Hitler’s Courts is not a study of the Holocaust. It is instead a deeply profound study of the betrayal of the rule of law within Nazi Germany that allowed the Holocaust to proceed.

To summarize this betrayal was a position taken by Roland Freisler, State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice, and President of the People’s Court.

“For the enemy of the state, there is only one course in prosecution and sentencing – unflinching severity and, if necessary, total annihilation.”

Freisler was an attendee at the Wannsee Conference in 1942. It was this position taken on by the Nazis that set in motion the Holocaust.

“Brilliant and chilling, a powerful reminder that the rule of law can be used to advance either freedom or the worst that human beings can do”  – Erwin Chemerinsky, Professor of Law, Duke University

WINNER: EXCELLENCE IN CIMEMA AWARD
New York International Film and Video Festival

The extensive interviews were filmed in July 2005 in Nuremberg, Germany at the Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s Conference “Judging Nuremberg: The Laws, The Rallies, The Trials” and included

Reinhard Weber, historian
Raymond Brown, war crimes lawyer
Andreas Zimmermann, law professor
Herbert Reginbogin, Touro Law School
Michael Marrus, Professor of Holocaust Studies
Wanda Akin, Adjunct Professor, Seton Hall University School of Law
Lawrence Douglas, Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought, Amherst College
John Q. Barrett, Professor Law, St. John’s University
Gabriel Bach, Justice of the Israeli Supreme Court
Michael Bazyler, Professor Law, Whittier College
Ben Ferencz, former prosecutor, Nuremberg Trials

Stock Footage and Photographs supplied by

Estate of Max Friedlaender
The Granger Collection
Landesarchiv Berlin
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
SV-Bilderdienst, Munich
Topography of Terror Foundation, Berlin
United States National Archives, Washington, D.C.

“One of the most compelling documentaries I have ever seen – high drama, profound historical understanding and, most important, extraordinary lessons for the present” – Richard D. Heffner, PBS Producer/Host “The Open Mind”

“Excellently produced – A perfect tool for examining the misuse of law and the inhumanity that fueled the Shoah” – Beth Selden Dotan, Director Omaha Institute of Holocaust Education

2005 / 35 minutes / Color and B/W / Narrated by Joshua Greene /
Produced and Directed by Joshua Greene and Shiva Kumar

HOW TO ORDER:

Public Performance and Digital Site Licenses are available through Soundview Media Partners. To inquire or to place an
order, write to info@soundviewmediapartners.com or simply choose from the options below:

Important note:

Delivery of Hitler’s Courts on disc is as a DVDr in plain sleeve. The film is also included as a bonus on our DVD film “Memory After Belsen” so you may want to consider that for purchasing.

For group screening prices, please inquire.

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