German Court Beret of a 2nd Level Public Prosecutor
The judicial cap is black with a cloth top and velvet covered sides. It has four sets of two embroidered bands, two on each side. The sweatband is made of rust-brown leather, and the lining is made of satin. The cap was manufactured by Silberhorn-Borne in Landau in der Pfalz.
Historical Context
h3. Law and Treachery: The Courts of the Third Reich The Third Reich maintained multiple divisions in the judicial system that reflected the purposes and aims of the Nazi Party. The Sturmabteilung (SA) served as a police force, the Reichsshatzmeister was the “finance division”, the Organization Department, and the Untersuchungs- und Schlichtungsausschüsse (Investigation and Adjustment Committees) or USCHLA, was the judicial system.1 All of these affiliated entities were created in the spring of 1925.2 The USCHLA was the equivalent of “the old boys’ club”, with party members serving positions. Within it Hitler first published his own guide to the future judicial process, Richtlineien (Directions), in 1929. After 1933, Hitler charged Walter Buch, then Chief Party Justice, to transform German justice system to suit party needs and more decrees defined the limits of the courts to overrule Nazi Party orders.3 The most internationally recognizable court proved to be the Volksgerichtshof, or the “People’s Court”, which the Nazi Party utilized to publicly prosecute treason. The two-part court dealt with the prosecuting of Hochverrat (high treason) and Landesverrat (treason).4 These courts acted as vehicles for terror and submission through the judicial branch of the government. The Volksgericht made waves in Germany and shocked the international community with its cruelty. Created on April 24, 1934, the Volksgericht was given jurisdiction over all crimes of treason. While the legal definitions of treason did not change with the formation of the court, “penalties…. were made substantially more severe.”5 The infamous “Blood Judge” Roland Freisler, the chief justice of the Vergerichtshof, sentenced over 90% of cases who came before him to death. Freisler humiliated defendants by ridiculing them, insulting them, interrupting them, or not even allowing them to speak.6 The Volksgerich’s existed to prove the existence of communist plots. Hitler, angry at the resiliency of the public to lash out at communist after the Reichstag fire trial, hoped to frighten the public and expose the Communist agenda.7 It is estimated that at least 40,000 death sentences were given for the crime of treason. Even with the political appointments of long-time party members (Freisler being one), few significant procedural changes occured in the actual makeup and process of the German courts.8 The Party Courts and the State Courts existed as two different entities. In 1934 Roland Freisler attempted to make the Volksgericht the Supreme Court for all penal law. Members of the Ministry of Justice resisted and the Nazi Court System remained diverged. The Germany Judiciary remained conservative and regulated the role of the Volksgerichtshof, maintaining that its power was only to be over cases of treason. 9 However, in a totalitarian regime, such charges are brought frequently and often without justification or genuine evidence.
| Germany | World War II |
| Beret | 1939 |
| Silberhorn-Borne | |
| JOC-02-1007 | |
