Background H.W. Koch states that three main features of Germany's history led to the creation of the People's Court: • The
Stab-in-the-back myth that Germany had lost
World War I primarily because of treason and revolution on the home-front. • The
Enabling Act which empowered the government to deviate from the constitution without any legislative constraints. • The
Führerprinzip, the belief that Germany's leader,
Adolf Hitler, was both above the law and deserving of unquestioning loyalty. In addition, whilst Hitler disliked laws and lawyers as a constraint on his freedom of action, he was also concerned to keep up a facade of legality to his actions, a process now known as
autocratic legalism. He openly stated that, "we take recourse to democratic means only to win power," and that "what forces us to use such means is the constitution".
Previous special courts Political courts existed in Germany before the Nazi era, and Robert D. Rachlin argues that the excesses of the People's Court can be viewed in the context of historical antecedents such as the medieval Feme Courts and the
reactionary,
anti-democratic and
anti-semitic Weimar Republic judiciary that treated right-wing and anti-Jewish crimes more leniently than they treated similar crimes which were committed by members and supporters of the political left. Previous '
(special court) and ' (people's court) had generally been set up temporarily in response to civil disturbances. For example, the
People's Courts of Bavaria were established during the
German Revolution in November 1918 and handed out more than 31,000 sentences before being abolished in May 1924. One of the Bavarian People's Court's most notable trials was that of the
Beer Hall Putsch conspirators.
Nazi expansion of treason laws Under the
Weimar Constitution, Articles 80–92 of the 1871
Reichsstrafgesetzbuch (Federal Penal Code), defined
high treason as attacks on the head of state, attempts to alter the territory of the federal state, or violations of the constitution. The Nazis, regarded this definition as excessively liberal and too narrow. The day after the
Reichstag fire of 27 January 1933, they enacted two decrees expanding the law on treason: the ‘Decree of the President against Treason and High Treasonous Activities’, which extended the definition of treason to include "acts of political subversion”, and the ‘Decree of the President for the Protection of People and State’, commonly known as the
Reichstag Fire Decree, which made all acts of treason capital offences. A month later, in a 23 March 1933 speech to the Reichstag regarding the Enabling Act, Hitler prefigured the creation of the People's Court with his statement that, "Not the individual, but the
Volk must be the focus of legal concern... In the future, state and national treason will be annihilated with barbaric ruthlessness".
Establishment The People's Court was established on 24 April 1934 by decree of
Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler. The proximate cause of its creation was the outcome of the
Reichstag fire trial in front of the
Reich Court of Justice (
Reichsgericht) in which all but one of the defendants were acquitted. However, Hitler had pronounced the necessity for a "national tribunal" to execute "tens of thousands" of people he regarded as traitors in
Mein Kampf. The ‘Law Amending Provisions of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure’ which created the People’s Court also transferred jurisdiction over crimes that had previously been within the jurisdiction of the Reich Court of Justice:
treason,
high treason, major cases of
sabotage, and
assassination of members of the government. The definition of treason used by the court was initially unchanged, but the penalties were made substantially more severe. The same law defined the composition of the court, the appointment of its members, and many of its procedures. Criticism of the creation of the People's Court was countered by statements that it was a temporary expedient and would either be replaced or transformed as part of future reforms of the legal system. Official commentary saw the court only as a way to make law enforcement more efficient. The first president of the court was a former judge of the Berlin Special Court,
Fritz Rehn. However Rehn died two months after taking office. For the next two years the post of president remained vacant.
Early Days of the Court The People's Court was created outside the framework of the German constitution, although whether the Weimar-era constitution was even still in force was a matter of unresolved controversy within the Nazi Party. Regardless, in reality the
führerprinzip rejected all liberal legal principles in favour of Nazi control. with an editorial in the
Völkischer Beobachter commenting that the People's Court was an '...expression of National Socialist basic concepts in the field of the application of the law." Despite this rejection of the rule of law, there was continuity of personnel within the judicial system, with only a few judges retiring or being removed., and initially, the legal procedures of the People's Court did not differ from previous treason trials. Early decisions of the court were cautious to the point that they were criticised by the Nazi regime, with only four death sentences handed down in 1934 and nine in 1935. Between April 1935 and August 1936, the Ministry of Justice criticized eighteen of the court’s verdicts as excessively lenient. Hitler later stated that the People’s Court, "had not initially corresponded to his desired tough standards." The Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice, Roland Freisler, who was the driving force of the rise of the People's Court, intended to make it Germany's supreme court, superseding the
Reichsgericht, with the goal of making the
führerprinzip the basis of the entire judicial system. He believed that the People's Court had three advantages: speed, efficiency, and that there was no appeal against its verdicts. For the Nazis, who could eliminate opponents by taking them into so-called protective custody in a concentration camp, the advantage of the People’s Court was it eliminated their enemies behind a facade of legality. This led to conflict between the Nazi appointees to the court, who understood that the court was a charade, and the conservative “judges of the old school”, who expected the law, however draconian, to be upheld in genuine trials.
Thierack Presidency in 1940 Contrary to the pronouncement that the People's Court was a temporary expedient, a decree of 18 April 1936 transformed it into a "full court according to the Constitution of Courts Act". Shortly afterwards, on 1 May 1936,
Otto Georg Thierack, formerly vice-president of the Reich Court of Justice, became president of the court.
Expansion of jurisdiction and reduced legalism With the accession of Thierack, the court gained prestige, symbolised by its judges being given the right to wear the red robes of the supreme court. It also increased its jurisdiction to include
misprision of treason, economic sabotage,
Wehrkraftzersetzung (corroding defensive strength), evading military service,
sedition, and
espionage. The regime had initially denied characterisation of the court as a summary or revolutionary court, claiming it was independent. However, by 1937 such pretence was dropped, with minister of justice,
Franz Gürtner declaring the court to be, "a task force for combating and defeating all attacks on the external and internal security of the Reich.", the vice-president of the court stating that its members, were "politicians first and judges second", and its chief prosecutor announcing that the purpose of the court was, "to annihilate the enemies of National Socialism". The beginning of
World War II brought an increased number of prosecutions (doubling from 1939 to 1940), an increase of the severity of sentencing, and an expansion of the court's jurisdiction to cover undermining morale. Suggestions such as the war being either pointless or lost, or that peace should be sought, and statements attacking Hitler in any way, were ranked as capital crimes. This was true even of private remarks, with the court declaring that "every political remark must be regarded as a public statement in principle", a position without support in law. Sources vary on how often cases of undermining morale resulted in a death sentence. Müller states that "such remarks were always punishable by death", while Koch states that "reliable statistics are difficult to compile", and Johnson shows that the law was selectively enforced, with only around a third of accusations against "ordinary Germans" in Krefeld reaching court at all, while two-thirds of accusations against non-Jews in Cologne were dismissed by the local Special Court, and only three percent were referred to the People's Court.
Freisler Presidency in 1942 In August 1942, Thierack was appointed as
Reich Minister of Justice and
Roland Freisler was appointed as President of the People's Court. Freisler had been a member of the Nazi Party since 1923.
Further deterioration of legalism Freisler took the most important cases for himself, prosecuting those accused of attacks on the Führer, as well as cases involving espionage and economic sabotage. Goebbels noted that: “Freisler... is once again the radical National Socialist he used to be. Just as he did too little as undersecretary in the Ministry of Justice, today as President of the People’s Court, he is doing too much.” Under Thierack, the People’s Court’s decisions had retained the appearance of legalism with verdicts, however predetermined, justified in lengthy written arguments. However, at the time of Freisler's appointment, Goebbels gave a private speech to the court stating that the court "is not to be started from the law but from the decision that the man must be gotten rid of". Freisler’s inauguration as president of the People's Court came at a time when Germany’s military fortunes were worsening, and this was reflected in harsher sentences. In 1940, 4.9% of defendants had received a death sentence, rising to 8.2% in 1941. During Freisler’s presidency, the execution rate rose dramatically. In 1942 it was 46%, and it remained at a similar level throughout his presidency.
Nacht und Nebel In 1941, the
Nacht und Nebel programme — literally "night and fog" — focused on the
forced disappearance of resistance activists from occupied countries, who were imprisoned without any word of their fate. Initially, it was planned to try some of these prisoners by the
Reichskriegsgericht, a military court, but both the military courts and the ordinary civilian courts proved reluctant to take on cases that were expected to be drumhead trials of overt illegality. Freisler agreed that the People's Court would take on the cases,, and 1,200 were referred to the People’s Court, although Freisler transferred about three-quarters of them to other courts. Of the approximately two hundred cases prosecuted before the People’s Court, Freisler assigned the majority to his own First Senate. The trials themselves were a complete sham, as Justice Minister Thierack had informed Freisler that, "You will have every indictment submitted to you and will recognize... what is essential for the state.”
Trials of August 1944 appears before the People's Court.|thumb|upright at the court|thumb|upright The best-known trials in the People's Court began on 7 August 1944, in the aftermath of the
20 July plot that year. The first eight men accused were
Erwin von Witzleben,
Erich Hoepner,
Paul von Hase,
Peter Yorck von Wartenburg,
Hellmuth Stieff,
Robert Bernardis,
Friedrich Klausing, and
Albrecht von Hagen. The trials were held in the imposing Great Hall of the Berlin
Chamber Court on Elßholzstrasse, which was bedecked with
swastikas for the occasion. There were around 300 spectators, including
Ernst Kaltenbrunner and selected civil servants, party functionaries, military officers and journalists. The accused were forced to wear shabby clothes, denied neckties and belts or
suspenders for their trousers, and were marched into the courtroom handcuffed to policemen. The proceedings began with Freisler announcing he would rule on "...the most horrific charges ever brought in the history of the German people." Freisler was an admirer of
Andrey Vyshinsky, the chief prosecutor of the
Soviet purge trials, and copied Vyshinsky's practice of heaping loud and violent abuse on defendants. The 62-year-old
Field Marshal von Witzleben was the first to stand before Freisler, and he was immediately castigated for giving a brief
Nazi salute. He faced further humiliating insults while holding onto his trouser waistband. Next, former
Colonel-General Erich Hoepner, dressed in a cardigan, faced Freisler, who addressed him as "
Schweinehund". When he said that he was not a
Schweinehund, Freisler asked him what zoological category he thought he fitted into. The accused were unable to consult their lawyers, who were not seated near them. None of them were allowed to address the court at length, and Freisler interrupted any attempts to do so. However, Major General
Helmuth Stieff attempted to raise the issue of his motives before being shouted down, and Witzleben managed to call out "You may hand us over to the executioner, but in three months, the disgusted and harried people will bring you to book and drag you alive through the dirt in the streets!" All of the accused were found guilty and condemned to death by hanging, and the sentences were carried out shortly afterwards in
Plötzensee Prison. Another trial of plotters was held on 10 August. On that occasion the accused were
Erich Fellgiebel,
Alfred Kranzfelder,
Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg,
Georg Hansen, and
Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. On 15 August,
Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorf,
Egbert Hayessen,
Hans Bernd von Haeften, and
Adam von Trott zu Solz were condemned to death by Freisler. On 21 August, the accused were
Fritz Thiele,
Friedrich Gustav Jaeger, and
Ulrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von Schwanenfeld who was able to mention the "...many murders committed at home and abroad" as a motivation for his actions. On 30 August, Colonel-General
Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, who had blinded himself in a suicide attempt, was led into the court and condemned to death along with
Caesar von Hofacker,
Hans Otfried von Linstow, and
Eberhard Finckh. In the aftermath of the 20 July Plot to assassinate Hitler, senior intelligence analyst Lieutenant Colonel
Alexis von Roenne was arrested on account of his links with many of the conspirators. Although not directly involved in the plot, he was nonetheless tried, found guilty by the show trial, and hanged on a meat hook at
Plötzensee Prison on 12 October 1944.
'Traitors Before the People's Court' documentary The trials of those involved in the 20 July Plot were filmed with the intention of making a documentary entitled ''Traitors Before the People's Court''. Hitler intended the documentary to be shown in all German cinemas in order to deter and intimidate future resistance. However, this proved impossible because of the farcical behaviour of Freisler during the trials. Instead, the film was made an official secret and only shown to a handful of party officials. The documentary turned out to be the last made for
The German Weekly Review. On 3 February 1945, Freisler was conducting a Saturday session of the People's Court, when
USAAF Eighth Air Force bombers
attacked Berlin. Government and
Nazi Party buildings were hit, including the
Reich Chancellery, the Gestapo headquarters, the
Party Chancellery, and the People's Court. According to one report, Freisler hastily adjourned court, and had ordered that day's prisoners to be taken to a shelter, but paused to gather that day's files. Freisler was killed when an almost direct hit on the building caused him to be struck down by a beam in his own courtroom. His body was reportedly found crushed beneath a fallen masonry column, clutching the files that he had tried to retrieve. Another version of Freisler's death states that he was killed by a British bomb that came through the ceiling of his courtroom as he was trying two women, who survived the explosion. A foreign correspondent reported, "Apparently nobody regretted his death."
Final days of the court in 1937 Freisler's death and the damage to the court meant no trials occurred for nearly a month. Wilhelm Crohne became acting president from 4 February to 11 March 1945, before the appointment of
Harry Haffner. Among cases disrupted by the bombing was that of
Fabian von Schlabrendorff, a 20 July plot member who was on trial that day and was facing execution. Von Schlabrendorff was "standing near his judge when the latter met his end."
Arthur Nebe, former head of the Reich Criminal Police who had been implicated in the 20 July 1944 plot, was tried and sentenced to death by the People's Court in March 1945. No trials before the People's Court are documented after April 1945. On 26 April 1945, the US occupation forces were directed to abolish all extraordinary courts, including the People's Court, and arrest their judges, prosecutors, and officials for prosecution. Laws implementing the directive were issued by the
Allied Control Council after the
Surrender of Nazi Germany. ==Composition==