Part 2, Chapter 2 Summary

Michael pursues his legal studies with mechanical devotion. Trials of alleged Nazi war criminals are underway, and Michael enrolls in a seminar, which requires occasional attendance at the trials. The particular trial that Michael attends begins in the spring of 1966 when he is 23 years old. The students in the seminar consider themselves to be radical explorers of legal history and, in general, are eager to morally condemn everyone living in Germany during World War II. For example, Michael considers his own father to be complicit in war crimes even though he had lost his University teaching job because of his political views and spent the entire war as an underemployed editor of trail hiking guides. Michael and his fellow students feel it is their duty to uncover the truth about horrific war crimes and push that information into the public view...