Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 104-120 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Parliaments, Estates and Representation |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Jan 2018 |
Abstract
Under Nazi rule, tens of thousands of men and women, boys and girls were detained in penitentiaries, workhouses or concentration camps, or eventually killed, on the grounds that they were deemed ‘asocial’. The way they lived did not conform to Nazi notions of being a productive, valuable, well-adjusted member of the German Volksgemeinschaft (the German ethnic community). The article examines whether, when and how the Federal Republic of Germany has come to terms with the Nazi persecution of the ‘asocials’ and taken measures of compensation or commemoration. It shows that German politics has largely failed to confront the distinctive features of this type of persecution, namely that it targeted victims according to Nazi notions of productivity, economic usefulness and social conformism. It argues that the Federal Republic has failed to declare the logic of this persecution to be incompatible with its normative foundations. The article focuses on the activities by the German Bundestag pertaining to the persecution of the ‘asocials’. Source material consists of draft laws, parliamentary motions, parliamentary hearings, plenary debates, questions to the government in writing and government responses to these. It concludes that the Federal Republic of Germany has failed to distance itself from the productivist logic that underlay the Nazi persecution of the ‘asocials’.
Keywords
- Bundestag, Commemoration, Forgotten nazi victims, Historic justice, Persecution of ‘asocials’, Reparations
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Sociology and Political Science
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In: Parliaments, Estates and Representation, Vol. 38, No. 1, 30.01.2018, p. 104-120 .
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Marginal justice: the persecution of so-called‘asocials’and thepolitics of historic justice in the Federal Republic of Germany
AU - Braun, Kathrin
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2018 International Commission for the History of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions/Commission Internationale pour l’Histoire des Assemblées d’ États.
PY - 2018/1/30
Y1 - 2018/1/30
N2 - Under Nazi rule, tens of thousands of men and women, boys and girls were detained in penitentiaries, workhouses or concentration camps, or eventually killed, on the grounds that they were deemed ‘asocial’. The way they lived did not conform to Nazi notions of being a productive, valuable, well-adjusted member of the German Volksgemeinschaft (the German ethnic community). The article examines whether, when and how the Federal Republic of Germany has come to terms with the Nazi persecution of the ‘asocials’ and taken measures of compensation or commemoration. It shows that German politics has largely failed to confront the distinctive features of this type of persecution, namely that it targeted victims according to Nazi notions of productivity, economic usefulness and social conformism. It argues that the Federal Republic has failed to declare the logic of this persecution to be incompatible with its normative foundations. The article focuses on the activities by the German Bundestag pertaining to the persecution of the ‘asocials’. Source material consists of draft laws, parliamentary motions, parliamentary hearings, plenary debates, questions to the government in writing and government responses to these. It concludes that the Federal Republic of Germany has failed to distance itself from the productivist logic that underlay the Nazi persecution of the ‘asocials’.
AB - Under Nazi rule, tens of thousands of men and women, boys and girls were detained in penitentiaries, workhouses or concentration camps, or eventually killed, on the grounds that they were deemed ‘asocial’. The way they lived did not conform to Nazi notions of being a productive, valuable, well-adjusted member of the German Volksgemeinschaft (the German ethnic community). The article examines whether, when and how the Federal Republic of Germany has come to terms with the Nazi persecution of the ‘asocials’ and taken measures of compensation or commemoration. It shows that German politics has largely failed to confront the distinctive features of this type of persecution, namely that it targeted victims according to Nazi notions of productivity, economic usefulness and social conformism. It argues that the Federal Republic has failed to declare the logic of this persecution to be incompatible with its normative foundations. The article focuses on the activities by the German Bundestag pertaining to the persecution of the ‘asocials’. Source material consists of draft laws, parliamentary motions, parliamentary hearings, plenary debates, questions to the government in writing and government responses to these. It concludes that the Federal Republic of Germany has failed to distance itself from the productivist logic that underlay the Nazi persecution of the ‘asocials’.
KW - Bundestag
KW - Commemoration
KW - Forgotten nazi victims
KW - Historic justice
KW - Persecution of ‘asocials’
KW - Reparations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85041186260&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02606755.2017.1420619
DO - 10.1080/02606755.2017.1420619
M3 - Article
VL - 38
SP - 104
EP - 120
JO - Parliaments, Estates and Representation
JF - Parliaments, Estates and Representation
SN - 0260-6755
IS - 1
ER -