Gestapo

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/gestapo

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the founding year?1933
2. What is the key administrative body?Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), Department 4
3. What was the Gestapo and why was it scary?The Gestapo was a secret police force that could make people disappear. It used fear and secret arrests to control people.
4. How did the Gestapo start and grow into a national force?It began in 1933 under Hermann Göring, then Heinrich Himmler expanded it in 1934 and 1936. It became part of the national police and the Reich Security Main Office.

Geheime Staatspolizei: The official German name for the Gestapo, meaning 'Secret State Police'.
Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo): The security police in Nazi Germany, of which the Gestapo was a part.
International Military Tribunal (IMT): The court established to prosecute prominent Nazi leaders after World War II.