‘Justiz und NS-Verbrechen’ is a collection of post-war trial judgments by German courts concerning Nazi crimes. The project began in the 1960s under the supervision of Prof. Dr. C.F. Rüter at the Institute of Criminal Law of the University of Amsterdam and was completed in 2012. The book series consists of 49 volumes with West-German judgments (‘Justiz und NS-Verbrechen’), as well as of 14 volumes with East-German judgments (‘DDR-Justiz und NS-Verbrechen’).

This vast and unique collection of sources, consisting of some 50.000 pages, documents in great detail the judicial reaction of the two post-war German states to the most serious crimes of the Nazi state.

The series in brief

Highly diverse in nature and scope, the cases tried by the German courts collectively cover the entire range of National-Socialist crimes, from single denunciations to the mass murder policies carried out in Germany’s ‘euthanasia’ centers and in the Eastern European extermination centers and ghettos.

Correspondingly diverse is the category of defendants in these cases, ranging from simple concentration camp guards and other subordinate officials or private individuals up to leading representatives and Schreibtischtäter of the Nazi state.

A detailed overview of the various criminal cases and trials, as well as of the contents of the 63 volumes can be found at the website of the project ‘Justiz und NS-Verbrechen’, can be accessed on the website of the Law Faculty of the University of Amsterdam here: www.expostfacto.nl .

Alongisde the book series, there is now also an online edition of the collection of court judgments, allowing for systematic study of the key aspects of the way the two German states handled the criminal legacy of the Nazi state. For more information on how to obtain the books and/or a license for this online edition, please visit: www.junsv.nl.

For a list of prices, please visit: www.aup.nl/justiz-und-ns-verbrechen. If you would like to place an order, please email orders@aup.nl. 

If you have any questions concerning the project ‘Justiz und NS-Verbrechen’, please contact series editor Dr. D.W. de Mildt: d.w.demildt@expostfacto.nl.