In December 2002, Michigan State University College of Law began showcasing the work of visual artists who raise important questions and issues confronting society. In so doing, these exhibitions have enhanced the facility as well as provided a welcoming space for students, faculty, staff and the community-at-large. The exhibits are showcased in public spaces on the 3rd and 4th floor of the Law College Building. The Law College also hosts artist lectures and receptions for the Law College community and the general public to meet the featured artists.
The current exhibit, “Lawyers without Rights,” runs through July 1.
The exhibition consists of 25 panels telling the story of how many German Jewish lawyers and judges were expunged from office and the German Federal Bar during the Third Reich.
In brief – some 70 years after its horrors unfolded — the Holocaust still had stories to reveal and lessons to share. The original idea for the exhibition “Lawyers without Rights” was conceived in 1998 when an Israeli lawyer asked the regional Bar of Berlin for a list of Jewish lawyers whose licenses had been revoked by the Nazi regime. The then-president of the German Federal Bar said the regional bar decided not only to research a list of names, but also to try to find out more about the fate of all of those whose names were uncovered.
Overtime, it was discovered that some Jewish lawyers were able to leave the country after the Nazis came to power; however, many of them were incarcerated or murdered. All this took place while the non-Jewish German lawyers along with their “lawyers organizations” remained silent. As the story unfolded, like a puzzle – step by step – a portrait of the fate of Jewish lawyers in Germany emerged. Fortunately, at the same time, the Berlin Bar began to transform this previously overlooked history into an exhibition.
In late 2011, the German Federal Bar asked the American Bar Association for assistance to introduce the exhibition at the U.S. capital. What emerged from their efforts was a compelling exhibit of 25 panels. The exhibition described the humiliation, degradation and purge from the German legal profession of roughly 5,000 lawyers simply because they had Jewish ancestry. From that time forward, more than 65 to 70 U.S. venues have hosted the exhibit without charge, from New York City to Los Angeles, in addition to Mexico City and Toronto. Host venues have included federal courthouses, state supreme courts, public libraries, law schools, Jewish community centers, synagogues and private venues.
The release in November 2018 of the English translation of the book, “Lawyers Without Rights: The Fate of Jewish Lawyers in Berlin after 1933,” marked an exciting new step for the project. This book on the fate of Jewish lawyers in Berlin after 1933 underscores a shared interest in passing on to future generations the horrors of the Holocaust as well as fostering a better public understanding of the rule of law.
The occupational bans on Jewish lawyers in Berlin, the capital city and home to the largest bar in Germany, was first detailed more than 20 years ago and updated in 2007. By 1938, Nazi law had eliminated all but a handful of Jewish legal “consultants” from the profession. Hundreds of German Jewish lawyers subsequently died in concentration camps or committed suicide; scores fled the Nazi regime emigrating across the world, including the United States. A few earned U.S. law degrees, like lawyer Hanna Katz, one of 19 Jewish women lawyers in Berlin whose biography in the book notes that she became a member of the American Bar Association.
The author, Simone Ladwig-Winters, determined that of the 3,890 lawyers in the Berlin Court of Appeals district, nearly half – 1,835 – had Jewish origin. The fate of about 1,400 of these attorneys are detailed in the biographical section of the book.
The current exhibit, “Lawyers without Rights,” runs through July 1.
The exhibition consists of 25 panels telling the story of how many German Jewish lawyers and judges were expunged from office and the German Federal Bar during the Third Reich.
In brief – some 70 years after its horrors unfolded — the Holocaust still had stories to reveal and lessons to share. The original idea for the exhibition “Lawyers without Rights” was conceived in 1998 when an Israeli lawyer asked the regional Bar of Berlin for a list of Jewish lawyers whose licenses had been revoked by the Nazi regime. The then-president of the German Federal Bar said the regional bar decided not only to research a list of names, but also to try to find out more about the fate of all of those whose names were uncovered.
Overtime, it was discovered that some Jewish lawyers were able to leave the country after the Nazis came to power; however, many of them were incarcerated or murdered. All this took place while the non-Jewish German lawyers along with their “lawyers organizations” remained silent. As the story unfolded, like a puzzle – step by step – a portrait of the fate of Jewish lawyers in Germany emerged. Fortunately, at the same time, the Berlin Bar began to transform this previously overlooked history into an exhibition.
In late 2011, the German Federal Bar asked the American Bar Association for assistance to introduce the exhibition at the U.S. capital. What emerged from their efforts was a compelling exhibit of 25 panels. The exhibition described the humiliation, degradation and purge from the German legal profession of roughly 5,000 lawyers simply because they had Jewish ancestry. From that time forward, more than 65 to 70 U.S. venues have hosted the exhibit without charge, from New York City to Los Angeles, in addition to Mexico City and Toronto. Host venues have included federal courthouses, state supreme courts, public libraries, law schools, Jewish community centers, synagogues and private venues.
The release in November 2018 of the English translation of the book, “Lawyers Without Rights: The Fate of Jewish Lawyers in Berlin after 1933,” marked an exciting new step for the project. This book on the fate of Jewish lawyers in Berlin after 1933 underscores a shared interest in passing on to future generations the horrors of the Holocaust as well as fostering a better public understanding of the rule of law.
The occupational bans on Jewish lawyers in Berlin, the capital city and home to the largest bar in Germany, was first detailed more than 20 years ago and updated in 2007. By 1938, Nazi law had eliminated all but a handful of Jewish legal “consultants” from the profession. Hundreds of German Jewish lawyers subsequently died in concentration camps or committed suicide; scores fled the Nazi regime emigrating across the world, including the United States. A few earned U.S. law degrees, like lawyer Hanna Katz, one of 19 Jewish women lawyers in Berlin whose biography in the book notes that she became a member of the American Bar Association.
The author, Simone Ladwig-Winters, determined that of the 3,890 lawyers in the Berlin Court of Appeals district, nearly half – 1,835 – had Jewish origin. The fate of about 1,400 of these attorneys are detailed in the biographical section of the book.
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