159. What did not exist in Germany during the period of National Socialism?

Answer options

1. free elections
2. press censorship
3. arbitrary arrests
4. persecution of the Jews

Explanation

Under the Nazi regime there were no free, competitive elections; following the Reichstag Fire Decree (28 Feb 1933) and the Enabling Act (24 Mar 1933), opposition and political pluralism were eliminated by Gleichschaltung, and all “elections” and plebiscites were neither free nor secret. By contrast, press censorship (Propaganda Ministry, Reich Press Chamber) and arbitrary arrests (Gestapo, Schutzhaft without judicial review) were constitutive features of the system. The state-organized persecution of the Jews, given legal form by the Nuremberg Laws, escalated into genocide. The Basic Law draws lessons from this: free, equal and secret elections (Arts. 38, 20, 28 GG), a ban on censorship (Art. 5(1) sentence 3 GG), and strict judicial control of deprivations of liberty (Art. 104 GG) anchor the democratic constitutional state.