Protective custody (Nazi Germany)

Protective custody (German: Schutzhaft) was the extra- or para-legal rounding-up of political opponents, Jews, and other persecuted groups in Nazi Germany. It was sometimes officially defended as necessary to protect them from the "righteous" wrath of the German population. In other cases, such as homosexuals, it was considered necessary to protect the German "volk" from their influence. Schutzhaft did not provide for a judicial warrant; in fact, detainees never saw a judge.

In providing for the detainment and "relocation" of those taken into Schutzhaft, no documentation was provided. It was considered different from a normal judicial action and did not require warrant or prior notice.

Those arrested were sent to concentration camps such as Dachau or Buchenwald.^[1]