A ballot box alone does not make an election free.
First notice the negative wording: “What did NOT exist?” The correct answer names an absent freedom. The other three options describe repression and persecution that actually occurred.
Even the Reichstag election of 5 March 1933 took place amid serious violence and restricted fundamental rights. Later ballots, such as the 1936 Reichstag election with a Nazi single list, likewise offered no free democratic competition. The accurate statement is therefore no free elections, not no voting of any kind.
The other three answers
These three things existed under Nazi rule, so they do not answer the negative question.
press censorship
The press was controlled and forced into conformity. Press censorship was therefore an actual feature of Nazi rule, not the absent feature being asked for.
arbitrary arrests
Political opponents and other persecuted people were arbitrarily arrested and detained. This repression was a defining feature of dictatorship.
persecution of Jews
Jewish people were systematically deprived of rights, persecuted and murdered. This persecution is historically established and must not be presented as something that did not occur.
“Free” is a substantive condition.
Whether a ballot is free depends on actual conditions. Intimidation, arrest of opponents and removal of political alternatives cannot be offset by high reported approval.
The test names only some features of the Nazi period. The list is not a complete account of the crimes or affected groups. Its purpose here is to distinguish free elections from documented forms of state repression.
Reichstag election 1933 · German Bundestag ↗Absent: free elections. Present: censorship and persecution.
Pay attention to the negative wording when selecting an answer. Choose the freedom that was absent, not a measure of repression.
Three words for this question
- die Pressezensurpress censorship
- State suppression or control of press publications.
- willkürlicharbitrary
- Without reliable rule-of-law safeguards, according to unchecked discretion.
- die Einheitslistesingle list
- A joint or sole permitted candidate list; here without free competition between parties.