Rehabilitation

Since 1 June 2008, the Documentation Centre has been the only German office working for the Federal Foreign Office which is responsible for processing and forwarding enquiries and requests in accordance with the Russian Federation’s law on the Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Persecution.

On the basis of the above law, the Russian Federation’s Chief Military Prosecutor's Office once reviewed convictions from that time, both on request and on its own initiative. Previously passed judgements were reviewed and either repealed, confirmed or re-assessed.

The online database of sentenced then rehabilitated German citizens can be searched to find people who are known to have been rehabilitated. If you would like further information, or if the name of the sentenced person you are looking for is not listed in this database, please submit a request for information.

If no information is found, it is possible to arrange a review in Moscow or to call up any findings available there.

If the judgement is repealed, those involved, or their relatives, have the right to apply to view the criminal records in the Moscow archives, and to view them there in person. In certain conditions, we can also view the files ourselves.