An exhibition in the Munich Palace of Justice is dedicated to the fate of Jewish female lawyers. The show portrays 17 women who were persecuted by the National Socialists, according to the Munich I Regional Court. They should serve as examples for many other women who suffered a similar fate. The exhibition is intended to take “a comprehensive and touching look at the fate of Jewish women from the first generations of lawyers at the beginning of the 20th century” and will be on view until December 21st and then move on as a traveling exhibition.
“The women shown there fought hard to gain admission to legal professions and were then discriminated against, disenfranchised and persecuted because of their Jewish origins during the Nazi reign of terror from 1933 onwards,” said Regional Court President Beatrix Schobel at the opening of the exhibition on Wednesday evening. “The exhibition honors their lives and their commitment to equality and the rule of law.” Knowledge of these fates is “especially important today, when it is more important than ever to combat existing anti-Semitism and protect our constitutional state against any attack.”
Women who have dedicated their lives to the law have been “robbed of their rights, persecuted or even murdered,” said Bavaria’s Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich (CSU). “Only because they were Jewish or of Jewish origin.” He emphasized: “The perversion of the rule of law by the inhumane Nazi regime reminds us all that we must defend human rights, peace and freedom every day.” With Hamas’ anti-Semitic terror against Israel, “anti-Semitism in Germany has gained new, dangerous breeding ground,” he warned. Bavaria stands “unwaveringly at the side of Israel and the Jews.”