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SUMMARY
Under Nazi rule, tens of thousands of men and women, boys and girls were detained in penitentiaries, workhouses or concentration camps, or eventually killed, on the grounds that they were deemed ‘asocial’. The way they lived did not conform to Nazi notions of being a productive, valuable, well-adjusted member of the German Volksgemeinschaft (the German ethnic community). The article examines whether, when and how the Federal Republic of Germany has come to terms with the Nazi persecution of the ‘asocials’ and taken measures of compensation or commemoration. It shows that German politics has largely failed to confront the distinctive features of this type of persecution, namely that it targeted victims according to Nazi notions of productivity, economic usefulness and social conformism. It argues that the Federal Republic has failed to declare the logic of this persecution to be incompatible with its normative foundations. The article focuses on the activities by the German Bundestag pertaining to the persecution of the ‘asocials’. Source material consists of draft laws, parliamentary motions, parliamentary hearings, plenary debates, questions to the government in writing and government responses to these. It concludes that the Federal Republic of Germany has failed to distance itself from the productivist logic that underlay the Nazi persecution of the ‘asocials’.
Notes
1 J. Hörath, »Asoziale« und »Berufsverbrecher« in den Konzentrationslagern 1933 bis 1938 (Göttingen, 2017), p. 11.
2 Hörath, »Asoziale« und »Berufsverbrecher«, p. 316; Wissenschaftliche Dienste Deutscher Bundestag, Ausarbeitung WD 1 - 3000 - 026/16, „Asoziale“ im Nationalsozialismus (2016), p. 15.
3 Wissenschaftliche Dienste Deutscher Bundestag, „Asoziale“ im Nationalsozialismus, p. 16.
4 A. Alex, ‘Die vergessenen Opfer der Nazis Geschichte. Wie viele »Asoziale« und »Kriminelle« wurden tatsächlich ermordet?’, ak 610, (17 November 2015), p. 33; Wissenschaftliche Dienste Deutscher Bundestag, „Asoziale“ im Nationalsozialismus, p. 15.
5 For the political and parliamentary processes leading to these declarations, see S.L. Herrmann and K. Braun, ‘Das Gesetz, das nicht aufhebbar ist. Vom Umgang mit den Opfern der NS-Zwangssterilisation in der Bundesrepublik’, Kritische Justiz 43, (2010), pp. 338–52; M. Burgi and D. Wolff, Rehabilitierung der nach § 175 StGB verurteilten homosexuellen Männer: Auftrag, Optionen und verfassungsrechtlicher Rahmen. Rechtsgutachten erstellt im Auftrag der Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes (Baden-Baden, 2016).
6 The documents are accessible through the Bundestag’s electronic archives at http://pdok.bundestag.de/. Interestingly, a search for ‘Asozialenverfolgung’ yielded no results, whereas a search for ‘Homosexuellenverfolgung’ yielded 28 results.
7 For instance, E. Wolfrum, ‘Die Anfänge der Bundesrepublik, die Aufarbeitung der NS-Vergangenheit und die Fernwirkungen für heute’, in U. Bitzgeio, A. Kruke and M. Woyke (eds), Solidargemeinschaft und Erinnerungskultur im 20. Jahrhundert. Beiträge zu Gewerkschaften, Nationalsozialismus und Geschichtspolitik (Bonn, 2009), pp. 363–77, p. 374.
8 T. Garton Ash, ‘Mesomnesie – Plädoyer für ein mittleres Erinnern’, Transit 22, (2002), pp. 32–48, p. 32.
9 M. Cunningham, ‘Prisoners of the Japanese and the Politics of Apology: A Battle over History and Memory’, Journal of Contemporary History 39, (2004), pp. 561–74; I. Buruma, The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan (London, 1994).
10 Deutscher Bundestag, Unterrichtung durch die Bundesregierung. Bericht der Bundesregierung über die Wiedergutmachung und Entschädigung für nationalsozialistisches Unrecht sowie über die Lage der Sinti, Roma und verwandter Gruppen (BT DR 10/6287, 31 October 1986), p. 11, Braun’s translation. All subsequent translations into English are by Braun unless otherwise stated.
11 For instance, with respect to those who were deemed disabled or feeble minded, H. Tümmers, ‘Spätes Unrechtsbewußtsein. Über den Umgang mit den Opfern der NS-Erbgesundheitspolitik’, in N. Frei, J. Brunner and C. Goschler (eds), Die Praxis der Wiedergutmachung. Geschichte, Erfahrung und Wirkung in Deutschland und Israel (Göttingen, 2009), pp. 494–530.
12 R. Ludi, Who is a Nazi Victim? Constructing Victimhood through Post-war Reparations in France, Germany, Switzerland, UCLA Center for European and Eurasian Studies, UC Los Angeles, Occasional Lecture Series, 2005, http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6mp7c78d, p. 17.
13 Elsewhere, we have pointed out that German governments for decades did not acknowledge the Nazi policy of coercive sterilization as a severe violation of fundamental moral norms and principles, treating it as a more or less ordinary exercise of statecraft, thereby implicitly confirming the biopolitical logic of protecting and improving the ‘quality’ of the Volkskörper that had underlined these violations in the first place. See K. Braun, S.L. Herrmann and O.A. Brekke, ‘Sterilization Policies, Moral Rehabilitation and the Politics of Amends’, Critical Policy Studies 2, (2016), pp. 203–26.
14 N. Tavuchis, Mea Culpa: A Sociology of Apology and Reconciliation (Stanford, 1991); A. Lazare, On Apology (New York, 2004).
15 Here, I agree with G. Sandner, ‘Hegemonie und Erinnerung: Zur Konzeption von Geschichts- und Vergangenheitspolitik’, Austrian Journal of Political Science 30, (2001), pp. 5–17; R. Teitel, Transitional Justice (Oxford, 2000); A. von Wahl, ‘How Sexuality Changes Agency: Gay Men, Jews, and Transitional Justice’, in S. Buckley-Zistel and R. Stanley (eds), Gender in Transitional Justice (New York, 2012), pp. 191–217.
16 W. Ayaß, „Asoziale“ im Nationalsozialismus (Stuttgart, 1995), p. 44.
17 Ayaß, „Asoziale“ im Nationalsozialismus, pp. 23ff., 41ff.
18 Wissenschaftliche Dienste Deutscher Bundestag, „Asoziale“ im Nationalsozialismus, p. 15.
19 W. Ayaß, ‘„Ein Gebot der nationalen Arbeitsdisziplin“. Die Aktion „Arbeitsscheu Reich“ 1938’, Beiträge zur nationalsozialistischen Gesundheits- und Sozialpolitik 6, (1988), p. 27.
20 W. Ayaß, ‘«Asoziale» im Nationalsozialismus. Überblick über die Breite der Maßnahmen gegen soziale Außenseiter und die hieran beteiligten Stellen’, in D. Sedlaczek, T. Lutz, U. Puvogel and I. Tomkowiak (eds), «minderwertig» und «asozial». Stationen der Verfolgung gesellschaftlicher Außenseiter (Zurich, 2005), pp. 56–60.
21 Ayaß, „Asoziale“ im Nationalsozialismus, p. 47.
22 Ayaß, „Asoziale“ im Nationalsozialismus, p. 139; W. Ayaß, „Gemeinschaftsfremde“. Quellen zur Verfolgung „Asozialen“ 1933–1945 (Koblenz, 1998), document no. 50.
23 Ayaß, „Gemeinschaftsfremde“, pp. 142ff.
24 C. Schikorra, ‘Schwarze Winkel im KZ. Die Haftgruppe der «Asozialen» in der Häftlingsgesellschaft’, in Sedlaczek et al. (eds), «minderwertig» und «asozial», pp. 105–26.
25 This number is based on a sample of 149 personal files of women categorized as ‘asocial’ and detained in Ravensbrück between 1937 and 1945, according to Schikorra, ‘Schwarze Winkel im KZ’, p. 110.
26 Initiative Uckermark, Initiative für einen Gedenkort ehemaliges Jugend-KZ Uckermark e.V.: International Antifascist Feminist Working Camp at the Site of the Former Youth Concentration Camp Uckermark, 2009, http://www.gedenkort-kz-uckermark.de/assets/downloads/EN/2009_Reader_end_WEB_EN.pdf, p. 5.
27 Printed in Ayaß, „Gemeinschaftsfremde“, pp. 374f.; Ayaß, „Asoziale“ im Nationalsozialismus, p. 183.
28 M. Guse, ‘Haftgrund: «Gemeinschaftsfremder». Ausgrenzung und Haft von Jugendlichen im Jugend-KZ Moringen’, in Sedlaczek et al. (eds), «minderwertig» und «asozial», pp. 127–56.
29 Ayaß, „Asoziale“ im Nationalsozialismus, p. 210.
30 Motion by the Centre Faction, Draft Custody Law (BT DR 1/2366, 22 June 1951).
31 BT DR 1/2366, 22 June 1951, p. 1.
32 BT DR 1/2366, 22 June 1951, p. 2.
33 BT PLP 1/163, 18 September 1951, 6606B.
34 BT PLP 1/163, 18 September 1951, 6606C.
35 BT PLP 1/163, 18 September 1951, 6610D.
36 BT PLP 1/163, 18 September 1951, 6612A–D.
37 D. Stegemann, ‘„Arbeitsscheu“ und „asozial“’, Gen-ethischer Informationsdienst 220, (2013), p. 18.
38 BEG § 1(1).
39 BEG § 6(1)2.
40 K. Braun, Transitional Justice, Political Temporality and the Injuries of Normality. IPW Working Paper No. 1/2017, https://politikwissenschaft.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/i_politikwissenschaft/IPW_Working_Papers/IPW-Working-Paper-01-2017-Braun.pdf.
41 Motion by the Faction of the Greens, Draft Law for the provision of adequate benefits for all victims of National Socialist persecution from 1933 to 1945 (BT DR 11/141, 6 April 1987).
42 Faction of the Social Democrats, Draft Law for the establishment of a foundation ‘Reparations for Nazi Injustice’ (BT DR 11/223, 5 May 1987).
43 Deutscher Bundestag, 11th election period, 161st session, plenary protocol (BT PLP 11/151, 21 June 1989), 11340C.
44 BT PLP 11/151, 21 June 1989, 11344B.
45 Bundesministerium der Finanzen, Entschädigung von NS-Unrecht. Regelungen zur Wiedergutmachung (Berlin, 2012), p. 33.
46 BT DR 11/223, 5 May 1987.
47 Deutscher Bundestag, Zur Sache. Themen parlamentarischer Beratung. Wiedergutmachung und Entschädigung für nationalsozialistisches Unrecht (Bonn, 1987).
48 BT PLP 11/151, 21 June 1989, 11344A.
49 Bundespräsidialamt, Speech by President Richard von Weizsäcker during the Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the End of War in Europe and of National-Socialist Tyranny on 8 May 1985 at the Bundestag, Bonn, 1985, https://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Reden/2015/02/150202-RvW-Rede-8-Mai-1985-englisch.pdf?__blob=publicationFile.
50 The Faction of the Greens in Parliament, Gesetzentwurf zur Regelung einer angemessenen Versorgung für alle Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung in der Zeit von 1933 bis 1945 (BT 10/4040, 17 October 1985).
51 Proposal by the Social Democrats in Parliament that the government submit a report on how to improve reparations for Nazi victims (BR DR 10/4638, 14 January 1986).
52 BT DR 11/141, 6 April 1987.
53 BT DR 11/223, 5 May 1987.
54 Report by the Committee on Internal Affairs on a new hardship fund for the ‘forgotten victims’ (BT DR 11/1392, 30 November 1987).
55 Motion by the Faction of the Social Democrats, Guidelines for the allocation of means to victims of Nazi injustice (BT DR 11/1413, 2 December 1987).
56 Motion by the Faction of the Social Democrats, Survey, report and assessment of improved benefits for victims of National Socialist persecution from 1933 to 1945 (BR DR 10/4638, 14 January 1986); BT DR 11/223, 5 May 1987.
57 BT 10/4040, 17 October 1985; BT DR 11/141, 6 April 1987; BT DR 11/1413, 2 December 1987.
58 BT DR 10/6287, 31 October 1987, p. 39.
59 BT DR 10/6287, 31 October 1987, p. 41. Wolfgang Ayaß, however, the leading scholar on the persecution of the ‘asocials’ in Germany, argues that there is no evidence that most of the detainees were set free upon Hitler’s 50th birthday. See Ayaß, ‘„Ein Gebot der nationalen Arbeitsdisziplin“’, p. 22.
60 Motion by the Faction of the Greens, Establishment of a foundation ‘Reparations for Nazi Injustice’ (BT DR 13/1193, 25 April 1995), p. 1.
61 BT DR 13/1193, 25 April 1995, p. 2.
62 Faction of the Left, question to the government raised and dealt with in writing, Commemoration and remembering of the action ‘Arbeitsscheu Reich’ 1938 (BT DR 16/9405, 30 May 2008), p. 2.
63 Response by the government to the question to the government … (BT DR 16/9405, 30 May 2008) (BT DR 16/9887, 1 July 2008).
64 Faction of the Left, question to the government raised and dealt with in writing, memorial site for the youth concentration camp Uckermark for girls and young women (BT DR 17/1493, 23 April 2010), p. 1.
65 Response by the government to the question to the government … (BT DR 17/1493, 23 April 2010) (BT DR 17/1721, 17 May 2010), p. 4.
68 T. Irmer, B. Reischl and K. Nürnberg, Das Städtische Arbeits- und Bewahrungshaus Rummelsburg in Berlin-Lichtenberg, Gedenkstättenrundbrief 144, n.d., http://www.gedenkstaettenforum.de/nc/gedenkstaetten-rundbrief/rundbrief/news/das_staedtische_arbeits_und_bewahrungshaus_rummelsburg_in_berlin_lichtenberg/, pp. 22–31; T. Irmer, Zur Geschichte des Arbeitshauses Rummelsburg in der NS-Zeit. Vortrag, Deutsches Historisches Museum, 12. Juni 2013 (2013).
69 See http://www.marginalisierte.de/.
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Kathrin Braun
Kathrin Braun is apl. Professor for Political Science at Leibniz University, Hanover. Her main areas of study are critical biopolitical studies; biomedicine, governance and participation; biopolitics and the law; and human rights and historic justice. She is also general editor of the journal Critical Policy Studies.