Persilscheine« für den Schreibtischtäter Das Beispiel des NS-Kriminalbiologen Dr. Dr. Robert Ritter

Robert Ritter first came to the attention of Ernst Rüdin at the beginning of the NS era because of his concern with the wide-spread mixed population of gypsies in Württemberg. Rüdin recommended Ritter to contact the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. After 1938 Ritter, encouraged by the DFG, was commissioned by the 'Reichsgesundheitsamt' and the 'Reichskriminalpolizeiamt' in Berlin to research criminal biological inheritance in gypsies, juvenile delinquents and other minority groups in the NS state. As part of a working Party, he investigated almost all gypsies who lived in the Deutsches Reich and was responsible for their persecution — sterilisation and extermination. As director of the 'Reichsgesundheitsamt' and as head of the 'Kriminalbiologisches Institut der Sicherheitspolizei' he studied, among other things, young people in the concentration camp for juveniles in Moringen. After 1947 Robert Ritter, who had hoped to become a professor, began a new career as pediatrician and psychiatrist in Frankfurt/Main, together with his most important collegue Eva Justin. This was possible because he had obtained 'Persilscheine' (denazification certificates) which proved to the world that he had never been a Nazi. Although these 'Persilscheine' had been collected by friends and accomplices Ritter managed to avoid criminal procedings. Ritter's »second career« is a perfect example of how insufficient the »denazification« procedure was.