For legal reasons, only Nazi crimes defined as murder can be prosecuted since May 1960 (Section 211 of the Criminal Code):
Section 211 of German Criminal Code
Murder under specific aggravating circumstances
(1) Whosoever commits murder under the conditions of this provision shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
(2) A murderer under this provision is any person who kills a person for pleasure, for sexual gratification, out of greed or otherwise base motives, by stealth or cruelly or by means that pose a danger to the public or in order to facilitate or to cover up another offence.
All forms of the participation in the murders (as offender, as agitator or as aider) shall be punishable. The attempt shall be punishable as well. The penalty for accessory to murder is a prison sentence of 3 up to 15 years.
All other offences and crimes (including the crime of manslaughter according to Section 212 of the German Criminal Code) have been time-barred for a long time and therefore can no longer be prosecuted.
In this framework, the prosecution of the offenders remains prescribed by law and is a basis for continuity of the Central Office. Everyone is to take responsibility under criminal law till the end of his life, providing that the person is fit enough for interrogation and for trial. For survivors or members of family it is often very important and it remains a remembrance for future generations that such acts will be prosecuted till the end. This serves the legal peace and characterizes our state under the rule of law.
