Bureaucracy and crime

The state tax authorities were key players in the planning, legitimization and implementation of the economic plundering of German Jews. How did it come about that such a large and widely ramified bureaucratic apparatus as the tax administration, with tens of thousands of employees, functioned largely smoothly in line with Nazi policy and willingly participated in the state crimes of the "Third Reich"? To clarify this core question, Christiane Kuller's pioneering study traces the political decisions, institutional organization, and practical implementation of fiscal persecution, linking these levels for the first time. Her analysis of norms and institutional routines, as well as situational and personal factors, highlights the terrifying role of the Reich Ministry of Finance and its administration in ordering the terror.