In the Year of the Earth Rat, the Great and Powerful Keith F. Lynch
declared:
> >
> I was surprised and dismayed, as I had figured that all Nazi-era
> criminal convictions would have been automatically reversed as soon
> as the Nazis were defeated.
>
Why? Germany still prosecuted genuine crimes like rape and murder
under the Nazi regime, and not everyone in the judiciary was a
mustache-twirling villain plotting to frame Jews, gypsies, and
commies for every crime. Simply reversing every conviction from 1933
to 1945 would set loose people who belonged in jail, and given the
state of Germany at the time, giving everyone a new trial (which
would require tracking down witnesses, many of whom were dead, and
evidence, much of which would've been destroyed) would've been
infeasible.
I'd guess that the Allies set free everyone convicted of political
crimes and provided an appeals process for everyone else. But van
der Lubbe, being dead and all, probably didn't avail himself to it
at the time.
--
Sean O'Hara <http://diogenes-sinope.blogspot.com>
Zapp Brannigan: If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the
dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.
-Futurama
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