Nazi Justice Minister Who Helped Turn Law into a Weapon: Otto Thierack
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In Nazi Germany, the courts were transformed from institutions of justice into instruments of persecution. Few men played a greater role in that process than Otto Thierack.
A lawyer by training and a committed Nazi, Thierack rose from regional judge to President of the People's Court and eventually Nazi Germany's Minister of Justice. He worked closely with senior Nazi leaders, weakened judicial independence, expanded the use of death sentences, and transferred thousands of prisoners into the custody of the SS under the policy of "extermination through work."
This story follows Thierack's rise through the Nazi legal system, his involvement in some of the regime's most notorious policies, his cooperation with figures such as Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich, and his role in turning German law into a tool of terror during World War II.
After Germany's defeat, Thierack was arrested by the Allies, bringing an end to his career as one of the Third Reich's most influential legal officials.
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