Here you will find descriptions of a range of terms, events, themes and institutions featured on the website.
Polish penal code (»Polenstrafrechtsverordnung«)
German tyranny in the occupied territories is based not only on direct terror but also on injustice. In Poland, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, as head of the German police, massively tightened the penalties in 1941. The Polish penal code (»Polenstrafrechtsverordnung«) threatened camps and the death penalty even for minor offences. This included everyday offences such as riding a bicycle or visiting a pub. The racist special criminal law also affected Polish forced labourers in the Reich territory.
The SS (»Schutzstaffel«) under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler was envisioned as an elite paramilitary organisation of the National Socialist state. With Himmler’s takeover and reorganisation of the police, the SS became the regime’s central instrument of terror. In 1934, it was given control over all concentration camps. The Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), formed in 1939 as the planning centre for crimes in German-occupied Europe, was subordinated to it.
German tyranny in the occupied territories is based not only on direct terror but also on injustice. In Poland, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, as head of the German police, massively tightened the penalties in 1941. The Polish penal code (»Polenstrafrechtsverordnung«) threatened camps and the death penalty even for minor offences. This included everyday offences such as riding a bicycle or visiting a pub. The racist special criminal law also affected Polish forced labourers in the Reich territory.
Poorhouse
For people without work or money, for a long time the only option was to enter a poorhouse. There they received temporary assistance from the state or the local authorities. Particularly the elderly and people unable to work were compelled to seek lodgings at the local poorhouse. The Nazis turned many of these institutions into workhouses. This meant surveillance and compulsory labour for everyone, including residents who were elderly or ill.
Preventive detention
Preventive detention (Sicherungsverwahrung) was an instrument to keep convicted people in prison beyond their prison term. The Nazis introduced it in 1933 with the »Law Against Dangerous Habitual Criminals«. Judges deemed that the detainees concerned were incorrigible. They often based their rulings on assumptions drawn from criminal biology. In 1942 the judicial system transferred the authority for all prisoners in preventive detention to the SS. According to the Himmler-Thierack Agreement, these prisoners were to die in concentration camps.
The SS (»Schutzstaffel«) under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler was envisioned as an elite paramilitary organisation of the National Socialist state. With Himmler’s takeover and reorganisation of the police, the SS became the regime’s central instrument of terror. In 1934, it was given control over all concentration camps. The Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), formed in 1939 as the planning centre for crimes in German-occupied Europe, was subordinated to it.
Preventive detention (Sicherungsverwahrung) was an instrument to keep convicted people in prison beyond their prison term. The Nazis introduced it in 1933 with the »Law Against Dangerous Habitual Criminals«. Judges deemed that the detainees concerned were incorrigible. They often based their rulings on assumptions drawn from criminal biology. In 1942 the judicial system transferred the authority for all prisoners in preventive detention to the SS. According to the Himmler-Thierack Agreement, these prisoners were to die in concentration camps.
On 18 September 1942 Reich Justice Minister Otto Georg Thierack (1889–1946) and Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945) instructed the judicial authorities to transfer »asocial elements« to concentration camps directly and without trial for »annihilation through work«. Among those affected by the agreement were people held in preventive detention, Jews and Sinti and Roma. The agreement made explicit reference to premeditated killing through gruelling forced labour.
Prisoner functionary
In the concentration camps the SS appointed certain prisoners as so-called prisoner supervisors. In exchange for privileges they had to oversee their fellow prisoners and carry out instructions from the SS. This deliberate reversal of the victim-perpetrator distinction caused suspicion and divisions among the prisoners. Many eyewitness reports describe the prisoner functionaries (also known as »Kapos«) as violent and cruel.
The SS (»Schutzstaffel«) under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler was envisioned as an elite paramilitary organisation of the National Socialist state. With Himmler’s takeover and reorganisation of the police, the SS became the regime’s central instrument of terror. In 1934, it was given control over all concentration camps. The Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), formed in 1939 as the planning centre for crimes in German-occupied Europe, was subordinated to it.
| In the concentration camps, the SS designated certain prisoners as so-called prisoner foremen (»Häftlingsvorarbeiter«). In exchange for better treatment, they were tasked with supervising fellow inmates and enforcing SS orders. This intentional blurring of the lines between victims and perpetrators fostered mistrust and division among the prisoners. Many memoirs by survivors describe these so-called Kapos or functionary prisoners as violent and cruel. |
Protective custody
By imposing »protective custody« (»Schutzhaft«) the Gestapo was able to confine »undesirables« – mostly political opponents – in protective custody camps and concentration camps for an indefinite period. Protective custody orders were issued directly by the police without any involvement from the courts. As prisoners in »protective custody« were completely deprived of rights while in confinement, they had no chance to appeal.
By imposing »protective custody« (»Schutzhaft«) the Gestapo was able to confine »undesirables« – mostly political opponents – in protective custody camps and concentration camps for an indefinite period. Protective custody orders were issued directly by the police without any involvement from the courts. As prisoners in »protective custody« were completely deprived of rights while in confinement, they had no chance to appeal.
The Nazis established the »Secret State Police« (Geheime Staatspolizei, abbr. Gestapo) to combat political opponents. It was also instrumental in the persecution of minorities. Gestapo officials did not require a court warrant to search apartments or to detain people, send them to concentration camps or murder them. They tortured people under interrogation to force confessions out of them. In the occupied territories members of the Gestapo participated in mass shootings and other crimes.