An Institution with a Past
As the body with the state monopoly on the use of force, the police have the task of caring for security and order. This is the case in democratic states as well as in dictatorships.
The rule of the National Socialist state was based on acceptance, conformity and extreme force. The police remained its reliable bastion until the downfall of the regime. The Nazi state enforced its political and ideological aims with the support of the police. Many policemen shared the Nazi vision of a Volksgemeinschaft, a “national community”, based on racial exclusion.
Not only the Gestapo – the Secret State Police –, but also the Criminal Investigation Police and the Order Police participated in the persecution of actual and alleged opponents of the regime as well as in the genocide of the Jews and the Sinti and Roma.
Many policemen were able to continue their careers after the war. Only a few had to take responsibility for their crimes before a court of law. For a long time the police showed no interest in shedding light on their own past.
