Youthful fanatics, incited by the propaganda of the Party and of a myriad of smaller, less prominent right-wing groups, took the law into their own hands. That such lawlessness was on the increase was due in no small measure to the attitude of the judiciary. Most of the higher magistrates were holdovers from previous administrations. The establishment of the republic failed to effect their deep-rooted imperialist sympathies. They disliked liberals and radicals and looked with thinly veiled approval on the machinations of the anti-republic elements. They had a double standard for political crimes. When the offenders were to the left of the center, they could expect and received little mercy. When they belonged to right-wing organizations, they were generally treated with marked leniency. This encouraged the reactionary enemies of the republic to continue their vendetta.
From Germany Tried Democracy: A Political History of the Reich from 1918 to 1933.
S. William Halperin.
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