Blood guilt

Blood guilt

Blood guilt or "kin liability" is the attribution of responsibility for the alleged transgressions of one's relatives, kin, somewhat related to guilt by association, which is determined by physical or communicative proximity rather than genetic or familial proximity.

In Nazi Germany

The concept of blood guilt was the basis for the laws called sippenhaft. The sippenhaft laws were once used by Nazi Germany to arrest and occasionally execute the families of political dissidents, namely those involved or connected to the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

In the Soviet Union

Joseph Stalin's regime also practiced a form of the blood guilt. Close relatives of enemies of the people were regularly labeled as "traitor of Motherland family members" and prosecuted.

ee also

*Blood libel


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  • blood-guilt — bloodˈ guilt or bloodˈ guiltiness noun The guilt of shedding blood, eg in murder • • • Main Entry: ↑blood …   Useful english dictionary

  • blood|guilt|y — «BLUHD GIHL tee», adjective. guilty of murder or bloodshed. –blood´guilt´i|ness, noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • blood|guilt — «BLUHD GIHLT», noun. 1. guilt of bloodshed. 2. responsibility for the murder or death of a person …   Useful english dictionary

  • blood´guilt´i|ness — blood|guilt|y «BLUHD GIHL tee», adjective. guilty of murder or bloodshed. –blood´guilt´i|ness, noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • blood guilt — /ˈblʌd gɪlt/ (say blud gilt) noun guilt of murder or bloodshed. –blood guilty, adjective –blood guiltiness, noun …  

  • blood-guiltiness — bloodˈ guilt or bloodˈ guiltiness noun The guilt of shedding blood, eg in murder • • • Main Entry: ↑blood …   Useful english dictionary

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  • guilt´less|ness — guilt|less «GIHLT lihs», adjective. 1. free from guilt; not guilty; innocent: »Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country s blood (Thomas Gray). SYNONYM(S): See syn. under innocent. (Cf. ↑innocent) 2. having …   Useful english dictionary

  • guilt´less|ly — guilt|less «GIHLT lihs», adjective. 1. free from guilt; not guilty; innocent: »Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country s blood (Thomas Gray). SYNONYM(S): See syn. under innocent. (Cf. ↑innocent) 2. having …   Useful english dictionary

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