Scheitern der Justiz? Die Ermittlungen gegen Himmlers Terror-Zentrale

Lecture and discussion at the Hotel Silber.

During the Nazi era, more than 7,000 men and women in the Berlin Reich Security Main Office planned and organized the Holocaust and countless other crimes in the German Reich and in the countries occupied by the Wehrmacht. The investigations conducted against the personnel from 1963 onwards grew into the largest complex of investigations into Nazi crimes in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. In the end, almost all investigations were closed.

Why did the German justice system fail to prosecute "desk perpetrators"? Why were charges not even brought? Bianca Welzing-Bräutigam is responsible for the files from this investigation complex at the Berlin State Archives and has studied the background intensively. After her lecture, she discusses the case with Thomas Will, the head of the "Central Office" in Ludwigsburg, which has been investigating Nazi perpetrators for 66 years. They will talk about the decades-long failure to prosecute "desk perpetrators" - and about why case law has recently changed so much and secretaries can now also be convicted of accessory to murder.

The event is part of the program accompanying the current special exhibition "Gestapo in Court. The persecution of Nazi criminals" at the Hotel Silber memorial site.

Organizer: Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg
Admission free
Please register at veranstaltungen-hs@hdgbw.de