Judgment in Berlin

Until 1991 Berlin was formally under 4-power Allied military occupation. In the later years of the Cold War no one really paid much attention to that: The Soviet Zone, East Berlin, was the capital of the German Democratic Republic. West Berlin was essentially a part of West Germany with the French, British and U.S. zones combined as single municipality. Then a hijacked airliner--taken over by nice people fleeing Communist subjugation--landed at Tempelhof Airport in West Berlin. Nice hijackers are still hijackers and the commies demanded their return. Suddenly West Berlin was an allied military zone again. Neither the West German nor the West Berlin governments would touch the issue. The Germans reminded all that the occupation was technically still in effect. Since Tempelhof was in the U.S. Zone, it was for the United States to handle the case. And that is what this memoir is about. The U.S. set up a unique court in the American Zone of Allied Occupied Berlin. The judge, author Herbert A. Stern, was a federal judge from New Jersey. The fascinating part of the story is how remarkably complex it was to set up that court and adjudicate the case. The book was made into a TV movie with the same title that is available on DVD.

This is a wonderfully rare type of book that takes you on a fascinating journey and makes you wonder what life would be like if you were able to read such kinds of books every day. Not only does the book discuss intriguing legal issues (involving the unusual legal nature of a trial in Berlin), but it also tugs on your heart strings when you empathize with the defendants (who found an unusual way to escape totalitarianism.)

This book is a gem as it is based upon the federal case called the US v. Tiede as it was written by the same presiding judge. The biggest irony is that the "Federal Court of Berlin" was a US military commission then coming under the Laws of Occupation. It was not a true Art. 3 federal court of the US Constitution, but a court of the executive powers! The predicament of West Berlin was that it was never truly a part of West Germany under the Bonn Conventions of 1955, but it was technically held under the US occupational powers at the end of World War II. The civil rights of the US Constitution applying to Berlin is an irony of how the "Judgement in Berlin" is similiar to the undetermined status of Taiwan in comparision under the San Francisco Peace Treaty. There are "civil rights" in the Taiwan Relations Act and this book is the blueprint of how-to unlock them from historical legal dormancy. The strategic ambiguity of the Taiwan Question has so much in common with "Judgement in Berlin" that law students or military personnel must read this book to begin to grasp these pertinent constitutional facts of Taiwan status as the last unresolved territory of World War II. Not only is it footnote of modern history, it is a constitutional obligation until the peaceful resolution of the status. Betray this and you've betrayed your country.

Judgement in Berlin tells the true story of the United States Federal Court for Berlin - a court specially created to try one man for one crime. The story takes place at the height of the Cold War - Berlin is still a divided city and East German citizens are willing to risk all to escape and begin a new life in the west. When 3 East German citizens hijack a civilian airline and land at the US Air Force's base at Templehof, authorities are in a quandry - West German law encourages such escapes, and automatically confers citizenship on the refugees. But the International treaties on air piracy have just been signed, and the government can't be seen to condone terrorism. Because Berlin is still, technically, an "occupied city" the West German govenment turns to "the Occupiers" for help - the United States government. And so the United States Occupation Court for Berlin is convened, for the first time in the 35 years since the war ended and occupation began. What follows is a fascinating journey as Herbert Stern, the young Federal Judge appointed to hear the case, tries to separate political expediency from the course of justice and protect the rights of the Defendants, only recently escaped from a world where justice was an alien concept. Stern struggles to untangle the political and legal complextites in order to bring a sense of right to a world turned upside down. This is a fascinating book for lawyers, historians, and all those with an interest in how society governs itself, and how justice struggles to triumph. It also has the added bonus of being well-written, and exciting, so that anyone who loves spy-thrillers will find it impossible to put down. And the most remarkable thing about the book - IT'S ALL TRUE!