Ernst Kanter

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Ernst Kanter (born August 8, 1895 in Saarbrücken , † November 20, 1979 in Cologne ) was a German judge, at the time of National Socialism at the Reich Court Martial and in the Federal Republic at the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).

Career until 1945

Kanter finished his school career at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium in Trier with the final examination. He took part in the First World War as an officer and studied law at the universities of Marburg and Munich. He finished his studies with the first state examination in Kassel and the second state examination in Berlin. With the dissertation "Barriers to upgrading" he was awarded a Dr. jur. PhD . From 1929 he was a local court advisor in Wipperfürth. On May 1, 1933, he joined the NSDAP. From 1933 he worked as a regional judge in Koblenz and from 1935 a higher regional judge in Cologne ( Saarlouis branch ). Kanter joined the army justice service in 1936 on the advice of his friend Karl Sack . From 1938 he worked at the Reich Court Martial and was appointed Senate Councilor in 1939. From 1943 he was chief judge in German-occupied Denmark and was a legal advisor on the staff of the Wehrmacht commander in Denmark. He was an admirer of Werner Best . Kanter participated in at least 103 death sentences against resistance fighters .

Career after the end of the war

Kanter was employed under the 8th British Corp from May 6, 1945 to March 1, 1946 as chief judge for the Wehrmacht units interned in Schleswig-Holstein. In the denazification process he was classified as "exonerated". He returned to the judicial service on August 1, 1947, as an appellate judge in Neustadt an der Haardt . As early as April 1951 he entered the service of the Federal Ministry of Justice , was appointed Ministerialrat in 1951 and was there from 1954 ministerial advisor and criminal law advisor.

Grave of Ernst Kanter in the Cologne North Cemetery

Kanter's reuse met with criticism several times. The Minister of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rudolf Amelunxen , unsuccessfully demanded Kanter's dismissal in 1952; this is "anything but a model for the administration of justice in a democratic state." Georg-August Zinn turned to Thomas Dehler in 1953 and prevented Kanter's proposed appointment as federal prosecutor. At the beginning of 1958, Kanter was transferred to the Federal Court of Justice - without objections being raised - and, as Senate President, faced the 3rd Criminal Senate of the Federal Court of Justice (as State Protection Senate, among other things, responsible for proceedings relating to high treason and treason, for the persecution of communists, and reviewing allegations made by the GDR) Nazi lawyers ).

On September 30, 1959, he took early retirement after allegations against him from the GDR for his work as a judge under National Socialism and the imposition of death sentences in brochures (" Nazi blood judge Kanter") were publicly disseminated. In the book Terrible lawyers of Ingo Müller Kanters biography, along with other lawyers is exemplified for the unbroken careers of loaded Nazi lawyers at the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Ernst Kanter was buried in Cologne's north cemetery (hallway 2).

literature

  • Manfred Görtemaker and Christoph Safferling: The Rosenberg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69768-5
  • German Biographical Encyclopedia , Volume 5, Munich 1997, p. 427. ·
  • Ingo Müller: Terrible lawyers . Kindler-Verlag, Munich 1987.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Manfred Görtemaker and Christoph Safferling: The Rosenberg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69768-5 , p. 232.
  2. ↑ Ernst Kanter . In: Munzinger Online / Personen-Internationales Biographisches Archiv, Munzinger-Archiv, Ravensburg (accessed on June 7, 2013).
  3. ^ A b c Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Third Reich , Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 298
  4. ^ A b Daniel Herbe, Hermann Weinkauff (1894-1981) - The First President of the Federal Court of Justice , Contributions to the Legal History of the 20th Century, Volume 55, Mohr Siebeck Verlag Tübingen 2008, ISBN 316149461X , p. 278
  5. ^ Ingo Müller: Terrible lawyers . Kindler-Verlag, Munich 1987, p. 214.
  6. ^ Manfred Görtemaker, Christoph Safferling: The Rosenburg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 9783406697685 , p. 323.
  7. ^ Manfred Görtemaker, Christoph Safferling: The Rosenburg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 9783406697685 , p. 323.
  8. ↑ Gerhard Ziegler: Respect for Dr. Canter. And yet the tragic case of a federal judge . In: Die Zeit 38/1958 of September 18, 1958
  9. ^ Ingo Müller: Terrible lawyers . Kindler-Verlag, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-463-40038-3 .
    Wolfgang Malanowski said: The dog recognized its enemy immediately . In: Der Spiegel . 23/1987 (June 1, 1987), pp. 83-94.
personal data
SURNAME Kanter, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German federal judge
DATE OF BIRTH August 8, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Saarbrücken
DATE OF DEATH November 20, 1979
Place of death Cologne