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"Das Verfahren wird eingestellt" – die strafrechtliche Verfolgung von Denunziation aus dem Nationalsozialismus nach 1945 in den Westzonen und in der frühen BRD
"The trial is being stopped" - penal law prosecution of denunciation from the Nazi era after 1945 in the western zones and in the early years of the FRG
[journal article]
Abstract Der Beitrag untersucht einige Prozesse (Landgericht Osnabrück) in der Nachkriegszeit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland wegen Denunziation, um die Probleme einer Vergangenheitsbewältigung mit rechtlichen Mitteln zu verdeutlichen. Die Autorin zeigt, dass der Blick der Justiz auf Denunziationen nicht nur ... view more
Der Beitrag untersucht einige Prozesse (Landgericht Osnabrück) in der Nachkriegszeit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland wegen Denunziation, um die Probleme einer Vergangenheitsbewältigung mit rechtlichen Mitteln zu verdeutlichen. Die Autorin zeigt, dass der Blick der Justiz auf Denunziationen nicht nur rückwärtsgewandt war und sich auf die Debatte um das 'Rückwirkungsverbot' beschränkte. Vertreter der Justiz lehnten die Verfolgung von NS-Denunziationen aufgrund des Rückwirkungsverbots ab, wollten jedoch gleichzeitig auf rechtmäßige Anzeigen 'wahrer Tatsachen' als Mittel der Strafverfolgung nicht verzichten. So wurde bereits hier, ausgerechnet vor dem Hintergrund der Diskussionen über NS-Denunziationen, wieder Weichen gestellt, um 'positiv' besetzte Denunziationen weiterhin in den Dienst der Strafverfolgungsbehörden stellen zu können. (ICA)... view less
'West Germany's post-war judiciary faced a dilemma in criminally judging Nazi denunciation. This dilemma consisted of a ban against the retroactive application of new laws, as well as of an objection against relinquishing reports of 'true facts'. Contemporary jurists viewed the motives leading to a ... view more
'West Germany's post-war judiciary faced a dilemma in criminally judging Nazi denunciation. This dilemma consisted of a ban against the retroactive application of new laws, as well as of an objection against relinquishing reports of 'true facts'. Contemporary jurists viewed the motives leading to a denunciation as morally reprehensible, but not necessarily as deserving of criminal punishment. The motives were therefore regarded as irrelevant in the context of criminal prosecutions. This draws attention to the ambiguous nature of the terms 'denunciation' and 'report', and highlights the difference between judging a denunciation morally and legally. This essay provides of an overview of the legal precedents and scholarly debate in post-war Germany, with a special emphasis on the difficulties presented to German courts by the Control Council Law No.l0. Subsequently it will show that the judiciary's attention concerning the problem of denunciation was not only focused on the past. The background of denunciation during Germany's National Socialist past also provided a setting in which to consider the possibility of using 'positive' denunciations - or 'reports' - for criminal prosecution in the future.' (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
discrimination; jurisdiction; judiciary; coming to terms with the past; denunciation; Federal Republic of Germany; Nazism; post-war period; criminal law
Classification
Social History, Historical Social Research
Judiciary
Method
descriptive study; historical
Document language
German
Publication Year
2001
Page/Pages
p. 70-85
Journal
Historical Social Research, 26 (2001) 2/3
DOI
https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.26.2001.2/3.70-85
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed