Beihilfe zu NS-Gewaltverbrechen

The goal of this dissertation is to find an answer to the question of the limits of culpability in terms of aiding a crime through neutral behaviour. The work focuses on analysing relevant legal doctrine and provides the relevant historical background. Whereas aiding and abetting through neutral behaviour has already been discussed extensively, the question of the culpability of neutral behaviour regarding Nazi crimes has not been analysed properly yet.
The book’s first part describes the general culpability of aiding and abetting. Within this part, the author develops a legal concept of how those deeds could be punished. When analysing the relevant behaviour, she suggests applying both an objective and a subjective view. In the second part, the author addresses Nazi crimes and analyses the culpability of those who played a part in their execution. In doing so, she examines the type of the concentration camp at which the crimes were committed as well as exactly how they were aided. In this regard, she also discusses relevant rulings by West German courts.