Abstract: Roland Freisler was a leading Nazi lawyer, civil servant, and judge. The main focus of the thesis is on Freisler’s hitherto neglected experiences during the Weimar Republic and his role in facilitating the transition of the German legal system from the democratic Rechtsstaat to the Nazi dictatorship. The first chapter (1893-1920) examines Freisler’s experiences during the First World War and its revolutionary aftermath and sheds doubt on the much-repeated claim that he had “converted” to Bolshevism. The second chapter (1920-1922) provid...
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