LFU:online

Acquisition of basic skills for dealing with historic sources and presentations of Contemporary History as well as skills in presenting the newly acquired knowledge orally as well as in writing. Acquisition of basic knowledge and application of relevant methods aiding scientific research.

In this PS, in cooperation with the Tyrolean Provincial Archives (Martin Ager BA MA), students work with the files of the Innsbruck People's Court and thus gain experience in the scientific and archival handling of court files with a Nazi connection. The students will be given a specific number of archive boxes or files, which they will catalogue in the reading room of the Tyrolean Provincial Archives as part of their examination. As part of an introductory unit on site at the Tyrolean Provincial Archives, the students are given a guided tour of the Tyrolean Provincial Archives and are given an introduction to the archives as part of a workshops will be introduced to the work. The applicable data protection and archival protection periods will also be presented.
The files of the Innsbruck People's Court for the years 1945 to 1955 are stored in the Tyrolean Provincial Archives. People's Courts were special courts of the Austrian judiciary created in 1945. The People's Courts were charged with prosecuting National Socialist offences under the Prohibition Act (leading function in the NSDAP and its organisations, high treason against the Austrian people) and above all under the War Crimes Act (war crimes in the narrower sense, incitement to war, torture and ill-treatment, violation of humanity, expulsion from the homeland (deportation), abusive enrichment (Aryanisation), denunciation, etc.). The People's Courts, staffed by two professional judges and three lay assessors, were abolished in 1955 and the War Crimes Act was repealed. The Innsbruck People's Court, responsible for Tyrol and Vorarlberg, began its activities in May 1946. Between 1946 and 1955, over 13.000 proceedings were initiated, the majority of which were dropped due to the minor nature of the offences or a lack of evidence. The public prosecutor's office brought charges against 1.932 people. A judgement was passed on 1.347 people, of whom 307 were acquitted and 1.040 found guilty.
The situation with regard to files and documents from central administrative and police authorities from the Nazi era in Tyrol can be described as very patchy. Historical research therefore has to rely on the People's Court files with their numerous witness statements and investigations into crimes committed during the Nazi era. They therefore represent one of the most central collections of files for research into the National Socialist era in Tyrol, which ist still of central scientific importance 80 years after the end of war.

Individual acquirement of a historical survey; oral presentations and handouts, research paper, discussion; internet search, exercises.

Course with continuous performance assessment: attendance at all sessions, active participation in discussions, oral presentation, written paper (10-15 pp.)

Positive assessment of compulsory module 1.