 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in German. (February 2020)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
"Soldiers are murderers" (German:Soldaten sind Mörder) is a quote from anopinion piece written in 1931 byKurt Tucholsky and published under his pseudonym Ignaz Wrobel in the weekly German magazineDie Weltbühne. Starting with a lawsuit against the magazine's editorCarl von Ossietzky for "defamation of theReichswehr" in 1932, Tucholsky's widely quoted assertion led to numerous judicial proceedings in Germany, also afterWorld War II and until the late 20th century. In several cases in the 1990s, last in 1995, theFederal Constitutional Court ruled that using the quote as a means to expresspacifist views is protected by theconstitution of Germany.
Journalist, writer, and satirist Kurt Tucholsky wasconscripted as a soldier inWorld War I, and in 1919 co-founded theFriedensbund der Kriegsteilnehmer, a pacifist andanti-militarist organization of war veterans. The 4 August 1931 issue ofDie Weltbühne had pacifism as its main subject matter, containing a translation ofPope Benedict XV's anti-warApostolic exhortationAllorché fummo chiamati of 1915.[1] In this context, Tucholsky published his short piece "Der bewachte Kriegsschauplatz" ("The guarded theatre of war").[2] It is mainly criticizing theFeldgendarmerie military police for, according to Tucholsky, having taken care of "correct dying" at the front ("daß vorn richtig gestorben wurde") whilst shooting deserters: "So they murdered because one refused to continue murdering".[3] The controversial quote appears in this paragraph:
Da gab es vier Jahre lang ganze Quadratmeilen Landes, auf denen war der Mord obligatorisch, während er eine halbe Stunde davon entfernt ebenso streng verboten war. Sagte ich: Mord? Natürlich Mord. Soldaten sind Mörder.
For four years there were entire square miles of land upon which murder was obligatory, whereas a half-hour's distance away it was strictly forbidden. Did I say "Murder"? Of course murder. Soldiers are murderers.
Tucholsky had put forward his opinion that soldiers are murderers publicly before 1931, speaking of "professional murderers" and "murdered murderers", however without a strong public reaction.[5] After publication of theWeltbühne issue, defence ministerWilhelm Groener filed a suit against editorCarl von Ossietzky who was at that time already in prison due to his conviction in theWeltbühne-Prozess. No charges were brought against Tucholsky because he had moved to Sweden in 1929 and was therefore out of reach for German courts. Tucholsky considered attending the trial in Germany to back his friend Ossietzky, but decided against it for fear of being attacked byNazis. Even years later, shortly before his death, Tucholsky expressed pangs of conscience about this decision.[6] Tucholsky provided Ossietzky's counsels for defence with quotes by famous personalities who had called soldiers murderers before.[7] In his closing words, the defendant Ossietzky expressed the view that the article was not a "defamation of a profession", but "defamation of war".[8]
The jury of the BerlinSchöffengericht acquitted Ossietzky on 1 July 1932 with the reasoning that the general expression "soldiers are murderers" is not directed against specific persons and therefore can not be a defamation. A notice of appeal of the prosecution was not admitted by theKammergericht. Also in reaction to the acquittal,ReichspräsidentPaul von Hindenburg subsequently created a new law article peremergency decree, adding a special "protection of soldiers' honour" to the criminal code (§ 134a StGB). The protection was specific to the Reichswehr and did not extend to soldiers in general, however.[9] § 134a StGB was repealed together with § 134b StGB (a special protection of theNazi Party's honour) in 1946 by theAllied Control Council.[10]
.jpg)
.jpg)
The court case made the expression a popular slogan for peace activists and anti-militarists. Especially starting with the "Frankfurt soldier rulings" in 1984,West German courts were repeatedly concerned with Tucholsky's quote, though there were earlier cases. At a panel discussion inFrankfurt, a doctor of theInternational Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and former medical officer cadet said to aJugendoffizier ("Youth officer", a public relations rank): "Every soldier is a potential murderer – you too, Mr. W. There is a drill for murder in theBundeswehr".[11] This prompted a long series of judicial proceedings with the accusation ofVolksverhetzung ("incitement of the people"). This particular dispute ended in 1992 with a closure of the proceedings with a judgement of minor fault after theFederal Constitutional Court, in a parallel case, annulled a judgement against satirical magazineTitanic, ruling that Tucholsky's wording was protected by theconstitution of Germany's article 5, paragraph 1 (freedom of speech).[12]
Earlier acquittals by lower courts in 1987 and 1989 had caused public protest. ThePresident of Germany,Richard von Weizsäcker, as well asChancellorHelmut Kohl, foreign ministerHans-Dietrich Genscher, defence ministerGerhard Stoltenberg, and justice ministerKlaus Kinkel criticised the court rulings publicly. The two presiding judges of the FrankfurtLandgericht received death threats, the office of the counsels for defence was destroyed by an arson attack, and theBundestag debated whether a new law for soldier's honour protection should be introduced.[13] Soldiers of the military watchdog groupDarmstädter Signal, however, welcomed the acquittals.
After earlier similar rulings, the Federal Constitutional Court again annulled judgements against pacifists in 1995. One of the given reasons was again that the quote is directed against soldiers in general, not specifically the Bundeswehr.[14] This led to a renewed public debate and a draft for a law protecting soldiers' honour, which however was ultimately rejected by the new government coalition in 1999.[15]
