The Gestapo
Subtitle: the myth and reality of Hitler's secret police
By: by Frank McDonough
Publisher: Coronet
Published: 2015
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 309
ISBN-13: 9781444778052; 9781444778069
Copyright date: 2015
Subjects: Police; Germany. Geheime Staatspolizei; Germany; Military leadership; Command of troops; History
Description: "The Gestapo was Hitler's secret police force. Popularly depicted as a central part of an all-powerful 'Big Brother' Nazi totalitarian police state, its primary aim was to hunt down 'the enemies of the people'. Drawing on a detailed examination of previously unpublished Gestapo case files this book relates the fascinating, vivid and disturbing stories of a cross-section of ordinary and extraordinary people who opposed the Nazi regime. It also tells the equally disturbing stories of their friends, neighbours and sometimes even relatives, people drawn into the Gestapo's web of intrigue, either as informers as staff. The book reveals, too, the cold-blooded and efficient methods of the Gestapo officers. This book will reveal that the Gestapo lacked the manpower and resources to spy on everyone, that it was reliant on tip offs from the general public. Yet this did not mean the Gestapo was a weak or inefficient instrument of Nazi terror. On the contrary, it ruthlessly and efficiently targeted its officers against clearly defined political and racial enemies. The Gestapo provides a chilling new doorway into the everyday life of the Third Reich and gives powerful new testimony from the victims of Nazi terror."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Becoming the Gestapo; title: Gestapo men and methods; title: Policing religious faith; title: Hunting the Communists; title: Denounce thy neighbour; title: The racial war against the 'Social outsiders'; title: Persecuting the Jews; title: The Gestapo on trial; title: Notes; title: Glossary of German terms and organisations.