Renewable Revolution

Sol Wachtler, former Chief Judge of the State of New York, and my guest today, first roused my own interest in this subject – and my profound concern for its implications for Americans today – in 2002 when the Touro Law Center in cooperation with the Free University of Berlin Law School convened in Berlin, Germany the Simon Bond International Wannsee Seminar on “Tyranny, Justice & The Law: The Nazis and Beyond”.

As the Seminar’s Chair, Judge Wachtler wrote then that it was there in the “Wannsee Villa 60 years before that the political, legal, and judicial functionaries of the Third Reich met to devise an efficient method to resolve ‘the Jewish question’ [what became "The Final Solution" -- extermination of the Jews].

“Participants of that conference where the logistics of mass murder were agreed upon – were lawyers…[Judge Wachtler wrote, and] … Wannsee…serves as a powerful reminder of how fragile ‘the Rule of Law’ can be when threatened by the political power of the state”.

The mission of the Wannsee Seminar, my guest noted, was to impart to members of the legal establishment worldwide “…the relevant warning that when the law and the courts are motivated and dominated by state and political interests above the interests of justice, civilization is doomed”.

SNIPPET 2 (the MONEY QUOTE!  )

WACHTLER: I … actually … when we first thought about the idea of the Conference … and this goes way back to 1968 that I’ve been thinking about this … when I lectured over in Germany on the Constitution of the United States before the prosecutors and judges of Germany … it occurred to me that these prosecutors and judges … back in ’68 … were the same men who were Hitler’s judges and … they were still doing business … and it occurred to me “Where were they? Where were they when Hitler’s ascension brought about chaos internationally? Why didn’t they provide the bulwark that lawyers and judges should provide in order to stem the tide of un-civilization?”

Instead they became handmaidens to tyranny.  They actually assisted Adolf Hitler in his demonic dictatorship.

Agelbert NOTE: Did you GET THAT? Did you NOTICE they DID NOT get disbarred, go to prison or get a death sentence? Did you notice the ones in 1968 were THERE and helped Hitler's rise to power by PLAYING THE GAME of hairsplitting, "if it's legal, it's lawful" BULLSHIT that's getting so much ACCEPTANCE in the USA today?   

it occurred to me that these prosecutors and judges … back in ’68 … were the same men who were Hitler’s judges and … they were still doing business

Snippet 3: The STRONG Rule of LAW in Germany and the PRINCIPLED stand of the Courts and LAWYERS. 

At first the judges protested, they said, “This is wrong.”   

But the head of the judicial conference went to meet with Adolf Hitler and came back and said to his fellow jurists, “This is only temporary, I’ve been assured by the Fuhrer that this will go away soon. But these laws become necessary because we’re living in a time of terror.”   

Snippet 4: The STRONG Rule of LAW in Germany was LEGALLY made UNLAWFUL. 

BAZYLER: When the Nazis first came to power they ended up promulgating a number of laws that incrementally deprived Jews and other persecuted minorities, of civil rights. These incremental steps that we’re talking about … that results in the Final Solution … were all legal steps.  I mean you can trace this, you can trace the Holocaust as a legal event.   
 

No pattern here... Nothing to see... Move along... wave that flag and, well, you get the idea.  Everything is going to be just fine. Sleep well, our courts will always be there to give you your DAY in court (and a job and three meals a day in a "gated" community  ). Gott mit uns!