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