7. Un « châtiment inéluctable » ?

Abstract

This article describes and analyses the structural measures introduced by the Soviet State to support the investigations of West German judicial authorities against German Nazi and war criminals in the 1960s. In contrast to the publicly postulated absolute Soviet interest in bringing all perpetrators to justice, it becomes apparent that the Soviet Union was late in cooperating with the Central Office of the State Justice Administrations, the central West German investigative authority —especially in comparison with the People’s Republic of Poland. What can explain this is the fact that the Soviet Union had drawn a line under the prosecution of German perpetrators in 1955 and was not prepared for the unexpected phenomenon of West German re-entry into the prosecution of Nazi and war criminals, which was to meant to complete the Allied/European and German trials of the first decade after 1945. The instructions to the KGB, which conducted the collection of evidence, reveal an economy of Soviet investigations. Consequently, this article addresses the issue of the political value of judicial cooperation and the resources made available by the Soviet authorities.