Forced and Slave Labor in Nazi-Dominated Europe

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Forced and Slave Labor in Nazi-Dominated Europe UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM CENTER FOR ADVANCED HOLOCAUST STUDIES Forced and Slave Labor in Nazi-Dominated Europe Symposium Presentations W A S H I N G T O N , D. C. Forced and Slave Labor in Nazi-Dominated Europe Symposium Presentations CENTER FOR ADVANCED HOLOCAUST STUDIES UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM 2004 The assertions, opinions, and conclusions in this occasional paper are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council or of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. First printing, April 2004 Copyright © 2004 by Peter Hayes, assigned to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Copyright © 2004 by Michael Thad Allen, assigned to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Copyright © 2004 by Paul Jaskot, assigned to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Copyright © 2004 by Wolf Gruner, assigned to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Copyright © 2004 by Randolph L. Braham, assigned to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Copyright © 2004 by Christopher R. Browning, assigned to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Copyright © 2004 by William Rosenzweig, assigned to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Copyright © 2004 by Andrej Angrick, assigned to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Copyright © 2004 by Sarah B. Farmer, assigned to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Copyright © 2004 by Rolf Keller, assigned to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................i Paul A. Shapiro PART I: FORCED AND SLAVE LABOR IN GERMANY Forced and Slave Labor: The State of the Field..............................................................................1 Peter Hayes The Business of Genocide .....................................................................................................................9 Michael Thad Allen Cultural Policy and Political Oppression: Nazi Architecture and the Development of SS Forced Labor Concentration Camps .........................................................................................................21 Paul B. Jaskot PART II: JEWISH FORCED AND SLAVE LABOR Jewish Forced Labor as a Basic Element of Nazi Persecution: Germany, Austria, and the Occupied Polish Territories (1938–1943) ..........................................................................................................35 Wolf Gruner The Hungarian Labor Service System (1939–1945): An Overview...............................................49 Randolph L. Braham The Factory Slave Labor Camps in Starachowice, Poland: Survivors’ Testimonies .......................63 Christopher R. Browning Retelling the Jewish Slave Labor Experience in Romania ............................................................77 William Rosenzweig PART III: FORCED AND SLAVE LABOR ACROSS EUROPE Forced Labor along the “Straβe der SS”...........................................................................................83 Andrej Angrick Foreign Labor in Vichy, France: The Groupements de Travailleurs Etrangers................................93 Sarah B. Farmer Racism versus Pragmatism: Forced Labor of Soviet Prisoners of War in Germany (1941–1942)109 Rolf Keller Appendix: Biographies of Contributors.......................................................................................125 Foreword Civilians, including concentration camp prisoners, deportees, foreign nationals, and Jews, as well as prisoners of war were forced into the sprawling forced and slave labor system that encompassed Europe and supported the war efforts of the Nazi regime and Germany’s Axis allies. Forced and slave labor was used in road-building and defense works; the chemical, construction, metal, mining, and munitions industries; in agriculture; at installations working at the highest levels of technology; and to perform menial tasks. Such labor was integral to concentration camps and their sub- camps, farms, ghettos, labor battalions, church institutions, prisoner-of-war camps, and private industries in Germany, other Axis countries, and Axis-occupied territories east and west. The pervasive and in some instances undisguised nature of this system is striking. Forced and slave labor took place not only in closed facilities, such as concentration and prisoner-of-war camps hidden from public eyes, but in many instances was a visible presence in the fabric of daily life: in the countryside on farms; in towns and cities across Europe when members of localized labor battalions assembled in the early morning and returned to their homes at dusk; and in ghettos, where Jews, often segregated only by barbed wire and therefore highly visible to their non-Jewish neighbors, hoped that labor might mean life. The Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies organized a symposium Forced and Slave Labor in Nazi-Dominated Europe in October 2002 to present new research into key elements of that system. The symposium was part of an ongoing series of programs organized by the Center to bring to bear the knowledge and insight of experienced Holocaust scholars regarding topics of major significance, and to provide an outlet for cutting-edge research being carried out by new scholars who will ensure the field’s future. The mission of the Center is to promote and support research on the Holocaust, to inspire the growth of the field of Holocaust studies, and to ensure the ongoing training of future generations of Holocaust scholars. Nine scholars presented their work at the symposium, as well as a Romanian survivor, whose descriptions of his ghetto forced-labor experiences added a profoundly personal perspective to the scholars’ presentations. The symposium itself was preceded by three days of intense deliberation among the presenters, who discussed one another’s work in detail, debated the major new scholarly findings stimulated by recent ii • FOREWORD public interest in Holocaust-era slave labor issues, and traced out the opportunities for potentially important future research on this topic. The symposium itself was organized into three sessions. In the first, Forced and Slave Labor in Germany, Peter Hayes of Northwestern University, a member of the Academic Committee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, assessed the challenges confronting scholars researching the field—these challenges a consequence of the topic’s enormity, heterogeneity, and profundity, and offered suggestions for improving our grasp of the full historical record. Michael Thad Allen of Georgia Technical University described the nature of the SS’s “corporate adventures” during the 1930s, concluding that they represented a mix of “economic aspirations and disciplinary predilections.” Paul Jaskot of DePaul University closed the session with an examination of the link between German National Socialist architecture and the punitive concentration camp system. At the second session Jewish Forced and Slave Labor, Wolf Gruner, the 2002– 2003 Pearl Resnick Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, took a comparative approach, analyzing forced labor both as a basic element of Nazi persecution of German Jews after 1938 and as one of the first anti-Jewish measures initiated in countries under German occupation or in the Axis orbit. Randolph Braham of City University of New York, a member of the Center’s Academic Committee and a survivor of the Hungarian Labor Battalions, provided an overview of the Hungarian labor service system from 1939 to 1945 in the context of a wider series of antisemitic policies pursued by Hungarian governments from the mid-1930s. Christopher Browning of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, relied heavily on extensive Jewish survivor testimony as a primary source base in his examination of a complex of slave labor camps in the town of Starachowice in the General Government of occupied Poland, bringing an experiential perspective to the symposium. Professor Browning was the 2003 Ina Levine Scholar at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies. The uniquely compelling nature of survivor memory was underscored in William Rosenzweig’s account of his deportation east from his native Czernowitz, Romania, and his slave labor experiences in Romanian-occupied Transnistria. The final session Forced and Slave Labor Across Europe, began with Andrej Angrick’s (institution, place) discussion of the use of SS-assigned slave labor in the construction of DG-IV, a main transit road built by the Germans and essential to their assault on Stalingrad and the Caucasus. Sarah Farmer of the University of California– FOREWORD • iii Irvine then addressed the use of foreign labor (“Groupements de Travailleurs Etrangers”) in Vichy France. Finally, Rolf Keller of the Niedersächische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung examined the contradictory “racism-versus- pragmatism” policy applied to Soviet prisoners of war used as forced and slave laborers in Germany in 1941/42. The articles in this collection are not verbatim transcriptions of the papers as presented. Some authors extended or revised their presentations by incorporating additional information and endnotes, and all of the contributions were copyedited. Although the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum makes every reasonable effort to provide accurate information, the Museum cannot guarantee the reliability, currency, or completeness of the material
Recommended publications
  • L'internement En France 1940-1946
    PROJET ÉDUCATION DES ROMS | HISTOIRE ENFANTS ROMS COUNCIL CONSEIL OF EUROPE DE L´EUROPE EN EUROPE L’INTERNEMENT 5.3 EN FRANCE 1940-1946 l’internement en France 1940-1946 Marie-Christine Hubert Identifier les « Tsiganes » et suivre leurs mouvements | Ordres d’assignation à résidence des « nomades » vivant sur le territoire du troisième Reich | Internement dans la zone libre | Internement dans la zone occupée | Après la Libération | Vie quotidienne dans les camps | Cas de déportation depuis les camps d’internement français En France, deux approches différentes mais parallèles coexistent concernant ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler « la question tsigane ». L’approche française consistant à recourir à l’internement afin d’intégrer les « Tsiganes » à la société majoritaire prévaut sur l’approche allemande de l’internement en tant que première phase de l’assassinat collectif. De sorte que les Roms de France, à la différence de leurs homologues des autres pays occupés par les Allemands, ne seront pas exterminés dans le camp d’Auschwitz. Toutefois, ils n’échappent pas à la persécution : des familles entières sont internées dans des camps spéciaux à travers tout le pays pendant et après l’occupation. CAMPS D’INTERNEMENT POUR « TSIGANES » INTRODUCTION EN FRANCE DURANT LA SECONDE GUERRE MONDIALE Ill. 1 Alors que dans les années 1930, en Allemagne, (par Jo Saville et Marie-Christine Hubert, extrait du Bulletin la « question tsigane » est considérée comme de l’Association des Enfants cachés, n° 8, mars 1998) 4 ZONE GOUVERNÉE DEPUIS LE QUARTIER GÉNÉRAL compliquée, dans la mesure où elle englobe des NB. Les autres camps d’internement (ceux destinés ALLEMAND DE BRUXELLES aspects raciaux, sociaux et culturels, les auto- aux Juifs) ne figurent pas sur cette carte.
    [Show full text]
  • Authors' Accepted Version: to Be Published in Antiquity Tormented
    Authors’ Accepted Version: to be published in Antiquity Tormented Alderney: archaeological investigations of the Nazi labour and concentration camp of Sylt Sturdy Colls, C.¹, Kerti, J.¹ and Colls, K.¹ ¹ Centre of Archaeology, L214 Flaxman Building, Staffordshire University, College Road, Stoke-on- Trent, ST4 2DF. Corresponding author email: [email protected] Abstract Following the evacuation of Alderney, a network of labour and SS concentration camps were built on British soil to house foreign labourers. Despite government-led investigations in 1945, knowledge concerning the history and architecture of these camps remained limited. This article reports on the findings of forensic archaeological investigations which sought to accurately map Sylt labour and concentration camp the for the first time using non-invasive methods and 3D reconstructive techniques. It also demonstrates how these findings have provided the opportunity – alongside historical sources – to examine the relationships between architecture, the landscape and the experiences of those housed there. Introduction The Nazis constructed a network of over 44,000 (concentration, extermination, labour, Prisoner of War (PoW) and transit) camps across Europe, imprisoning and murdering individuals opposed to Nazi ideologies, and those considered racially inferior (Megargee & White 2018). Information about these sites varies in part due to Nazi endeavours to destroy the evidence of their crimes (Arad 1987: 26; Gilead et al. 2010: 14; Sturdy Colls 2015: 3). Public knowledge regarding the camps that were built on British soil in the Channel Islands is particularly limited, not least of all because they were partially demolished and remain “taboo” (Carr & Sturdy Colls 2016: 1). Sylt was one of several camps built on the island of Alderney (Figures 1 & 2).
    [Show full text]
  • Déportés À Auschwitz. Certains Résis- Tion D’Une Centaine, Sont Traqués Et Tent Avec Des Armes
    MORT1943 ET RÉSISTANCE BIEN QU’AYANT rarement connu les noms de leurs victimes juives, les nazis entendaient que ni Zivia Lubetkin, ni Richard Glazar, ni Thomas Blatt ne survivent à la « solution finale ». Ils survécurent cependant et, après la Shoah, chacun écrivit un livre sur la Résistance en 1943. Quelque 400 000 Juifs vivaient dans le ghetto de Varsovie surpeuplé, mais les épi- démies, la famine et les déportations à Treblinka – 300 000 personnes entre juillet et septembre 1942 – réduisirent considérablement ce nombre. Estimant que 40 000 Juifs s’y trouvaient encore (le chiffre réel approchait les 55 000), Heinrich Himmler, le chef des SS, ordonna la déportation de 8 000 autres lors de sa visite du ghetto, le 9 janvier 1943. Cependant, sous la direction de Mordekhaï Anielewicz, âgé de 23 ans, le Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ZOB, Organisation juive de combat) lança une résistance armée lorsque les Allemands exécutèrent l’ordre d’Himmler, le 18 janvier. Bien que plus de 5 000 Juifs aient été déportés le 22 janvier, la Résistance juive – elle impliquait aussi bien la recherche de caches et le refus de s’enregistrer que la lutte violente – empêcha de remplir le quota et conduisit les Allemands à mettre fin à l’Aktion. Le répit, cependant, fut de courte durée. En janvier, Zivia Lubetkin participa à la création de l’Organisation juive de com- bat et au soulèvement du ghetto de Varsovie. « Nous combattions avec des gre- nades, des fusils, des barres de fer et des ampoules remplies d’acide sulfurique », rapporte-t-elle dans son livre Aux jours de la destruction et de la révolte.
    [Show full text]
  • Timeline Rudolf Höss
    TIMELINE RUDOLF HÖSS (25 Nov 1900 - 16 Apr 1947) Compiled and edited by Campbell M Gold (2010) --()-- Note: Rudolf Höss must not be confused with Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy, and one of the first group of Nuremburg defendants. --()-- 25 Nov 1900 - Rudolf Höss born in Baden-Baden, Germany. When he was six or seven years old, the Höss family moved to Mannheim, where Höss was educated. --()-- 1922 - Höss Joins the Nazi Party. --()-- 1934 - Höss joins the SS. --()-- 01 May 1940 - Höss is the first Commandant of Auschwitz where it is estimated that more than a million people were murdered. Jun 1941 - According to Höss' later trial testimony, he was summoned to Berlin for a meeting with Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler "to receive personal orders." Himmler told Höss that Hitler had given the order for the physical extermination of Europe's Jews. Himmler had selected Auschwitz for this purpose, he said, "on account of its easy access by rail and also because the extensive site offered space for measures ensuring isolation." Himmler told Höss that he would be receiving all operational orders from Adolf Eichmann. Himmler described the project as a "secret Reich matter", meaning that "no one was allowed to speak about these matters with any person and that everyone promised upon his life to keep the utmost secrecy." 1941 - After visiting Treblinka extermination camp to study its methods of human extermination, Höss tested and perfected the techniques of mass killing that made Auschwitz the most efficiently murderous instrument of the Final Solution. Later, Höss explained how 10,000 people were exterminated in one 24-hour period: "Technically [it] wasn't so hard – it would not have been hard to exterminate even greater numbers..
    [Show full text]
  • Wehrmacht Uniforms
    Wehrmacht uniforms This article discusses the uniforms of the World uniforms, not included here, began to break away in 1935 War II Wehrmacht (Army, Air Force, and with minor design differences. Navy). For the Schutzstaffel, see Uniforms and Terms such as M40 and M43 were never designated by the insignia of the Schutzstaffel. Wehrmacht, but are names given to the different versions of the Modell 1936 field tunic by modern collectors, to discern between variations, as the M36 was steadily sim- plified and tweaked due to production time problems and combat experience. The corresponding German term for tunic is Feldbluse and literally translates “field blouse”. 1 Heer 1.1 Insignia Main article: Ranks and insignia of the Heer (1935– 1945) For medals see List of military decorations of the Third Reich Uniforms of the Heer as the ground forces of the Wehrmacht were distinguished from other branches by two devices: the army form of the Wehrmachtsadler or German general Alfred Jodl wearing black leather trenchcoat Hoheitszeichen (national emblem) worn above the right breast pocket, and – with certain exceptions – collar tabs bearing a pair of Litzen (Doppellitze “double braid”), a device inherited from the old Prussian Guard which re- sembled a Roman numeral II on its side. Both eagle and Litzen were machine-embroidered or woven in white or grey (hand-embroidered in silk, silver or aluminium for officers). Rank was worn on shoulder-straps except for junior enlisted (Mannschaften), who wore plain shoulder- straps and their rank insignia, if any, on the left upper sleeve. NCO’s wore a 9mm silver or grey braid around the collar edge.
    [Show full text]
  • Holocaust Archaeology: Archaeological Approaches to Landscapes of Nazi Genocide and Persecution
    HOLOCAUST ARCHAEOLOGY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO LANDSCAPES OF NAZI GENOCIDE AND PERSECUTION BY CAROLINE STURDY COLLS A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham September 2011 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The landscapes and material remains of the Holocaust survive in various forms as physical reminders of the suffering and persecution of this period in European history. However, whilst clearly defined historical narratives exist, many of the archaeological remnants of these sites remain ill-defined, unrecorded and even, in some cases, unlocated. Such a situation has arisen as a result of a number of political, social, ethical and religious factors which, coupled with the scale of the crimes, has often inhibited systematic search. This thesis will outline how a non- invasive archaeological methodology has been implemented at two case study sites, with such issues at its core, thus allowing them to be addressed in terms of their scientific and historical value, whilst acknowledging their commemorative and religious significance.
    [Show full text]
  • Israel: a Concise History of a Nation Reborn
    Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING A book like Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn, by definition covers Israel’s history from a bird’s-eye view. Every event, issue, and personality discussed in these pages has been the subject of much investigation and writing. There are many wonderful books that, by focusing on subjects much more specific, are able to examine the issues the issues covered in this book in much greater detail. The following are my rather idiosyncratic recommendations for a few that will be of interest to the general reader interested in delving more deeply into some of the issues raised in this book. There are many other superb books, not listed here, equally worth reading. I would be pleased to receive your recommendations for works to consider adding. Please feel free to click on the “Contact” button on my website to be in touch. Introduction: A Grand Human Story • Gilbert, Martin. Israel: A History. New York: Harper Perennial, 1998. • Gilbert, Martin. The Story of Israel: From Theodor Herzl to the Roadmap for Peace. London: Andre Deutsch, 2011. • Laqueur, Walter. A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of Israel. New York: Schocken Books, 1976. • Shapira, Anita. Israel: A History. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2012. • Center for Israel Education online resources: https://israeled.org/ Chapter 1: Poetry and Politics—The Jewish Nation Seeks a Home • Avineri, Shlomo. Herzl: Theodor Herzl and the Foundation of the Jewish State. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2013.
    [Show full text]
  • Adler-Rudel's Visits to Sweden1
    1 Adler-Rudel's visits to Sweden1 C.G.McKAY While Raoul Wallenberg's detention by the Soviet organs and his final fate in Russian hands still remain matters for speculation , there has, by contrast, been a steady and useful accumulation of material disgorged from non-Russian archives casting new light on the broader context of his mission to Budapest . This has been valuable because the mission itself- and not just its aftermath – is worthy of careful historical study. The present essay is to be seen essentially as a contribution to an ongoing process of contextualization – that is to say, placing the mission in context . In particular , it aims at improving understanding of some of the preliminary work paving the way for the Swede's eventual dispatch to Hungary in mid-1944. In a year devoted to celebrating Raoul Wallenberg's individual contribution to rescue efforts, it is easy to lose sight of a familiar truth: most of what is worthwhile in life is not the product of a moment and the work of a single person. Rather it is something which is embedded in a historical process and depends on the efforts – not always successful - of many different people with different skills. 1. A Jewish Visitor from Britain On 24 February 1943, an unusual visitor flew into Sweden from Britain. As he was to recall later, For more than three years no representative of a foreign Jewish organisation had visited Stockholm and my arrival created something of a stir. The visitor's name was Solomon Adler-Rudel 1 © C.G.McKay .
    [Show full text]
  • Clausewitz, War and Strategy in the Twenty-First Century Hughes, R Gerald
    Aberystwyth University Clausewitz, war and strategy in the twenty-first century Hughes, R Gerald Published in: War in History DOI: 10.1177/0968344518804624 Publication date: 2019 Citation for published version (APA): Hughes, R. G. (2019). Clausewitz, war and strategy in the twenty-first century. War in History, 26(2), 287-296. https://doi.org/10.1177/0968344518804624 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Aberystwyth Research Portal (the Institutional Repository) are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the Aberystwyth Research Portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the Aberystwyth Research Portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. tel: +44 1970 62 2400 email: [email protected] Download date: 27. Sep. 2021 ___________________________________________________________________________ Review article Clausewitz, war and strategy in the twenty-first century R. Gerald Hughes ___________________________________________________________________________ Christopher Daase and James W. Davis (eds), Introduction by James W. Davis, Clausewitz on Small War (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), pp. viii+252. Hbk. £58. ISBN: 9780198737131. Christopher Coker, Rebooting Clausewitz: On War in the 21st Century (London: Hurst & Company, 2017), pp.
    [Show full text]
  • Memory, History, and Entrapment in the Temporal Gateway Film
    Lives in Limbo: Memory, History, and Entrapment in the Temporal Gateway Film Sarah Casey Benyahia A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies University of Essex October 2018 Abstract This thesis examines the ways in which contemporary cinema from a range of different countries, incorporating a variety of styles and genres, explores the relationship to the past of people living in the present who are affected by traumatic national histories. These films, which I’ve grouped under the term ‘temporal gateway’, focus on the ways in which characters’ experiences of temporality are fragmented, and cause and effect relationships are loosened as a result of their situations. Rather than a recreation of historical events, these films are concerned with questions of how to remember the past without being defined and trapped by it: often exploring past events at a remove through techniques of flashback and mise-en-abyme. This thesis argues that a fuller understanding of how relationships to the past are represented in what have traditionally been seen as different ‘national’ cinemas is enabled by the hybridity and indeterminacy of the temporal gateway films, which don’t fit neatly into existing categories discussed and defined in memory studies. This thesis employs an interdisciplinary approach in order to draw out the features of the temporal gateway film, demonstrating how the central protagonist, the character whose life is in limbo, personifies the experience of living through the past in the present. This experience relates to the specifics of a post-trauma society but also to a wider encounter with disrupted temporality as a feature of contemporary life.
    [Show full text]
  • Guides to German Records Microfilmed at Alexandria, Va
    GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA. No. 32. Records of the Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police (Part I) The National Archives National Archives and Records Service General Services Administration Washington: 1961 This finding aid has been prepared by the National Archives as part of its program of facilitating the use of records in its custody. The microfilm described in this guide may be consulted at the National Archives, where it is identified as RG 242, Microfilm Publication T175. To order microfilm, write to the Publications Sales Branch (NEPS), National Archives and Records Service (GSA), Washington, DC 20408. Some of the papers reproduced on the microfilm referred to in this and other guides of the same series may have been of private origin. The fact of their seizure is not believed to divest their original owners of any literary property rights in them. Anyone, therefore, who publishes them in whole or in part without permission of their authors may be held liable for infringement of such literary property rights. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 58-9982 AMERICA! HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE fOR THE STUDY OP WAR DOCUMENTS GUIDES TO GERMAN RECOBDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXAM)RIA, VA. No* 32» Records of the Reich Leader of the SS aad Chief of the German Police (HeiehsMhrer SS und Chef der Deutschen Polizei) 1) THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION (AHA) COMMITTEE FOR THE STUDY OF WAE DOCUMENTS GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA* This is part of a series of Guides prepared
    [Show full text]
  • Review of Reflections on Hanging by Arthur Koestler
    THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW REVIEW [VOL 25 Rutledge; Taney and Stone surely have little in common. One ends the book with a feeling that the great trait of the best judges is unselfishness, the capacity to see society clearly, without the distortion of vision that accom- panies the drive to succeed, to persuade, to gain power. We trust the justices of our Supreme Court with some of the greatest powers of government; we do so because they are characteristically beyond the desire for power. Much of their labor is disclaiming the exercise of power. In a society of frantic grasp- ing for influence, of shrill competing claims, of strident advertisement, the good judge is calm and quiet. In the troublesome days between 1935 and 1937 there was much discontent among the loquacious because judges were not more like legislators. But perhaps the reverse would be a more wholesome ideal for our time. ARTHUR SUTHERAND* 6 Professor of Law, Harvard University. Freedom, Virtue, and the First Amendment. By Walter F. Berns. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. 1957. Pp. 264. $4.00. Professor Berns, of the Yale Political Science faculty, has written an un- usual book. In considering the function of the Supreme Court in American government,' he rejects the "libertarian" doctrine of "judicial restraint."' He also rejects the "libertarian" thesis that the freedoms of the Bill of Rights are ultimate and absolute values in our society.3 He would have the Court exer- cise all its power to decree the good, the true and the beautiful.4 Perhaps some day he will provide the touchstone so that we may all readily recognize these qualities.
    [Show full text]