German parties agree to rehabilitate Wehrmacht deserters

Deserters of the German Army (‘Wehrmacht’) and other persons convicted of being “war traitors” during World War II are set to be rehabilitated by the Bundestag, the German parliament. An estimated 100,000 people were convicted as traitors by the Nazis. Some 30,000 of them were sentenced to death, and the death penalties were carried out in about 20,000 cases.

Under the Nazi regime, Germans could be convicted of treason for making negative comments about Hitler, treating prisoners of war too well, helping Jews to flee, or possessing a leaflet calling for an end to the Nazi dictatorship.

Today, although most of the dictatorship's victims have been fully rehabilitated, the question of how to deal with war traitors has remained an unresolved issue. Following a compromise between the major parties in the Bundestag, the convictions by Nazi courts and tribunals are likely to be lifted soon – in most cases posthumously.