Lawyers Without Rights - The book and traveling exhibit

on display

Villanova Univ Charles Widger School of Law

Through October 18, 2023 at the

Charles Widger School of Law, Villanova University

Lawyers Without Rights: Lessons from Yesterday and Today
Wednesday, October 11, 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Click here for free admission passes

UPCOMING EVENTS 2023-2024

Venue	City, State	Dates
Anne W. Grande Law Library	Minneapolis, MN	late-October -mid-December
Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center	North Naples, FL	April-July 2024
Louisiana Old State Capitol	Baton Rouge, LA	mid-October-mid-December 2024

IN MEMORIAM

Benjamin B. Ferencz, who was the last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor, died on April 7, 2023, at an assisted living facility in Boynton Beach, Florida. Mr. Ferencz was a contributor to the Lawyers Without Rights project, writing one of the three original forewords in its book "Lawyers Without Rights: The Fate of Jewish Lawyers in Berlin after 1933," which was published in late 2018 as a translation from German to English.

Foreword by Benjamin B. Ferencz, Lawyers Without Rights book

Mr. Ferencz was honored in 2018 with the inaugural ABA Center for Human Rights Eleanor Roosevelt Prize for Global Human Rights Advancement.

RECENT EVENTS

From the Jewish Museum of Florida in Miami Beach, watch a special hour-long program, “Erosion of Rights: From the Holocaust to the Present – Can it happen here?” from Oct. 17, 2022, 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.

Florida Holocaust Museum, St. Petersburg

at University of Florida Levin College of Law

[Event photos]

The Lawyers Without Rights Book

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.

--Read excerpt from the book

What they're saying about Lawyers Without Rights

"Not only will Lawyers Without Rights be an enduring work of scholarship; it also couldn't be more timely."

--Jewish Book Council

"Lawyers Without Rights is a powerful work of history, commemorating Berlin's Jewish attorneys while also describing how they were barred from their profession and, in most cases, driven from their city."

--Daily Beast

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 ..."

--The ABA Journal

Legal Lessons from the Holocaust: When Lawyers Remain Silent / New York City Bar, Feb. 7, 2019

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.

[Event photos] [Watch on C-SPAN American History TV]

THE EXHIBIT

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.

THE Journal 2010

About Lawyers Without Rights

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.

Family Remembrances Program

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.

LWR Video

Dr. Michael Siegel, 1933

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!"

Bundesarchiv (146/41/6/1)

Official Anti-Jewish Acts Project NEW

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.

Recent Venues

(click on each venue for additional information)

Venue	City, State
Florida Holocaust Museum	St. Petersburg, FL
Temple Beth Am	Miami, FL
Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida	Orlando, FL
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association	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
Queens County Supreme Court	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