NOUS ACCUSONS 800 juges sanguinaires hitlériens Suppôts du régime d’Adenauer – We Accuse – 800 Hitlerite Judge-Murderers, Supporters of the Adenauer Regime – an indictment against German judges who were considered collaborators or supporters of the Nazi regime and later held active positions under Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of West Germany following World War II. Published by Conseil pour l’Unité allemande, Berlin, 1959 – First edition. In French. – The copy of Isser Harel, the first head of the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet), with his handwritten signature on the title page.
“The Committee for German Unity hereby presents to the public documentation proving that, according to incomplete investigations conducted to date, more than 800 judges from Hitler’s special courts and military tribunals are now once again occupying leading positions within the West German judiciary, even though they can be accused of the gravest crimes and of countless unlawful death sentences and forced labor punishments. As obedient instruments of German imperialism and militarism, these judges sent thousands of German and foreign citizens from all walks of life to the guillotine, where they were brutally murdered. They were Hitler’s supporters in preparing and executing plans of war against Germany’s neighbors. They sentenced to death those who opposed war and mass slaughter, or who defended themselves against the Nazis’ draconian measures in the occupied countries—those who did not conceal their democratic and anti-fascist convictions, or who resisted the Nazi terror apparatus; those who fought for the liberation of their homelands, or even those who merely uttered an unguarded word against Hitler’s system.” (From the foreword)
A report by the Committee for German Unity listing the names of 800 German judges who actively participated in implementing Hitler’s policies, and who—according to international agreements regarding the democratization of Germany enforced at the end of World War II—were required to be removed from their positions in the judiciary. Nevertheless, they continued to serve in senior judicial roles in Germany, including in special courts and military tribunals, federal courts, regional courts, and as presidents and directors of various courts. The Committee states that “the majority of Nazi judges have now returned to their posts… under Adenauer, even though they had actively participated in the Nazi regime.” Furthermore, the report reveals that the situation is even more severe: “Instead of removing these bloodthirsty judges from public office, as mandated by international agreements, the Adenauer government promoted many of them—some even hold leading positions in the judicial system of West Germany today.”
The severity of the postwar situation in Germany is made undeniably clear in this report—for each of the 800 judges named, both their position during the Nazi regime and their current role in postwar Germany are explicitly listed. For example: “Judge Arndt – then: District Court Counselor in Mainz, Investigating Judge of the Nazi People’s Court. Now: Senior Counselor at the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz”—and so forth for each and every one of the 800 judges.
The second part of the report lists the names of judges serving in public positions in Germany after the war, providing detailed documentation of the crimes they committed under the Nazi regime. For each individual, the report specifies whom they sentenced to death, the dates and circumstances of those executions, and includes full details—locations, names, and events. This is a chilling list of judges who were directly responsible for the executions of dozens of people during the war—Jews, Poles, members of other nationalities, and Germans suspected of resistance against the regime. For instance: “Dr. Albrecht – on April 19, 1943, he sentenced, among others, German citizens Anton Kruttel, Albert Epp, Karl Sackmann, Paul Spengler, Georg Orians, and Paul Manz. Kruttel and Epp were sentenced to death; the others received prison terms.” A name-by-name list follows for each individual the judge condemned to execution. In many cases, the judges explicitly referenced the “Nazi decree order” in their rulings, adhering to it as legal justification.
The report is accompanied by dozens of pages featuring photographic reproductions of incriminating documents pertaining to the judges mentioned within. These include execution orders signed by the judges during the war, indictments bearing their signatures in which they specify the “offenses” of those sentenced to death—for example, “offending the honor of the German people”—as well as curricula vitae written by the judges themselves during the Nazi regime, in which many openly expressed unreserved support for the Nazi government. Some of the documents include passport photographs of the judges from the Nazi era placed next to postwar passport photographs from their time serving in official positions—making it visually clear that these are the same individuals. In the final section of the report, findings are presented regarding the most notorious judges, who were responsible for crimes on a far broader scale, such as “the Butcher” Lautz: “Among the hundreds of well-known bloodthirsty judges and war criminals currently receiving substantial—indeed enormous—pensions from the Republic of Bonn is Ernst Lautz, the Reich’s Chief Prosecutor and Hitler’s principal accuser. This is the man responsible for the execution of tens of thousands of anti-fascists and civilians from nearly every European nation. And yet, he remains free. Lautz receives a pension of 16,104 marks per year…”. Also detailed are the crimes of Dr. Ernst Kanter, who was responsible for the High Command of Hitler’s Wehrmacht, served during the war as chief judge in occupied Denmark, and after the war became President of the Third Criminal Senate of the Federal Supreme Court, among others.
The special committee concluded: “These facts prove that the Bonn government is unwilling to dismiss Hitler’s dishonorable, bloodthirsty judges—each of whom sent more than 100 individuals to the gallows. Moreover, this government protects these executioners, who today are supporters of German imperialism. Criminal proceedings against these bloodstained Nazi judges—on whose consciences lie thousands of human lives, lost to their vile fascist convictions—have been suspended. They receive large pensions, while their victims and the victims’ families struggle in vain to gain recognition for the persecution they endured under the Nazi regime, and to receive compensation or equivalent pensions…”. The report further states:
“We accuse the Adenauer government of covering up, through its conduct, the crimes committed against the German people and the peoples of neighboring nations by Hitler’s bloodthirsty judges during the years of fascist rule. With the help of these judges, it is now preparing new crimes against the German people and its neighbors… Instead of democratization, we see the growing boldness of militarists, reactionaries, and antisemites…”. In publishing the full report before us, the committee demanded that all individuals named herein be immediately removed from public service.
Isser Harel [1912–2003] – Israeli intelligence official, one of the founding fathers of Israel’s intelligence community, the first head of the Shin Bet, the second director of the Mossad, and a Knesset member. One of Harel’s greatest achievements—of historic proportions—was the discovery of the whereabouts of Adolf Eichmann, who was found hiding in Argentina. In a daring Mossad operation under Harel’s direct command, Eichmann was captured on May 11, 1960, and brought to Israel on May 21, 1960, to stand trial in the historic Eichmann Trial, where he was sentenced to death and executed by hanging on May 31, 1962. Eichmann’s capture marked the pinnacle of Harel’s career.
206 pages. Very good condition.
