The Rosenburg Files – lessons from the Nazi period and their importance for the future

theme No.: 5d
responsible federal state: Federal Government
date: 05.02.2023 - 10.02.2023

The conference is being held for judges from all jurisdictions, and for public prosecutors.
The event centres around the Rosenburg project, which formed the basis of the book “Die Akte Rosenburg” (The Rosenburg Files), which was published in October 2016. The project concerns the question of the way in which the Ministry of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany dealt, after 1949, with the issue of its own Nazi past. After five years of research, the Independent Academic Commission, set up in 2012 under the leadership of Manfred Görtemaker, Professor of Modern History at the University of Potsdam, and Christoph Safferling, Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Erlangen Nuremberg, reported on the way in which the upper echelons of the organisation at the time had been embedded within the Nazi Party, and the substantive effects of this on the Ministry’s work. The two professors will present detailed results of their research.
Other presentations will discuss the way the Nazi past was dealt with by judicial authorities at both federal (national) and state (regional) level and the role played by Fritz Bauer in this respect, as well as the unique situation faced by the Ministry of Justice of the German Democratic Republic (former East Germany) between 1945 and 1953 in terms of its personnel policies. To wrap up, there will be a discussion on the implications and consequences of the Rosenburg Project for our times (e.g. issues regarding professional ethics and education and training of legal practitioners) will be discussed from various perspectives and across subject matters. Furthermore, a professional excursion is planned.

The conference will also be advertised as part of the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN). It will be also be suited very well to the needs of participants from abroad.

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