The Gestapo and German Society Enforcing Racial Policy 1933-1945

by Gellately, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780198202974
• ISBN10: 0198202970
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-01-02
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

How was the Gestapo able to detect the smallest signs of non-compliance with Nazi doctrines--especially "crimes" pertaining to the private spheres of social, family, and sexual life? How could the police enforce policies such as those designed to isolate Jews, or the foreign workers brought to Germany after 1939, with such apparent ease? Addressing these questions, Gellately argues that the key factor in the successful enforcement of Nazi racial policy was the willingness of German citizens to provide authorities with information about suspected "criminality." He demonstrates that without some degree of popular participation in the operation of institutions such as the Gestapo, the regime would have been seriously hampered in the "realization of the unthinkable," not only inside Germany but also in many of the occupied countries. Offering an intriguing examination of the everyday operations of the Gestapo and the product of extensive archival research, this incisive study surveys the experiences of areas across Germany, drawing out national, local, and regional implications.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	xi
List of Tables	xi
Abbreviations and Glossary	xiii
Introduction	1	(20)
I. THE GESTAPO
The Emergence of the Gestapo	21	(23)
Local Organization of the Gestapo and Police Network	44	(35)
II. GERMAN SOCIETY
Wurzburg and Lower Franconia before 1933	79	(22)
Anti-Jewish Actions in Lower Franconia after 1933	101	(29)
III. ENFORCING RACIAL POLICY
The Gestapo and Social Co-operation: The Example of Political Denunciation	130	(29)
Racial Policy and Varieties of Non-Compliance	159	(26)
Compliance through Pressure	185	(30)
`Racially Foreign': Racial Policy and Polish Workers	215	(38)
Conclusion	253	(9)
Epilogue	262	(5)
Bibliography	267	(20)
Index	287