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Immoral Law, Illegal Morals? NS Forced Labor Compensation and the Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Viktor Winkler

Extract

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As the Bundestag (German Parliament) has finally achieved the sought-after Rechtssicherheit (legal certainty) with respect to ending the threat of foreign claims being brought against German corporations, and as the first compensation payments have been made, the alarm over restitution for National Socialist forced labor seems to have quieted itself. At least, public discussion and media coverage has grown silent on the issue. Since The end of Judge Kram's recent “revolt” seems to have signaled the end of the forced labor issue. Well, our attention is limited. Had it not been a long and winding and somewhat tiring road marked by lawyers having it out with other lawyers? And had there not been enough confusing and embarrassing fits and starts, all that turbulence along the way? Now that the first claims are being paid, apparently there is not much to theorize about. While this is likely not true about the legal element of the matter, this article argues that it is also not true for theorizing about the issue. Instead, legal theory could primarily look at forced labor compensation as a highly rewarding piece of scientific research. This concerns not only the compensation process itself, but certain striking aspects of the public perception expressed in the discussion surrounding the compensation-process.

Type
Research Article
Information
German Law Journal , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , January 2002 , E1
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 by German Law Journal GbR 

References

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