The Legal System of the Third Reich: Issues of Complicity within the Legal Profession

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Harvey, David

Keywords

Third Reich, Nazism, Legal Profession, Law, Legal System, Legal Positivism

Area of Concentration

History

Abstract

This thesis attempts to reconcile current applications of legal history with dominant historical theories on the legal system of the Third Reich in Germany from 1933 to 1945. From these observations, a redefinition of the debate of the extent to which the legal profession in the Nazi state was complicit in its crimes is undertaken. Chief among these arguments is the extent to which legal positivism accounted for the silent obedience of the legal profession against Nazi jurisprudence which enacted oppressive measures across the territory of the Third Reich. A special focus is paid to the plight of Jews within Germany in light of these statutes. Importance is also placed on the burgeoning structure of the Nazi totalitarian state, and how it worked with the pervasive belief in legal positivism held by the legal profession to keep them silent. At the same time, the expanding scale of the Second World War encouraged Nazi leaders to implement greater and more severe punishments. This was done increasingly by police powers in the Nazi state, as the legal system lost its prestige due to internal dissent and a functional inability to enact violence at a level satisfactory to Nazi leaders.

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