“’What?” snapped Umbridge, glancing down. ‘Oh yes– an old family heirloom,’ she said, patting the locket lying on her large bosom. ‘The S stands for Selwyn…. I am related to the Selwyns… Indeed, there are few pure-blood families to whom I am not related…. A pity,’ she continued in a louder voice, flicking through Mrs. Cattermore’s questionnaire, ‘that the same cannot be said for you’” (Rowling, DH 261).
Above all, Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters value blood purity. They follow a “master race” concept similar to the one detailed by the Nazis. The “ideal” is found far back in history, and fantastical stories about Salazar Slytherin–like the Nazi party, Voldemort and his Death Eaters only provided an outlet for pre-existing racist concepts. Anyone that didn’t fit their ideal standards were to be eliminated. To quote Voldemort’s address to Bellatrix, “And in your family, so in the world… we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true blood remains….” (Rowling, DH 11). A basis for the use of terminology like “infects” and “mudblood” can be found in the Nazi party’s methods, as well; Jews were often referred to as a “cancer” that the master race needed to be cleansed of.
After Voldemort rose to power again, he used tactics familiar to real world scenarios. He acts almost like a puppet president, favoring work behind the scenes and government infiltration rather than outward takeover. In his article “Wizarding in the Classroom: Teaching Harry Potter and Politics” Stephen Deets writes that “In the Harry Potter books, terrorism is used both to sow fear and to throw the government into disarray, making it easier to take over” (742). Lupin mirrors a similar view in the seventh book, “…Voldemort is playing a very clever game. Declaring himself might have provoked open rebellion: Remaining masked has created confusion, uncertainty, and fear” (Rowling, DH 208).
In Deathly Hallows, the Death Eater control goes back to any major government takeover. The uprising begins by hijacking media outlets and already standing government institutions. Voldemort already had considerable influence over the Ministry of Magic through his Death Eater moles. But, he gains the ultimate control through Daily Prophet, and placing Pius Thicknesse as the new Minister of Magic. Thicknesse was under the Imperius curse at the time, marking a classic puppet figurehead presidency.
The Death Eaters also create new ways to persecute muggles in their ministry takeover. Yaxley becomes head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, with particularly brutal consequences for muggle born wizards. Fan favorite Dolores Umbridge becomes the “Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission.” Her role is to document and seek out muggle born witches/wizards for trials. They implement trials to determine blood status, with most cases ending in the dementor’s kiss. Torture, trials, and punishment become the norm. Essentially, it is the classic fear tactic used by oppressive governments. Strongly recognizable police forces under Yaxley’s control, like the Nazi SS, conduct searches for the “enemy.” The takeover relies on one motivator: fear. With fear, the Death Eaters could do basically whatever they wanted, and increase their control.
The government takeover initiated by Voldemort is similar to that of the National Socialists. The party’s high political standing gave it free reign to dictate restrictions and laws–and to make none of their actions technically “illegal.”
Deets, Stephen. “Wizarding in the Classroom: Teaching Harry Potter and Politics.” PS: Political Science and Politics 42.4 (2009): 741-44. JSTOR. Web. 05 May 2015.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Scholastic, 2007. Print.
HPS394: Death Eater Studies 
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