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

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 1556 WL 527
Held at	: Wiener Library   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/ ›
Full title	: 'Richterbriefe': confidential circulars of the Reichsministerium der Justiz (microfilm)
Date(s)	: 1942-1944
Level of description	: collection
Extent	: 207 frames
Name of creator(s)	: Reichsministerium der Justiz (Justice Ministry)

Context

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.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

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

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
German

System of arrangement:

Numerical

Conditions governing access:

Open

Conditions governing reproduction:

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

Finding aids:

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

Archival Information

Archival 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.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Jewish Central Information Office

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

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

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Oct 2007