Eliminating nonconformists in Hitler's Third Reich: Das Reichskriegsgericht and the prosecution of conscientious objection
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2015
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Melbourne Authors
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School of Historical and Philosophical Studies
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Honours thesis
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This thesis examines the nazification of German military justice in Hitler's Third Reich, and in particular within the highest court of law under National Socialism, the 'Reichskriegsgericht'. Drawing on the case verdicts of twenty-three conscientious objectors who were tried and sentenced by this court, this thesis further investigates the harsh prosecution of individuals who rejected military service on grounds of individual conscience and religious conviction. Specifically dealing with cases not involving objectors from the Jehovah's Witnesses faith offers an opportunity to examine men who refused to serve without the support from an organised religious community. This thesis argues that under a system of Nazi military justice, the prosecution of conscientious objection as a crime of 'subversion' became tantamount to persecution. Charged with eliminating social nonconformists and consolidating National Socialist rule, the 'Reichskriegsgericht' became an instrument of Nazi control that imposed draconian and uniform punishments.
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conscientious objection, military justice, National Socialism, Nazi, das Reichskriegsgericht