , which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. France reached its political and military zenith in the early 19th century under Napoleon Bonaparte , subjugating part of continental Europe and establishing
9027-485: 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
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#17328017425709204-470: The official language of France and Europe's aristocracy. France became rivals of the House of Habsburg during the Italian Wars , which would dictate much of their later foreign policy until the mid-18th century. French explorers claimed lands in the Americas, paving expansion of the French colonial empire . The rise of Protestantism led France to a civil war known as the French Wars of Religion . This forced Huguenots to flee to Protestant regions such as
9381-459: The 1970s France faced an economic crisis and allowed new immigrants (mostly from the Maghreb , in northwest Africa) to permanently settle in France with their families and acquire citizenship. It resulted in hundreds of thousands of Muslims living in subsidised public housing and suffering from high unemployment rates. The government had a policy of assimilation of immigrants, where they were expected to adhere to French values and norms. Since
9558-402: The 200 years of the Crusades, in such a fashion that the Arabs referred to crusaders as Franj . French Crusaders imported French into the Levant , making Old French the base of the lingua franca ("Frankish language") of the Crusader states . The Albigensian Crusade was launched in 1209 to eliminate the heretical Cathars in the southwest of modern-day France. From the 11th century,
9735-420: The 4th century, a period of revival and prosperity. In 312, Emperor Constantine I converted to Christianity . Christians, who had been persecuted, increased. But from the 5th century, the Barbarian Invasions resumed. Teutonic tribes invaded the region, the Visigoths settling in the southwest, the Burgundians along the Rhine River Valley, and the Franks in the north. In Late antiquity , ancient Gaul
9912-538: 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
10089-490: The Allied lines. British prisoners were taught by one officer, Major Alexis Casdagli, to sew with unravelled jumpers and needles and threads from Red Cross parcels, and they made bookmarks or embroidered letters home with symbols of freedom such as butterflies. On the night of 27 September 1944 British aircraft attacking the nearby railroad junction in Nörde , dropped some bombs on the camp, killing 90 officers. Altogether 141 prisoners died in Oflag VI-B. They are buried in
10266-400: 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
10443-438: The Alps on the France–Italy border , is the highest point in Western Europe. Although 60% of municipalities are classified as having seismic risks (though moderate). The coastlines offer contrasting landscapes: mountain ranges along the French Riviera , coastal cliffs such as the Côte d'Albâtre , and wide sandy plains in the Languedoc . Corsica lies off the Mediterranean coast. France has an extensive river system consisting of
10620-457: The Atlantic Ocean. Other water courses drain towards the Meuse and Rhine along the northeastern borders. France has 11,000,000 km (4,200,000 sq mi) of marine waters within three oceans under its jurisdiction, of which 97% are overseas. France was one of the first countries to create an environment ministry, in 1971. France is ranked 19th by carbon dioxide emissions due to the country's heavy investment in nuclear power following
10797-504: The Christian Gallo-Roman culture , and ancient Gaul was renamed Francia ("Land of the Franks"). The Germanic Franks adopted Romanic languages . Clovis made Paris his capital and established the Merovingian dynasty , but his kingdom would not survive his death. The Franks treated land as a private possession and divided it among their heirs, so four kingdoms emerged from that of Clovis: Paris, Orléans , Soissons , and Rheims . The last Merovingian kings lost power to their mayors of
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#173280174257010974-405: The Franks is related to the English word frank ("free"): the latter stems from the Old French franc ("free, noble, sincere"), and ultimately from the Medieval Latin word francus ("free, exempt from service; freeman, Frank"), a generalisation of the tribal name that emerged as a Late Latin borrowing of the reconstructed Frankish endonym * Frank . It has been suggested that
11151-420: The Franks". Later kings expanded their directly possessed domaine royal to cover over half of modern France by the 15th century. Royal authority became more assertive, centred on a hierarchically conceived society distinguishing nobility , clergy, and commoners . The nobility played a prominent role in Crusades to restore Christian access to the Holy Land . French knights made up most reinforcements in
11328-402: The French government's longtime historical association with the Catholic Church , Charlemagne tried to revive the Western Roman Empire and its cultural grandeur. Charlemagne's son, Louis I kept the empire united, however in 843, it was divided between Louis' three sons, into East Francia , Middle Francia and West Francia . West Francia approximated the area occupied by modern France and
11505-432: 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
11682-434: 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
11859-400: 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
12036-411: 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
12213-476: 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
12390-535: 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
12567-442: 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
12744-464: 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
12921-506: 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
13098-423: 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
13275-408: 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
13452-752: 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
13629-570: 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
13806-523: 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
13983-410: 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
14160-513: 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
14337-589: 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,
14514-752: The Pyrenees and the Alps and the Jura, respectively, and to the east, the Rhine river. Metropolitan France includes various coastal islands, of which the largest is Corsica . Metropolitan France is situated mostly between latitudes 41° and 51° N , and longitudes 6° W and 10° E , on the western edge of Europe, and thus lies within the northern temperate zone. Its continental part covers about 1000 km from north to south and from east to west. Metropolitan France covers 551,500 square kilometres (212,935 sq mi),
14691-585: The Red Cross with study classes and examinations up to first year university standard; and the escapist, which included people like himself and his friend the Polish officer Danny Krol who was described as generous and a great gambler. Król would later be executed following the escape from Stalag Luft III , known as the Great Escape. Sometimes the studious type could also be an escapist. Amongst these types
14868-529: The Revolution. Some of the Enlightenment occurred in French intellectual circles, and scientific breakthroughs, such as the naming of oxygen (1778) and the first hot air balloon carrying passengers (1783), were achieved by French scientists. French explorers took part in the voyages of scientific exploration through maritime expeditions. Enlightenment philosophy, in which reason is advocated as
15045-618: The Romans in the Battle of the Allia , and besieged and ransomed Rome. This left Rome weakened, and the Gauls continued to harass the region until 345 BC when they entered into a peace treaty. But the Romans and the Gauls remained adversaries for centuries. Around 125 BC, the south of Gaul was conquered by the Romans, who called this region Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), which evolved into Provence in French. Julius Caesar conquered
15222-588: 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
15399-459: 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
15576-598: 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
15753-408: 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
15930-527: 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
16107-425: 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
16284-546: 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
16461-430: 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
16638-711: The area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct Gallo-Roman culture . In the Early Middle Ages , the Franks formed the Kingdom of Francia , which became the heartland of the Carolingian Empire . The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned the empire, with West Francia evolving into the Kingdom of France . In the High Middle Ages , France was a powerful but decentralized feudal kingdom, but from
16815-551: 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
16992-467: 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
17169-535: 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,
17346-465: 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,
17523-460: 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
17700-691: 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
17877-480: The camp stove to themselves at eating times. They also had a pet mouse called Freddie, which ate alongside them with its own bowl. In a peculiarity they had a court-martial for the mouse, after the mouse got caught stealing their food. Fou would go on to captivate and hoax an audience with a lecture about a non existent German professor's Calculus. The camp was the setting for two remarkable escape attempts. On 1 December 1941 Flt Lt Peter Stevens RAFVR , disguised as
18054-701: The camp. The British had begun an escape tunnel, and the Poles continued working on it, and on 20 September 1943, 47 of them escaped. Within four days, 20 had been captured and returned to the camp. They were then transported to the Buchenwald concentration camp and executed. In the next few days 17 more were captured and taken to the Gestapo prison in Dortmund where they were killed. Only 10 managed to remain free, some returning to Poland, others finding their way to
18231-611: The cemetery near the centre of the village of Dossel. A memorial was erected there in 1985. The camp was liberated by the U.S. Army on 3 April 1945. In 1960 Polish survivors organized the Klub Dösselczyków . Journals of ex-Polish prisoners are kept in the Central Prisoners of War Museum in Łambinowice , near Opole , Poland. France – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in
18408-540: 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,
18585-427: 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
18762-514: The climate became milder; from approximately 7,000 BC, this part of Western Europe entered the Neolithic era, and its inhabitants became sedentary . After demographic and agricultural development between the 4th and 3rd millennia BC, metallurgy appeared , initially working gold, copper and bronze , then later iron . France has numerous megalithic sites from the Neolithic, including
18939-822: The constitutional July Monarchy ; French troops began the conquest of Algeria . Unrest led to the French Revolution of 1848 and the end of the July Monarchy. The abolition of slavery and introduction of male universal suffrage was re-enacted in 1848. In 1852, president of the French Republic, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte , Napoleon I's nephew, was proclaimed emperor of the Second Empire , as Napoleon III. He multiplied French interventions abroad, especially in Crimea , Mexico and Italy . Napoleon III
19116-498: The course of the defeat in the Algerian War . The current Fifth Republic was formed in 1958 by Charles de Gaulle . Algeria and most French colonies became independent in the 1960s, with the majority retaining close economic and military ties with France . France retains its centuries-long status as a global centre of art , science , and philosophy . It hosts the fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and
19293-504: 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,
19470-526: The empire, leaving England and Aquitaine to the Plantagenets. Charles IV the Fair died without an heir in 1328. The crown passed to Philip of Valois , rather than Edward of Plantagenet, who became Edward III of England . During the reign of Philip, the monarchy reached the height of its medieval power. However Philip's seat on the throne was contested by Edward in 1337, and England and France entered
19647-529: 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
19824-613: The ensuing uprising of European monarchies against his rule, Napoleon was defeated. About a million Frenchmen died during the Napoleonic Wars . After his brief return from exile, Napoleon was finally defeated in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo , and the Bourbon monarchy was restored with new constitutional limitations. The discredited Bourbon dynasty was overthrown by the July Revolution of 1830, which established
20001-409: The escape party fled, although two, Pete Tunstall and Dominic Bruce were eventually arrested after a camp search by Major Rademacher found a piece of cloth on them that was used to create the sentry uniforms. On 30 August 1942 the camp was the scene of "Operation Olympia", also known as the "Warburg Wire Job", another mass escape attempt. After RAOC officer Major B.D. Skelton ("Skelly") Ginn fused
20178-541: 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
20355-481: 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
20532-594: The forefront of the development of a supranational European Union , notably by signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, establishing the eurozone in 1999 and signing the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. France has fully reintegrated into NATO and since participated in most NATO-sponsored wars. Since the 19th century, France has received many immigrants , often male foreign workers from European Catholic countries who generally returned home when not employed. During
20709-925: The four major rivers Seine , the Loire , the Garonne , the Rhône and their tributaries, whose combined catchment includes over 62% of the metropolitan territory. The Rhône divides the Massif Central from the Alps and flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the Camargue . The Garonne meets the Dordogne just after Bordeaux, forming the Gironde estuary , the largest estuary in Western Europe which after approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) empties into
20886-479: The largest among European Union members. France's total land area, with its overseas departments and territories (excluding Adélie Land ), is 643,801 km (248,573 sq mi), 0.45% of the total land area on Earth. France possesses a wide variety of landscapes, from coastal plains in the north and west to mountain ranges of the Alps in the southeast, the Massif Central in the south-central and Pyrenees in
21063-576: 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
21240-457: 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
21417-407: 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
21594-466: The meaning "free" was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul , only Franks were free of taxation, or more generally because they had the status of freemen in contrast to servants or slaves. The etymology of *Frank is uncertain. It is traditionally derived from the Proto-Germanic word * frankōn , which translates as "javelin" or "lance" (the throwing axe of the Franks was known as
21771-652: The mid-14th to the mid-15th centuries, France was plunged into a dynastic conflict with England known as the Hundred Years' War . In the 16th century, the French Renaissance saw culture flourish and a French colonial empire rise. Internally, France was dominated by the conflict with the House of Habsburg and the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots . France was successful in
21948-567: 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
22125-647: The most-used language in diplomacy, science, and literature until the 20th century. France took control of territories in the Americas, Africa and Asia. In 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes , forcing thousands of Huguenots into exile and published the Code Noir providing the legal framework for slavery and expelling Jews from French colonies. Under the wars of Louis XV (r. 1715–1774), France lost New France and most Indian possessions after its defeat in
22302-401: 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
22479-562: 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
22656-458: The newly established kingdoms. These victories led to the worldwide expansion of French revolutionary ideals and reforms, such as the metric system , Napoleonic Code and Declaration of the Rights of Man. In 1812 Napoleon attacked Russia , reaching Moscow. Thereafter his army disintegrated through supply problems, disease, Russian attacks, and finally winter. After this catastrophic campaign and
22833-636: 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
23010-448: The off-and-on Hundred Years' War . Boundaries changed, but landholdings inside France by English Kings remained extensive for decades. With charismatic leaders, such as Joan of Arc , French counterattacks won back most English continental territories. France was struck by the Black Death , from which half of the 17 million population died. The French Renaissance saw cultural development and standardisation of French, which became
23187-403: 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
23364-464: The palace (head of household). One mayor of the palace, Charles Martel , defeated an Umayyad invasion of Gaul at the Battle of Tours (732). His son, Pepin the Short , seized the crown of Francia from the weakened Merovingians and founded the Carolingian dynasty . Pepin's son, Charlemagne , reunited the Frankish kingdoms and built an empire across Western and Central Europe . Proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III and thus establishing
23541-446: 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 ;
23718-628: The perimeter floodlights, 41 prisoners carrying four 12-foot (3.7 m) scaling ladders made from bed slats rushed to the barbed-wire fence and clambered over. One ladder collapsed, so of the 41 involved, only 28 escaped the camp, and only three of those made it home. In September 1942 the British prisoners were transferred to other camps, and were replaced with Polish officers, with 1,077 brought from Romania , where they had been interned since September 1939, and another 1,500 transferred from other camps in Germany. At various points in time up to 2296 officers and 287 non-commissioned officers were housed in
23895-424: 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
24072-441: 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
24249-506: The primary source of legitimacy , undermined the power of and support for the monarchy and was a factor in the Revolution. The French Revolution was a period of political and societal change that began with the Estates General of 1789 , and ended with the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 and the formation of the French Consulate . Many of its ideas are fundamental principles of liberal democracy , while its values and institutions remain central to modern political discourse. Its causes were
24426-451: The prisoners to complain about the conditions, with the guard believing that if they harassed the camp command about the conditions, the camp would be closed down. The guard, who wanted an easier posting also stated to Foster, "We are prisoners as much as you are." Foster explained the prisoners were housed in huts which held 50 to 60 men. In 1941, all lighting was provided by two acetylene lamps in each barrack. though later on electric lighting
24603-449: 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
24780-457: 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
24957-413: The remainder of Gaul and overcame a revolt by Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix in 52 BC. Gaul was divided by Augustus into provinces and many cities were founded during the Gallo-Roman period , including Lugdunum (present-day Lyon ), the capital of the Gauls. In 250–290 AD, Roman Gaul suffered a crisis with its fortified borders attacked by barbarians . The situation improved in the first half of
25134-442: 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 ,
25311-399: The revolt was a political failure (the Gaullist party emerged stronger than before) it announced a split between the French and de Gaulle, who resigned. In the post-Gaullist era, France remained one of the most developed economies in the world but faced crises that resulted in high unemployment rates and increasing public debt. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, France has been at
25488-436: The second-largest behind the British Empire . Including metropolitan France, the total area reached almost 13 million square kilometres in the 1920s and 1930s, 9% of the world's land. Known as the Belle Époque , the turn of the century was characterised by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity and technological, scientific and cultural innovations. In 1905, state secularism was officially established . France
25665-421: The southwest. Due to its numerous overseas departments and territories scattered across the planet, France possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world, covering 11,035,000 km (4,261,000 sq mi). Its EEZ covers approximately 8% of the total surface of all the EEZs of the world. Metropolitan France has a wide variety of topographical sets and natural landscapes. During
25842-488: The state and reinforced royal power. He destroyed castles of defiant lords and denounced the use of private armies. By the end of the 1620s, Richelieu established "the royal monopoly of force". France fought in the Thirty Years' War , supporting the Protestant side against the Habsburgs. From the 16th to the 19th century, France was responsible for about 10% of the transatlantic slave trade . During Louis XIV 's minority, trouble known as The Fronde occurred. This rebellion
26019-429: 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
26196-431: 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
26373-424: The unoccupied territory. Free France , the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle , was set up in London. From 1942 to 1944, about 160,000 French citizens, including around 75,000 Jews , were deported to death and concentration camps . On 6 June 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy , and in August they invaded Provence . The Allies and French Resistance emerged victorious, and French sovereignty
26550-423: The world . Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north, Germany to the northeast, Switzerland to the east, Italy and Monaco to the southeast, Andorra and Spain to the south, and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and
26727-401: Was invaded by Germany and defended by Great Britain at the start of World War I in August 1914. A rich industrial area in the north was occupied. France and the Allies emerged victorious against the Central Powers at tremendous human cost. It left 1.4 million French soldiers dead, 4% of its population. Interwar was marked by intense international tensions and social reforms introduced by
26904-436: 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
27081-410: Was a founding member of NATO and attempted to regain control of French Indochina , but was defeated by the Viet Minh in 1954. France faced another anti-colonialist conflict in Algeria , then part of France and home to over one million European settlers ( Pied-Noir ). The French systematically used torture and repression, including extrajudicial killings to keep control. This conflict nearly led to
27258-447: 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
27435-471: Was also a sprinkling of the POW Warburg eccentrics. A case study being Foster's friend F/O McHardy, who was an officer known by his comrades as 'Fou.' Fou was an artist and lived in a room at the end of Fosters hut with two other artists. They constantly challenged what was standardised. They chose to sit on the floor whilst eating meals. They went by a time system that was two hours ahead of the camps time. This time system had an advantage, in that they would find
27612-401: 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
27789-481: 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
27966-649: 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:
28143-451: Was divided into Germanic kingdoms and a remaining Gallo-Roman territory. Celtic Britons , fleeing the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain , settled in west Armorica ; the Armorican peninsula was renamed Brittany and Celtic culture was revived. The first leader to unite all Franks was Clovis I , who began his reign as king of the Salian Franks in 481, routing the last forces of the Roman governors in 486. Clovis said he would be baptised
28320-479: Was driven by feudal lords and sovereign courts as a reaction to the royal absolute power . The monarchy reached its peak during the 17th century and reign of Louis XIV. By turning lords into courtiers at the Palace of Versailles , his command of the military went unchallenged. The "Sun King" made France the leading European power. France became the most populous European country and had tremendous influence over European politics, economy, and culture. French became
28497-405: Was executed in January 1793. After another revolt in June 1793 , the constitution was suspended and power passed from the National Convention to the Committee of Public Safety . About 16,000 people were executed in a Reign of Terror , which ended in July 1794 . Weakened by external threats and internal opposition, the Republic was replaced in 1795 by the Directory . Four years later in 1799,
28674-557: 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
28851-421: 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
29028-414: Was its precursor. During the 9th and 10th centuries, threatened by Viking invasions , France became a decentralised state: the nobility's titles and lands became hereditary, and authority of the king became more religious than secular, and so was less effective and challenged by noblemen. Thus was established feudalism in France. Some king's vassals grew so powerful they posed a threat to the king. After
29205-494: 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
29382-419: 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,
29559-411: 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
29736-433: 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
29913-404: Was provided. Eric Foster who was captured in June 1940 and up to 1942 had served time in Dulag Luft, Spangenberg, Toruń and now Warburg, made observations about camp life. He observed three types of prisoner of war inside Warburg: the Zizzer, who would be a prisoner who was happy-go-lucky; the studious type, who was always concerned he was being left behind at home and who would be catered for by
30090-453: Was restored with the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF). This interim government, established by de Gaulle, continued to wage war against Germany and to purge collaborators from office . It made important reforms e.g. suffrage extended to women and the creation of a social security system. A new constitution resulted in the Fourth Republic (1946–1958), which saw strong economic growth ( les Trente Glorieuses ). France
30267-608: Was set to impose a carbon tax in 2009; however, the plan was abandoned due to fears of burdening French businesses. Forests account for 31 per cent of France's land area—the fourth-highest proportion in Europe—representing an increase of 7 per cent since 1990. French forests are some of the most diverse in Europe, comprising more than 140 species of trees. France had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.52/10, ranking it 123rd globally. There are nine national parks and 46 natural parks in France. A regional nature park (French: parc naturel régional or PNR)
30444-467: 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
30621-605: 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
30798-429: 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
30975-535: 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 ,
31152-482: 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
31329-404: Was unseated following defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and his regime replaced by the Third Republic . By 1875, the French conquest of Algeria was complete, with approximately 825,000 Algerians killed from famine, disease, and violence. France had colonial possessions since the beginning of the 17th century, but in the 19th and 20th centuries its empire extended greatly and became
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