Crossing Hitler

[rhadin]

The Man Who Put the Nazis on the Witness Stand by Benjamin Hett, is the true story of the German attorney Hans Litten, who considered himself to the left of the communists. Litten represented poor Germans in the years of the collapse of the Weimar Republic, but especially prepresented German communists who were in constant battles against the Nazi SA -- before Hitler took power.

In one case, he called Hitler as a witness and put Hitler in a troublesome spot where he could be prosecuted for perjury based on his answer. Hitler was "rescued" by the presiding judge and never had to answer, but he never forgot and Litten became a marked man. Goebbels spent many editorials attacking Litten and made Litten's name a curse when applied to others.

On the night of the Reichstag fire that precipitated Hitler's final ascension, Litten was arrested and proceeded to spend the rest of his life in various prisons and concentration camps until his death at Dachau.

The book is a fascinating story of troublesome times and a peek into the German judicial system during the final years of Weimar and the early years of the Nazis. Today, Litten is honored by Germany for representing what was best about German advocacy in a time of repression.

I read the book in hardcover. It is available at Books on Board in mobipocket ($14.58) and on Amazon for the Kindle ($9.99). It does not appear to be available at either Fictionwise or Sony.