History GCSE
The Gestapo
What The Gestapo means in History GCSE, as defined for Pearson Edexcel.
Definition of The Gestapo
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain The Gestapo in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: Pearson Edexcel
The secret state police under Reinhard Heydrich, which operated without judicial oversight to identify and arrest political opponents and relied heavily on civilian informers.
Topics that use The Gestapo
- Option 31: Key topic 3: Nazi control and dictatorship, 1933–39 - 2 The police state (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
Related terms
- Concentration camps
- Dictatorship and authoritarianism
- Institutional control
- Political repression
- The police state
- The SS
- Subversion of justice
Using The Gestapo in the exam
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