• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

How did the Nazis know who to round up?

Arcade22

Philosopher
Arcade22
Joined
Aug 8, 2007
Messages
7,733
Location
Sweden
Might be a stupid question but how did the Nazis know who to round up and put into concentration camps? Were there documentation on who was Jewish or was there some kind of intelligence agency who tried to find as many Jews/racial undesirables as possible? Were the homosexuals who were thrown in concentration camps found "in the act" or was it just people they suspected to be homosexuals? How were political opponents/dissidents known?
 
Well, Jews had been required to wear identification for years before any "deportations." Also, remember that back then life was far more local than it is now. Except for the largest cities, people lived in communities where they knew their neighbors and nobody traveled much. That made it pretty easy for each town to point out its Jews.
 
I'm pretty sure a lot of times, people were informed on/turned in by others living nearby.
 
One of the tricks the Nazis used was to ask the religion of your grandmother. A lot of people amswered honestly without giving it a thought
 
How much of this was done extra-judicially? For example i read on Wikipedia:

In contradistinction to normal police, the Gestapo were authorized to take gay men into preventive detention (Schutzhaft) of arbitrary duration without an accusation (or even after an acquittal). This was often the fate of so-called "repeat offenders": at the end of their sentences, they were not freed but sent for additional "reeducation" (Umerziehung) in a concentration camp.
Click to expand...

So the Gestapo could just throw people into concentration camps and prisons just because they looked funny?
 
Arcade22 said:
So people themselves had to prove how German or Jewish they were?
Click to expand...

The Germans generally kept good records, including religion. So, normally, there wasn't that much "proof" to be offered. If the 1880 census of Bad Schüschein listed your grandfather and grandmother as Jewish, that pretty much settled it.
 
Arcade22 said:
So the Gestapo could just throw people into concentration camps and prisons just because they looked funny?
Click to expand...

Now you are getting it :) And it is why 60 years later many people still consider the nazis to be one of the most evil influences to walk the Earth in modern times
 
Arcade22 said:
How much of this was done extra-judicially? For example i read on Wikipedia:



So the Gestapo could just throw people into concentration camps and prisons just because they looked funny?
Click to expand...
.

There was 20 or so categories of undesireables, who had to wear the steenken' bodges.
And were subject to one-way trips to the camps.
The physically and mentally challenged were also subject to disposal.
 
MG1962 said:
Now you are getting it :) And it is why 60 years later many people still consider the nazis to be one of the most evil influences to walk the Earth in modern times
Click to expand...

Yeah you're right, they were indeed a horrible bunch. Filled with hatred, prejudice and bigotry.













 
Here's where those buckles were used...
 

Attachments

  • KneeldownshutupanddieA.jpeg
    KneeldownshutupanddieA.jpeg
    85.2 KB · Views: 38
Germany has for a long time meticulously kept records of who lived where (street address), and what occupation and religion they had. Still today, when you move to a new place, you are required by law to go to the communal administration of your new residence and tell them where you now live, and that you moved out of which old place, and also must register any addititional residences you might have, indicating which is your main residence ("center of life").

When the Nazis came to power, they quickly added to such community records information about family heritage. All Germans were required to get a "Ahnenpass" ("passport of forebearers"), a document that lists your pedigree several generations back; each entry was signed and stamped by the communal administration office (Standesamt) responsible for documenting family matters (births, deaths, marriages).

So the problem of who to round up was easy for Germany (and Austria and the other areas annexed to the Reich).


I have myself wondered how they did it in Poland, Hungary, Ukraine and so on. Surely they must have had plenty of local collaborators. Still, the problems start with language. I was in Kiev three times in 2009 and 2010 and found that communication with Ukrainians isn't very easy - I, as most West Germans, and most Germans before the war, hardly know more than 3 words in Russian, and few Ukrainians are fluent in either English or German. I suspect none of these countries kept records quite the way Germany did, so indeed the question is valid how they picked their victims from every village and town. Quite an "achievement"!
 
I heard it was the noses. :)

I kid, I kid.

Were gentiles circumsized in 1930s/40s Deutschland?
 
Oystein said:
I have myself wondered how they did it in Poland, Hungary, Ukraine and so on. Surely they must have had plenty of local collaborators. Still, the problems start with language. I was in Kiev three times in 2009 and 2010 and found that communication with Ukrainians isn't very easy - I, as most West Germans, and most Germans before the war, hardly know more than 3 words in Russian, and few Ukrainians are fluent in either English or German. I suspect none of these countries kept records quite the way Germany did, so indeed the question is valid how they picked their victims from every village and town. Quite an "achievement"!
Click to expand...

Well Jews tended to live seperately (either for legal or cultural reasons). There were jewish villages/towns (shtetl) and the nazis didn't invent ghettos.

Aditionaly from the nazis POV slavs were little better than jews so not much of a problem if you missidentified one.

There were jews who survived by pretending not to be jews even in berlin but if your intial sweep picks up 90% a few more years of informants and the like will get you up to 99%.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom