'Richterbriefe': confidential circulars of the Reichsministerium der Justiz (microfilm)

This material is held atThe Wiener Holocaust Library

Scope and Content

Series of 21 letters on a variety of legal matters affecting the judiciary in Nazi Germany, 1942-1944.

Administrative / Biographical History

Reichsministerium der Justiz (Justice ministry) was one of the ministries of the Third Reich. The Richterbriefe are a series of confidential letters addressed to the Nazi judiciary from the Reichsministerium outlining in detail the stance that should be taken and verdicts, which should be given in numerous case scenarios. They were a method of further controlling and subordinating the judiciary to Nazi ideology. They came about shortly after the appointment of Otto Georg Thierack to the position of Reichsminister der Justiz in August 1942.

Arrangement

Numerical

Access Information

Open

Acquisition Information

Jewish Central Information Office

Other Finding Aids

Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk

Alternative Form Available

Bundesarchiv, Germany

Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

Microfilm

Conditions Governing Use

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

Custodial History

There were originally 11,000 sets of Richterbriefe, 10,384 of which were sent to the courts and the remainder to various ministries, senior government departments and party offices. The provenance of this particuar set is unknown.

Location of Originals

Wiener Collection, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Bibliography

Boberach, Heinz, Kempner, Robert M. W., Rasehorn, Theo, Richterbriefe : Dokumente zur Beeinflussung der deutschen Rechtsprechung 1942-1944 , (Boldt, Boppard am Rhein, 1975).