The Gestapo refers to the Nazi Party in Germany which had great plans for a 1000 year reign except for the leadership really never left its purpose and campaigning and running a government are different. The Gestapo – A History of Horrors by Jacques Delarue, Frontline Books, 2008 although the original version was published in French in 1962. It is often hard to read about a government who believes in purifying a race to the extent the Nazis did. A government that did not think about economics but stressing nationalism, patriotism, secrecy and was great on the propaganda fronts. Unfortunately, none of the above actually bring in revenues into the country but makes it go into debt. The government used massive amounts of slave labour, treasuries of other countries and eventually many of its citizens were killed in the war. The legacy leaves much to be desired.

There are some very good things the Nazis did, although most of them did not pass the test of time. The Gestapo function of the party was obsessed with controlling the police and military and thus the important posts were Interior Minister and Defence Minister. The Interior Minister emphasis was the police and information about everyone. The party had some of the best information access systems in the world, unfortunately it was used to spy on its own citizens. By controlling the police, meant the propaganda machine could be used to justify any action against somebody who did not agree with everything the Gestapo wanted to do. This meant legalized killing for the investigation would come to the proper conclusion. One has to remember, when the party was formed, part of its appeal was to street thugs who were brought into the Nazi government to continue doing the work of street thugs. Along the way if they stole, beat, controlled the black market  is was all in the name of the Nazi government.

This need to control the police and functions lead to something else the Nazi were very good at – when they moved beyond their borders to countries with “ethnic” Germans, the propaganda machine and how the police functioned were very carefully examined. The police were examined in terms of operations and people, so when the Germans occupied the lands the correct people could be put in or promoted to ensure a smooth transition to Nazi thinking. In some countries, the locals were much more accommodating to Nazi cleaning of anyone who did not agree with the party ideals. The non desired people were killed or used as slaves.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, a book such as the Gestapo has lessons about changes in leadership and how far one goes to ensure the directives of the existing leaders is carried out. In all companies, the President eventually will leave office and the new people will have to give loyalty to the new one. If the focus is on making money first, and other things well below the primary focus, shareholders will likely not interfere. If the focus shifts to pet projects of the President without making profits, shareholders will vote against the leadership.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions