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Concept
Ernst Melsheimer
Summary
Ernst Melsheimer (9 April 1897 in Neunkirchen – 25 March 1960 in Berlin) was a German lawyer.
In December 1949 he was appointed as the first State prosecutor of the German Democratic Republic,
which at that time was a new country being created out of the Soviet occupation zone of what had till recently been Germany. Melsheimer became (after Hilde Benjamin) the second most important state lawyer in the young country.
Melsheimer was a strong believer in party control of the courts.
He was opposed to any Western-style separation of powers between the justice system and the state. He took a hands-on approach to his job, appearing in person as the principal (prosecution) advocate in numerous secret trials and in high-profile show trials during the 1950s.
Melsheimer was born in the Saar region, a mining area in the extreme west of Germany, close to the border with France. His father was a director of the local iron works. His school career ended with the outbreak of World War I, and in 1914 he volunteered for military service. However, he was injured after only eight weeks, and left the army. He instead studied Law at and Marburg and Bonn, passing his state law exam in 1918.
While a student Melsheimer became, in 1915, a member of the Arminia Marburg fraternity, at that time one of the largest such fraternities in Germany.
In 1918 he entered the service of the Prussian Justice Department, promoted in 1922 to the grade of Oberregierungsrat. In 1924 he was appointed a regional judge (Landgerichtsrat), with a succession of judicial promotions following. He was appointed to Landgerichtsdirektor in 1933, and in 1937 he joined the Higher District Court Council (Kammergerichtsrat) in Berlin.
Melsheimer became involved in the Nationalsozialistische Rechtswahrerbund (NSRB / National Socialist Association of Legal Professionals) in 1936, and in 1937 he was appointed a consultant to the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (NSV / National Socialist People's Welfare organisation).
Official source
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