Broadside—German Courts

WORLD WAR II

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Broadside—German Courts

"ANY PERSON VIOLATING ANY OF THE PROVISIONS OF THIS LAW SHALL, UPON CONVICTION BY A MILITARY GOVERNMENT COURT, BE LIABLE TO ANY LAWFUL PUNISHMENT, INCLUDING DEATH…"

(WORLD WAR II). Broadside: Military Government—Germany. Supreme Commander's Area of Control. Law No. 2. German Courts. No place, 1945. Broadside, measuring 20 by 30 inches, with printing on recto, map on verso; floated and framed, entire piece measures 25 by 35 inches.

Original broadside from the beginning of the Allied occupation of Germany in 1945, setting out the terms under which German Courts could operate, with parallel text in English and German.

On September 28, 1944, shortly after U.S. troops entered Germany, Eisenhower issued Proclamation No. 1, famed for the line "We come as conquerors, but not as oppressors." But Eisenhower was insistent on the complete eradication of Nazism from German life—"We shall obliterate Nazism and German Militarism. We shall overthrow Nazi rule, dissolve the Nazi Party and abolish the cruel, oppressive and discriminatory laws and institutions which the Party has created." This commitment required Eisenhower to suspend all German Courts, the structuring and staffing of the courts being deeply complicit in Nazi Rule. This broadside, printed in parallel English and German text, lays out how the court system was to operate under American military rule—certain courts were suspended, others limited in their powers, and an oath was to be taken by all judges, prosecutors, notaries and lawyers, among other details laid out. The verso of the broadside is a military map of the region around Pithiviers in France, labeled "Sheet 10H/I."

Expected fold lines. Beautifully presented.

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