Statutes of Limitations in Post-Genocide Proceedings for Justice

In his book Post-Holocaust: Interpretation, Misinterpretation, and the Claims of History, Berel Lang discusses the collective responsibility of Germany for the Holocaust. Lang is not denying that Germany bore a collective responsibility for the Holocaust, but he is arguing that there is a temporal limit to that responsibility. He suggests that a statute of limitations could be adopted when Germany as a collective would cease to be held responsible for the Holocaust. The issue of a statute of limitations for the entire population of Germany raises several questions about the limits of justice. Lang is acutely aware that any statute of limitations will be offset by natural attrition when the Holocaust generation ceases to exist. Statutes of limitations for individuals also raise questions about the limits of justice. Procedural limitations for lustrations and statutes of limitations can create an impunity gap. When, if ever, should perpetrators be legally or morally declared to be off the hook for their responsibility in killing victims? To address the impunity gap this chapter looks at a proposal by Katharina von Kellenbach called the “Mark of Cain.”