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Drawing a line under the past instead of dealing with the past?
The Federal Ministry of Justice and its handling of Nazi criminals
01 The Amnesties of 1949 ...
Already in 1949, black marketeers and people who stole to make ends meet were not the only ones to benefit from the amnesty. All prison sentences of up to 6 months and fines of up to DM 5,000 were amnestied. Nazi perpetrators convicted of assault or membership of criminal organisations (SS, Gestapo, SD, Führerkorps of the NSDAP) were among those benefiting from the amnesty.
02 ... And 1954
In 1954, a second Amnesty Law came into force. It covered all offences committed after 1 October 1944 for which a prison sentence of less than three years had been imposed or was threatened. That enabled crimes typical of the final phase of the war to go unpunished, for example the execution of "deserters" or crimes against prisoners of war. The law also amnestied anyone who "for political reasons" had concealed their civil status. This benefited Nazi perpetrators who had assumed a false identity after 1945 in order to evade prosecution. The law symbolised the attitude in West German society of "drawing a line under the past"; it was the political signal to the judiciary to end the prosecution of Nazi crimes.
[Chart]
Sentences passed by West German courts between 1945 and 1959 for Nazi crimes
03 A Model of Personnel-based Continuity
Max Merten worked at the Reich Ministry of Justice from 1938 to 1942 and had processed enforcement law. In spring 1952, he was employed by the Federal Ministry of Justice and once again took up the post of Head of Division on Enforcement. With regard to his activities during the war, Merten had previously stated that he had been a war administration counsellor in Northern Greece. In a detailed curriculum vitae, he had presented himself to the BMJ as the rescuer of some 13,000 Greek Jews.
04 The Deportation of 50,000 Greek Jews to Auschwitz
In autumn 1952, the Greek Public Prosecutor General handed over a list of wanted war criminals to the German authorities: it included the name Max Merten. Merten was said to have extorted considerable assets from Greek Jews in the Thessaloniki region by making false promises for their protection and later to have signed the decisive orders for their "resettlement". Some 45,000 to 50,000 people were subsequently deported to Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen; most were murdered. Having evidently been confronted with the Greek investigations by his superiors, Merten asked to be dismissed from the BMJ a few days later. He left the service – there were no criminal law consequences for him.
05 A Helping Hand for a Colleague (war criminal)
Max Merten was so sure that he would not be held accountable for his actions that in spring 1957 he returned to Greece. To his great surprise, he was arrested and sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment by a special military court for war criminals in Athens. The BMJ then demonstrated a remarkable willingness to act on behalf of the war criminal and former colleague. Ernst Kanter, Head of the Criminal Law Directorate at the BMJ, travelled to Athens himself to make Merten's case – and was successful: Just 8 months after his conviction, Merten was handed over to Germany where, within a few days, he was released by the German judiciary.
Max Merten's handcuffs are removed at the beginning of the trial in the Athens courtroom in March 1959. |