The Genesis of the Gestapo
1987; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 22; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1177/002200948702200304
ISSN1461-7250
Autores Tópico(s)Communism, Protests, Social Movements
ResumoThe history of the Prussian political police, particularly during the transition period between the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich, has not yet been studied systematically, although it played an important perhaps crucial role in the national socialist seizure of power. One reason for this lack of critical analysis is the existence of a number of publications and personal accounts whose shortcomings have hitherto gone unnoticed. Chief among these are the memoirs of the first Gestapo chief, Rudolf Diels. Although this book is based more on fiction than fact, it has none the less been widely quoted by both publicists and historians. Suggestively entitled Lucifer ante portas, Diels's memoirs were first published in 1949 as a pre-print in the widely-read German magazine, Der Spiegel, then by a dubious right-wing publisher in Zurich and finally, in 1950, by a renowned publishing house in Stuttgart.2 Since then, Diels's account has passed for the standard work on the epoch of the nazi seizure of power, particularly with regard to the police. Its apologetic and belittling character, however, has not drawn any comment. Similarly doubtful memoirs were published, on the one hand, by former subordinates and rivals of Diels, such as Heinrich Schnitzler and Hans-Bernd Gisevius and, on the other, by political personalities and superiors of Diels, such as Franz von Papen.3 Members of the Gestapo also wrote their own personal accounts, which can be passed over in silence, since their palliative and falsifying character has generally been recognized.4 The memoirs and accounts written by republican politicians and senior officials of the Weimar Republic, such as Otto Braun, Carl Severing, Arnold Brecht, Albert Grzesinski and Bernhard Weiss are a different matter.5 While their contributions offer valuable insights into the functioning of the Prussian state security organs up until 1932, occasionally even supplying information about their national socialist enemies and successors, they naturally cannot divulge much about the 'inner mechanism' of the
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