The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-11-30
TERROR SPREAD
THROUGH NATION
BY NAzI POLICE
Secret Gestapo Brings
Shudder of Horror to
All Germans.
BY MILTON sRONNER
MA Service stan Cslrresnnndenf

LONDON. Nov. 30.-"Gestapo"-
the very name makes Germans
thudder. 1t is the peoples term for
the Geheim Stats Polizei-the state
secret police. 1t Is purely a Nazi
creation. so secret are it's work.
ings that few facts are known about
1t, but legend is rapidly accunlu-
lating. If the stories that seep out
OF Germany are to be believed. the
Gestapo Is the most feared of all
secret police organizations. and
Europe, in its time, has known
quite a few.
The Gestapo is a thing of COM
paratively recent growth. At first,
when Adolf Hitler WIS not sure as
70 the reliability of his brown
shirted troopers. the S. A, he formed
the S. S., dressed in somber black
and, as that body grew, it was placed
in charge of Heinrich Himmler.
When the Nazis came to power,
Himmler was made project of po-
lice in Munich.
Himmler Heads Unit
General Goering. head of the
PruSsian government. formed his
Prussian Gestapo. Hitler named
Himmler as head of the Gestapo in
the other German states. Later,
Himmler was promoted to chief
tainship Of all the Gestapo in the
reich. He then transferred his
headquarters from Munich to Ber-
lin.
Some of the chief jobs of his
thousands of secret police and spies
are as follows:
l. To seize all communistic and
Socialist literature that is struggled
into Germany by various means and
to arrest, if possible, those inside
Germany actively concerned in dis
tributing the subversive leaflets and
pamphlets.
2. To keep watch on all persons
on the Nazi black list. These are
people suspected of active antagon-
ism to the Hitler regime, or of re-
vealing state or military secrets.
3. Since the blood purge of last
June, to keep tab on all Nazi leaders,
big and little, lest another web of
intrigue against Hitler be woven in
side the ranks of his own organiza- |
ton.
Don't Wear Uniforms
Nobody knows who the secret |
police are. They don't wear uni
forms. They seem like ordinary |
citizens. They work under cover.
And what makes all Germans shud-
der is that it is swift transition
from being seized by the secret
police to being Laled before the So
called Peoples Court, likewise re-
Gently instituted by the Nazi regime.
These courts try all political and
reasonable offenses. There are
three senates, each with five judges.
Only two on each panel have legal
training. The balance are army
officers and Nazi.
Trials mainly are held in secret
and there is no appeal. It is posi-
BILE, upon the accusations of the
secret police, to be swiftly railroad
ed to the firing squad or the head
mans ak.
1t is claimed there is no restau-
rant, cafe or hotel which is not
surveyed by the Gestapo. The
microphone is freely used. The
Gestapo has a tiny one, easily hid
den, and of immense carrying power.
It is whispered that all the CONVEX
sations of persons on the black list
are listened to, even in their homes.
Moreover, the conversations are
electrically recorded so that the
judges-if cases be brought-may
have no doubt as to the authenticity
Of the evidence.
It used to be a common thing
for Germans to make a rendezvous