Victims and Supporters of Nazism vis-à-vis Europe’s Legal Tradition. A New Episode in the History of the Third Reich?

Two central questions about the idea of the shared legal heritage of Europe are examined. This idea determines the shape of legal history in most European countries after WW II, but its origins are still largely unknown. The two questions read: What was the impact of totalitarianism in Nazi Germany and of the exile of Jewish legal scholars upon this idea? What legal, political and cultural factors contributed to its dissemination? The questions are examined based on the biographies of Fritz Schulz, Fritz Pringsheim, Paul Koschaker, Franz Wieacker and Helmut Coing.