Law and Lawyers Preparing the Holocaust

Abstract

After an introduction into the paradoxes of the coexistence of a traditional legal order, oppression, and persecution of opponents and minorities under the National Socialist government in Germany (1933-1945), the article explains how deep the National Socialist ideology penetrated several fields (constitutional and administrative law, penal law, tax law, etc.). I conclude with a short reflection concerning the problem of historicizing Nazi law.

Keywords: Weimar Republic, National Socialism, Germany, dictatorship, legal system, persecution of minorities, criminal law, civil law, administrative law, labor law, social security, judicial system, Nazi law, Holocaust