Rivetti 1

Nazi Perpetrators: The Gestapo." The Gestapo. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.

<http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Gestapo.html>.
Nazi Germanys Gestapo, the abbreviated word for Geheime Staatspolizei, was the secret
state police of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. They played a large part in the
Holocaust and Germanys other destruction during World War II. The Gestapo was
founded in 1933 by Hermann Goring, who was then Prussias Minister of the Interior.
Goring organized this group when he separated the espionage and political units from the
Prussian police force and filled these units with thousands of Nazis. Goring became
commander of this force, and gave it the power to shadow, arrest, and interrogate anyone
deemed an enemy of the state. Heinrich Himmler, the founder of the SS officers, later
took over control of Gestapo. The Gestapo merged with multiple branches of the German
police, including the criminal police and security service, to gain strength. During World
War II, a key part of the Gestapo was formed, the Einsatzgruppen. These were special kill
squads who would round up Jews and either execute them or take them to concentration
camps. Other jobs of the Gestapo during World War II included guarding and supervising
the Jewish ghettos, imposing forced labor, and overseeing the process of the death camps.
After the war, very few Gestapo were prosecuted.

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Gestapo." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Encyclopedia Britannica, Web. 01 Apr. 2016. <http://www.britannica.com/Gestapo>
The Gestapo were the secret police of Nazi Germany, tasked with the job of eliminating
opposition to the Nazis, as well rounding up Jews throughout Europe. The Gestapo began

Rivetti 2
when the Nazis rose to power in 1933 and Hermann Goring became Prussian Minister of
the Interior. He separated the political and espionage units from the police force, and on
April 26, 1933, he reorganized them with thousands of Nazis, all under his control. A
year later, command of the Gestapo was given to Heinrich Himmler and his aide
Reinhard Heydrich. The Gestapo operated with no civil restraints, and its actions were
not subject to judicial appeal. The Gestapo mad thousands of intellectuals, Jews, and
Gypsies disappear into the concentration camps. The political section of the Gestapo
decided whether a prisoner be murdered, tortured, or released. They worked together with
the SS throughout World War II to manage the inferior races, including Jews and
Gypsies. They also occupied new territories conquered by Germany. The Einsatzgruppen
were part of the Gestapo, and they were mobile death squads that followed the army into
new territories to kill all undesirables. The Gestapo were responsible for the deportation
of millions of Jews to the concentration camps.

"The History Place - Triumph of Hitler: The Gestapo Is Born." The History Place - Triumph of
Hitler: The Gestapo Is Born. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-gestapo.htm>.
The Gestapo was formed when Hitler appointed Hermann Goring as Minister of the
Interior. Goring had control of the police with this position, and he created the Gestapo.
He first used the Gestapo to silence Hitlers political opponents. Before World War II,
Goring decided to cede the Gestapo to Heinrich Himmler, his opponent and leader of the
SS. In 1936, a law was passed giving permission to the Gestapo to carry out any action
without legal approval. With this law, the Gestapo operated without civil constraints and

Rivetti 3
outside of the law. Another law passed was Hitlers Night and Fog Decree, under which
the Gestapo could make any anti-Nazi disappear without a trace. The Gestapos
interrogation methods included near-drownings in freezing cold water, electric shocks to
the hands, feet, and ears, hanging a person by the wrist to dislocate their shoulder, and
burning the flesh with matches or an iron. During World War II, the Gestapo followed the
Nazi army into every country and terrorized that region, killing all undesirables and
pitting neighbors against each other. The Gestapo were mainly used to change peoples
thinking, and they did this by getting rid of those whose beliefs differed theirs.

Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, 2006. Print.
The Gestapo are mentioned multiple times in Night by Elie Wiesel. They are first
introduced by Moishe the Beadle, who claims they took over the train carrying himself
and other foreign Jews. The Gestapo led them out to a forest, had them dig trenches, and
then shot the Jews with machine guns. They even used babies as target practice by
throwing them up in the air to shoot them. The next time the Gestapo are mentioned is in
the ghetto, where two Gestapo officers are present to supervise the ghettos liquidation.
They are also present at the train station and on the trains to the concentration camps, to
ensure the process runs smoothly. Finally, the Gestapo are seen in the concentration
camps. They were not here as frequently as the SS Officers, however Elie does mention
them in the camps. In conclusion, the Gestapo were spoken about in Night multiple times.
Based on Elies descriptions and stories, it is obvious that the Gestapo were very cruel
and feared.