Wehrkraftzersetzung
Encyclopedia
Wehrkraftzersetzung is a term from German military law
during the Third Reich. In 1938, with Adolf Hitler
moving Germany closer to war, the Nazi government issued a decree for the purpose of suppressing any expression or activity opposed to the Nazi regime or the Wehrmacht
. The anti-sedition decree included the crime of Zersetzung der Wehrkraft.The term is nuanced, making it difficult to translate in a way that conveys it properly. In picking any word, the translator necessarily leaves out all the others. The word zersetzung means "decomposition", "corrosion", "disintegration", "putrefaction", "degradation" or "degrading", but is also used figuratively to mean "subversion" and "disruptiveness". The word wehrkraft translates verbatim as "military power" or "military strength". See the translation of zersetzung here. Commonly called wehrkraftzersetzung, the term is variously translated as "subversion of the war effort", "undermining military morale" and "sedition and defeatism" Paragraphs already in the military penal code were consolidated and redefined, creating the new crime, which carried the death penalty. In 1939, a second decree was issued that extended the crime to civilians.
Discouraging statements, such as doubt about the ultimate victory
of the Third Reich, any criticism of its political or military leadership and its form of government were punished with heavy prison sentences (in military prisons, concentration camps, deployment to the field or to probationary units) or with death. Conscientious objector
s in particular were frequently convicted of wehrkraftzersetzung in addition to their other charges. This was done to reduce the potential of negative influence on others, even when the refusal of military duty had not been publicized.Which is a clear case of wrongful judgment. The law as it stood, vague and tyrannical as it was, did not condemn conscientious objection. Many civilians were also convicted of wehrkraftzersetzung by military courts.
After a lengthy debate, the German Bundestag
lifted the Nazi sentences from the criminal justice system on August 25, 1998 and on July 23, 2002, all Nazi-era military sentencing for conscientious objection, desertion
and all forms of wehrkraftzersetzung were repealed as unjust. Current German military law
neither contains the term "undermining the military" nor its extensive rules. However, a few offenses that in the Nazi era, fell under wehrkraftzersetzung, remain on the books in a vague form.
and escalates the crime. Critical remarks by soldiers violating the Treachery Act had previously been punished merely with a prison term, but the KSSVO added the death penalty, allowing a Zuchthaus or prison sentence only in minor cases.
With the introduction of the Wartime Regulations for Criminal Procedures (Kriegsstrafverfahrensordnung or KStVO), those accused under the law were also deprived of the right to appeal
, further weakening them at trial. The extent of the military judge's discretion and the degree of arbitrariness involved are indicated in a 1942 statement by Alfred Fikentscher, an admiral and chief medical officer in the Kriegsmarine
. Speaking before military lawyers, he said, "...similar circumstances exist with subversive remarks, which may be seen as violations of the Treachery Act. Protracted submission [of documents] to the Minister of Justice
to order a criminal prosecution is unnecessary if you approach the statement as undermining the military, which will be possible in almost every case."
The regulations created by the Wehrmacht in the course of preparing for World War II
served during the war years as an instrument of terror to maintain the soldiers' "will to persevere" through coercion. Especially in the later stages of the war, the Nazi and Wehrmacht leadership were greatly afraid of 1918-like events during the German Revolution. Every act of resistance was to be suppressed, that a reoccurrence of the stab-in-the-back legend be prevented. At the beginning of 1943, the jurisdiction transferred to the Nazi People's Court, minor cases could be sent to special courts set up by the higher regional courts
. As a rule, the People's Court imposed the death penalty.
§5 of the KSSVO reads:
As is clear from the result, the word "openly" provided some unforeseen room for interpretation, so that even remarks made within one's own family could be used by relatives against the accused. The vague wording of the regulation made it possible to criminalize every type of criticism, also by civilians, deliberately encouraging denunciation as a means to more comprehensively control the population. That "undermining the war effort" in the Third Reich was by no means a trivial offense is seen in the November 1, 1944 decree from the head of the National Socialist Secret Service of the Luftwaffe
:
Among others, examples of subversion given were:
Defeatist
remarks were not prosecuted under military law, but were tried in "accelerated trials
", such as in the case of Norbert Engel, then a massage and physiotherapist. He was sentenced to death after expressing his regret over the failure of the 20 July plot to a nurse. He said, "If it had succeeded, the war would have been over in five days and we'd have been able to go home." Engel escaped execution by fleeing to the Netherlands.
The introduction of the KSSVO marked a new stage in the persecution of the Nazis' political opponents and many thousands of them were killed. According to Wehrmacht criminal statistics, by June 30, 1944, there had been 14,262 convictions for wehrkraftzersetzung, though German military historian Manfred Messerschmidt says the number of convictions was likely to have been closer to 30,000. The number of convictions and proportion of death sentences steadily increased at the end of the war because as the war dragged on, criticism increased. Combat was ever more costly for Germans, while the awaited "final victory" was pushed further and further into the future. Because of the way the regulation was formulated, a conviction generally came from a denunciation by associates, though some convictions came from remarks in letters or slogans written on walls. That there weren't even more regime critics convicted may have had to do with the nature of denunciations. A potential accuser could hardly be certain that during the course of the investigation, he would not also be denounced. The fact that every soldier was informed about the consequences of uttering banned speech may have inhibited the number of denunciations.
", which places penalties on untruthful remarks that "disturb the operations of the Bundeswehr", as well as § 109 StGB, "Evasion of Military Service Through Mutilation" (Wehrpflichtentziehung durch Verstümmelung). Military conscription in Germany was abolished in 2011.
German military law
-History:In 1900 the German Empire established a single jurisdiction to try soldiers, with the Reichsmilitärgericht as the supreme court. During the First World War, German military law enabled military courts to try not only soldiers but also civilians held to have violated the military law...
during the Third Reich. In 1938, with Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
moving Germany closer to war, the Nazi government issued a decree for the purpose of suppressing any expression or activity opposed to the Nazi regime or the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. The anti-sedition decree included the crime of Zersetzung der Wehrkraft.The term is nuanced, making it difficult to translate in a way that conveys it properly. In picking any word, the translator necessarily leaves out all the others. The word zersetzung means "decomposition", "corrosion", "disintegration", "putrefaction", "degradation" or "degrading", but is also used figuratively to mean "subversion" and "disruptiveness". The word wehrkraft translates verbatim as "military power" or "military strength". See the translation of zersetzung here. Commonly called wehrkraftzersetzung, the term is variously translated as "subversion of the war effort", "undermining military morale" and "sedition and defeatism" Paragraphs already in the military penal code were consolidated and redefined, creating the new crime, which carried the death penalty. In 1939, a second decree was issued that extended the crime to civilians.
Discouraging statements, such as doubt about the ultimate victory
Endsieg
Endsieg is German for "final victory". It is used in the meaning that a victory is taken for granted even though all odds are against it.- Origin and historical usage :The word became commonly used in World War I...
of the Third Reich, any criticism of its political or military leadership and its form of government were punished with heavy prison sentences (in military prisons, concentration camps, deployment to the field or to probationary units) or with death. Conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
s in particular were frequently convicted of wehrkraftzersetzung in addition to their other charges. This was done to reduce the potential of negative influence on others, even when the refusal of military duty had not been publicized.Which is a clear case of wrongful judgment. The law as it stood, vague and tyrannical as it was, did not condemn conscientious objection. Many civilians were also convicted of wehrkraftzersetzung by military courts.
After a lengthy debate, the German Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
lifted the Nazi sentences from the criminal justice system on August 25, 1998 and on July 23, 2002, all Nazi-era military sentencing for conscientious objection, desertion
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
and all forms of wehrkraftzersetzung were repealed as unjust. Current German military law
Military law
Military justice is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states use special judicial and other arrangements to enforce those laws, while others use...
neither contains the term "undermining the military" nor its extensive rules. However, a few offenses that in the Nazi era, fell under wehrkraftzersetzung, remain on the books in a vague form.
Definition in the Nazi military penal code
The term "undermining military force" (Zersetzung der Wehrkraft) was established in the law by the Wartime Special Penal Code (Kriegssonderstrafrechtsverordnung or KSSVO) on August 17, 1938. It criminalized, particularly within the Wehrmacht's military justice, all criticism, dissent and behavior opposed to the Nazis' political and military leadership. The definition of the term is equivalent to the Treachery Act of 1934Treachery Act of 1934
The Treachery Act of 1934 was a German law established by the Third Reich on December 20, 1934. Known as the Heimtückegesetz, it's official title was the "Law against Treacherous Attacks on the State and Party and for the Protection of Party Uniforms"...
and escalates the crime. Critical remarks by soldiers violating the Treachery Act had previously been punished merely with a prison term, but the KSSVO added the death penalty, allowing a Zuchthaus or prison sentence only in minor cases.
With the introduction of the Wartime Regulations for Criminal Procedures (Kriegsstrafverfahrensordnung or KStVO), those accused under the law were also deprived of the right to appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
, further weakening them at trial. The extent of the military judge's discretion and the degree of arbitrariness involved are indicated in a 1942 statement by Alfred Fikentscher, an admiral and chief medical officer in the Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
. Speaking before military lawyers, he said, "...similar circumstances exist with subversive remarks, which may be seen as violations of the Treachery Act. Protracted submission [of documents] to the Minister of Justice
Federal Ministry of Justice (Germany)
The Federal Ministry of Justice is a federal ministry in Germany.Under the federal system of Germany, individual states are most responsible for the administration of justice and the application of penalties. The Federal Ministry of Justice devotes itself to creating and changing law in the...
to order a criminal prosecution is unnecessary if you approach the statement as undermining the military, which will be possible in almost every case."
The regulations created by the Wehrmacht in the course of preparing for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
served during the war years as an instrument of terror to maintain the soldiers' "will to persevere" through coercion. Especially in the later stages of the war, the Nazi and Wehrmacht leadership were greatly afraid of 1918-like events during the German Revolution. Every act of resistance was to be suppressed, that a reoccurrence of the stab-in-the-back legend be prevented. At the beginning of 1943, the jurisdiction transferred to the Nazi People's Court, minor cases could be sent to special courts set up by the higher regional courts
Oberlandesgericht
The Oberlandesgericht is one of the 'ordinary courts' in Germany...
. As a rule, the People's Court imposed the death penalty.
§5 of the KSSVO reads:
- Whoever openly challenges or incites others to refuse to fulfill their duty to serve in the German armed forces or their allies, or otherwise openly tries to self-assertively put up a fight to cripple or subvert the will of the German people or their allies ... will be sentenced to death for undermining the military.
As is clear from the result, the word "openly" provided some unforeseen room for interpretation, so that even remarks made within one's own family could be used by relatives against the accused. The vague wording of the regulation made it possible to criminalize every type of criticism, also by civilians, deliberately encouraging denunciation as a means to more comprehensively control the population. That "undermining the war effort" in the Third Reich was by no means a trivial offense is seen in the November 1, 1944 decree from the head of the National Socialist Secret Service of the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
:
- "It has long been self-evident that whoever expresses doubt about the FührerFührerFührer , alternatively spelled Fuehrer in both English and German when the umlaut is not available, is a German title meaning leader or guide now most associated with Adolf Hitler, who modelled it on Benito Mussolini's title il Duce, as well as with Georg von Schönerer, whose followers also...
, criticizes him and his actions, spreads disparaging news or vilifies him, is without honor and worthy of death. Neither standing nor rank, nor personal circumstances or other grounds can exculpate such a case. In the most difficult, deciding period of the war, whoever expresses doubt about the final victory and thereby causes others to waver, has likewise forfeited his life!"
Among others, examples of subversion given were:
- Remarks in opposition to Nazi ideology
- Doubt about the legitimacy of the struggle for survival imposed on us [...]
- Dissemination of news about battle fatigue and German soldiers desertingDesertionIn military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
- Doubt about military reports
- Cultivating private contact with prisoners of war
- Disparaging that important weapon in war: German propaganda
- Discussing contingencies in the event of defeat
- The assertion, that bolshevism "is not so bad or that the democracy of our western neighbors could be contemplated".These examples were translated from the German Wikipedia. Some of them bear a strong resemblance to a quote from Dr. Günther VollmerGünther VollmerGünther Vollmer was a member of the Nazi Party and a German jurist and doctor of law . He was the attorney for Erich Koch, one of the leaders of the Nazi Party in East Prussia. During the Third Reich, he worked for the Reichs Ministry of Justice in several different positions as an attorney and...
, a Ministerial Director at the Reich Ministry of Justice. He wrote, "No longer tolerable and fundamentally worthy of death are [...] remarks of the following kind: The war is lost; Germany or the Führer picked a fight and senselessly or frivolously started the war and must lose it; the NSDAP should or will relinquish power and, like the Italian model, make way for the understanding of peace; a military dictatorship must be established and will be able to forge peace, one must work slowly in order to bring about the conclusion; an intrusion of bolshevism would not be as bad as the propaganda paints it, and will only harm the leading National Socialists; the English or the Americans will stop bolshevism at the German border; urging by word of mouth or letters to the front to throw down their guns or turn back; the Führer is sick, incompetent, a butcher, etc."
Defeatist
Defeatism
Defeatism is acceptance of defeat without struggle. In everyday use, defeatism has negative connotation and is often linked to treason and pessimism, or even a hopeless situation such as a Catch-22...
remarks were not prosecuted under military law, but were tried in "accelerated trials
Kangaroo court
A kangaroo court is "a mock court in which the principles of law and justice are disregarded or perverted".The outcome of a trial by kangaroo court is essentially determined in advance, usually for the purpose of ensuring conviction, either by going through the motions of manipulated procedure or...
", such as in the case of Norbert Engel, then a massage and physiotherapist. He was sentenced to death after expressing his regret over the failure of the 20 July plot to a nurse. He said, "If it had succeeded, the war would have been over in five days and we'd have been able to go home." Engel escaped execution by fleeing to the Netherlands.
The introduction of the KSSVO marked a new stage in the persecution of the Nazis' political opponents and many thousands of them were killed. According to Wehrmacht criminal statistics, by June 30, 1944, there had been 14,262 convictions for wehrkraftzersetzung, though German military historian Manfred Messerschmidt says the number of convictions was likely to have been closer to 30,000. The number of convictions and proportion of death sentences steadily increased at the end of the war because as the war dragged on, criticism increased. Combat was ever more costly for Germans, while the awaited "final victory" was pushed further and further into the future. Because of the way the regulation was formulated, a conviction generally came from a denunciation by associates, though some convictions came from remarks in letters or slogans written on walls. That there weren't even more regime critics convicted may have had to do with the nature of denunciations. A potential accuser could hardly be certain that during the course of the investigation, he would not also be denounced. The fact that every soldier was informed about the consequences of uttering banned speech may have inhibited the number of denunciations.
Use in the Federal Republic of Germany
In the Federal Republic of Germany, the prosecution of individual crimes, formerly listed under "Subversion of Military Stength", are now regulated under §§ 109-109k of the German criminal code, the similar sounding "Crimes against the Defense of the Country" (Straftaten gegen die Landesverteidigung). Especially noteworthy is § 109d, "Disturbing Propaganda against the BundeswehrBundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
", which places penalties on untruthful remarks that "disturb the operations of the Bundeswehr", as well as § 109 StGB, "Evasion of Military Service Through Mutilation" (Wehrpflichtentziehung durch Verstümmelung). Military conscription in Germany was abolished in 2011.
People executed under Wehrkraftzersetzung
- Elli HatschekElli HatschekElli Hatschek was a member of the German Resistance against Nazism. She was married to Paul Hatschek, a leading member of the resistance group, the European Union and who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943. Under heavy interrogation, he gave up the names of others in his group, who were then...
- Erich KnaufErich KnaufErich Knauf was a German journalist, writer, and songwriter. He was executed for making jokes about the Nazi regime.- Biography :...
- Hans SchollHans SchollHans Fritz Scholl was a founding member of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany.-Biography:...
- Sophie SchollSophie SchollSophia Magdalena Scholl was a German student, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans...