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Law, Justice, and the Holocaust How the Courts Failed Germany

Law, Justice, and the Holocaust How the Courts Failed Germany. German Society and the Holocaust. What is the role of the judiciary in society?. List: .

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Law, Justice, and the Holocaust How the Courts Failed Germany

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  1. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  2. Law, Justice, and the HolocaustHow the Courts Failed Germany UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  3. German Society and the Holocaust UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  4. What is the role of the judiciary in society? List: UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  5. The Holocaust UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  6. Once the leader of small party on the fringe of German politics, by 1932 Hitler established the National Socialists as the largest party in parliament. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  7. Dr. Erwin Bumke, President of the German Supreme Court, 1929-1945. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  8. Chancellor Adolf Hitler and President Paul von Hindenburg. Potsdam, Germany, 1933. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  9. Pedestrians look upon the still burning parliament building the morning after the arson. Berlin, Germany, February 28, 1933. . UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  10. A police officer and a member of the SS on patrol. Berlin, Germany, March 5, 1933. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  11. “I will never again complain to the police” Members of the SA humiliate Dr. Michael Siegel, a Jewish attorney. Munich, Germany, March 10, 1933. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  12. Hans Kerrl, Prussian minister of justice, visits the instruction camp for German jurists. Jüterbog, Germany, August, 1933. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  13. “I swear I will be true and obedient to the Führer of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler, observe the law and conscientiously fulfill the duties of my office, so help me God.” Judges swear allegiance to Adolf Hitler. Berlin, Germany, October 1936. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  14. “I find, in good conscience, that I am not able to swear the loyalty oath to the Reich Chancellor and Führer, Adolf Hitler, as required of all officials by Reich law of August 20, 1934.” Submitted to Chief Judge of the State Court in Wuppertal on August 25, 1934. Martin Gauger UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  15. “Justice or Paragraph Dictatorship? The Reich Law Office of the NSDAP is fighting for a new German people’s law. Let’s make it a fact soon; it’s what we want and what the people desire.” UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  16. Marinus van der Lubbe, testifies before the Supreme Court. Leipzig, Germany, September 1933 UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  17. Was judicial independence preserved? Yes No UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  18. Scene from Koster’s 1933 Film, “The Ugly Girl” (Das Hässliche Mädchen) Henry Koster (Hermann Kosterlitz) (Berlin, Germany, 1905-Camarillo, California, 1988) Directed such classic films as Harvey (1950), My Man Godfrey (1957) and The Singing Nun (1966.) UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  19. Article 626 Civil Code: Summary Dismissal for Cause (1900-1969) “A service contract/employment relationship can be terminated by any party to the contract without notice if there is a factual basis for the terminating party to conclude –in weighing all the individual circumstances of the case and the interests of all parties to the contract —if there are important reasons to do so.” UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  20. Decision of the State Superior Court in Berlin, May 17, 1933. §§ 242, 627, 626, Civil Code. Termination without notice of a contract regarding the employment of a Jewish film director, in light of current political circumstances. ”…once the Jewish boycott began on April 1, 1933, the plaintiff should have relied on sound and reasonable judgment, taking into account the particularly strong flaring of tempers at the time, to determine that they [the film company] could not insist that they make another film with the plaintiff, Director K., because to do so would be to take on an immediate business risk of great proportions for the defendant… The defendant was justified in summarily ending the contract” UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  21. In this contract law case, the Superior Court in Berlin: Primarily followed the Law Primarily applied Nazi ideology C. Primarily expanded on the Law UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  22. In this contract law case, the Superior Court decided the case: Fairly Unfairly UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  23. The Kusserow children at the family home. Bad Lippspringe, Germany, 1939. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  24. Article 1666 Civil Code: Court Measures where the Welfare of the Child is Endangered (1900-58). “If the spiritual or physical welfare of the child is endangered by the father’s abuse of his right to care for the child, or his neglect of the child or is guilty of dishonorable or immoral practices then the Guardianship Court is obligated to take whatever actions are required to eliminate the danger to the child.” UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  25. “Karlsruhe v. [Franz Josef Seitz] and Willi Seitz, April 15,1937, case no. 1 ZFH 33/37 The task of parents is… raising their children in German customs and beliefs that morally and intellectually reveal the spirit of National Socialism in the service of the Volk and the national community. This violation of the duties of parents is a subjective infraction of Paragraph 1666." UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  26. In this family law case, the District Court in Karlsruhe: Primarily followed the Law Primarily applied Nazi ideology Primarily expanded on the Law UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  27. In this family law case, the District Court decided the case: Fairly Unfairly UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  28. Three liberated prisoners, Franz Josef Seitz (No 730) is on the right. Buchenwald, Germany, after April 11, 1945. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  29. “I am a defiler of the race.” A couple is publicly humiliated for violating Nazi race taboos. Norden, Germany, July 1935. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  30. King Frederick Wilhelm II and his advisors discuss the principle of “Equality Before the Law” in the Prussian General Common Law codification of June 1, 1794 in this drawing by Carl Roehling. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  31. “Those actions of judges that seeks to limit the political decisions of the Führer and ultimately obstruct them are in direct opposition to the central legal conception of the National Socialist state, namely the Führer Principle” -State Secretary Dr. Stuckart, Deutsche Verwaltung 12 JG 1935, p. 161 Wilhelm Stuckart (1902-1953), Nazi jurist responsible for the Nuremberg Laws. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  32. Chart indicating the determination of Jewish racial ancestry under the Nuremberg laws. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  33. “The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor, September 15, 1935 …purity of the German Blood is the essential condition for the continued existence of the German people..: … Article 2 Extramarital relations between Jews and subjects of the state of German or related blood is forbidden.“ “Pictures of the German Race1” UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  34. Supreme Court Decision in 1936 “Other difficulties argue against such a narrow definition equating “sexual relations” with “intercourse.” Such a definition would pose nearly insurmountable difficulties for the courts in obtaining evidence and force the discussion of the most delicate questions. A wider interpretation is also required here because the provisions of the law serve not only to protect German blood but also to protect German honor.” UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  35. In this Nuremberg Law decision the Supreme Court: Primarily followed the Law Primarily applied Nazi ideology Primarily expanded on the Law UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  36. In this Nuremberg Law case the Supreme Court decided: Fairly Unfairly UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  37. Supreme Court rulings on the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor: Any act that satisfied the sex urge violated the law. Crime established even if the sexual act occurred abroad. Intent was irrelevant in determining penalties. Just a verbal proposition for sex violated the law. Crime did not require bodily contact. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  38. Leo Katzenberger, Chairman of the Jewish Cultural Community in Nuremberg. He was executed for race defilement on June 3, 1942. Irene Seiler testifies at the Nuremberg Jurist Trial. Nuremberg, Germany, March 26, 1947. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  39. Massacre of unarmed, Jewish civilians during World War II. Vinnitsa, Soviet Union, 1941-1943. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  40. Decree Against Public Enemies “Anyone who commits a crime using the special circumstances induced by the condition of war will be punished, overstepping the normal legal penalties, with penitentiary of up to 15 years, with life in prison, or with death in accordance with the requirements of sound popular judgment… “ Decree Against Public Enemies (Volksschädlinge, literally “harmers of the nation”) September 5, 1939 UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  41. Total 16,560 Death Sentences, 1933-1945 UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  42. Erna Wazinski Brunswick, Germany Arrested: October 1944 UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  43. Walter Meyer Düsseldorf, Germany Arrested: April 1943 UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  44. Walter Meyer Düsseldorf, Germany Arrested: April 1943 UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  45. Walter Meyer Born 1927, in the Rhineland, Germany. Arrested: April 1943 Erna Wazinski Brunswick, Germany. Arrested: October 1944. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  46. In the interpretation of the Decree Against Public Enemies German courts: Primarily followed the Law Primarily applied Nazi ideology Primarily expanded on the Law UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  47. German courts interpreted the Decree Against Public Enemies: Fairly Unfairly UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  48. Touch Stones of German Justice, Arbeiter-Illustrierte Zeitung – 1934. “The murderer’s dagger was hidden beneath the robes of the jurist.” Nuremberg Trials UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  49. When did the judiciary in Nazi Germany fail in their role? Purge of the judiciary Reichstag Fire Trial Oath to Hitler Referenced Nazi ideology in court decisions UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

  50. The main source of injustice in the courts of Nazi Germany was: • Nazi assaults on judicial independence • Judges adhering strictly to the Law • Judges applied Nazi ideology • Judges expanding on the Law to fit the situation UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

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