Autor/Autorin
„The great resistance in an unjust state is only possible
if the small resistance against injustice in everyday state life
practised and nurtured like a precious plant.“
– Fritz Bauer
The right and duty of resistance
of the citizen (1961)
In the judiciary of Lower Saxony, there are two jurists who made the confrontation with Nazi injustice their life’s work: Dr Helmut Kramer (born 1930) and Dr Fritz Bauer (1903-1968). With their criticism and opposition to the sluggish and, if at all, only half-hearted confrontation with the crimes committed during the National Socialist regime, they were mostly alone at the time. But they did not shy away from exposing the crimes of their own guild. And they wanted to bring them to justice – despite all the defences they faced.
Lower Saxony’s Minister of Justice, Dr Kathrin Wahlmann (SPD), has now revoked a disciplinary order that was issued in 1978 to punish the democratic attitude of judge Dr Helmut Kramer, who could not and would not accept the silent integration of Nazi lawyers into the democratic system of the Federal Republic.
„A judge is no more entitled than a civil servant to accuse his superior of misconduct or to undermine the latter’s reputation by disseminating facts within the authority, even if the facts are correct.“ – This was the reason given by the President of the Higher Regional Court of Braunschweig, Rudolf Wassermann (1925-2008), in 1978 in the so-called Puvogel affair, when he reprimanded Dr Helmut Kramer and initiated disciplinary proceedings against him. Kramer had violated his duty of respect towards his superior minister by sending excerpts from his dissertation to colleagues. Without respect for the authority of one’s superior, it was not possible to carry out official duties in an orderly manner, it continued in the old authoritarian diction. Even if the excerpts distributed were factual, Kramer’s intention was not merely to provide information, but to criticise Dr Hans Puvogel (1911-1999) and prove his unacceptability as Minister of Justice.
Dr Hans Puvogel (CDU) had been appointed Minister of Justice of Lower Saxony by Minister President Ernst Albrecht in 1976. Helmut Kramer then published the racist contents of Puvogel’s dissertation from 1937, in which he had advocated the castration of people who, as „serious criminals“, were considered racially inferior according to National Socialist opinion and should be exterminated as „asocials“. „The value of the individual for the community is measured by his racial personality,“ the dissertation stated. Puvogel’s ministerial career ended in April 1978 and he resigned after he had not distanced himself from National Socialist ideas even after they became known.
The fact that the Minister of Justice of Lower Saxony has revoked the injunction against Dr Helmut Kramer from 1978 is a belated positive signal. It comes at a time when „people with a clear inner compass“, which Dr Wahlmann emphasises in her explanatory statement, are at least as urgently needed to defend the rule of law and democracy as they were around 45 years ago. The ministry’s press release states:
„ Dr Helmut Kramer was the conscience of Lower Saxony’s judiciary for decades. His involvement in the Puvogel affair made him a shining example for us all. (…) We will therefore continue to need people with a clear inner compass in the future who will vehemently defend our constitutional values even in the face of resistance and, if necessary, at the cost of personal disadvantages – in short: people like Dr Helmut Kramer.“
Helmut Kramer, who at the age of 94 was unable to accept the cancellation notice for health reasons, was nevertheless pleased on this occasion that it „also rejects the image of the judge as an authoritarian state that still prevailed at the time.“ His statement on the cancellation continues:
„The idea of judges as obedient vassals of their superiors (…) was never compatible with the principles of a democratic service and employment relationship. Ministers may be heads of the highest official authority, but they are also party politicians and as such the legitimate object of harsh criticism from every citizen – including civil servants and judges.“
Throughout his professional life, Helmut Kramer has opposed the false obedience and false loyalty that Fritz Bauer before him denounced as one of the causes of the National Socialist state of injustice. In doing so, he rendered outstanding services to the rule of law. In the Puvogel affair, Helmut Kramer set an example of how the unresisting subjugation of the judiciary in the „Third Reich“ could be overcome through his own actions.
In his archive, which will in future be kept at the Fritz Bauer Forum and where work is currently being carried out with companions and Helmut Kramer’s son on an archive and research project, there are numerous examples of the courageous and constant confrontation with judicial injustice that Helmut Kramer promoted in Lower Saxony.
Ministry of Justice of Lower Saxony: https://www.mj.niedersachsen.de/startseite/aktuelles/presseinformationen/das-gewissen-der-niedersachsischen-justiz-232889.html
NDR: https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/braunschweig_harz_goettingen/Puvogel-Affaere-Frueherer-Richter-nach-46-Jahren-rehabilitiert,helmutkramer100.html;
beck-aktuell: https://rsw.beck.de/aktuell/daily/meldung/detail/rehabilitierung-olg-richter-helmut-kramer-hans-puvogel-affaere
Evangelische Zeitung: https://www.evangelische-zeitung.de/puvogel-affaere-ministerin-rehabilitiert-frueheren-richter-kramer
Contact: info@fritz-bauer-forum.de
Photo: Portraits of Helmut Kramer (c) Private property