Thursday, July 02, 2009
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Germany’s governing parties came to an agreement on Wednesday on a blanket measure involving the overturning of Nazi-era rulings convicting about 30,000 individuals of desertion or treason. These convictions carried with them the death penalty and were meted out to those deemed to have committed any act regarded as harmful to the nation or helpful to the enemy. Among the acts included in this definition were political resistance, aiding Jews, and helping prisoners of war. About two-thirds or those convicted were, in fact, executed.
Since the end of World War II, such cases have been handled individually, with a prosecutor assigned to decide whether or not the ruling should be overruled. In 1996, for example, the Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor who was hanged in April 1945, was formally pardoned for his roles in helping Jews escape Germany and plotting the assassination of Adolf Hitler.
Some members of the conservative Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union parties had been against this blanket measure, arguing that some of the convicted may have harmed comrades-in-arms. Yet a study concluded that it was not possible to find out if the actions for which individuals were sentenced resulted in harm to a third party.
The measure will be taken up by the German parliament in August.
-Kyle Kuersten
Germany May Rehabilitate Nazi “Traitors'” (Reuters, Jerusalem Post)
Germany to Overturn Nazi Treason Convictions (by David Rising, Associated Press)
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