This book examines the everyday operations of the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police. How were the Gestapo able to detect the smallest signs of non-compliance with Nazi doctrines, especially 'crimes' pertaining to the private spheres of social, family, and sexual life? How could the police enforce policies such as those designed to isolate the Jews or foreign workers with such apparent ease? Robert Gellately argues that there was a three-way interaction between the police, the German people, and the implementation of policy; and that the key factor in the enforcement of Nazi racial policy was the willingness of German citizens to provide the authorities with information about suspected 'criminality'.

Robert Gellately's profile page

Robert Gellately is at University of Western Ontario.

'This convincingly argued and meticulously researched and documented book makes an important contribution ... fascinating and original contributon to the social and administrative history of the Third Reich.' Charlie Jeffery, University of Leicester, Politics and Society in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, 1. 1991

'... impressive study ... This is more than a regional study. Professor Gellately also draws on material from other parts of Germany, notably the Ruhr, to set his work firmly in a national context. This is a sad but convincing book which will deservedly attract a wide readership.' Conan Fischer University of Strathclyde EHR Shorter Notices April '94

'meticulous analysis ... has brought some fascinating and disturbing material to light, and raised a whole new set of questions' Jewish Chronicle

'One of the book's strengths is the wealth of individual case material presented, which makes it fascinating, if depressing, reading ... this is a substantial study which makes an important contribution to the social and institutional history of the Third Reich and to research on the fate of the Jews.' Elizabeth Harvey, University of Liverpool, Patterns of Prejudice, Vol. 25, No. 1, 1991

'This is a most impressive book - well-organized, clearly written, balanced in its judgments. It breaks new ground in our understanding of the relations between the Third Reich and the German population and hence of the regime's effectiveness.' Times Higher Education Supplement

'well-researched. As a result, Gellately is able to demonstrate the continuity between the Gestapo and the pre-fascist police.' Living Marxism

'This convincingly argued and meticulously researched and documented book makes an important contribution to redressing the balance ... fascinating and original contribution to the social and administrative history of the Third Reich.' Charlie Jeffery, University of Leicester, Politics and Society in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Vol 4 No.1, 1991

well-written and scholarly ... fascinating but amazingly neglected subject ... this book deserves a wide readership' History Today

'Robert Gellately's well-researched and clearly organized study is based on the surviving records from the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria ... as a stimulating and suggestive analysis of the secret police's role in enforcing the Nazi regime's racial policy, this book is unlikely to be surpassed.' Geoff Stoakes, European History Quarterly