Editing Gestapo (section)

===General opposition and military conspiracy===
Between 1934 and 1938, opponents of the Nazi regime and their fellow travellers began to emerge. Among the first to speak out were religious dissenters but following in their wake were educators, [[aristocratic]] businessmen, office workers, teachers, and others from nearly every walk of life.{{sfn|Hoffmann|1977|p=28}} Most people quickly learned that open opposition was dangerous since Gestapo informants and agents were widespread. However, a significant number of them still worked against the National Socialist government.{{sfn|Hoffmann|1977|pp=29–30}}

In May 1935, the Gestapo broke up and arrested members of the "Markwitz Circle", a group of former socialists in contact with [[Otto Strasser]], who sought Hitler's downfall.{{sfn|Hoffmann|1977|p=30}} From the mid-1930s into the early 1940s—various groups made up of communists, idealists, working-class people, and far-right conservative opposition organisations covertly fought against Hitler's government, and several of them fomented plots that included Hitler's assassination. Nearly all of them, including: the Römer Group, Robby Group, [[Solf Circle]], {{lang|de|[[Schwarze Reichswehr]]}}, the Party of the Radical Middle Class, {{lang|de|[[Jungdeutscher Orden]]}}, {{lang|de|[[Schwarze Front]]}} and {{lang|de|Stahlhelm}} were either discovered or infiltrated by the Gestapo. This led to corresponding arrests, being sent to concentration camps and execution.{{sfn|Hoffmann|1977|pp=30–32}} One of the methods employed by the Gestapo to contend with these resistance factions was 'protective detention' which facilitated the process in expediting dissenters to concentration camps and against which there was no [[legal defence]].{{sfn|Dams|Stolle|2014|p=58}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R98680, Besprechung Himmler mit Müller, Heydrich, Nebe, Huber2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Photograph from 1939: shown from left to right are [[Franz Josef Huber]], [[Arthur Nebe]], [[Heinrich Himmler]], [[Reinhard Heydrich]] and [[Heinrich Müller (Gestapo)|Heinrich Müller]] planning the investigation of the bomb assassination attempt on [[Adolf Hitler]] on 8 November 1939 in [[Munich]].]]

Early efforts to resist the Nazis with aid from abroad were hindered when the opposition's peace feelers to the Western [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] did not meet with success. This was partly because of the [[Venlo incident]] of 9 November 1939,{{sfn|Hoffmann|1977|p=121}} in which SD and Gestapo agents, posing as anti-Nazis in the [[Netherlands]], kidnapped two British [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (SIS) officers after having lured them to a meeting to discuss peace terms. This prompted [[Winston Churchill]] to ban any further contact with the German opposition.{{sfn|Reitlinger|1989|p=144}} Later, the British and Americans did not want to deal with anti-Nazis because they were fearful that the Soviet Union would believe they were attempting to make deals behind their back.{{Efn|More than that, the Anglo-American common language and capital interests kept Stalin at a distance since he felt the other Allied powers were hoping the fascists and Communists would destroy one another.{{sfn|Overy|1997|pp=245–281}} }}

The German opposition was in an unenviable position by the late spring and early summer of 1943. On one hand, it was next to impossible for them to overthrow Hitler and the party; on the other, the Allied demand for an unconditional surrender meant no opportunity for a compromise peace, which left the military and conservative aristocrats who opposed the regime no option (in their eyes) other than continuing the military struggle.{{sfn|Hildebrand|1984|pp=86–87}} Despite the fear of the Gestapo after mass arrests and executions in the spring, the opposition still plotted and planned. One of the more famous schemes, [[Operation Valkyrie]], involved a number of senior German officers and was carried out by Colonel [[Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg]]. In an attempt to assassinate Hitler, Stauffenberg planted a bomb underneath a conference table inside the [[Wolf's Lair]] field headquarters.{{sfn|Benz|2007|pp=245–249}} Known as the [[20 July plot]], this assassination attempt failed and Hitler was only slightly injured. Reports indicate that the Gestapo was caught unaware of this plot as they did not have sufficient protections in place at the appropriate locations nor did they take any preventative steps.{{sfn|Reitlinger|1989|p=323}}{{sfn|Höhne|2001|p=532}} Stauffenberg and his group were shot on 21 July 1944; meanwhile, his fellow conspirators were rounded up by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp. Thereafter, there was a show trial overseen by [[Roland Freisler]], followed by their execution.{{sfn|Höhne|2001|p=537}}

Some Germans were convinced that it was their duty to apply all possible expedients to end the war as quickly as possible. [[Sabotage]] efforts were undertaken by members of the {{lang|de|[[Abwehr]]}} (military intelligence) leadership, as they recruited people known to oppose the Nazi regime.{{sfn|Spielvogel|1992|p=256}} The Gestapo cracked down ruthlessly on dissidents in Germany, just as they did everywhere else. Opposition became more difficult. Arrests, torture, and executions were common. Terror against "state enemies" had become a way of life to such a degree that the Gestapo's presence and methods were eventually normalised in the minds of people living in Nazi Germany.{{sfn|Peukert|1989|pp=198–199}}