Lesson Y9-U05-L01

The Nazi Police State Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 18

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U05-L01, The Nazi Police State: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 18: Year 9: Life in Nazi Germany, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which elite force began in the 1920s as Hitler's personal bodyguard of about 300 men?

    • The Reichswehr
    • The SS
    • The SA
    • The Hitler Youth

  2. Who led the SS and ran the police state under Hitler?

    • Ernst Rohm
    • Heinrich Himmler
    • Hermann Goering
    • Joseph Goebbels

  3. What did the name Gestapo stand for?

    • German Secret Police
    • Geheime Staatspolizei
    • General Security Force
    • Government State Party

  4. What did 'protective custody' allow the Gestapo to do?

    • Provide free housing
    • Guard public buildings
    • Arrest without trial
    • Protect civilian homes

  5. Which concentration camp opened near Munich in March 1933?

    • Auschwitz
    • Buchenwald
    • Belzec
    • Dachau

  6. How did the Gestapo covertly build surveillance files on ordinary German citizens?

    • Opening private post
    • Checking school registers
    • Holding public interviews
    • Running free censuses

  7. About how many Gestapo officers were there for a population of 66 million?

    • About 3.2 million
    • About 320,000
    • About 3,200
    • About 32,000

  8. By what date had Himmler's SS controlled all police across Germany, including the Gestapo?

    • By 1933
    • By 1945
    • By 1936
    • By 1939

  9. Which main group was targeted in the early 1933 concentration camps?

    • Unskilled workers
    • Political opponents
    • Foreign diplomats
    • Wealthy industrialists

  10. What primary fear kept ordinary German citizens compliant and unwilling to openly criticise the Nazi regime?

    • Higher taxes
    • Food shortages
    • Arbitrary arrest
    • Foreign invasion

  11. How did a small Gestapo force manage to control millions?

    • Mandatory military service
    • Informants and denunciations
    • Extensive CCTV networks
    • Automated patrol drones

  12. What is the name for an ordinary person who secretly reported neighbours or workmates to the authorities?

    • A propagandist
    • An informant
    • A Reichstag deputy
    • A government minister

  13. According to Nazi ideology, what strict criteria were used to select members of the SS?

    • Wealth and status
    • Age and height
    • Religious background
    • Racial purity

  14. Which Nazi paramilitary group carried out the murders during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934?

    • The Wehrmacht
    • The SS
    • The Gestapo
    • The SA

  15. What defines a totalitarian police state?

    • Independent legal courts
    • Democratic representation
    • Control through fear
    • Free public elections

  16. What immediate action could the Gestapo take against suspects?

    • Demolish their homes
    • Seize their passports
    • Fine their employers
    • Imprison without trial

  17. When was the first Nazi concentration camp at Dachau opened?

    • 1923
    • 1936
    • 1939
    • 1933

  18. According to historians, what was the real driving source of power for the Gestapo secret police?

    • Massive troop numbers
    • Advanced weaponry
    • Fear of informants
    • Official uniforms

  19. What was the ultimate psychological aim of the Nazi police state?

    • Encouraging free debate
    • Promoting equal rights
    • Boosting tax revenue
    • Preventing any opposition

  20. How did ordinary citizens help maintain the Nazi police state?

    • Informing and self-censorship
    • Open criticism
    • Mass protests
    • Armed rebellion

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