Dictators can only rule with the help of a large and powerful secret police force to hunt down, imprison, or kill opponents of their regime. Hitler’s secret state police was called the Gestapo, and its ruthless methods spread fear wherever the Nazis went. The Gestapo was founded in 1933 by Hermann Goering and was later led by Heinrich Himmler.
Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945) was head of the SS. His goal was to kill all the Jews in Europe.
During World War II, the Gestapo followed the advancing German army as part of the SS, Hitler’s vast army of henchmen and bodyguards. Once German rule was established, the Gestapo would round up those they regarded as enemies, including communists, Jews, and anyone who resisted Nazi rule. Thousands were imprisoned or shot without trial.
The Gestapo arrested many thousands of innocent people, like this group of Jewish men hiding in a cellar in Poland.
The Gestapo used brutal methods such as electric shocks, beatings, or near drowning in bathtubs filled with ice-cold water to make people confess their secrets. They had about 45,000 members but had another 160,000 agents and informers. People in occupied Europe had to be careful not to say or do anything that might arouse suspicion in case someone reported them to the Gestapo.
The secret police in Mussolini’s Italy was called the OVRA. Though hated by many, the OVRA was not as ruthless as the Gestapo. One method they used to stop troublemakers was to tie them to a tree and make them drink castor oil before forcing them to eat a live toad.
