|
The Federal Republic of Germany guarantees freedom of speech, expression, and opinion to its citizens as per Article 5 of the constitution. Despite this, censorship of various materials has taken place since the Allied occupation after World War II and continues to take place in Germany in various forms due to a limiting provision in Article 5, Paragraph 2 of the constitution. In 2014 the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index ranked Germany as 14th (out of 180 countries) in the world in terms of press freedom.〔(Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index ) 2014〕 During the Allied occupation of Germany, the media was controlled by the occupying forces. The policy rationales differed among the occupying powers, but there was resentment in literary and journalistic circles in many parts of the country. Undesired publishing efforts were unilaterally blocked by the occupying forces. Since the publication of the German ''Grundgesetz'', there have been two kinds of censored media in Germany. The first is material that is considered offensive or indecent; such media are placed on the "Index" and restricted in their publication, and distribution to minors is illegal. The second is material that is considered anti-constitutional, dangerous to the state. The underlying concept is "streitbare Demokratie" (self-defending democracy) that legally hinders the rise of all anti-constitutional and thus undemocratic movements. The media concerned are banned outright, with criminal penalties for infringements. An example is the outright ban on material which supports National Socialism. ==Allied occupation== During Allied occupation of West Germany in the years following World War II, all printing was subject to Allied approval. Although no formal censorship process was in place, the Allies—particularly the Americans—carefully monitored emerging literature for content they considered harmful. Sympathy with the Nazi cause and criticism of the occupation were considered worthy of censorship. (See Denazification) The U.S. Army took control of German media. The Information Control Division of the U.S. Army had by July 1946 taken control of 37 German newspapers, 6 radio stations, 314 theaters, 642 cinemas, 101 magazines, 237 book publishers, and 7,384 book dealers and printers.() Its main mission was democratization but the agenda also included the prohibition on any criticism of the Allied occupation forces.(). In addition, on May 13, 1946 the Allied Control council issued a directive for the confiscation of all media that could contribute to Nazism or militarism. As a consequence a list was drawn up of over 30,000 book titles, ranging from school textbooks to poetry, which were now banned. All copies of books on the list were confiscated and destroyed; the possession of a book on the list was made a punishable offense. All the millions of copies of these books were to be confiscated and destroyed. The representative of the Military Directorate admitted that the order was in principle no different from the Nazi book burnings.〔(Read No Evil ) Time magazine, May 27, 1946〕 The censorship in the U.S. zone was regulated by the occupation directive JCS 1067 (valid until July 1947) and in the May 1946 order valid for all zones (rescinded in 1950), Allied Control Authority Order No. 4, "No. 4 - Confiscation of Literature and Material of a Nazi and Militarist Nature". All confiscated literature was reduced to pulp instead of burning.〔Note: In August 1946 the order was amended so that "In the interest of research and scholarship, the Zone Commanders (in Berlin the Komendatura) may preserve a limited number of documents prohibited in paragraph 1. These documents will be kept in special accommodation where they may be used by German scholars and other German persons who have received permission to do so from the Allies only under strict supervision by the Allied Control Authority〕 It was also directed by Directive No. 30, "Liquidation of German Military and Nazi Memorials and Museums." An exception was made for tombstones "erected at the places where members of regular formations died on the field of battle." As regards art, in the U.S. zone it was just as censored as all other media; "all collections of works of art related or dedicated to the perpetuation of German militarism or Nazism will be closed permanently and taken into custody.". The directives were very broadly interpreted, leading to the destruction of thousands of paintings and thousands more were shipped to deposits in the U.S. Those confiscated paintings still surviving in U.S. custody include for example a painting "depicting a couple of middle aged women talking in a sunlit street in a small town"() Artists were also restricted in which new art they were allowed to create; "OMGUS was setting explicit political limits on art and representation".() The publication ''Der Ruf'' (''The Call'') was a popular literary magazine first published in 1945 by Alfred Andersch and edited by Hans Werner Richter. ''Der Ruf'', also called ''Independent Pages of the New Generation'', claimed to have the aim of educating the German people about democracy. In 1947 its publication was blocked by the American forces for being overly critical of occupational government. Richter attempted to print many of the controversial pieces in a volume entitled ''Der Skorpion'' (''The Scorpion''). The occupational government blocked publication of ''Der Skorpion'' before it began, saying that the volume was too "nihilistic". Publication of ''Der Ruf'' resumed in 1948 under a new publisher, but ''Der Skorpion'' was blocked and not widely distributed. Unable to publish his works, Richter founded Group 47. The Allied costs for occupation were charged to the German people. The newspaper that revealed that the charges included for example the cost for thirty thousand bras was banned by the occupation authorities for revealing this.〔(Did the United States Create Democracy in Germany? ) the Independent Institute〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Censorship in the Federal Republic of Germany」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|