The word 'Gestapo' has become synonymous with the terrible brutality and terror of the Nazi regime in World War II. The Gestapo came into existence in 1933 as Department 1A of the Prussian State Police. Under the SS, the Gestapo grew in power, and was given the job of investigating and combatting 'all tendencies dangerous to the state'. Schutzhaft (protective custody) gave the Gestapo the power to imprison without judicial proceedings, often in concentration camps. It was also responsible for destroying opposition to Hitler. By early 1942, as the Nazi regime became increasingly unpopular in Germany, a number of protests took place. The Gestapo's response was brutal. Thousands were arrested and executed, and all dissent was crushed.
The History of the Gestapo provides an authoritative overview of this sinister instrument of repression. Never before had an organisation attained such complexity, been vested with such power, or reached such a pitch of 'perfection' in efficiency and horror.

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
  • Table of Abbreviations used
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Part One The Birth of the Gestapo 1933–34
    • 1 The Nazis Become Masters of Germany
    • 2 Goering Has Recourse to the Police
    • 3 The Gestapo is Created
  • Part Two The Gestapo Perfects Its Methods 1934–1936
    • 4 Himmler Takes Over the Gestapo
    • 5 Himmler’s “Black Order”
    • 6 The Gestapo is Everywhere
    • 7 The Strange Personality of Heydrich
    • 8 The Gestapo Versus Roehm
    • 9 “The Night of the Long Knives”
    • 10 The New Organization of the Police
  • Part Three The Gestapo Prepares for the Invasion 1936–39
    • 11 The Gestapo Tackles the Army
    • 12 The Gestapo Installs Itself in Europe
    • 13 Himmler Shapes His Organization
  • Part Four The Gestapo at War 1940
    • 14 In Poland
    • 15 The Gestapo in France
    • 16 The Gestapo and the Army
  • Part Five The Hell of the Gestapo 1940–44
    • 17 The Gestapo at Work in France
    • 18 The Martyrdom of the Eastern Territories
    • 19 The Experiments of the Nazi Scientists
    • 20 The Gestapo Operates Throughout the Whole of France
  • Part Six Collapse of the Gestapo 1944
    • 21 Resistance in the Army
    • 22 The Wolves Devour Each Other
  • Appendices
  • Bibliography
  • Index