Weltbühne-Prozess

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Weltbuhne from 12.03.1929 WBUmschlag12 03 1929.jpg
Weltbühne from 12.03.1929

The Weltbühne-Prozess was a criminal procedure against critical media and journalists in the Weimar Republic. Among the accused were the editors of the weekly magazine Die Weltbühne and Carl von Ossietzky, plus the journalist Walter Kreiser. They were accused of treason and divulging military secrets. In November 1931, they were condemned by the 4. senat of the Reichsgericht in Leipzig to 18 months of imprisonment.

Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or incarcerated, and results in the conviction or acquittal of the defendant. Criminal procedure can be either in form of inquisitorial or adversarial criminal procedure.

Weimar Republic Germany state in the years 1918/1919–1933

The Weimar Republic is an unofficial historical designation for the German state from 1918 to 1933. The name derives from the city of Weimar, where its constitutional assembly first took place. The official name of the republic remained Deutsches Reich unchanged from 1871, because of the German tradition of substates. Although commonly translated as "German Empire", the word Reich here better translates as "realm", in that the term does not have monarchical connotations in itself. The Reich was changed from a constitutional monarchy into a republic. In English, the country was usually known simply as Germany.

Die Weltbühne German magazine

Die Weltbühne was a German weekly magazine focused on politics, art, and business. The Weltbühne was founded in Berlin on 7 September 1905 by Siegfried Jacobsohn and was originally created strictly as a theater magazine under the title Die Schaubühne. It was renamed Die Weltbühne on 4 April 1918. After Jacobsohn's death in December 1926, Kurt Tucholsky took over the leadership of the magazine, which he turned over to Carl von Ossietzky in May 1927. The Nazis banned the publication after the Reichstag fire, and its last issue appeared on 7 March 1933. In exile the magazine was published under the title Die neue Weltbühne. After the end of World War II, it appeared again under its original name in East Berlin, where it endured until 1993. In 1997 the magazines Ossietzky and Das Blättchen appeared, following the model of Die Weltbühne.

Contents

History

Treaty of Versailles

After the First World War the German Empire had to agree to a strong reduction of its military forces due to the Treaty of Versailles. Despite this signature the government and the Reichswehr tried systematically to undermine the provisions of the treaty.

World War I 1914–1918 global war originating in Europe

World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.

German Empire empire in Central Europe between 1871–1918

The German Empire, also known as Imperial Germany, was the German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918.

Treaty of Versailles one of the treaties that ended the First World War

The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which had directly led to the war. The other Central Powers on the German side signed separate treaties. Although the armistice, signed on 11 November 1918, ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919.

Pacifist and anti-militarist circles in the Weimar Republic saw therefore on the behavior of the army a threat to the foreign policy consolidation of the German Reich and to inner peace.

Pacifism opposition to war and violence

Pacifism is opposition to war, militarism, or violence. The word pacifism was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud (1864–1921) and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ahimsa, which is a core philosophy in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. While modern connotations are recent, having been explicated since the 19th century, ancient references abound.

Military Critical Press

Those media who were drawing attention to the grievances, were subjected to severe repression.

However, the Treaty of Versailles did not only limit the strength of the army. It prohibited in article 198 also expressly the set up of an own air force.

Memorial plate Berlin-Charlottenburg Wundtstr 65 house of the redaction 1921-1927 Gedenktafel Wundtstr 65 (Charl) Weltbuhne.jpg
Memorial plate Berlin-Charlottenburg Wundtstr 65 house of the redaction 1921-1927

Against the described background, it is hardly surprising that the in the Weltbühne under the pseudonyme Heinz Hunter on March 12, 1929 published article "Windiges aus der deutschen Luftfahrt" arouse the displeasure of the army. In pacifist circles it was obvious that the army was apparently bypassing the Treaty of Versailles and ran to the clandestine construction of an air force.

The senior prosecutor launched an investigation for breach of the treason paragraphs of Penal Code and contrary to Clause 1, paragraph 2 of the Act against disclosure of military secrets (the so-called espionage Act of 3 June 1914 (Reichsgesetzblatt), 195).

Espionage or spying is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information without the permission of the holder of the information. Spies help agencies uncover secret information. Any individual or spy ring, in the service of a -government, company or independent operation, can commit espionage. The practice is clandestine, as it is by definition unwelcome and in many cases illegal and punishable by law. Espionage is a method of intelligence gathering which includes information gathering from non-disclosed sources.

Method

On August 1, 1929, finally, a criminal complaint was lodged. During the investigation, the editorial offices of the Weltbühne and the apartment of Ossietzky were searched. In August 1929 Ossietzky was also questioned about the case. On March 30, 1931, two years after the article had appeared, the indictment was made.

An indictment is a criminal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an indictable offence, an offence that requires an indictment.

On the part of the prosecutor's office and the Supreme Court the Weltbühne had to do with lawyers who had already gained relevant awareness. Attorney Paul Jorns, was affected with the investigations of the murders of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg and had there covered tracks. [1] The head Alexander Baumgarten, had led in autumn 1930 the Ulm Reichswehrprozess where Adolf Hitler had given his Legalitätserklärungbut also announced that after the beginning of his government heads will roll. [2] The defense of the accused took over the renowned lawyers Max Alsberg, Kurt Rosenfeld, Alfred Apfel and Rudolf Olden.

Karl Liebknecht German socialist and a co-founder of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany

Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht was a German socialist, originally in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and later a co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany which split way from the SPD. He is best known for his opposition to World War I in the Reichstag and his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919. The uprising was crushed by the SPD government and the Freikorps. Liebknecht and Luxemburg were executed.

Rosa Luxemburg Polish Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary

Rosa Luxemburg was a Polish Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist, anti-war activist and revolutionary socialist who became a naturalized German citizen at the age of 28. Successively, she was a member of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL), the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD).

Ulm Place in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at almost 120,000 (2015), forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Founded around 850, Ulm is rich in history and traditions as a former free imperial city. Today, it is an economic centre due to its varied industries, and it is the seat of the University of Ulm. Internationally, Ulm is primarily known for having the church with the tallest steeple in the world, the Gothic minster, and as the birthplace of Albert Einstein.

Negotiation

According to the German laws, it was not allowed to the Weltbühne to report detailed about the process. Negotiations were immediately postponed because no representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had appeared. The hearing in camera finally took place on 17 and 19 November 1931. As witnesses for the prosecution acted Major Himer from the Ministry of the Reichswehr and Permanent Secretary Wegerdt from the Ministry of Transport. They confirmed that the information from the article was true and therefore should have been kept secret in the interests of defense.

Carl von Ossietzky before Berlin-Tegel prison, from the left: Kurt Grossmann, Rudolf Olden, Carl von Ossietzky, Alfred Apfel, Kurt Rosenfeld Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B0527-0001-861, Carl von Ossietzky vor der Strafanstalt Berlin-Tegel.jpg
Carl von Ossietzky before Berlin-Tegel prison, from the left: Kurt Grossmann, Rudolf Olden, Carl von Ossietzky, Alfred Apfel, Kurt Rosenfeld

The court rejected all 19 defense witnesses.

Judgment

The trial ended on 23 November with the conviction of the two accused for "crimes against the § 1 paragraph 2 of the law on disclosure of military secrets from June 3, 1914". The sentence was 18 months of imprisonment. In its reasoning, the court argued that the defendants after the specifying of the expert had really disseminated secret informations.

Political reactions

At the sentencing reacted von Ossietzky with sarcasm. "One and a half years of imprisonment? It is not so bad, because it is not far to the freedom in Germany here. The differences between incarcerated and non-incarcerated fade gradually".

I know that every journalist who is critically engaged in the Reichswehr, has to expect a treason process; … nevertheless, this time was made for a delightful variety: We left the room not as traitors but as spies. [3]

The verdict aroused at home and abroad for several reasons attention. The Weltbühne published in the editions of 1 December and 15 December 1931 numerous foreign press on the process. In Germany, many democratic politicians were shocked. Reichstag President Paul Löbe wrote: "I have rarely an opinion as such a bust felt not only in legal but also in political terms, as this."

Various organizations attempted to prevent Ossietzky actually had to play the sentence after the verdict. Ossietzky went on May 10, 1932 to prison Berlin-Tegel. His lawyers accompanied him. Quote:... I do not bow to the wrapped in red velvet majesty of the Supreme Court but remain as a passenger of a Prussian prison a vibrant demonstration against a highly-instance verdict, that appears politically tendentious in the matter and ample askew as legal work |. [5] Due to a Christmas amnesty for political prisoners Ossietzky was released early on December 22, 1932 after 227 days in prison.

The process was certainly one of the sharpest attacks from Reichswehr and Justice against the critical press in the Weimar Republic. Moreover, it had become clear abroad that Germany did not intend to observe obviously important points of the Treaty of Versailles. Ossietzky conceded after his conviction that the Republic had at least safeguarded "the decorum of the legal process". During the so-called Spiegel scandal parallels were drawn from the press to the Weltbühne process. So published BGH - Senate President Heinrich Jagusch under the pseudonym "Judex" the highly acclaimed article "Is there a risk of new Ossietzky case?" . [6]

Retrial

In the 1980s, German lawyers attempted to achieve a retrial. Thus the judgment of 1931 should be revised. Rosalinde von Ossietzky-Palm, the only child of Carl von Ossietzky initiated as eligible on March 1, 1990 at the Berlin Supreme Court, the proceedings. The Court of Appeal declared a retrial inadmissible.

The Federal Court then declined to appeal against the decision of the Appeal Court. It held, in its decision of 3 December 1992:

Incorrect application of the law by itself is not a reason for reopening by the Code of Criminal Procedure. Every citizen owes to the consideration of the imperial court to his country a duty of loyalty to the effect that the effort could be realized according to the compliance with the existing laws....

. [7]


Sources

Secondary literature

Articles

  • Jungfer, Gerhard, Müller, Ingo: 70 Jahre Weltbühnen-Urteil. In: Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (NJW). Beck, München/Frankfurt (Main) 2001, p. 3461–3465. ISSN   0341-1915
  • Heiliger, Ivo (Pseudonym von Ingo Müller): Windiges aus der deutschen Rechtsprechung. In: Kritische Justiz (KJ). Nomos, Baden-Baden 1993, p. 194–198. ISSN   0023-4834
  • Suhr, Elke: „Zu den Hintergründen des Weltbühnen'-Prozesses.“ In: Allein mit dem Wort. Erich Mühsam, Carl von Ossietzky, Kurt Tucholsky. Schriftstellerprozesse in der Weimarer Republik. Schriften der Erich-Mühsam-Gesellschaft. Heft 14, Lübeck 1997, ISBN   3-931079-17-1, p. 54–69.

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References

  1. ↑ Siehe: Ingo Müller: "Der berühmte Fall Ossietzky vom Jahr 1930 könnte sich jederzeit wiederholen …" In: Hans-Ernst Bötcher (Hrsg.): Recht Justiz Kritik, Festschrift für Richard Schmid. Nomos, Baden-Baden 1985, S. 297–326, hier p. 307.
  2. ↑ Nach dem Republikschutzgesetz wäre dies strafbar gewesen. Vergleiche: Ingo Müller, S. 305.
  3. ↑ Der Weltbühnen-Prozeß. In: Die Weltbühne. 1. Dezember 1931, S. 803.
  4. ↑ Rechenschaft. In: Die Weltbühne. 10. Mai 1932, S. 691.
  5. ↑ Rechenschaft. In: Die Weltbühne. 10. Mai 1932, S. 690.
  6. ↑ "Droht ein neuer Ossietzky-Fall?", Der Spiegel , 13 September (45), 1964
  7. ↑ seinem Beschluss vom 3. Dezember 1992
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