Democracy, Nazi Trials, and Transitional Justice in Germany, 1945–1950

Download or read book Democracy, Nazi Trials, and Transitional Justice in Germany, 1945–1950 written by Devin O. Pendas and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-24 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Post-war Germany has been seen as a model of 'transitional justice' in action, where the prosecution of Nazis, most prominently in the Nuremberg Trials, helped promote a transition to democracy. However, this view forgets that Nazis were also prosecuted in what became East Germany, and the story in West Germany is more complicated than has been assumed. Revising received understanding of how transitional justice works, Devin O. Pendas examines Nazi trials between 1945 and 1950 to challenge assumptions about the political outcomes of prosecuting mass atrocities. In East Germany, where there were more trials and stricter sentences, and where they grasped a broad German complicity in Nazi crimes, the trials also helped to consolidate the emerging Stalinist dictatorship by legitimating a new police state. Meanwhile, opponents of Nazi prosecutions in West Germany embraced the language of fairness and due process, which helped de-radicalise the West German judiciary and promote democracy.