In the Name of the Volk: Political Justice in Hitler's Germany

In 1934 the Nazis set up a special court to deal with treason against the German state. Between 1934 and 1945 this court - the "Volksgerichtshof" or "People's Court" - condemned more than 12,000 civilians to death and sent thousands more to concentration camps. Yet in spite of its blatantly political character, the People's Court was never indicted, either at Nuremberg or in subsequent trials. This text traces the roots of the Court, its establishment and procedures, and assesses the controversial question of the German judiciary's complicity with the Nazi regime.

The background; a political judiciary; the NSDAP and the law; the National Socialist state and the law; the National Socialist people's court 1934-1939; Roland Freisler as publicist; judiciary in crisis 1939-1942; Freisler as VGH president 1942-1944; conspiracies against Hitler; the trial of the conspirators; the final days of the VGH. Appendix: the structure of the German judiciary.