Glossary

As a central health authority, the Reich Public Health Office (»Reichsgesundheitsamt«) participated in a range of crimes: it referred people for forced sterilisation or conducted medical experiments in concentration camps. The office’s president, Hans Reiter (1881–1969), disseminated National Socialist racial ideology. For this purpose he drew on a network of health authorities, which had been established in every locality since 1934. Reiter was also in charge of the Research Institute for Racial Hygiene.

In 1936 the »Research Institute for Racial Hygiene and Population Biology« (»Rassenhygienische Forschungsstelle«) began operating within the Reich Public Health Office. In cooperation with the police, racial theorist Robert Ritter (1901–1951) and his staff examined more than 23,000 Sinti and Roma. From 1941 Ritter additionally conducted involuntary examinations of prisoners in »youth protection camps«. The Nazis used his reports as the basis to decide whether the individuals concerned were to live or die.  

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.

The Criminal Police (Kriminalpolizei, »Kripo«) is a regular police division in charge of investigating crimes. In the National Socialist state its tasks additionally included the surveillance and persecution of »community aliens« (»Gemeinschaftsfremde«). People deemed »career criminals« or »asocials« by the Criminal Police were placed under systematic surveillance and were detained indefinitely.  
It was up to police officers to decide what was to be considered »asocial behaviour«: the slightest deviation from the norm could lead to imprisonment.

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. 

The Sturmabteilung (SA) was the paramilitary organisation of the NSDAP, sworn to Adolf Hitler. The SA incited anti-Semitism and violently attacked political opponents. After Hitler’s appointment as Reich Chancellor, the SA served as »auxiliary police« in Prussia, arresting and torturing individuals, often in »wild camps«. By 1934, it had approximately four million members. Hitler curtailed the SA leadership’s efforts to transform it into a comprehensive party militia by disempowering it.

On the evening of 27 February 1933, the Reichstag went up in flames. The Nazis accused the communists of arson. The next day Reich President von Hindenburg (1847–1934) enacted the »Regulation on the Protection of People and State«, also known as the Reichstag Fire Decree. This overturned basic rights including the freedom to assemble, the right to free speech and the freedom of the press. Directly afterwards the police and the SA rounded up thousands of members of the Communist party and other political prisoners and put them in jail or in unofficial, improvised concentration camps.

As a central health authority, the Reich Public Health Office (»Reichsgesundheitsamt«) participated in a range of crimes: it referred people for forced sterilisation or conducted medical experiments in concentration camps. The office’s president, Hans Reiter (1881–1969), disseminated National Socialist racial ideology. For this purpose he drew on a network of health authorities, which had been established in every locality since 1934. Reiter was also in charge of the Research Institute for Racial Hygiene.

In 1936 the »Research Institute for Racial Hygiene and Population Biology« (»Rassenhygienische Forschungsstelle«) began operating within the Reich Public Health Office. In cooperation with the police, racial theorist Robert Ritter (1901–1951) and his staff examined more than 23,000 Sinti and Roma. From 1941 Ritter additionally conducted involuntary examinations of prisoners in »youth protection camps«. The Nazis used his reports as the basis to decide whether the individuals concerned were to live or die.  

The SD (Security Service of the Reichsführer SS) was established in 1931 by Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler as the intelligence service of the SS (Schutzstaffel). Its task was to gather information on political opponents and oppositional movements within and outside the National Socialist circles. From 1934, the SD became the intelligence service of the NSDAP. It was subordinated to Reinhard Heydrich, who merged the SD with the security police (Gestapo and Kripo) into the newly formed Reich Security Main Office in 1939.

The Sturmabteilung (SA) was the paramilitary organisation of the NSDAP, sworn to Adolf Hitler. The SA incited anti-Semitism and violently attacked political opponents. After Hitler’s appointment as Reich Chancellor, the SA served as »auxiliary police« in Prussia, arresting and torturing individuals, often in »wild camps«. By 1934, it had approximately four million members. Hitler curtailed the SA leadership’s efforts to transform it into a comprehensive party militia by disempowering it.

»Schlurfs« were young members of the working class in Vienna, who during the National Socialist regime attracted attention with their unique sense of style and love of jazz music. »Schlurf« is an Austrian term for idleness. Like »Schlurf« is an Austrian term for idleness. Like the »swings« in Hamburg, the »zazous« in Paris or the »Potápki« in Prague, the »Schlurfs« lived in their own youth sub-culture which was diametrically opposed to the military drill of the Nazi youth organisations. They were persecuted by the Nazis.

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.

The SD (Security Service of the Reichsführer SS) was established in 1931 by Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler as the intelligence service of the SS (Schutzstaffel). Its task was to gather information on political opponents and oppositional movements within and outside the National Socialist circles. From 1934, the SD became the intelligence service of the NSDAP. It was subordinated to Reinhard Heydrich, who merged the SD with the security police (Gestapo and Kripo) into the newly formed Reich Security Main Office in 1939.

The National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) ruled the German Reich from 1933 to 1945. The party was founded in Munich in 1919. It had an antisemitic and »völkisch« orientation and sought to establish a dictatorship. The Nazi Party was structured as a hierarchy with leader Adolf Hitler at the very top. After his appointment as Reich Chancellor in 1933, Hitler banned all other parties. In 1943 the Nazi Party had more than 7.5 million members.

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. 

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.

Following Adolf Hitler’s appointment as Reich Chancellor in 1933, the National Socialists gradually brought the police under their control. Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler united the newly established Secret State Police (Gestapo) with the Criminal Police (Kripo) to form the Security Police (Sicherheitspolizei). This was subsequently merged with the Security Service (SD) in 1939 under the umbrella of the Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt, abbr. RSHA).

The SD (Security Service of the Reichsführer SS) was established in 1931 by Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler as the intelligence service of the SS (Schutzstaffel). Its task was to gather information on political opponents and oppositional movements within and outside the National Socialist circles. From 1934, the SD became the intelligence service of the NSDAP. It was subordinated to Reinhard Heydrich, who merged the SD with the security police (Gestapo and Kripo) into the newly formed Reich Security Main Office in 1939.

The Criminal Police (Kriminalpolizei, »Kripo«) is a regular police division in charge of investigating crimes. In the National Socialist state its tasks additionally included the surveillance and persecution of »community aliens« (»Gemeinschaftsfremde«). People deemed »career criminals« or »asocials« by the Criminal Police were placed under systematic surveillance and were detained indefinitely.  
It was up to police officers to decide what was to be considered »asocial behaviour«: the slightest deviation from the norm could lead to imprisonment.

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.