Concept in Definition ABC

In 1933 Hermann Göring founded the Gestapo, Hitler's secret police. The activity of this police force continued until the end of World War II in 1945. Its members carried out a fundamental task for Nazi interests: to persecute and eliminate the opponents of National Socialism. In this sense, Hitler's secret police became an effective lethal weapon.

The repressive tool of Nazism

Like all dictatorial regimes, the Nazism organized a system based on the social control and terror. In the Gestapo files there was detailed information on the ideology of the population German as a whole. While the agents were engaged in torture and espionage, in official documents this organization was presented with a legitimate purpose: the protection of the German people and state.

To obtain information, the secret police officers used several strategies: wiretapping, violation of correspondence and spies infiltrating organizations clandestine. Despite the effectiveness of these methods, the main source of information came from the denunciations and complaints of German citizens.

In any case, the dreaded Gestapo displayed intense activity, as its enemies were many: Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, Communists, homosexuals, gypsies, Spanish republicans, young protesters and, ultimately, all those who deviate from the ideological principles of the National Socialism.

The secret police of Nazism could imprison people without having to respect the procedures judicial proceedings and for this he resorted to the system of preventive detention. The headquarters of the Gestapo was in Berlin and Berliners referred to this place as "the house of horrors". It is worth remembering that the agents who made up this police force were divided into two categories: criminal assistant and criminal secretary.

When World War II ended, the Nuremberg trials began to try Nazi officers. In the final sentences, the Gestapo was declared a criminal organization.

Collaborating companies

The German company IBM put itself at the service of Nazism and with the first computers all the information of the Gestapo was efficiently managed.

Hugo F. Boss (founder of the Hugo Boss company) joined the Nazi party in 1931 and thanks to this, his modest textile factory was able to count on a large number of forced laborers of Jewish origin. The popular clothing brand abandoned the manufacturing of suits for the civilian population and focused on making military uniforms for the Nazis.

Both cases expose how certain companies were involved, directly or indirectly based on their own interests.

Currently

A museum is developed inside, while on the extreme side is the expositionTopography of terror. In both cases, it is important to note that the messages, omissions and weight given and the way in which the various historical events are told are extremely biased.

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