What was the Gestapo?

Recently, we have seen some disturbing events in Portland, Oregon, which have got people seriously worried about a new American Gestapo. But is this accurate? And what exactly was the Gestapo anyway?

Music:
"Style Funk" and "Hot Swing"
Creative Commons Attribution licence

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[AmonRa]

Covert surveillance. Check. Uninformed officers. Check. Politely ask to come with them. Check. Disappeared without due process. Check. 2025 and here we are folks.

[AndersHenke]

I’d like to point out the word “geheim” a century ago had another common meaning: “familiar” or “internal”.


Originally, the word “geheim” was more along “very familiar with the internal matters”: “heim” refers to “home”.

A “Geheimrat” was a honorary trusted advisor on internal matters and not a secret spy: for example, Goethe has also been a well known “Geheimrat”.

So the original “Geheimpolizei” was probably less named that way about being secretive on spying their fellow citizens, but more on their function to focus on national matters, while the normal police was not focused on a particular topic.

After WW1, that meaning of the word “geheim” became forgotten in everyday life, and its moving moved from “familiar” to “secret”.

[Laufburscheu]

"videos I wish I didn't have to make."
👍
It gives a hint about the person you are, that you feel forced to make then. Please, keep trying to make the world a better place.

[hanshans]

"More like a militia" So not Gestapo, but rather SA? At least sound more like SA to me.

[mg]

I disagree. Intimidation always was a Major weapon in the hands of the Gestapo. Nightly raids, certain dress codes were meant to inspire fear. This was extremely necessary since the Gestapo was a fairly small organization. The main intelligence gathering was done outside of the Gestapo using Blockwarte and the "vigilance" of party members.

[JoSeF...]

“The unforgivable sin of Hitler’s Germany was to develop a new economic system by which the international bankers were deprived of their profits.”
Winston Churchill

[AndersGehtsdochauch]

0:16 in and I already love this video.
Our country should be very proud of its brand new citizen called Rewboss.
Thank you.

[idraote]

The US haven't been a democracy (or a republic - yes, they are different things) for many years now.
It's not only my personal view but apparently that of US political scientists' as well.
And when the country that - for the moment - is the major world power grows more authoritarian, insular and short-sighted by the year, the outlook cannot be good. At all.

[JurassicRaptor]

Greetings from Portland, Oregon. I thank sir for your insight!

[juricarmichel]

All actions must be constitutional and verifiable. With marked and numbered men and equipment .

[glitchedv]

I was watching a youtuber, and the people in portland are apparently Federal Police, Homeland Security.

[giannispapadakis]

anyone else watching this for a school project?

[thaitom]

I am not sure whether I necessarily would translate "Reichssicherheitshauptamt" as "Central Office for Imperial Security". The particle "Reichs-" rather should be understood in the sense of "National" here. While Germany even under the Nazis officially still was called "Deutsches Reich" (German Empire, or rather, German Realm, i.e. Nation), the monarchy had been abolished since November 2018. Hence, a better fitting translation for "Reichssicherheitshauptamt" (what a word!!!) perhaps would be "Central Office for National Security". Well, that's my two cents (or pence or pfennigs) worth anyway.

[SylviaRustyFae]

4:58 So, just wanna pt out... Given what we now know, it very much sounds like your analysis here was prty on pt

Folks within the DOJ apparently colluded to protect the alt right elements rising to power from prosecution; bcuz ofc, the tyrants were usin the same wpn designed to tske them out as a wpn against the ppl. Heck, it seems likely the DHS was used similarly as well; but the only one i know for a fact is that at least one person in the DOJ worked to obfuscate evidence of a link between Trump and Russia.

And its all the more worryin as we find out all the things the FBI and CIA knew ahead of the Jan 6th insurrection attempt and yet, didnt act on bcuz they were still bein used as a tool of the tyrants in power

[OliverJWeber]

Actually, if you want to understand the early history of the Gestapo, you should look into the history of the Bavarian political police (BayPoPo, or BPP). Why is this? Well, Prussia came under the control of Goering in 1933 (who indeed founded the Gestapa), while Himmler (and Heydrich) installed themselves in Munich, where they took over the Bavarian police. From there, they took over all political police forces in the Reich *apart* from Prussia. This happened only in 1936 when Himmler gained control over all police forces.

[StephenCowley]

The comparison seems inept to me. The police have the right to arrest people, within limits and subject to the rule of law, in both countries.

[frankboyd]

I saw these reports and photos/videos of the "unmarked" police in combat gear. I found it interesting that they all had identifying patches on their uniforms that clearly showed the agency they were with (e.g. US Border Patrol, etc) and alphanumeric ID patches (probably something like a badge number). Also important to note that, with very few exceptions, those getting arrested were rioters attempting to damage federal property or cause harm to the officers assigned to protect those properties.

[tungurahua]

Not even George Orwell could have imagined how truly frightening the future was going to be.

[EternalFaith_ICXC]

The East germans also had a gestapo, it was called the STASI.

[JonahF]

1:44 "There was a revolution in Germany in 1848"
Which Germany?