University of Florida Levin College of Law, Gainesville.
The exhibit closed March 3. Further locations will be posted soon.
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The exhibit closed on Nov. 4, 2022 at the Jewish Museum of Florida in Miami Beach. Click below to watch a special hour-long program, “Erosion of Rights: From the Holocaust to the Present – Can it happen here?” from Oct. 17, with panelists Consul General Andreas Siegel, German consulate, Miami; former ABA President and Cuban refugee Stephen Zack; American Jewish Committee Regional Director Brian Siegal; and former ABA President and moderator Hilarie Bass, president of the Bass Institute for Diversity & Inclusion. The exhibit’s next stop will be posted soon.
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Lawyers Without Rights: The Fate of Jewish Lawyers in Berlin after 1933 is about the rule of law and how one government – the Third Reich in Germany – systematically undermined fair and just law through humiliation, degradation and legislation leading to expulsion of Jewish lawyers and jurists from the legal profession. As the rule of law comes under attack today in both developed and Third World countries, LawyersWithout Rights tragically portrays what can happen when the just rule of law disappears -- replaced by an arbitrary rule by law that sweeps aside the rights and dignity of selected populations. The story of the fate of Jewish lawyers in Berlin and all of Germany is more than a historical footnote; it is a wake-up call that a system of justice free of improper political considerations remains fragile and should never be taken for granted. 
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"Not only will Lawyers Without Rights be an enduring work of scholarship; it also couldn't be more timely."
As Adolf Hitler rose to power in Nazi Germany, the first casualty was the rule of law. The Third Reich’s ensuing purge included systematically targeting “undesirables,” including Jewish ..."
Current affairs remind us that the rule of law is fragile. Lawyers particularly have an obligation to stand up and speak out when the rule of law is under attack; when just and fair law that treats everybody equally is replaced by unjust law — even when enacted by governments. Starting in 1933, few German lawyers sounded the alarm when the Nazis enacted a series of laws designating German Jews as less than full citizens and implemented occupational bans that over five years barred all Jewish lawyers and jurists from the legal profession. This engaging program explored why silence is not an option when the rule of law is under attack.
For information on the Lawyers Without Rights: Jewish Lawyers in Germany under the Third Reich, or to learn how to bring the exhibit to your community, contact Bill Choyke, LWR Coordinator, at the American Bar Association, or call: 202-662-1864.
More than 70 years after its horrors unfolded, the Holocaust still has stories to reveal and lessons to share. This exhibit begins to provide a portrait of the fate of Jewish lawyers in Germany — stories that speak to how the Nazis purged Jewish lawyers as one of the early steps to attack the rule of law in their country.
Four lawyers from the Washington area, all descendants of attorneys purged from the practice of law by the Nazis in the 1930s, shared their stories at a “Family Remembrances” program in conjunction with the Lawyers Without Rights exhibit at the German-American Heritage Museum in downtown D.C.
Munich lawyer Dr. Michael Siegel (1882-1979) had complained to Munich Police Headquarters in early 1933, when one of his clients was taken into 'protective custody'. He had the legs of his trousers cut off and was led through Munich's inner city streets barefoot with a board around his neck that read: "I will never complain to the police again!"
The Official Anti-Jewish Acts Project, a compendium of worldwide antisemitic laws and regulations going back to 410 BCE, has made available this list of laws targeting Jews just in Nazi-era Germany. Various professions, such as lawyers, journalists, writers, doctors, and athletes, are identified in this period account of official legal documents.
Venue |
City, State
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| Jewish Museum of Florida | Miami Beach, FL |
| Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida | Orlando, FL |
| Cleveland, OH | |
| Law Library Association of St. Louis | St. Louis, MO |
| Columbus School of Law – The Catholic University of America | Washington, DC |
| The Jewish Center of Princeton | Princeton, NJ |
| Stetson University College of Law | Gulfport, FL |
| Osterhout Free Library |
Wilkes-Barre, PA |
| Jamaica, NY | |
| Kings County Supreme Court | Brooklyn, NY |
| San Diego Law Library | San Diego, CA |
| Capital Hilton | Washington, DC |
| Golda Meir Library | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI |
| Fayette Circuit Court | Lexington, KY |
| Nassau County Supreme Court | Mineola, NY |
| Belmont University College of Law | Nashville, TN |
