A former Nazi judicial officer has been nominated for a high-ranking position in the Hamburg legal system. But if the nomination succeeds, the Hamburg State Senate is expected to exercise a veto. Guenter Schulz, 65, from 1941 to 1943 was assistant judge in a Hamburg lower court and is currently a judge in the Hamburg Supreme Court. He was nominated to be presiding judge of the Supreme Court.
During the war, Schulz participated in at least 15 “racial dishonor” (rassenschande) cases in which the crime of sexual intercourse between “Aryans” and Jews was alleged. In one such case–involving an artist and his Jewish fiancee–the court found that “the law for protecting blood is one of the fundamental laws of the Third Reich. All state organs must ensure with uncompromising strictness that this law–even when understandable human grounds for excuses are present–is properly carried out.”
In nominating Schulz for the position of presiding judge. Hamburg’s Supreme Court Judge President Walter Stiebeler described Schulz as “a person of integrity and upright character.”
He noted that because of Schulz’s “indisputable professional qualifications,” he probably would have become presiding judge much earlier, “were it not for the fact that his participation as assistant judge in so-called racial dishonor cases acted as a hindering factor.” Defending Schulz’s actions. Stiebeler said all judgements which he participated in during the Nazi reign were in the framework of then-existing laws.
Hamburg’s Justice Minister, Prof. Ulrich Klug, opposed the nomination. A Hamburg government spokesman said the position of presiding judge was one of the top posts in the state (as opposed to the federal) legal system. The vacancy had arisen because the present presiding judge had reached retirement age. Schulz’s nomination was “all the more surprising” because he was due to retire in the next three years, the spokesman added.
The electoral committee, chaired by Klug, comprises three judges, two Hamburg state officials, two lawyers and six representatives nominated by the political parties represented in the Hamburg State Parliament. A decision by the nominating committee, due today, was postponed to Sept. 1 because of “lack of time”
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