Enemies of the people : Hitler's critics and the Gestapo

How do terror and popularity merge under a dictatorship? How did the Gestapo deal with critics of Nazism? Based on hundreds of secret police case files, Enemies of the People explores the day-to-day reality of political policing under Hitler. Examining the Gestapo's policy of 'selective enforcement', J. Ryan Stackhouse challenges the abiding perception of the Gestapo as policing exclusively through terror. Instead, he reveals the complex system of enforcement that defined the relationship between state and society in the Third Reich and helps to explain the Germans' abiding support for Hitler and their complicity in the regime's crimes. Stories of everyday life in Nazi Germany paint the clearest picture yet of just how differently the Gestapo handled certain groups and actions, and the routine investigation, interrogation, and enforcement practices behind this system. Enemies of the People offers penetrating insights into just how reasonable selective enforcement appeared to Germans, and draws unavoidable parallels with the contemporary threat of authoritarianism. List of Figures List of Tables Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: A New Code of Law Understanding Selective Enforcement The Scope of Policing 1 National and Regional Foundations, 1933–1945 The Origins of Ministerial Independence The Origins of Preventative Police Justice The Gestapo and Government District Düsseldorf The Policing of Opposition 2 Criminalizing Conversation, 1933–1934 Legal Lawlessness From Camps to Courts Enforcement in Transition 3 Defining Opposition, 1935–1939 Transformations of the Struggle Volksgemeinschaft and German Policing Political Reliability 4 Discovering Offences, 1935–1943 Detection Reporting 5 Confirming Culpability, 1935–1943 Investigation Interrogation Routine Procedure 6 Cooperation and Ascendancy, 1935–1939 The Rise of Police Justice Enforcement by the Numbers Recommending Appropriate Action Peacetime Enforcement 7 Principles of Internal Security, 1939–1942 The Stab in the Back Momentary Weakness or Ruthless Suppression Gestapo Supremacy and Deterrence Wartime Enforcement Policy 8 Enforcing People’s Community, 1939–1942 Seizing Selective Enforcement Psychological Understanding Supporters and Subversives 9 Total War Policing, 1943–1944 Military Collapse Gestapo Response and the Kaltenbrunner Directives Preventing Slave Revolt Cooperation with the Party The Gestapo after Stalingrad 10 Involving the Party, 1943–1944 Rubber Stamp Review Energetic Rebukes or Draconian Sentencing Targeting Doubtful Attitudes 11 Death Throes, 1944–1945 The Fall Crisis The Final Collapse The Big Lie Epilogue: The Pillars of Popular Dictatorship Endnotes Bibliography Index Explores the Gestapo's complex system of enforcement and control to reveal the day-to-day reality of political policing under Hitler. Stackhouse challenges the abiding perception of the Gestapo as policing only through terror and totalitarianism, drawing on research in hundreds of secret police case files.