Watching the Republican Party in the US marching lockstep with President Trump down the path of lawlessness should concern anyone concerned with preserving our democratic system.
As a subscriber to the New York Times, I love going through the archives to see how historical events were covered at the time. On January 31, 1933 the NYTimes reported on the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany with the following headline: Hitler Made Chancellor of Germany; Coalition Cabinet Limits Power. Observers were convinced that the Nazis would be constrained by the realities of governing within a parliamentary democracy. It is interesting to read the rosy assessment of the NYT reporters as well as the party officials they interviewed for this front-page piece:
"The National Socialists are in the minority in the Cabinet. The Chancellor's activities are severely limited due to the presence in his Cabinet of Colonel von Papen, Baron von Neurath [(etc.) ...] Some Liberals welcome the new Cabinet. They reason that Herr Hitler has been removed from the street and saddled with the responsibility of office which will severely circumscribe his liberty of action. {...} The Socialists are confident that Hitler "will blow up and be disposed of definitely. They count on the Reichstag being dissolved if Herr Hitler meets a no-confidence vote next week."
"Next week" turned into 12 years and the total destruction of Germany with the loss of tens of millions of lives. But in January 1933 the NYT's editorial staff was impressed that "Herr Hitler swore obedience to the Constitution of the (Weimar) Republic."
One aspect of the Weimar Constitution Hitler swore to uphold was the independent judiciary ( "Artikel 102. Die Richter sind unabhängig und nur dem Gesetz unterworfen.) But the rule of law lasted exactly 28 days. On February 27, 1933 the Reichstag was gutted by a massive fire (likely started under orders from Hitler). The next day the government issued the Reichstagsbrandverordnung ("Reichstag Fire Decree") which essentially nullified the Weimar Constitution and ended the rule of law in Germany.
Die Artikel 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 und 153 der Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs werden bis auf weiteres außer Kraft gesetzt. Es sind daher Beschränkungen der persönlichen Freiheit, des Rechts der freien Meinungsäußerung, einschließlich der Pressefreiheit, des Vereins- und Versammlungsrechts, Eingriffe in das Brief-, Post-, Telegraphen- und Fernsprechgeheimnis, Anordnungen von Haussuchungen und von Beschlagnahmen sowie Beschränkungen des Eigentums auch außerhalb der sonst hierfür bestimmten gesetzlichen Grenzen zulässig.
(Article 1
Sections 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153 of the Constitution of the German Reich are suspended until further notice. Therefore, restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press, on the right of assembly and the right of association, and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications, warrants for house searches, orders for confiscations, as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.)
The Gleichschaltung of the German legal system happened very quickly after this. Just two months later, Hitler passed one of the earliest antisemitic laws, purging Jewish and also Socialist judges, lawyers, and other court officers from their professions. Further, the Academy of German Law and Nazi legal theorists, such as Carl Schmitt, advocated the nazification of German law, cleansing it of "Jewish influence." Judges were forced to let "healthy folk sentiment" (gesundes Volksempfinden) guide them in their decisions.
From a constitutional democracy to a dictatorship in 90 days.
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