"Nur mit der Todesstrafe gerecht gesühnt": Aufstieg und sanfter Fall eines Wehrmachtrichters

Abstract

"The Wehrmacht's penal court system served to maintain the functionality of the Wehrmacht and was, therefore, an element of the war of annihilation. The essay enquires into the course of the careers of the actors in the Wehrmacht's judicial system. Exemplarily, the career path of a judge from the Regional Court of Appeals in Hamburg to the military justice system and back to the civilian justice system is analysed. Thereby, the reintegration of the NS judges into the Federal Republic of Germany, a state founded on the rule of the law, is discussed. By combining the biography of this Wehrmacht judge with his sentencing, the room for maneuvering available to the actors of the Wehrmacht's judicial system is explained. Only after long political debates an attempt was made in the late 1950's to determine the NS incrimination of numerous judges in the judicial service of the Federal Republic. However, the realization of these investigations remained insufficient and, often, without any consequences." (author's abstract)