New German law clears all its WW2 traitors.

**CXX** · 09-08-2009, 03:46 PM

New German law clears all its WW2 Nazi traitors | International | Reuters

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German parliament passed a law Tuesday clearing the names of those branded traitors by the Nazis in World War Two -- ending a long, tortured debate.

Nazi military courts condemned about 30,000 people to death for desertion and treason and about two-thirds of those condemned were executed, Social Democrat (SPD) deputy Carl-Christian Dressel said in the debate in parliament.

Historians say the Nazis used the treason charge to condemn soldiers and civilians to death for political resistance and for helping Jews.

More than six decades after the end of the war, the law granting blanket rehabilitation passed unanimously. State prosecutors reviewed traitor cases individually until now.

Backed by the ruling parties as well as the opposition, it was the final piece of legislation passed by parliament before the September 27 federal election.

Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries said the rehabilitation that her SDP party had long championed restores the honor of a long-forgotten group of Nazi victims, most of whom are dead.

"Even if not all those condemned to death as war traitors were resistance fighters, they were nevertheless all victims of a criminal judicial system which murdered to preserve the Nazi regime," said Zypries, who had previously faced opposition to the measure from the conservative Christian Democrats.

The conservatives had opposed the measure because they wanted to keep existing rules requiring individual evaluations in place. The conservatives were also concerned that the actions of some deserters might have harmed other soldiers.

SPD deputy Christina Lamprecht told parliament the rehabilitation sent an important signal to survivors and their families who were now no longer stigmatized as traitors.