Gestapo

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 powe...