page_title: Nazi Germany
section_title: Law
hierarchical_section_title: Nazi Germany / Politics / Law
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Berlin, Amtsübernahme Dr. Thierack Scherl Der neue Reichsjustizminister übernahm sein Ministerium Im Rahmen einer kurzen Feierstunde übernahm am Mittwochmittag der neue Reichsminister der Justiz, Professor Dr. Thierack, die Geschäfte des Reichsjustizministeriums. Unser Bild von der Feier zeigt (von links nach rechts) den neuen Präsidenten des Volksgerichtshofes Dr. Freisler, Staatssekretär Dr. Schlegelberger, der bisher die Geschäfte des Reichsjustizministers führte, Reichsjustizminister Professor Dr. Thierack und den neuen Staatssekretär im Reichsjustizministerium Dr. Rothenberger. Scherl-Bilderdienst, Berlin 26.8.42 II. Text ADN-Zentralbild-Archiv Im faschistischen Deutschland Reichsjustizminister Dr. Otto G. Thierack trat sein neues Amt an. Bei einer Feier zur Amtsübernahme v.l.n.r.: der neue Präsident des Volksgerichtshofes Dr. Roland Freisler, Staatssekretär Schlegelberger, der bisher die Geschäfte des Reichsjustizministeriums führte, Reichsjustizminister Dr. Otto G. Thierack und der neue Staatssekretär im Reichsjustizministerium Dr. Rothenberger. Abgebildete Personen: from left to right: Freisler, Roland Dr.: Präsident des Volksgerichtshofes, Deutschland Schlegelberger, Franz Prof. Dr.: Staatssekretär Reichsjustizministerium, Juristenprozeß Nürnberg, Bundesrepublik Deutschland (GND 118958275) Thierack, Otto Georg Dr.: Reichsminister der Justiz, Präsident des Volksgerichtshofes, Deutschland Rothenberger, Curt Dr.: Staatssekretär im Justizministerium, Oberlandesgerichtspräsident Hamburg, Deutschland
context_page_description: Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich until 1943 and Greater German Reich in 1943–45, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country which they transformed into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich – meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire" – alluded to the Nazis' conceit that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire and German Empire. The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years, when the Allies defeated Germany, ending World War II in Europe.
  On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, the head of government, by the President of the Weimar Republic, Paul von Hindenburg, the head of State. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all political opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934 and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the offices and powers of the Chancellery and Presidency.
context_section_description: In August 1934, civil servants and members of the military were required to swear an oath of unconditional obedience to Hitler. These laws became the basis of the Führerprinzip, the concept that Hitler's word overrode all existing laws. Any acts that were sanctioned by Hitler—even murder—thus became legal. All legislation proposed by cabinet ministers had to be approved by the office of Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess, who could also veto top civil service appointments.
  Most of the judicial system and legal codes of the Weimar Republic remained in place to deal with non-political crimes. The courts issued and carried out far more death sentences than before the Nazis took power. People who were convicted of three or more offences—even petty ones—could be deemed habitual offenders and jailed indefinitely. People such as prostitutes and pickpockets were judged to be inherently criminal and a threat to the community. Thousands were arrested and confined indefinitely without trial.
  A new type of court, the Volksgerichtshof ("People's Court"), was established in 1934 to deal with political cases. This court handed out over 5,000 death sentences until its dissolution in 1945. The death penalty could be issued for offences such as being a communist, printing seditious leaflets, or even making jokes about Hitler or other officials. The Gestapo was in charge of investigative policing to enforce National Socialist ideology as they located and confined political offenders, Jews, and others deemed undesirable. Political offenders who were released from prison were often immediately re-arrested by the Gestapo and confined in a concentration camp.
  The Nazis used propaganda to promulgate the concept of Rassenschande ("race defilement") to justify the need for racial laws. In September 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were enacted. These laws initially prohibited sexual relations and marriages between Aryans and Jews and were later extended to include "Gypsies, Negroes or their bastard offspring". The law also forbade the employment of German women under the age of 45 as domestic servants in Jewish households. The Reich Citizenship Law stated that only those of "German or related blood" could be citizens. Thus Jews and other non-Aryans were stripped of their German citizenship. The law also permitted the Nazis to deny citizenship to anyone who was not supportive enough of the regime. A supplementary decree issued in November defined as Jewish anyone with three Jewish grandparents, or two grandparents if the Jewish faith was followed.
caption: A meeting of the four jurists who imposed Nazi ideology on the legal system of Germany (left to right: Roland Freisler, Franz Schlegelberger, Otto Georg Thierack, and Curt Rothenberger)
exif: {}