In another step by the coalition headed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel intended to makes amends for the crimes of the Third Reich, a historical piece of legislation is currently being drafted to clear the names of individuals the Nazis accused of treason during World War II. The law will be brought for a parliamentary vote before the elections expected to be held in September.
During the period of Nazi rule, military tribunals convicted 30,000 German citizens of desertion and treason. The Nazis used this accusation against political opponents and those who assisted Jews or war prisoners. Some two-thirds of those convicted were executed.
The current proposal, which has long been a central topic of discussion in Germany, would rehabilitate German citizens persecuted for alleged treason and who managed to evade the death penalty. According to the bill, "Treason as a general offense was used as a tool for arbitrary Nazi justice; almost every unpopular political act by those who did not follow the herd could carry the death penalty."
Merkel's Christian Democratic Union has supported legislation to exonerate citizens convicted of treason before and during the Second World War. Volker Kauder, parliamentary chairman of the Conservative party, added that his faction, which had only supported a less binding legal move, is now switching to the side of its coalition partners from the Social Democrat Party to hammer out the law.
Certain members of the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria opposed the bill, saying that some of those convicted may have harmed comrades in arms. But after it was found to be impossible to determine whether the acts "harmed a third party," they decided to back the legislation unanimously.
