Jonathan Kempner collection

Primarily correspondence of the Reich Justice Ministry concerning the administration of the Dachau concentration camp. Of particular interest are correspondence dated 1933, which details the transfer of power from the Bavarian State Police to the SS; and the earliest politically motivated murders carried out at Dachau. Also includes important correspondence dated 1938-1942 from the Reich Justice Ministry relating to Rassenschande (racial shame), and Mischlinge (persons of mixed race) serving in the Wehrmacht. Also contains the criminal indictment of Marinus Van der Lubbe, charged by the Nazis for the Reichstag fire of 1933.

Arrangement is thematic Organized into the following series: Series 1: Reich Justice Ministry (Reichsjustizministerium) correspondence, Sept. 1942-Oct. 1943. Series 2: Criminal indictment of Marinus Van der Lubbe in the Reichstag fire. Series 3: German reports of monitoring of British radio broadcasts, 1945. Series 4: Reich Justice Ministry memo regarding Mischlingen. Series 5: Reich Justice Ministry correspondence regarding Rassenschande, 1938-1942. Series 6: Reich Justice Ministry correspondence regarding Mischlingen. Series 7: Bulletin establishing Wehrmacht chain of command, 1 Aug. 1943. Series 8: Essay, Zur Frage des unehelichen kindes als problem der Deutschen bevoelkerungspolitik ("The question of illegitimate children in the German body-politic"). Series 9: Reich Propaganda Office circular number II/5/43, 1 March 1943. Series 10: Miscellaneous correspondence, 1933-1943. Series 11: Legal documents regarding administrative control of Dachau CC, 1934. Series 12: Correspondence and legal documents regarding administrative control of Dachau CC, 1933-1934