Documentation of the Reichsministerium der Justiz (Reich Ministry of Justice), Germany, 1933-1945

Documentation of the Reichsministerium der Justiz (Reich Ministry of Justice), Germany, 1933-1945 
 
 In the years 1933-1935, the Reich Ministry of Justice became the central authority in the judicial system in Germany, and as such assumed management of the system. Upon the seizure of control by the Nazis, Franz Guertner, who had been appointed to the position of Reich Justice Minister in 1932 under Franz von Papen, abandoned the principles of State Law, and provided legal means for the activities of the SA, SS and the Gestapo. During his time, the rights of Jews were revoked and a special criminal code was instituted for the war period. Following Guertner's death, 29 January 1941, Franz Schlegelberger, the acting Justice Minister, continued revocation of the rights of the Jews, and introduced the special criminal code for Poland and the Nacht und Nebel Regulations (Night and Fog-execution of hostages as retaliation for anti-German activity). On 20 August 1941, Otto Georg Thierack, the former President of the Nazi People's Court (in which those opposed to the regime were prosecuted and many of them executed), received the position of Reich Minister of Justice. In this capacity, he ordered, among other things, the handing over of inmates to the SS for Vernichtung durch Arbeit (Annihilation Through Labor) and the total elimination of the rights of the Jews, a move that enabled legal deportation of Jews to the East. Thierack remained in this position until 1945.
 
 From 1935, all the courts were placed under the jurisdiction of the German Ministry of Justice, and their legal autonomy was cancelled in 1937. From then on, the Justice Ministry appointed the judges and determined their areas of operation. Thus, the Justice Ministry gradually increased its control over the judicial system.
 
 The Collection includes, among other items, the interpretations and guidelines of the Justice Ministry regarding a range of laws.
 
 The Record Group includes files from the former Federal Archives in Koblenz under the previous Archival Signature R 22. All the files of the Reich Ministry of Justice were later united under the Archival Signature R 3001.
 
 Among the topics on which there is material:
 - Special guidelines regarding Jewish jurists;
 
 - Legal status of the Jews;
 
 - Aryanization;
 
 - Administration of Jewish assets and enemy assets;
 
 - National-Socialist racist policies;
 
 - The death sentence.
 
 Also in the Collection:
 - Documents relating to the Centralverein (Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith);
 
 - Documents regarding steps taken against persons in individual positions on the charge of maintaining ties with Jews.