People's Court (Germany) - Quiz
  • 1. What was the primary goal of the People's Court according to the text?
A) Administering impartial justice
B) Supporting Nazi supremacy
C) Protecting civil rights
D) Upholding the rule of law
  • 2. Who told Freisler that human fate was secondary to the intentions of the state leadership?
A) Thierack
B) Sophie Scholl
C) Räbiger
D) Wachsmann
  • 3. What was the policy regarding retrials in the People's Court during the war?
A) They almost always increased the severity of punishment
B) They were strictly forbidden
C) They were used to grant pardons
D) They rarely resulted in the death penalty
  • 4. How were children treated by the People's Court?
A) They were sent to re-education camps instead of court
B) They were tried as adults
C) They were granted juvenile protection
D) They were exempt from trial
  • 5. What happened to defendants who were acquitted by the People's Court?
A) They were immediately released as free citizens
B) They were often taken into SS protective custody
C) They were given monetary compensation
D) They were offered government positions
  • 6. Which political group received the harshest treatment in pre-war People's Court sentencing?
A) Catholic organizations
B) KPD
C) Conservative sympathizers
D) Right-wing organizations
  • 7. What was the status of verdicts handed down by the People's Court?
A) They could be appealed to the Supreme Court
B) They were appealable only in capital cases
C) They were subject to automatic review
D) They were not appealable
  • 8. What is the approximate acquittal rate of the People's Court in 1944?
A) Around 7.3 percent
B) Almost 20 percent
C) Almost 12 percent
D) Around 5 percent
  • 9. Why were defense lawyers constrained in the People's Court?
A) High salaries for state prosecutors
B) Lack of legal knowledge
C) Threat of arrest or disciplinary action
D) Mandatory Nazi party membership
  • 10. What percentage of defendants were sentenced to death in pre-war years on average?
A) Five percent
B) Ten percent
C) Two percent
D) Twelve percent
  • 11. Which senate handled the most important cases?
A) The second senate
B) The sixth senate
C) The first senate
D) The final senate
  • 12. Who presided over the first senate?
A) The senior lay judge
B) The court's president
C) Adolf Hitler
D) The Minister of Justice
  • 13. How many judges sat in each senate?
A) Seven
B) Six
C) Five
D) Two
  • 14. How many lay judges were in each senate?
A) Three
B) Four
C) Two
D) Five
  • 15. What were the lay judges supposed to represent?
A) The Ministry of Justice
B) The Nazi party leadership
C) The people
D) The German armed forces
  • 16. What fraction of lay judges came from Nazi organizations?
A) All of them
B) One-half
C) Approximately one-third
D) Approximately two-thirds
  • 17. What fraction of lay judges came from the armed forces?
A) All of them
B) Approximately one-third
C) Approximately two-thirds
D) One-fourth
  • 18. Were lay judges chosen directly from the public?
A) Yes
B) Only during the early years
C) Only for the first senate
D) No
  • 19. How long was the initial appointment period for judges?
A) Five years
B) For life
C) One year
D) Ten years
  • 20. What was required for defense lawyers to appear before the court?
A) Membership in the Nazi party
B) An invitation from the president
C) A law degree
D) Permission
  • 21. Who confirmed the appointments of judges?
A) The senate president
B) Hitler
C) The Reichstag
D) The Minister of Justice
  • 22. How many trained judges were there at the court's lifetime peak?
A) 34
B) 17
C) 95
D) 173
  • 23. How many lay judges were there at the court's lifetime peak?
A) 173
B) 95
C) 17
D) 34
  • 24. What was the intended title of the documentary about the 20 July Plot trials?
A) The End of the Resistance
B) Justice for the Reich
C) Traitors Before the People's Court
D) The People's Verdict
  • 25. Who was the documentary originally meant to deter?
A) Foreign invaders
B) Future resistance
C) The judiciary
D) The general public
  • 26. In what month and year did Roland Freisler die?
A) March 1945
B) February 1945
C) July 1944
D) April 1945
  • 27. Which air force attacked Berlin on the day Freisler died?
A) French Air Force
B) British Royal Air Force
C) USAAF Eighth Air Force
D) Soviet Air Force
  • 28. What was Freisler doing when the bombing raid occurred?
A) Reviewing secret documents
B) Meeting with Hitler
C) Conducting a Saturday session
D) Visiting the Gestapo headquarters
  • 29. What did Freisler pause to gather before seeking shelter?
A) Files
B) Weapons
C) His personal belongings
D) Court registry books
  • 30. What was the immediate cause of Freisler's death in the courtroom?
A) Being struck by a beam
B) Explosive shrapnel
C) Fire
D) Collapsing ceiling
  • 31. Where was Freisler's body found?
A) Crushed beneath a masonry column
B) In the basement shelter
C) In the hallway outside the court
D) Near the building's exit
  • 32. What was the alternative version of Freisler's death?
A) A British bomb came through the ceiling
B) He was killed in a car accident
C) He died of a heart attack during the raid
D) He was shot by a prisoner
  • 33. What comment did a worker make when Freisler's body arrived at the hospital?
A) He was a traitor
B) It is God's verdict
C) The war is over
D) Justice has been served
  • 34. Who became acting president after Freisler's death?
A) Fabian von Schlabrendorff
B) Wilhelm Crohne
C) Harry Haffner
D) Arthur Nebe
  • 35. Which prisoner was saved by Freisler's death?
A) Fabian von Schlabrendorff
B) Wilhelm Crohne
C) Arthur Nebe
D) Alfred Jodl
  • 36. Who was appointed president of the court after Wilhelm Crohne?
A) Arthur Nebe
B) Harry Haffner
C) Fabian von Schlabrendorff
D) Roland Freisler
  • 37. What happened to Fabian von Schlabrendorff after the court resumed?
A) He was acquitted
B) He was executed
C) He was exiled
D) He escaped
  • 38. Who was the former head of the Reich Criminal Police tried in 1945?
A) Roland Freisler
B) Wilhelm Crohne
C) Arthur Nebe
D) Harry Haffner
  • 39. When were the last documented trials before the People's Court?
A) April 1945
B) March 1945
C) May 1945
D) February 1945
  • 40. On what date were US occupation forces directed to abolish extraordinary courts?
A) 11 March 1945
B) 26 April 1945
C) 3 February 1945
D) 4 February 1945
  • 41. Who issued the laws implementing the abolition of the People's Court?
A) The United Nations
B) The German government
C) The Allied Control Council
D) The US Occupation Forces
  • 42. What principle did the People's Court follow instead of liberal legal principles?
A) Constitutional monarchy
B) Democratic centralization
C) Parliamentary sovereignty
D) Führerprinzip
  • 43. Which newspaper described the People's Court as an expression of National Socialist basic concepts?
A) Berliner Tageblatt
B) Völkischer Beobachter
C) Der Stürmer
D) Frankfurter Zeitung
  • 44. How many death sentences did the People's Court hand down in 1934?
A) Four
B) Nine
C) Eighteen
D) Twenty-five
  • 45. How many death sentences did the People's Court hand down in 1935?
A) Thirty
B) Eighteen
C) Four
D) Nine
  • 46. Who was the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice and a driving force behind the People's Court?
A) Joseph Goebbels
B) Roland Freisler
C) Adolf Hitler
D) Otto Georg Thierack
  • 47. Which court did Roland Freisler intend for the People's Court to supersede?
A) Reichsgericht
B) Supreme Court of Prussia
C) Federal Constitutional Court
D) International Military Tribunal
  • 48. In what year was the People's Court established in Nazi Germany?
A) 1936
B) 1934
C) 1939
D) 1932
  • 49. What specific event influenced the creation of the People's Court?
A) Acquittals in the Reichstag fire trial
B) The Munich Putsch
C) The Nuremberg Rallies
D) The Night of the Long Knives
  • 50. What percentage of defendants were executed under Roland Freisler?
A) 5%
B) 15%
C) 80%
D) 46%
  • 51. Which principle did the People's Court prioritize over defined laws?
A) Equality before the law
B) Strict adherence to legal precedents
C) Punishing criminal mentality
D) The right to a fair trial
  • 52. Which act provided a foundation for the court's authority?
A) The Enabling Act
B) The Weimar Constitution
C) The Treaty of Versailles
D) The Nuremberg Laws
  • 53. How many cases did the court hear between 1937 and 1945?
A) Over 5,000
B) Over 100,000
C) Over 14,000
D) Under 1,000
  • 54. What myth suggested that Germany lost World War I due to treason and revolution on the home-front?
A) The Führerprinzip myth
B) The Weimar Republic myth
C) The Feme Court myth
D) The Stab-in-the-back myth
  • 55. What term describes Hitler's process of maintaining a facade of legality while acting outside of it?
A) Democratic means
B) Autocratic legalism
C) Legislative constraint
D) Judicial leniency
  • 56. Which historical entities does Robert D. Rachlin cite as antecedents to the People's Court?
A) Feme Courts
B) Reichstag committees
C) International tribunals
D) Military commissions
  • 57. How did the Weimar Republic judiciary typically treat right-wing and anti-Jewish crimes compared to left-wing crimes?
A) More leniently
B) More strictly
C) With equal severity
D) With immediate execution
  • 58. What were previous Sondergericht and Volksgerichte generally set up to respond to?
A) Economic inflation
B) Foreign invasions
C) Civil disturbances
D) Constitutional reform
  • 59. When were the Bavarian People's Courts established?
A) November 1923
B) January 1933
C) November 1918
D) May 1924
  • 60. When were the Bavarian People's Courts abolished?
A) January 1933
B) November 1923
C) November 1918
D) May 1924
  • 61. Which notable trial was conducted by the Bavarian People's Court?
A) The Weimar Republic architects
B) The Versailles Treaty negotiators
C) The Reichstag fire conspirators
D) The Beer Hall Putsch conspirators
  • 62. Which German constitution defined high treason in Articles 80–92 of the Imperial Penal Code?
A) Basic Law
B) Bismarck Constitution
C) Weimar Constitution
D) Frankfurt Constitution
  • 63. According to the 'Reichstag Fire Decree', what was the mandatory punishment for acts of treason?
A) Life imprisonment
B) Forced labor
C) Deportation
D) Capital offence
  • 64. In his 23 March 1933 speech, who did Hitler say must be the focus of legal concern?
A) The Reich Chancellor
B) The Volk
C) The individual
D) The Judiciary
  • 65. Where did Hitler first pronounce the necessity for a 'national tribunal'?
A) The Reichstag
B) Mein Kampf
C) The Weimar Constitution
D) The Reichstag Fire Decree
  • 66. Which of these was NOT a crime transferred to the jurisdiction of the People's Court?
A) Assassination of government members
B) Tax evasion
C) High treason
D) Major cases of sabotage
  • 67. Who was the first president of the People's Court?
A) Fritz Rehn
B) Joseph Goebbels
C) Adolf Hitler
D) Heinrich Himmler
  • 68. Which of these was NOT listed as an area of increased jurisdiction for the court?
A) Economic sabotage
B) Espionage
C) Misprision of treason
D) Traffic violations
  • 69. Who described the People's Court as a 'task force for combating and defeating all attacks on the external and internal security of the Reich'?
A) Thierack
B) The chief prosecutor
C) Adolf Hitler
D) Franz Gürtner
  • 70. According to Müller, what was the standard punishment for remarks about undermining morale?
A) Death
B) Hard labor
C) Fine and imprisonment
D) Loss of civil rights
  • 71. In what year was Roland Freisler appointed as President of the People's Court?
A) 1944
B) 1942
C) 1941
D) 1940
  • 72. Since what year had Roland Freisler been a member of the Nazi Party?
A) 1933
B) 1923
C) 1939
D) 1942
  • 73. Who was the Nazi propaganda minister that commented on Freisler's presidency?
A) Joseph Goebbels
B) Thierack
C) Ernst Kaltenbrunner
D) Roland Freisler
  • 74. How many cases were referred to the People’s Court under the Nacht und Nebel programme?
A) 200
B) 2,000
C) 800
D) 1,200
  • 75. Which Soviet prosecutor's practice of heaping abuse on defendants did Freisler copy?
A) Andrey Vyshinsky
B) Vyacheslav Molotov
C) Leon Trotsky
D) Joseph Stalin
  • 76. Where were the death sentences carried out after the August 1944 trials?
A) Elßholzstrasse
B) A concentration camp
C) The People's Court basement
D) Plötzensee Prison
  • 77. What term did Freisler use to insult Erich Hoepner during his trial?
A) Traitor
B) Coward
C) Schweinehund
D) Saboteur
  • 78. What is currently located at the former site of the court at Bellevuestrasse 15?
A) The Prussian House of Lords
B) The Center Potsdamer Platz
C) The Royal Wilhelm Gymnasium
D) The Berlin high court
  • 79. Which organization typically funneled cases to the People's Court?
A) The Supreme Court
B) The Gestapo
C) The Ministry of Justice
D) The Academy for German Law
  • 80. Who decided whether to bring an indictment to the People's Court?
A) The Gestapo
B) The prosecuting authority
C) The judges of the People's Court
D) The Führer
  • 81. Who instructed judges in 1936 to ask how the Führer would decide in their place?
A) The Gestapo leadership
B) The Minister of Justice
C) Curt Rothenberger
D) Hans Frank
  • 82. What term was broadly expanded to facilitate the prosecution of opposition?
A) Disorderly conduct
B) Negligence
C) Preparation for high treason
D) Criminal mentality
  • 83. Which of these was mentioned as an action considered 'trifling' but punishable by the court?
A) Financial fraud
B) Espionage
C) Anti-Nazi jokes
D) Armed rebellion
  • 84. What is the phrase used to describe the court's stance on punishable preparation for a crime?
A) Preparation for a preparation
B) Intent to commit
C) Conspiracy to act
D) The first phase of treason
  • 85. How many death sentences were handed down by the People's and Special Courts between 1939 and 1940?
A) 1,292
B) 99
C) 929
D) 5,336
  • 86. Who was the judge responsible for defeatism cases after the Battle of Stalingrad?
A) Oswald Rothaug
B) Leopold Felsen
C) Roland Freisler
D) Hans Fallada
  • 87. What was the specific accusation against Leopold Felsen in 1944?
A) Listening to foreign broadcasts
B) Distributing pamphlets
C) High treason
D) Wehrkraftzersetzung
  • 88. Who was the youngest opponent of Nazi Germany executed by the People's Court?
A) Heinz Kapelle
B) Karlrobert Kreiten
C) Sophie Scholl
D) Helmuth Hübener
  • 89. What profession was Maria Restituta Kafka?
A) Catholic nun and surgical nurse
B) Politician
C) Pianist
D) Journalist
  • 90. Which novel was based on the story of Otto and Elise Hampel?
A) Every Man Dies Alone
B) The White Rose
C) Una Sancta
D) All Quiet on the Western Front
  • 91. How was the Czechoslovak journalist Julius Fučík executed?
A) Hanging
B) Beheading
C) Guillotine
D) Firing squad
  • 92. Who denounced the pianist Karlrobert Kreiten for negative remarks about Hitler?
A) Max Sievers
B) Leopold Felsen
C) Roland Freisler
D) Ellen Ott-Monecke
  • 93. What was the specific charge against Elfriede Scholz?
A) High treason
B) Listening to foreign broadcasts
C) Distributing pamphlets
D) Wehrkraftzersetzung
  • 94. Elfriede Scholz was the younger sister of which famous author?
A) Erich Maria Remarque
B) Max Planck
C) Hans Fallada
D) Julius Fučík
  • 95. What information did the Austrian priest Heinrich Maier pass on to the Allies?
A) V-2 rocket plans
B) False propaganda reports
C) The location of the 20 July conspirators
D) Hitler's daily schedule
  • 96. How was Arthur Nebe allegedly executed?
A) Firing squad
B) Guillotine
C) With piano wire
D) Poison
  • 97. What was the occupation of Joseph Müller, who was executed for an anti-Nazi joke?
A) Journalist
B) Priest
C) Jurist
D) Politician
  • 98. Which former People's Court member blamed Roland Freisler for the court's excesses?
A) Oswald Rothaug
B) Hans-Joachim Rehse
C) Otto Georg Thierack
D) Ernst Lautz
  • 99. How many judges from the People's Court were successfully prosecuted by the West German justice system?
A) Sixty-nine
B) None
C) Twenty-nine
D) Five
  • 100. What is the Richterprivileg?
A) A pardon granted to all prosecutors
B) A judicial privilege protecting judges from prosecution
C) A law mandating life sentences for resistance members
D) A requirement for judges to join the Nazi party
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