This is not least due to the patchy and fragmented source materials, which makes research work so time-consuming: On the one hand, almost all the documents relating to the secret state police in Cologne were destroyed shortly before the end of the war. On the other hand, there were extensive replacement collections held by the NS judiciary, the internal administration, tax offices and other police departments. In summary: There are numerous documents from the post-war period that provide retrospective information about the Gestapo's rule in Cologne.

The aim of the project is to collate the available information and supplement it with the help of previously unused or inaccessible sources. This material will be analysed in the context of the results and perspectives of recent research into the perpetrators and the issues surrounding the history of National Socialism's "people’s community". It also questions the extent and forms of support provided for the Gestapo by parts of the city's population. The phenomenon of denunciation will also be analysed.

This project also provides the basis for various work undertaken by the NS-Documentation Centre: Many enquiries made to the centre concern the activities of the Gestapo and its prisoners. In the case of the laying of Stumbling Stones, which usually commemorate victims of political and racist exclusion, the research provides important information about the history of persecution. There is a specially close connection to the “Resistance and Refusal in Cologne 1933 - 1945” project.

You can find a more detailed presentation of the research results to date in our annual reports.