The Long Shadows of the Past: The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi Era

In 1947, eighteen lawyers were called to account under the provisions of Control Council Law No. 10, specifically for crimes against humanity and war crimes; not because of an act of judicial perversion but because of the effects of their actions on people or humanity as a whole. The remarkable thing about the overall complex of the ‘Nuremberg Trials’ is that, on the one hand, responsibility has been found not only in lawyers, but also among other professional sectors, such as doctors, industrialists, and other bureaucrats, e.g. members of parliament and employees of ministries. On the other hand, however, a further dynamic could be observed: a lawyer was appointed to assist each defendant with a view to ensuring a fair trial. The victorious powers thus deliberately applied a standard contrary to the one in the Nazis’ own proceedings.