Susanne Karstedt, University of Leeds - "Defining Criminals and Constructing Memories: Sentenced Nazi War Criminals in West Germany in the Early Post-War Years"
- When: February 26, 2010, 12–1:30 pm
- Where: Woods Conference Center, 750 N Lake Shore Drive, 4th Floor
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Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, University of Leeds
"Defining Criminals and Constructing Memories: Sentenced Nazi War Criminals in West Germany in the Early Post-War Years"
Abstract: Transitional justice turns common notions of crime, criminals and criminal justice upside down. Members of the formerly ruling elites, including high ranking members of the armed forces and the government find themselves in the dock accused of the most heinous crimes and human rights abuses. Transitional societies are deeply divided along the lines of communities of victims and offenders, of those who as former victims are now “defended” and those who as offenders are now “defeated”. The “truth” about the events is highly contested among these groups that nonetheless have to forge a common memory of what had happened, and have to find a common understanding of their past.
What happens when sentenced offenders return to the community after having served their sentences, or been released from prison? In which ways are they received by their communities, are their crimes defined, and do they themselves confront the new normative and moral order that is emerging? In which ways do they contribute and shape the collective memories of the crimes of the past?
Post-war Germany is an exemplary case that might help us in getting a better understanding of these processes. Between 1949 and the 1960s, hundreds of perpetrators sentenced for mass atrocities and involvement in the Holocaust were received back into (West)German society. Using a number of case studies this paper tries to answer these questions. They are discussed within the framework of the particular post-war situation of Germany, however allow for general conclusions regarding contemporary procedures of transitional justice.
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Susanne Karstedt is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, University of Leeds. Before she has held positions at Keele University, University of Bielefeld and University of Hamburg. She is currently one of the editors of the British Journal of Criminology. She was recipient of the Sellin-Glueck-Award of the American Society of Criminology in 2007. She has researched and published widely on transitional justice, and her most recent publication is an edited collection on Legal Institutions and Collective Memories (Hart 2009). For her work on public perceptions of the Nuremberg Trials in Germany between 1945 and 1950, she was awarded the Christa-Hoffman-Riehm Award by the German Association of the Sociology of Law. Her general research interests lie in comparative and international criminology, including violence and mass atrocities, white collar and middle class crime, and punishment. Currently her research primarily focuses on comparative studies of democracy, crime and justice, and she has edited (with Gary LaFree) a special issue of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences on the topic (2006).
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