Interested readers might want to check with their local public library to see if “The Betrayal of the Humanities: The University during the Third Reich” is part of the library’s online HOOPLA collection. Many public libraries offer HOOPLA, an online collection of ebooks, audiobooks, and videos. It was available in my public library.
Also, Carl Schmitt, the legal spokesman of the Third Reich. Brilliant, personable, hard working, prolific author, and dedicated to the goals of his master. Talked his way out of prosecution at the Nuremburg trials and retired on a small pension. He left a playbook for demagogues of Left and Right.
I'm curious about why Professor Schmitt appears to be sitting comfortably in a study in 1978.
There have been numerous genocides since the Holocaust, including in Cambodia and what is going on with the Rohingya today. It makes me wonder how well we have learned the lessons of 1930s Germany.
Another excellent essay, Professor Steve! Thought-provoking and worthy of contemplation by all - law professors and lawyers alike.
Above, I shared some more pointed links regarding the need for or about status of disciplinary proceedings for certain appointed and confirmed lawyers, who I wish would read your marvelous revelatory essay. You remind me also of an earlier thought I had the goes beyond professors:
Something to consider as we engage with social media:
“Unfortunately, we no longer pay attention to long standing legal maxims and biblical principles and allow technology to undermine our precious credibility when we subscribe so quickly to conspiracy theories and alternative facts contrary to what we actually see and hear. Pay attention before hitting “send”:
"Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus"
"Qui in minimo fidelis est, et in maiori fidelis est; et qui in modico iniquus est, et in maiori iniquus est."”
Wow! Thank you for this very personal analysis of your way of looking at your (and other legal academics’) responsibilities when confronted with a lawless (and I would even use the word evil) government. We should also look at the responsibilities of others – business leaders, bankers, academics in other fields , federal employees , elected officials, religious leaders etc. – and their response and actions when confronted (and subject to significant personal risks if they become visible as opponents) with the cruelty and insanity of the federal government. To the extent it is possible or reasonable to pass judgment on those who are actively or even passively complicit with a cruel and lawless government the question of how much risk or loss any individual will face by not supporting or actively opposing it comes into play. Congresspersons do nothing or publicly support the lawless so they will (they hope) be more likely to be reelected. Business leaders make choices based on the impact on their (often already immense) wealth. Supreme Court Justices because….? Many people take decisions from silence to active opposition depending on how they judge the risks they face as a function of their status and condition (citizen, immigrant status, ethnicity, consequences if deported etc.). and/or the threats of harm they have been subjected to. I cannot predict how "heroic" or otherwise I would be if confronted directly with masked, armed, and apparently unhinged thugs on "official" business.
I refer you to an article (The Impact of Nazi Law) I recently came across serendipitously from the Wisconsin Law Review of July 1945 written by my paternal grandfather Friedrich Roetter ( I assume you have access to this journal - https://archive.org/stream/sim_wisconsin-law-review_1945-07_1945_4/sim_wisconsin-law-review_1945-07_1945_4_djvu.txt - if not I can send a pdf. He had been a successful lawyer in Germany until 1935, but was arrested and then released by the Gestapo – he was on the defense team of the Communist leader Ernst Thaelmann – after which wisely he, his wife and three sons fled to England. He makes the point that the Nazis operated with a system of law (mob rule elevated into law), and there were many helpers from all sectors of German society and the economy. Today's American "lawessness"is also receiving support from many quarters within the US polity. ICE agents certainly seem to fit the description of mobs acting “lawfully”, given the claim that they enjoy immunity for any action they take while anyone who shows the slightest sign of disagreement with them will be prosecuted as a “domestic terrorist.” In an Orwellian reversal, the terrorized becomes the terrorist.
In “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” the author, Isabel Wilkerson, asserts that the Nazi’s race laws were authored by German law students who attended southern US universities and studied US Jim Crow laws. (And, appallingly, that those self same laws were too extreme for even the Nazis in defining who was Jewish (or Black in the US) and who wasn’t.
Thanks so much. I read the story. I am not shocked. It is vital outline. I am 95 and have read the books of the rise of the Nazi, about Kristalnacht and more. I am a retired MD and army surgeon. In 1987, on duty in W Germany ,I finished a BA in History.I have been protesting as much as the weather permits with my signs in The Twin Cities. I watch, see a direct comparison to the Gestapo and their support by their EVIL leaders. But the Supreme Court., six Catholics of my faith! Carte Blanche for Der Fuhrer!
I always found it interesting that John Yoo (1), who authored the legal memos justifying torture at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere (2) later became Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley of all places! The CIA torturers were later protected from prosecution by president Obama. Sadly, craven opportunism can be found across the political spectrum.
Interested readers might want to check with their local public library to see if “The Betrayal of the Humanities: The University during the Third Reich” is part of the library’s online HOOPLA collection. Many public libraries offer HOOPLA, an online collection of ebooks, audiobooks, and videos. It was available in my public library.
I just downloaded it to my phone via Hoopla. Thanks for the suggestion.
Also, Carl Schmitt, the legal spokesman of the Third Reich. Brilliant, personable, hard working, prolific author, and dedicated to the goals of his master. Talked his way out of prosecution at the Nuremburg trials and retired on a small pension. He left a playbook for demagogues of Left and Right.
https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/430d6814-96b3-4f49-9737-8c0f8eb79982?utm_source=share
https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/5e65b7b7-0077-4ed6-bf55-32d22c06fa06?utm_source=share
https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/1ffdb64d-2cb7-462b-8a31-5b17a5faa72e?utm_source=share
https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/a5eafe12-21ee-4c1a-9c51-dc9dad53a1fc?utm_source=share
I'm curious about why Professor Schmitt appears to be sitting comfortably in a study in 1978.
There have been numerous genocides since the Holocaust, including in Cambodia and what is going on with the Rohingya today. It makes me wonder how well we have learned the lessons of 1930s Germany.
Another excellent essay, Professor Steve! Thought-provoking and worthy of contemplation by all - law professors and lawyers alike.
Above, I shared some more pointed links regarding the need for or about status of disciplinary proceedings for certain appointed and confirmed lawyers, who I wish would read your marvelous revelatory essay. You remind me also of an earlier thought I had the goes beyond professors:
Something to consider as we engage with social media:
“Unfortunately, we no longer pay attention to long standing legal maxims and biblical principles and allow technology to undermine our precious credibility when we subscribe so quickly to conspiracy theories and alternative facts contrary to what we actually see and hear. Pay attention before hitting “send”:
"Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus"
"Qui in minimo fidelis est, et in maiori fidelis est; et qui in modico iniquus est, et in maiori iniquus est."”
My favorite history class in college was historiography (the study of history). Thanks for peeling back the onion re: how you do what you do!
Thank you, Steve, for this dive into the dual state. And for the very personal exploration of your own motivations and considerations in your work.
Would that more people in law or academia gave thought to those issues.
Now to find that chapter from Gross.
Wow! Thank you for this very personal analysis of your way of looking at your (and other legal academics’) responsibilities when confronted with a lawless (and I would even use the word evil) government. We should also look at the responsibilities of others – business leaders, bankers, academics in other fields , federal employees , elected officials, religious leaders etc. – and their response and actions when confronted (and subject to significant personal risks if they become visible as opponents) with the cruelty and insanity of the federal government. To the extent it is possible or reasonable to pass judgment on those who are actively or even passively complicit with a cruel and lawless government the question of how much risk or loss any individual will face by not supporting or actively opposing it comes into play. Congresspersons do nothing or publicly support the lawless so they will (they hope) be more likely to be reelected. Business leaders make choices based on the impact on their (often already immense) wealth. Supreme Court Justices because….? Many people take decisions from silence to active opposition depending on how they judge the risks they face as a function of their status and condition (citizen, immigrant status, ethnicity, consequences if deported etc.). and/or the threats of harm they have been subjected to. I cannot predict how "heroic" or otherwise I would be if confronted directly with masked, armed, and apparently unhinged thugs on "official" business.
I refer you to an article (The Impact of Nazi Law) I recently came across serendipitously from the Wisconsin Law Review of July 1945 written by my paternal grandfather Friedrich Roetter ( I assume you have access to this journal - https://archive.org/stream/sim_wisconsin-law-review_1945-07_1945_4/sim_wisconsin-law-review_1945-07_1945_4_djvu.txt - if not I can send a pdf. He had been a successful lawyer in Germany until 1935, but was arrested and then released by the Gestapo – he was on the defense team of the Communist leader Ernst Thaelmann – after which wisely he, his wife and three sons fled to England. He makes the point that the Nazis operated with a system of law (mob rule elevated into law), and there were many helpers from all sectors of German society and the economy. Today's American "lawessness"is also receiving support from many quarters within the US polity. ICE agents certainly seem to fit the description of mobs acting “lawfully”, given the claim that they enjoy immunity for any action they take while anyone who shows the slightest sign of disagreement with them will be prosecuted as a “domestic terrorist.” In an Orwellian reversal, the terrorized becomes the terrorist.
I am neither a lawyer or an academic, but I really appreciated this essay. It can and should be applied across many disciplines. Thank you.
Thank you for thinking deeply about this subject.
I appreciate you wanting to share the thinking that guides your legal writings and teachings.
What I missed in this post was a definition of the “exception” you refer to. I’d welcome something further on that.
BTW You’re a great writer.
In “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” the author, Isabel Wilkerson, asserts that the Nazi’s race laws were authored by German law students who attended southern US universities and studied US Jim Crow laws. (And, appallingly, that those self same laws were too extreme for even the Nazis in defining who was Jewish (or Black in the US) and who wasn’t.
Is that true?
Thanks so much. I read the story. I am not shocked. It is vital outline. I am 95 and have read the books of the rise of the Nazi, about Kristalnacht and more. I am a retired MD and army surgeon. In 1987, on duty in W Germany ,I finished a BA in History.I have been protesting as much as the weather permits with my signs in The Twin Cities. I watch, see a direct comparison to the Gestapo and their support by their EVIL leaders. But the Supreme Court., six Catholics of my faith! Carte Blanche for Der Fuhrer!
I always found it interesting that John Yoo (1), who authored the legal memos justifying torture at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere (2) later became Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley of all places! The CIA torturers were later protected from prosecution by president Obama. Sadly, craven opportunism can be found across the political spectrum.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Yoo
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torture_Memos