Protective custody (german: Schutzhaft), was the extra- or para-legal rounding-up of political opponents, Jews and other persecuted groups of people in Nazi Germany. It was sometimes officially defended as being necessary to protect them from the 'righteous' wrath of the German population. Schutzhaft did not provide for a judicial warrant, in fact the detainee would most probably never have seen a judge.
In providing for the detainment and "relocation" of those victims put under Schutzhaft, no documentation was provided. It was considered different from a normal judicial action, and did not require warrant or prior notice.
The victims were then sent to
concentration camps such as
Dachau concentration camp
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
or
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
.
Law And Justice In The Third Reich
(from the United States Holocaust Memorial
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hist ...
website)
References
{{reflist
Nazi terminology
Political repression in Nazi Germany