Recognizing Victimhood: Politics and Narratives of Rehabilitation in Germany

How does victimhood become a legal status? What are the preconditions, expectations, and restrictions attached to the state recognition of victims? This article draws upon theories of recognition to examine the German postunification “administrative rehabilitation” procedures for victims of East German state repression as a specific case of the state recognition of victims. An examination of victim claims and court decisions reveals that the legal category of victimhood in these cases is restricted to those whose conduct is morally blameless throughout and whose “political motives” fall within the accepted range of political ideologies. This highly restrictive approach to victimhood, dominant in German rehabilitation legislation since the 1950s, reveals the desire to shape the normative boundaries of the political community through the selective recognition of victimhood. The legal recognition of victims is tied to the recognition of the state as a legitimate authority in matters of justice and injustice. This article is dedicated to the memory of Manfred Schledermann. Prior versions were presented at the Law & Humanities Junior Scholar Workshop at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in June 2006, at Dresden University, and at Carleton University. The comments by Martha Umphrey and Norman Spaulding at the Law & Humanities workshop, as well as additional suggestions by Doris Buss, Dorothea Reinmuth, and an anonymous reviewer for the Journal of Human Rights helped me to make more sense of recognition and victimhood politics. The article uses materials from the Robert Havemann Archiv, Berlin, whose support is gratefully acknowledged. Research for the project underlying this article was supported by a 2004–2005 Dissertation Fellowship from the United States Institute of Peace. Notes Notes 1. Schultke (2004: 194) puts the number of victims at 943 victims. This number includes, for example, people who drowned attempting to swim across one of the rivers or the Baltic Sea to other countries. 2. This term is from Norman Spaulding's comments at the Law & Humanities Workshop in Los Angeles. 3. The account of Manfred Schledermann's life and views are based upon an unpublished memoir in the form of letters to a Czech friend (1965a, 1965b) as well as an interview with the author, August 24, 2004. 4. From 1963 to 1989, the FRG purchased exit visas for 33,755 GDR political prisoners. Rehlinger (1991) Rehlinger, Ludwig. 1991. Freikauf: Die Geschäfte der DDR mit politisch Verfolgten 1963–1989, Berlin: Ullstein. [Google Scholar] describes the program from his perspective as one of the FRG's chief negotiators. 5. She asserted that her incorporation into the SS was involuntary; historians claim that this might or might not have been the case. See Moser (2001: 226). 6. Götz Berger, witness statement in the case against Hauke et al., 12th day of hearings, March 6, 1996. Quoted from notes taken at the trial by Katja Havemann. Robert Havemann Archive, RH 327.