Gemeinsame oder getrennte Wege? Kontakte zwischen Polen und Westdeutschland zur justiziellen Aufarbeitung von NS-Verbrechen bis zum Beginn der 1970er-Jahre ; Joint or separate routes? Contacts between Poland and West Germany on the judicial follow-up of Nazi crimes until the beginning of the 1970s

The article analyses the contacts between the Main Commission for the Investigation of German/Hitlerite Crimes in Poland and the West German Central Office of the State Justice Administration for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes. What kind of dynamics and problems resulted from this cooperation within the context of the Cold War? The study focuses on the understanding of law on both sides and the practical challenges this involved. Because there were no direct diplomatic relations between Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany until 1970/1972, even the question of what ›mutual assistance in law enforcement‹ (Rechtshilfe) could involve was a delicate one. The dialogue ranged from a willingness to cooperate to mutual exasperation. The latter resulted from conflicting sociopolitical and judicial conditions. The Polish Main Commission had been established in 1945, the West German Central Office followed only in 1958. The judicial punishment of National Socialist Crimes within a bilateral context required arduous negotiations. They often came up against political emotions, resulting for instance in a varying usage of the German language by the Polish representatives, depending on the situation. The intensity of communication about the law was remarkable, even beyond the actual results of the criminal prosecution. * * * Der Aufsatz analysiert die Kontakte zwischen der Hauptkommission zur Erforschung der deutschen bzw. »hitleristischen« Verbrechen in Polen und der bundesdeutschen Zentralen Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen zur Aufklärung nationalsozialistischer Verbrechen. Welche Dynamiken und Problemfelder entwickelte eine solche Kooperation vor dem Hintergrund des Kalten Krieges? Ein Schwerpunkt der Untersuchung liegt auf dem jeweiligen Verständnis von Recht und den praktischen Herausforderungen. Da zwischen Polen und der Bundesrepublik bis 1970/72 keine direkten diplomatischen Beziehungen bestanden, war schon die Frage heikel, was »Rechtshilfe« bedeuten konnte. Der Dialog bewegte sich zwischen .