Method and principles
How we check and what we stand for · “We” is the FUNDSTELLE editorial team, responsible as per the imprint
Contents
1. The four colours
| Mark | Meaning in one sentence |
|---|---|
| documented | A document says it word for word; source with volume, page or reference. |
| theory | An assessment by the editors, not a statement of fact; with evidence for and against and a range. |
| does not hold | A common claim, checked, evidence against it. |
| open | Not checkable or not yet checked. |
2. Red: documented
A document says it word for word. We give the source (e.g. “IMT Vol. 1, p. 168”) and show the wording on the source page. A program checks that the quote is on that page; then two separate AI reviewers read statement and quote. Red only if both say the source carries the statement. Example: “Motion of all defence counsel, 19 Nov 1945: a penal law enacted only after the crime.” (Episode 01, statement 5). Red proves that something is in the document; if a defendant says something, red means he said it, not that it is true.
3. Blue: theory
Blue is an assessment by the FUNDSTELLE editors and expressly not a statement of fact. Every theory comes with documented evidence for and against, the counter-theory, the gaps, and a range in percent. Cap 90 %: without a document no theory goes above 90 %; with a document it is red. Nothing is rounded up. Example: “Fichte’s Addresses to the German Nation (1807/08) were an intellectual root of Pan-Germanism.” Blue, 35–60 %: for it, the French prosecutor de Menthon (IMT Vol. 5, p. 377); against it, defence counsel Stahmer (IMT Vol. 17, p. 499); Fichte’s own text is not in the archive and the court said nothing (chapter in preparation).
4. Grey: does not hold
A common claim was checked and the evidence speaks against it. It stays visible, with the counter-evidence and its origin. Example: “The Lusitania was armed with guns.” (chapter in preparation)
5. Open
Not checkable, not yet checked or check not finished. Open never looks like red. A missing vote or a crashed check gives open, never “passed”.
6. The checking path
- Find the source.
- Verbatim check (falsified quotes must fail).
- Two AI reviewers.
- Panel of three for theories, one an explicit sceptic; red and grey only if unanimous, otherwise blue with a range from the three reviewers’ limits. A critic then checks: if no evidence carries the theory, there is no range and it stays open. The website shows only colours that passed this last check.
- Editors approve every episode; anything not approved stays open.
7. Editorial principles
Same standard for all sides
Every statement is checked the same way, whoever makes it.
Role and self-interest of every voice
Who speaks, in what role, with what interest. The judgment is “judgment of the Tribunal”, never “the truth”.
No theories on documented crimes or victim numbers
What documents prove is not turned into a theory. No denial, trivialisation or approval of the Holocaust or other Nazi crimes, not even as a question (§ 130 German Criminal Code).
Restraint with the living
For living persons, existing companies and families: only what is documented, with source, no insinuation. We publish no theories about them.
Journalistic diligence
We check content, origin and truth with the care required (§ 19 German Interstate Media Treaty) and separate evidence from assessment by colour.
No bait, no agenda; open corrections
No party, no ideology, no rage questions. Corrections are listed with date and place on the corrections page.
8. Sound, image, AI
Original courtroom sound is only denoised. The narrator voice is partly AI-generated, labelled throughout, speaks only our checked sentences in the gaps and imitates no historical person.
9. Limits and corrections
Files can be incomplete, one-sided or forged; where we know it, we say so. Report mistakes to fundstelle.news@gmail.com.