How powerful was the Gestapo?

It can be argued that due to the war, many German citizens said that they acted out of fear for the Gestapo, thus exaggerating the image of the Gestapo. Many historians say that the Gestapo was not as a powerful a force as it is made out to be as it needed popular consent. This has been found from looking at how the Gestapo worked locally rather than considering the reports from the SPD in exile or the orders from the Gestapo HQ.

Not only this but the Gestapo also lacked the numbers of officers that would have meant that it would have been a powerful force. For example, in major areas such as Frankfurt, Hanover and Bremen had under 50 officers. At its peak, the Gestapo had 30,000 officers. Many of these would be recruited from existing police forces with a few SS members. It is also important to note that plenty of Gestapo members were desk bound as not field agents.

Much of the Gestapo work was made possible due to co-operation from the German public. Over a half or even in some cases, 80% of investigations came from denunciations. This can suggest that many people approved of the regime.

Professor Gellately has said though that rather than political factors, it was due to personal feelings or gain. These denunciations led to the Gestapo’s works becoming more radical but also more random. In a sense, this allowed for more opposition to the Nazi regime.

Historians Mallman and Paul said ‘The Nazi regime was quite definitely not in the position to engage in comprehensive surveillance or perfect repression. Although the Nazi regime’s aspirations were totalitarian, the reality was not’.