Activists for climate justice, LGBTQ+ rights or social justice causes in Germany are increasingly discovering methods of strategic litigation, bringing their causes to the Constitutional Court or other legal fora. Together with law professor Nora Markard, Ronen gives insights, instructions and encouragements.

Germany keeps a domestic intelligence service unlike any other. In the name of shielding democracy from extremists, its “Bureau for the Protection of the Constitution” is mandated to spy even on opposition groups who operate entirely within the law. In an in-depth investigation based on six years of research, Ronen raises the question whether this is beneficial to a democracy, or rather detrimental. A best-seller in 2023.

An exploration of the social injustices in the German prison system, and a call for criminal justice reform, this 2022 best-selling book was awarded the Otto Brenner Prize for Critical Journalism and sparked a series of political debates in Germany that ultimately led to the Bundestag softening the rules on imprisonment for those too poor to pay their fines.

In his book-length essay, Ronen explores antisemitic tropes in the present-day German language. A particular focus lies on the widespread distortion of some Yiddish phrases and words, for which Ronen finds historical reasons.

After the Halle synagogue shooting in 2019, Ronen, who is himself Jewish, published this critique of the failure of the German state to adequately address present-day violent antisemitism. Named one of the top 3 non-fiction books by “Die Zeit“ when it was published, it has been widely discussed and has received reviews in the “Times of Israel” and Dutch “De Volkskrant”.

The only Arab person ever to be named “Righteous among the Nations” by Israel’s Yad Vashem, Dr. Mohammed Helmy was an Egyptian physician who hid Jewish Berliners from Nazi persecution, outfoxing the Nazis and risking his own life. Ronen’s account of his thrilling story, based on research in Berlin and Cairo, has been translated into seven languages and was named book of the week by the British “Observer” in 2021.

German Jewish judge and prosecutor Fritz Bauer (1903-1968) secretly worked with the Mossad and brought Nazi war criminals to justice in the 1960ies. Ronen’s biography inspired the award-winning film “The People vs. Fritz Bauer” and has been translated into four languages.

The Politics of International Criminal Justice

To anyone setting out to explore the entanglement of international criminal justice with the interests of States, Germany is a particularly curious, exemplary case. Starting from a position of harsh scepticism in the years following the Nuremberg Trials, Germany is today one of the most active supporters of the International Criminal Court.