Law in Nazi Germany

Alan E. Steinweis is the Miller Distinguished Professor of Holocaust Studies and Director of the Carolyn and Leonard Miller Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Vermont. His books include Art, Ideology, and Economics in Nazi Germany: The Reich Chambers of Music, Theater, and the Visual Arts (1993); Studying the Jew: Scholarly Antisemitism in Nazi Germany (2006); and Kristallnacht 1938 (2009). In 2011 he held the visiting professorship in Interdisciplinary Holocaust Studies and German-Jewish History at the Fritz Bauer Institute at the University of Frankfurt, Germany.

• PrefaceList of IllustrationsIntroduction: The Law in Nazi Germany and the HolocaustAlan E. Steinweis and Robert D. RachlinChapter 1. The Conundrum of Complicity: German Professionals and the Final SolutionKonrad H. JarauschChapter 2. Civil Service Lawyers and the Holocaust: The Case of Wilhelm StuckartHans-Christian JaschChapter 3. Roland Freisler and the Volksgerichtshof: The Court as an Instrument of TerrorRobert D. RachlinChapter 4. Guilt, Shame, Anger, Indignation: Nazi Law and Nazi MoralsRaphael GrossChapter 5. Discrimination, Degradation, Defiance: Jewish Lawyers under NazismDouglas G. MorrisChapter 6. Evading Responsibility for Crimes against Humanity: Murderous Lawyers at NurembergHarry Reicher Chapter 7. Judging German Judges in the Third Reich: Excusing and Confronting the PastKenneth F. LedfordAppendicesArticle 48 of the Weimar Constitution, 11 August 1919Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State (Reichstag Fire Decree), 28 February 1933Law to Remove the Distress of the People and the State (The Enabling Act), 23 March 1933Hitler’s Call for a Nazi Lawyers’ League, 12 September 1928Circular No. 8/1938 from Dr. Karl Leitmeyer, League of National Socialist Guardians of the Law, 4 March 1938Law Amending Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure (Excerpts), 24 April 1934White Rose - Leaflet 5, February 1943The Sentencing of Hans and Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst, 22 February 1943The Fate of Markus Luftglass: Excerpt from the Record of the Nuremberg Justice Case, October 1941Opinion and Sentence of the Nuremberg Special Court in the Case of Leo Katzenberger, 13 March 1942Testimony of Curt Rothenberger at the Nuremberg Justice Case (Excerpts), 1947Gustav Radbruch, “Statutory Lawlessness and Supra-Statutory Law” (excerpt), 1946ContributorsSelect BibliographyIndex

“This collection of essays on The Law in Nazi Germany achieves two main objectives: first, it provides a concise overview of the current research strata on law in Nazi Germany, and second, the essays leave enough space to invite the reader to pose additional questions about the subject and pursue further reading.”  ·  German History“The essays in The Law in Nazi Germany provide a thorough understanding of the threats that come along with reinterpreting laws to take account of a society’s changed principles. This should be emphasized not only in German legal education, but in every law school, everywhere.”  ·  The Federal Lawyer“Overall, this volume is very useful in that it makes the studies on justice under the Nazi regime and its memory accessible. It should therefore be of interest to readers well beyond the circle of specialists.”  ·  Vingtième Siècle. Revue d'histoire“These essays offer a significant contribution to our understanding of the role of one of the most important professions in underpinning the National Socialist regime and enabling its leaders to proceed with its murderous agenda.”  ·  Geoffrey J Giles, University of Florida