Design for Terror: An Analysis of the Organization and Function of the Oppressive Government Systems in Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany

By Arnold Reifer

THE TITLE OF this study unfortunately implies much and tells little. The scope of any work such as this must of necessity be limited to certain aspects only of the regimes in question. The formation and political history of the Nazi and Soviet regimes, for example, have been covered only in the most cursory manner, and only insofar as they bore a direct relationship to the network of terror which evolved in both states.

The historical period herein covered is approximately 1932 to 1941 for Germany and 1918 to 1958 for Soviet Russia. Emphasis has been placed on the Soviet model, which is the more contemporary of the two. The history, scope and function of the Nazi secret police will, however, be discussed where it can be shown that a similarity or a contrast existed with respect to the organs of repression in Russia.

In addition to a discussion of the terror itself, mention will also be made of the background, methods, goals and actual operations of the instruments of terror. I have tried, to the best of my ability, to preserve the continuity throughout the text and to avoid “skipping” from the Gestapo in one paragraph to the N.K.V.D. in the other. A conscious attempt has been made not only to examine the system of terror in and for itself but also to discover the significance of terror in the daily life of the average citizen as well as to ascertain to what extent terror represents an inevitable feature of totalitarian societies.”—Arnold Reifer

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eschenburg Press
• Release date: Dec 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781789126693

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Text originally published in 1962 under the same title.

© Eschenburg Press 2018, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

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Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

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DESIGN FOR TERROR

An Analysis of the Organization and Function of the Oppressive Government Systems in Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany

BY

ARNOLD REIFER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

DEDICATION 3

PREFACE 4

INTRODUCTION 5

I—Precedents 7

II—The Early Days 10

III—The Function of Terror 17

TERROR PERVADES THE FABRIC OF SOCIETY 17

EDUCATION 25

LABOR 27

IV—The Purges 29

THE ARMY 32

OBTAINING CONFESSIONS 37

IN GERMANY 38

V—Corrective Labor and Concentration Camps 40

METHODS OF TERROR 40

THE CAMPS 42

VI—The People’s Attitudes Toward Authority 44

THE PARTY AND THE LEADER 44

RUSSIA TODAY 48

CONCLUSION 51

BIBLIOGRAPHY 52

DEDICATION

To those who suffered

PREFACE

To the future or to the past. To a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone—to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone! From the age of uniformity, from the age of solitude, from the age of big brother...greetings!{1}

THE TITLE OF this study unfortunately implies much and tells little. The scope of any work such as this must of necessity be limited to certain aspects only of the regimes in question. The formation and political history of the Nazi and Soviet regimes, for example, have been covered only in the most cursory manner, and only insofar as they bore a direct relationship to the network of terror which evolved in both states.

The historical period herein covered is approximately 1932 to 1941 for Germany and 1918 to 1958 for Soviet Russia. Emphasis has been placed on the Soviet model, which is the more contemporary of the two. The history, scope and function of the Nazi secret police will, however, be discussed where it can be shown that a similarity or a contrast existed with respect to the organs of repression in Russia.

In addition to a discussion of the terror itself, mention will also be made of the background, methods, goals and actual operations of the instruments of terror. I have tried, to the best of my ability, to preserve the continuity throughout the text and to avoid skipping from the Gestapo in one paragraph to the N.K.V.D. in the other. A conscious attempt has been made not only to examine the system of terror in and for itself but also to discover the significance of terror in the daily life of the average citizen as well as to ascertain to what extent terror represents an inevitable feature of totalitarian societies.

A. R.

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS TERROR? The dictionary defines it as any system which utilizes unlawful acts of violence committed in an organized attempt to maintain or overthrow a government or a political system. This is, however, a rather remote and meaningless definition to those who have not known terror at first hand. Those individuals who were forced to suffer the misfortune of living under a system which utilized this means of maintaining its power have a firsthand, a personal and perhaps a better definition of the term. Said Erika Mann: Not even the most harmless people know what it’s like not to be in constant danger; danger of arrest at any moment, denounced by anyone who finds it worth his while.{2} I. N. Steinberg, in his In the Workshop of the Revolution, has this to say of the Soviet terror: Only those who have felt its heavy hand can know the true meaning of...terror.{3}

What, then, are the common denominators of both the Nazi and Soviet systems of terror? Surely both Mann and Steinberg shudder at the very word, yet both are in reality referring to systems which markedly differed. Why, then, this seed of similarity in a garden of apparent difference?

Part of the answer lies in the inherent nature of the two systems. Were Hitler and Stalin to agree on any one prerequisite of totalitarianism, it would most certainly be for the need of establishing, maintaining and constantly improving a system of well-co-ordinated violence, dispensed ruthlessly from above; a system of intimidation; a system of wrath; a system of terror! Such a system, organized as meticulously as the framework of the State itself, was used in both countries to threaten and terrify whole populations.

Government by terror became, in both Germany and the Soviet Union, government by minority. Although the non-Aryan or the enemy of the Revolution became convenient scapegoats, no one individual was ever beyond suspicion. Widespread arrests, deportations and imprisonments were committed in the name of The Reich or The People. Each repressive act in both countries was well represented by the elements of physical and psychological torture. Just as the Red Armies and the Wehrmacht, during World War II, had as their purpose the defeat of the enemies in the field, so was the secret police, the primary instrument of the terror, created to safeguard the regime at home from any real or potential source of danger.

Why do some regimes resort to such measures whose net effect is the alienation of so many, both at home and abroad? Why does terror sometimes become more than a means but a veritable end in itself? With the absence of political opposition and freedom of expression, there are few better methods for the discovery and elimination of opposition than the utilization of a secret police apparatus. Both