The Assassin's Dagger: An Exploration of the German Judiciary in the Third Reich

This thesis explores the complicit role the German judiciary played in the rise of the National Socialist Party--known as the Nazis--the legalization and enablement of the Holocaust, and other programs to purify the German Volk. After World War I, Germany forcibly evolved to a democracy. During this period of chaos, the German judiciary was extremely anti-republican and their verdicts reflected this bias. After Hitlers rise, the judiciary legally enabled the Nazis. The judiciary was ultimately complicit in legalizing murder, stripping individual rights, regulating marriage, and supporting all Nazi discriminatory practices. In 1942, Hitler formally stripped the judiciary of its independence, announcing the removal of judges if they failed to uphold the law to his satisfaction. For the remainder of the war, the judiciary complied with all laws and directives. In January 1947, the senior jurists faced the same charges as the primary leaders of the Nazi government, the armed forces, and the medical community. During the Nuremberg Military Tribunals, the high-ranking judiciary members raised the defense that they were only enforcing the laws of the state as their sworn duty. Ten of the sixteen tried were convicted and sentenced to prison sentences. All were released by 1956.