Judges and Laws in Hitler’s Democracy Then – And Now
Recently the BBC televised a 190-minute black-and-white film production “Judgement at Nuremberg”, directed by Stanley Kramer. With well-known actors from the past like Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Witmark, Marlène Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Montgomery Clift and others. The film was shown in the “Kongresshalle” in Berlin and on December 19 1961 in the United States, in English and German. The film shown was a re-enacted version – with fictional characters – of the judges’ trial from 1947, one of the twelve military tribunals of Nuremberg held under the auspices of the American Army, in the aftermath of the Second World War.
The film revolves around an American tribunal for which four judges and plaintiffs (compared to the sixteen defendants in the proper “Judges Trial”) were accused of crimes against humanity because of their important role in the judicial system of the Nazi-German government.
The trial concentrates on questions about the individual and collective responsibility of Germans before the Holocaust. After World War Two a tense international situation arose straight away. It was the time of the beginning of the Cold War. The time of the blockade of Berlin and the geopolitical consequences of the Nuremberg trials for the German support to the Western bloc, against Russian’s expansionism.
In the courtroom, the attempts of the Tribunal’s chairman to reach a just verdict about the war crimes in Hitler’s Third Reich came under great political pressure. Furthermore, the judge is confronted with emotional confrontations in his personal relationships with Germans outside the court room. Many people consequently claim that they didn’t know anything about the Nazi-cruelties, while the American judge suspects that they knew more than they were willing to admit. A very captivating film in which all kinds of aspects of legitimate justice come to the fore. At the time the film won two Oscars.
“Laws are the basis of the judicial system and play an important role in our society”
Judges and Laws in Hitler Germany
Because, how must you sentence judges who in those days, under the Nazi rule of Adolf Hitler, implemented the laws in force at the time? After all, judges must sentence on the basis of existing laws. Those laws are established in every country by Parliament, the people elected to make and change the laws of the country. Laws are the basis of the judicial system and play an important role in our society. In the Netherlands e.g., the Government establishes laws together with the Senate (First Chamber) and Second Chamber, i.e., Parliament. Together they are the legislature. How was that at the time in Germany?
The “Reichstag” was the German Parliament in the years 1867-1945. After the coup of the National Socialist NSDAP in 1933 a Reichstag remained formally in existence. After Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor, the “Gleichschaltung” (“Egalitarianism”) began by establishing the “Reichstagbrandverordnung” and the “Enabling Act” of 1933. By arresting or intimidating opponents Hitler obtained a majority for this “Enabling Act” in 1933 that stipulated that the Government could establish laws as well. Later that year the Reichstag was elected anew of which all members were part of the NSDAP.
When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 it became clear very soon that he had racist ideas. The “Nuremberg Laws”, the “anti-Jewish racial laws”, in other words he “Nuremberg racial laws” comprised three laws that were implemented in Nazi-Germany on September 15, 1935.
“By arresting or intimidating opponents Hitler obtained a majority for this “Enabling Act” in 1933”
The laws determined who were “genuine” Germans who were entitled of state citizenship. Those were “Aryan” people: the ideal Aryan had fair hair and blue eyes. It was particularly made clear who was not entitled to state citizenship, e.g. Jews, people with dark skins, gipsies, seriously handicapped people, et cetera. In the 1930’s and earlier there was a general idea in multiple countries that some races were “better” than other races, inspired by the ideas of Charles Darwin (“Survival of the fittest, Evolution theory”). Hitler believed that based on those ideas the Germans were the best people, and that much injustice had been done to them mainly by the Jews. The three laws included the following.
The “Reich Citizenship Law” determined who was allowed to receive state citizenship and who was not. Initially every German citizen received this citizenship, but soon an order was issued that mentioned exceptions. Records were made of everyone that determined to what extend he/she was Jewish. If one of your four grandparents was Jewish, you were one quarter Jewish, if you had two Jewish grandparents you were half a Jew, et cetera. The demands on how Jewish a “Reichsburger” was allowed to be became stricter over time, causing more and more people losing their civil rights, even though they were only partially Jewish. Amongst other things they were no longer allowed to vote or work for the Government.
Then there was the “Law for the Protection of German blood and the German Honour”. To “protect” the German race it was prohibited for Germans to marry non-Germans (for example Jews) or enter into a relationship with them. Also, Jewish entrepreneurs were no longer allowed to hire German female staff under 45 years of age or hoist the German (swastika) flag.
The third law was the “Reichsflaggengesetz” the “Anti-Flag Desecration Law”. In this law the flag with the swastika became the official flag of Germany.
In short: 1. The “Reich Citizenship Law”; dealing with German citizenship and who was a German and who wasn’t. 2. The “Law for the Protection of German blood and the German Honour” that prohibited marriage and sexual intercourse between Jews and non-Jews. 3. The “Anti-Flag Desecration Law” that made the Swastika flag the official flag. In the Government Gazette the three laws were proclaimed.
To verify all this all civilians had to fill in a kind of form. This form consisted of six little circular boxes. A black circular box meant Jewish and a white circular box meant German. The first four boxes represented your grandparents. Next were two boxes for your parents and then a box for yourself. Suppose your grandfather was German and your grandmother was Jewish then your father or mother was half-Jewish (half-black box). If he/she was married to a Jew you were three-quarter Jewish (three-quarter-black box) and if he/she was married to a German then you were one-quarter Jewish (one-quarter-black box).
In Germany you were treated as a “Reichsburger” when your box was entirely white (i.e. German) or only a quarter black (i.e. a quarter Jewish). For half-Jews (half-black box) were different rules. They were treated as Jewish when they practised Judaism, were married to a Jew and/or had an illegal child. If that was the case, they were Jewish and they could not become a “Reichsburger”. The three-quarter Jews and full blood Jews were not eligible to become a “Reichsburger” at all.
Chart to describe Nuremberg Laws of 15 September 1935 and the respective regulation of 14 November 1935. The “Nuremberg Laws” established a legal basis for racial identification | Photo:United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection from Wikimedia Commons
Lying was not possible because Germany had a good registry office. All forms were checked. In those days faith/religion was declared at the registry office. The occupied Netherlands also had a good registry office. This caused many Jews to be arrested. In France, for example, where registry offices often were missing, or incomplete, it was easier to lie. The “Reich Citizenship Law” initially caused a lot of discrimination and violence. Although half-Jews were treated as “Reichsburger”, they too were discriminated and faced violence.
In 2013 the documentary film “Judgement at Nuremberg” was selected by the “Library of Congress” for safekeeping in the “National Film Registry” of the United States. The presentation of historic events by this film-production has in the decades before and since then drawn deep attention. Because the dilemma of the judges in the Third Reich became clearly visible that way. The verdict in Nuremberg is about a fictious American military tribunal that is convened in Nuremberg, in which four German judges and plaintiffs are accused of crimes against humanity and because of their involvement in cruelties committed during the Nazi regime.
The German lawyer defending the accused judges, states that the accused were not the only ones who helped the Nazi regime. He says that the United States committed actions that were just as bad or worse than what the Nazis did. Such as, for example, the judge of the American Supreme Court Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr’s support for the first practices of eugenics. The lawyer also mentions the German-Vatican “Reichs-Konkordat” of 1933. That was exploited by the Nazi dominated Government as an implicitly early foreign recognition of the Nazi regime. Also Joseph Stalin’s share in the Nazi-Soviet-Pact of 1939, which removed the final major obstacle for the German invasion and occupation of Western Poland and ushered in the World War Two. Also the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the final phase of the war in August 1945.
One of the judges on trial finally chooses to testify as a witness for the prosecution. He admits that he is guilty of sentencing a Jewish man to death on charges of “blood contamination” – namely that he had intercourse with a 16-year-old non-Jewish girl – while he knew that there was no evidence to support such a verdict.
He explains that misguided people – as he – helped the antisemitic, racist policy of Adolf Hitler out of naïve patriotism, despite the fact that he knew it was wrong, and he says that all of Germany has a degree of responsibility for the cruelties committed by the Nazi regime. (Read for example the book: “Hitler’s willing executioners: ordinary Germans and the Holocaust” by Daniel Goldhagen).
While the four accused German judges maintain their “not-guilty” pleads in their final statements, one of the accused and one of the co-accused show clear remorse for their actions, while a third says that they had no other choice than to execute the laws of Hitler’s government. The fourth accused shows no remorse and tells the Americans that one day they will regret for not making an alliance with the Nazis to fight the Soviet Union and communism. Ultimately all four accused are found guilty in the film and are sentenced to life imprisonment.
The German lawyer meets the American chairman after the trial to tell him that according to his assessment none of the convicted suspects will probably stay no more than five years in prison. End of film.
And finally, a title card in the picture shows the audience in the hall that none of the 99 defendants who were sentenced to long, sometimes even life imprisonment in the Nuremberg trials in the American zone, was serving a sentence when the film was released in 1961…
It reminded me of what the real American prosecutor Robert H. Jackson said during the Nuremberg tribunals: “There is a higher, transcendent law, that rises above all earthly laws.” On the ground of which he concluded that you cannot always execute human laws indiscriminately. You have to follow your conscience…
“…And Books Were Opened…” (Revelation 20:12).
During the Second World War the Dutch Government in exile in the UK already in 1943 drafted a number of resolutions in order to establish a Special Court of Justice (Dutch: “Bijzonder Gerechtshof”) in the Netherlands after the Second World War. This Special Court of Justice was established to try defendants immediately after the country’s liberation in May 1945, that were accused of having committed high treason, treason and war crimes. There were 14,000 such cases, and 145 of them led to sentence of death. Only 42 of those cases actually led to an execution by a firing squad. They were the last instances of capital punishment in the Netherlands.
The records of this Special Court, comprising the files of roughly 425,000 individuals who were suspected of collaborating with the Germans, make up the “Centraal Archief Bijzondere Rechtspleging (CABR)”, Dutch for “Central Archive for Special Jurisdiction”, stored at the National Archives of the Netherlands. It is the largest archive on the Second World War in the Netherlands.
The records of this archive were made public on January 1st, 2025.
When I read this, it reminded me all of a sudden of the verses in the Book of Revelation 20:12-15 and 21:8. One day the books will be opened. Jesus says in Luke 8:17: “… For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open…”.
“One day, the files kept by the Most High, will be opened and made public”
One day, the files kept by the Most High, will be opened and made public. Nobody can escape that. Earthly justice is imperfect. Many facts do not come to light. Many names are missing. Many people carefully covered their tracks. So, the legal rulings and verdicts are flawed. It still remains the work of man. Many dodged the bullet. But then, no more!
One day, justice will be done. What a consolation for the victims. What a chilling prospect for the perpetrators. Revelation 21:8 says: “… But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death…”. Also the murderers. Then and now. And those who betrayed Jews (and others) for a few guilders and forced them into certain death. The apostle Paul says in Romans 12:19: “…Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord…”.
The liars won’t get away with it either. With their lies and ideologies of left-wing or right-wing or democratic (humanistic / Hellenistic) dictatorship that subsequently resulted in streams of blood in the course of history. After the lie comes the murder. John 8:44 says that the devil is the father of lies – and he is also a murderer from the beginning. Streams of Jewish blood have flowed. For centuries. Until the present day. And the numbers of persecuted Christians worldwide increase every year. But none of the perpetrators will get away with it in the end.
Fortunately another book with files is opened as well. The Lamb’s book of live, says Revelation 21:27. In it are the names of those who sought their salvation with Him. And found it. What a consolation.
Moses went back to the Lord about Israel’s sin and says in Exodus 32:32-33: “…But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book…”. Everybody is personally responsible. In this manner David prays over the wicked enemies of Israel in Psalm 69:29: “…May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous…”. Chilling words. Chilling reality.
But it is not too late yet. To repent and confess your sin. Take a new path. That applies to us all. That applies to our Churches and congregations as well. And our Government. Yes, all of us.
The old rhyming of Psalm 130:2-4 says: “Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.”
That concerns men and women. Paul says in Philippians 4:2-3 “…I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life…” Ultimately every human being will stand there with what he has done in the flesh. Also “The Book of Life” of the Lamb will be opened.
“True righteousness and justice come from the laws of the Torah”
True Righteousness
True righteousness and justice come from the laws of the Torah. The Ten Commandments imbued our national legislation here in the Netherlands for centuries. But at a fast pace these laws that breathe the Jewish-Christian tradition are abolished and new, humanist legislation is being introduced. Laws are approved by the Second Chamber and the Senate (First Chamber). In lawsuits, judges must abide by the law, and test its violations against these democratically passed laws. As long it is according to these laws, democratically passed by the Second Chamber. So, the judge will only judge you based on these new laws.
If you can change a law, you can change a country and impose your new will. In Churches and Christian organisations as well. That is what we have seen with blessing gay marriages and enabling euthanasia and abortion. Doctors and nurses and other medical staff are no longer recruited if they don’t agree with this mindset. But one day the files will be opened by the Most High. Then you will be assessed against the laws of true righteousness you can find in the Bible. It is important to know that we should not blindly follow these new laws and ways. We have to be be more obedient to God than to people, said the apostle Peter already in Acts 5:29 “…Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!…”” Read Acts 5:17-42. We cannot follow these new laws imposed on us with impunity, because we will not be able to get away with it. When the time comes “…and there will be books opened…”.
Human Rights
In 1945 the United Nations (UN) was established. One of the main goals was to protect and promote human rights. Th atrocities of World War Two had to be prevented in the future. In 1946 the UN therefore launched the Human Rights Commission. The main task of this commission was to write the International Bill of Rights.
The distress caused by the horrors of the Holocaust played a crucial role in formulating and debating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Articles about the right of marriage, right of employment and profession, right of free choice of education for children and religious freedom, can be traced directly back to protection of the kind of discriminating measures the Nazis took against the Jews.
The basis of all rights can be found in article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
It all looks wonderful. But there is no talk about the duties of man. And where are the rights of God and the Commandments of His justice specified? Those are higher laws than our democratically drafted and accepted laws.
In fact, it is quite remarkable.
1948: Declaration of the State of Israel – the beginning that will end in the new era of the Kingdom of Peace and Righteousness from Jerusalem worldwide.
1948: Founding of the World Council of Churches – world community of Christianity that together with other religions will culminate in the empire of Babylon and the anti-christ.
1948: Universal Declaration of Human Rights – world community in the name of man with a humanism/hellinism we know from the Books of the Maccabees and ultimately the Feast of Chanukah.
1948: Foundation of the World Health Organization, with its dubious role in the Gaza war.
Simultaneously with the restoration of Israel the process of world unity is initiated that ultimately will lead to a world unity like in Revelation 13.
Because of the restoration of Israel, the Islamic world is gradually awakening. And Israel and the city of Jerusalem become number one on their political agenda. All of a sudden, the slogan: “Palestine shall be free – from the River (Jordan) to the (Mediterranean) Sea.” This political slogan, the slogan of jihad, an Islamic holy war, drove Hamas to its atrocities on October 7, 2023, when thousands of rockets were fired at Israel and some 1,400 Israelis were slaughtered, tortured, raped, burnt and made hostage.
International Criminal Court
Wikipedia says: “The International Criminal Court (ICC)/Cour Pénale Internationale (CPI) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression as described in the Statute of Rome.” The working languages are English and French.
The Rome Statute regarding the ICC is called in full: “Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court”, is an international treaty from 1998, on the basis of which the ICC was founded in 2002. The treaty drawn up within the framework of the United Nations was signed on July 17, 1998 in the Italian city of Rome.
After sufficiently countries/states had ratified the statute in the Spring of 2002, the statute became binding. After that practical steps could be made for the founding of the ICC, housed in the Dutch city of The Hague.
“And lo and behold: Israel is put in the dock and convicted for genocide”
According the Statute of Rome, the following crimes may be tried by the ICC:
- Genocide
- Crimes against humanity
- War crimes
- The crime of aggression
The ICC has jurisdiction over the crimes mentioned above, insofar they were committed after July 1st, 2002. These crimes are considered as the most serious crimes within international law. They are defined in the Statute of Rome and other international authoritative texts.
And lo and behold: Israel is put in the dock and convicted for genocide. And the democratically elected PM Benjamin Netanyahu has to be arrested as a war criminal as soon as he sets foot outside Israel. The Netherlands agree with that. Again, judges cooperate in executing what democratically established laws stipulate “in the name of man”. Just like they executed the laws then in force in Hitler’s “democracy” in their verdicts.
Today’s Laws
Now that we are entering the end of times and the outlines of the antichristian empire become visible more-and-more, we will discover that the same things are going to happen and occur like in the days of the fascist regime (right wing politics) and the communist regime (left wing politics). New laws will force judges to convict the “perpetrators” of these laws on the grounds of these laws. Fines, imprisonment or worse.
The Book of Revelation says in verse 13:9-10: “Whoever has ears, let them hear. “If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.” This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.””
In my diary on the Book of Revelation, 14th edition, 2025, “See, He Comes” I write: “The inescapability of what must happen, lies within it. The beast will be gíven to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. Imprisonment and/or death awaits them. That’s how it’s going to be. Know it and be prepared.” Whoever has ears, let him hear and he may know: persevere, because I want to be among the victors. Revelation 17:10b should say: “… if anyone will kill someone with the sword, he himself must be killed with the sword…” That is a consolation: the hangmen will not dodge their rightful punishment in God’s judgement. It also contains a warning against armed resistance in those days, because the saints will be conquered, Revelation 13:7 and Daniel 7:21.
It will be either imprisonment or death, but a victory by armed resistance like in the days of the Eighty Year’s War or World War Two, is apparently no longer possible and will lead to death in any case. This will show the saints’ perseverance and faith.
This shows the long-suffering to undergo the things that are inevitable. From the situation in which John, and all of his brothers who suffered in that tribulation, when John wrote the Book of Revelation – the tribulation of the Roman Empire with major persecutions of Christians, a situation that as it were serves as a model for the “Great Tribulation” – it is quite understandable that John doesn’t mean armed resistance, but long-suffering, spiritual resistance.
Cling to Christ and His Word. Love those who persecute you. Thus was the Roman Empire rolled up from within after a few centuries. Long-suffering, tribulation unto death, cling to what you have, prison, the sword: this shows the perseverance and the faithfulness of the saints. In the undergoing lies victory, not in the escaping. “…Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done!” (Revelation 22:12).
