New “commandments” for the court of Germany establishing the racial theory as the essential basis of all laws were proclaimed today by Dr. Rothenberger, Commissioner of Justice for the Hamburg District, at a conference of jurists.
“Any law which clashes with the racial and national theories of the Nazi movement must be disregarded by the courts on the ground that such law is a slap in the face to the sensitive feelings of the German people,” he declared.
He presented three principles to serve as the basis of future decisions:
1- “Henceforth all verdicts must be issued on the basis of Nazi racial and national principles exclusively.”
2- Chancellor Hitler’s statements and slogans must be considered “the most important law commentary.”
3- All laws enacted before 1933 must be interpreted “exclusively in accordance with the basic principles of National Socialism.
Dr. Rothenberger asserted that wherever the text of a law cannot be interpreted in this spirit, the judge must rule against its application.
The conference coincided with the opening of a strong boycott campaign in the Hamburg Nazi press. Newspapers for the first time published lists of State employees who patronized Jewish physicians exempted from the “Aryan” clause because they had seen war service at the front.
“How dare people getting money from State funds carry it away to Jews?” asked the Hamburger Tageblatt, accusing the officials of having “passed sentence on themselves.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
