The Gestapo committed widespread atrocities during its existence. The power of the Gestapo was used to focus upon political opponents, ideological dissenters (clergy and religious organisations), career criminals, the
Sinti and
Roma population, handicapped persons, homosexuals, and, above all, the Jews.
[4] Those arrested by the Gestapo were often held without judicial process, and
political prisoners throughout Germany—and from 1941, throughout the occupied territories under the
Night and Fog Decree (
German:
Nacht und Nebel)—simply
disappeared while in Gestapo custody.
[5] Contrary to popular perception, the Gestapo was actually a relatively small organization with limited surveillance capability; still it proved extremely effective due to the willingness of ordinary Germans to report on fellow citizens. During
World War II, the Gestapo played a key role in
the Holocaust. After the war ended, the Gestapo was declared a criminal organisation by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at the
Nuremberg trials, and several top Gestapo members were sentenced to death.