The first special exhibition at the Hotel Silber memorial site in Stuttgart sheds light on the difficult and cumbersome process of coming to terms with the deeds of the Secret State Police under National Socialism. "Gestapo in Court - The Persecution of Nazi Criminals" looks at who was put on trial and who was not, who had to go to prison and who was able to live on unmolested despite their atrocities. The exhibition shows why criminal prosecution in the Federal Republic was so slow. It also looks at the impact of prominent trials.
The Gestapo was involved in almost all National Socialist crimes: Mistreatment, deportations, persecution, murders of numerous people. But only a few had to stand trial for these crimes. Proceedings such as the Auschwitz trial, however, triggered social discussions about how to deal with the Nazi past: Is the enforcement of the law paramount? Or should it be weighed against "social peace" in the country of the perpetrators and a line drawn? How long after the crime does atonement make sense?
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